Petrol v Diesel car - low milage

Beechfiled

Need a little help please, I drive a 10 year old 1.4 petrol car and do under 8,000 km per year. Im changing it for the same model to a 10 or 11 but most of the cars I've seen are diesel. I saw an ideal one today but its 1.6 diesel.

One garage told me the old theory of having to do high mileage in a diesel doesnt apply to the newer models and another garage told my a diesel would be no good to me.

Was hoping to change soon as mine needs to be taxed and NCT's at the end ot the month.

Any advice please?

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

Cona

I never understood the whole story of needing to run high miles to get a diesel.
If diesel is cheaper to buy and gets u more mileage per week vs petrol then why not

Pov06

Cona wrote: »

I never understood the whole story of needing to run high miles to get a diesel.
If diesel is cheaper to buy and gets u more mileage per week vs petrol then why not

Because the diesel engine won't get up to operating temperature on short drives and it's not healthy for the engine.

Atlantic Dawn

Cona wrote: »

I never understood the whole story of needing to run high miles to get a diesel.
If diesel is cheaper to buy and gets u more mileage per week vs petrol then
why not

Modern diesels have diesel particulate filters, if you are giving the car motorway runs they function fine, if however you are doing low speed city driving the filters fail, can be €1,000 to rectify. Up until recent VRT changes in 2008 diesel cars were typically more expensive than the same model petrol car.

Pov06

Pov06 wrote: »

Because the diesel engine won't get up to operating temperature on short drives and it's not healthy for the engine.

Small mileage doesn't necessarily mean short drive though. I only do about 12k kms a year but 90% of it is long trips home at weekends. A diesel would suit me perfectly and my next car will almost certainly be one.

Elessar

Alijah Hallowed Slope wrote: »

Small mileage doesn't necessarily mean short drive though. I only do about 12k kms a year but 90% of it is long trips home at weekends. A diesel would suit me perfectly and my next car will almost certainly be one.

Agree. The DPF issues are, imo, overstated. I've done maybe 15k in 19 months with my 2009 diesel, mostly short trips, and I haven't had any issues whatsoever. It does get a 15 min motorway spin at least once a week though. I think if you do short trips with a 15 min long journey at least once every 2 weeks or so you'll be fine.

Jesus.

draiochtanois wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

He said the car is 10 years old, not that he's owned it for 10. God knows how many miles someone else may have put up on it before he had it.

Best go with petrol, OP, if you're just tipping about the place. If you do regular Motorway runs though a diesel would work too.

Beechfiled

Jesus. wrote: »

He said the car is 10 years old, not that he's owned it for 10. God knows how many miles someone else may have put up on it before he had it.

Best go with petrol, OP, if you're just tipping about the place. If you do regular Motorway runs though a diesel would work too.

The car is 10 years old, Ive had it since new, It would get the odd run on a motorway but normal day to day journeys are only short.

Littlehorny

Would a 10 or 11 reg small to medium sized car with a petrol engine not be cheaper to buy in the first place as the majority of buyers are only looking for diesels?
Also are petrol not a little more reliable in general and also in general cheaper to fix as well?
The point i'm making is, if your not doing the mileage to warrant the fuel saving, are you better off with the petrol version?

Jesus.

Beechfiled wrote: »

The car is 10 years old, Ive had it since new, It would get the odd run on a motorway but normal day to day journeys are only short.

Then the Poster who's name I'm not even going to attempt to spell, was correct. She's barely broken in. Keep the one you have

ofcork

I bought a diesel avensis in November do about 200 miles most weeks one 120 mile trip and the rest short and no problems so far,only thing ive noticed is the mpg isn't great.

Beechfiled

I've seen a petrol model up north, wonder is it worth a trip up to have a look at it.

Gael23

If you are happy with the deal and like the car then theres no harm done in going for it. Having said that, a petrol would suit you better.
What is the Car?

lomb

Petrol is the better choice I think. Smoother, quieter, rev hard and no vibration or clatter. Diesels of the last few years have really come on though especially vw/ audi ones.

Beechfiled

Sorry, should have said, its a Focus.

bladespin

As mentioned above a diesel requires longer trips to operate efficiently, I'd be surprised if a diesel could match mpg from a similarly sized petrol car on short spins.

vienne86

I'd say that the vast majority of cars in the years arount 2011 were diesel. I know when I bought a CMax that year, it only existed in diesel. Now there is a move back to petrol, and petrol engines are much more economical than they used to be, it seems. I gather that for low mileages, petrol is better.....but there may not be such a good choice of second hand petrols.

dr.fuzzenstein

bladespin wrote: »

As mentioned above a diesel requires longer trips to operate efficiently, I'd be surprised if a diesel could match mpg from a similarly sized petrol car on short spins.

Petrol also suffer worse mpg on short trips.
But its not solely about mpg, higher purchase price and higher running costs go against a diesel for short trips and low mileage.

AMKC

Have a look on Autotrader. There is a lot of Fiesta,s in petrol from them years but they might be a bit small for you. Maybe you could do a search for medium sized cars with petrol engines in them years. There has to be some and they might not be Focus,s but you might see something you like.

Beechfiled

Fiesta is a bit small, its our only family car and was always the perfect size, I'll have a look at something else. I just really liked the new shape one.
I drove the diesel and it was very smooth, I liked it. But if its not practical.

Theres a 1ltr eco boots petrol in those years but they're very rare. There is one in a garage a bit away from me but I might go and have a look.

dr.fuzzenstein

Beechfiled wrote: »

Fiesta is a bit small, its our only family car and was always the perfect size, I'll have a look at something else. I just really liked the new shape one.
I drove the diesel and it was very smooth, I liked it. But if its not practical.

Theres a 1ltr eco boots petrol in those years but they're very rare. There is one in a garage a bit away from me but I might go and have a look.

Whatever you buy,it couldn't possibly be slower than a 1.4 petrol Focus.

Beechfiled

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Whatever you buy,it couldn't possibly be slower than a 1.4 petrol Focus.

I have 1.4 petrol and never found it slow.

bladespin

bladespin wrote: »

As mentioned above a diesel requires longer trips to operate efficiently, I'd be surprised if a diesel could match mpg from a similarly sized petrol car on short spins.

My golf GTI is an absolute sow on petrol on short trips a GTD would blow it out of the water as far as fuel economy is concerned.

That's where I see the big difference in driving a powerful petrol vs diesel. Drive both hard and yes the diesel is not massively more economical but drive like a granny on a long trip and the petrol might get mid 30's mpg while the diesel gets 50+!

dr.fuzzenstein

Beechfiled wrote: »

I have 1.4 petrol and never found it slow.

You will, once you drive anything else. ;-)

bladespin

Not exactly the comparison I made, a sports hatch against a diesel lol, regularly got 45-50 mpg fron the punto, the tdi struggles to get anywhere near that.

bladespin

bladespin wrote: »

Not exactly the comparison I made, a sports hatch against a diesel lol, regularly got 45-50 mpg fron the punto, the tdi struggles to get anywhere near that.

Well a GTD is a sports hatch and in real world driving there would be very little difference between it and a GTI.

starlit

At the moment the diesel cars especially if 1.4 seem to be cheaper to run, 1.6 might be a bit more on fuel, a bit more expensive to buy than a petrol car that's 1.4. A 1.3 or less I better for a petrol car I think. It depends on the car too, I'd be comparing the yaris, auris, vw polo/golf and ford fiestas. The diesel be more expensive second hand to buy than the petrol ones but when comparing petrol and diesel cars, the diesel ones are cheaper to run.