Should I stick with my diesel or let go

5.7l/100km is quite high for a diesel actually. My (Opel Astra) can get a fairly reliable 4.7l/100km.

Perhaps look at driving habits? Drop from 120kmh to 100 or 105kmh on the motorway as a start. Will save a surprising amount.

My ex taxi Fluence is still going strong as a taxi with 500k on it.

I'd stick with it.

Serviced on time, every time I'd say or even before time? Shows what's possible with modern engines.

On time, definitely.

It's the only way.

It doesn’t feel like two years since you got the Fluence Frank

I would keep it. It will cost you a lot to change cars and fuel prices will stabilise eventually. Diesel cars are more efficient than petrol, so even if diesel is a bit more expensive it will still work out to be the same.

If you want to change car then there is nothing stopping you. But if your objective is to save money on running costs then you won't do it by changing cars. A diesel car will be more fuel efficient than a petrol car for your mileage and that's before you even get into the cost of changing your car.

Go green. Simple and easiest change to save

If you want to change your car, change your car. There is no need to be dreaming up bizarre reasons to justify changing. If you are unhappy with Renault and their actions, don't buy a brand new one.

Why? Is reliability that much of a problem.

5.7 l/100km quite high? No its not. It is a very decent number.

Really? I thought it was quite high - I guess I'm used to my Astra which is extremely efficient so. I used to get 6.6l/100km out of my petrol Suzuki Swift - I figured a diesel would be better than just 1l/100km less. Maybe I'm just lucky (or a careful driver!)

Can I jump In with the opposite.

Would I be mad to buy a diesel merc w204?

I do less than 7-10k km per Yr, usually a few long trips per month. The rest very short distance city driving.

Would the long motorway dublin cork/limerick trips once a month make up for the very short shunts around town? It's not really fuel costs but of dpf style damage.

I cant afford a hybrid/electric amd there are no petrols. It's shite.

Even Dublin to Cork once a month is more than enough to keep a DPF clean, especially if your not driving much around the city (2,000km or so per year?)

Yep very little city driving. Maybe a few trips to the shops or events. All under 50km(ish!)

I was worried would that clog up faster than I get a chance to clean it.

I've never owned a diesel, just german petrols, so didn't know there was an in-between with dpfs. I thought I was working or f**ked!

So thanks for that info.

I remember people explaining how much they were saving in tax to me after trading in a perfectly good car for a new one.

I just bit my lip and said congratulations on the new car :)

You wouldn't like mine then 😁 6-7.xl/100km average which I think is pretty good when my last one was more 7-8l/100km and that was/is with mostly motorway driving. I do like to make decent progress though when conditions allow.

I disagree with this slow down/dawdle on the motorway advice that Eamon Ryan started though. All it does is add to congestion/issues as such drivers becoming rolling roadblocks that others then have to overtake unnecessarily resulting in delays in both lanes.

Personally my time and a hassle-free drive is far more important to me.

100km is costing you roughly ~€11 at present.

Would you consider an EV? 100km in my EV costs me roughly €1.20 (charging at home during night rate)

30,000km in ICE = €3,300

30,000km in EV = €360

over 3 years that's a saving of almost €9k (assuming diesel doesn't get any more expensive), so if you consider an EV, remember to factor in the fuel savings into what your budget would be.

Then you have reduced maintenance costs as well as cheaper tax..

Mine cost €49k as I bought it brand new 2 years ago, though nowadays there are a load of sub €40k EV's, and quite a good few sub €30k ones too. The choice has increased 10 fold in only a few short years.

Electricity prices would have to increase by around 1,000% to bring price parity with petrol/diesel (and that would be assuming petrol/diesel prices remained as they are today). Although there's a way around expensive electricity prices too.. Over the last 10-12 days or so I put about 450km of range into my car from the sun, and only drove about 400km in that time. So from March to probably September, I'll be buying fcuk all electricity for the car (unless I need a full charge for a trip somewhere).

The thing is though that somebody struggling to fill their fuel tank right now is hardly going to be a position to spend or borrow 30k on a new EV. Front loading the cost of running a car is great if you can afford it. And before someone else suggests a cheap Mk1 Nissan Leaf, they are practically useless to someone driving 30,000km per year.

Regarding fuel, nobody ever saw petrol or diesel hitting €2 a litre yet it happened so I wouldn't take cheap electricity for a car as a given long term. It will be the new currency for car running costs and will come at a cost too. And alternative sources of acquiring "free" electricity costs money up front too in the form of such things as installing solar panels, heat pumps, etc. Not affordable or practical for many.

Nothing to do with savings (in terms of the car), they are simply a nice little bonus for us.

I did introduce EV's to the conversation, because a consequence of us switching to an EV meant we saw huge savings vs our old diesel car (7.5l/100km)

It's not the main reason we switched to EV though.

OP is looking for cheaper alternatives to his current car, and an EV is going to by far give the biggest savings.