Diesel Versus Petrol: Need some advice....

miftha

Need some advice on cost of ownership of a diesel over a petrol car.

Yes diesel is more economical so that is a major plus point, performance maybe a bit worse than petrol but acceptable.

Main question is what is the servicing cost of a diesel versus a petrol car? Same or more expensive, if yes by how much? Is servicing required more often, how many miles typically? Are oil changes required more often? Are they reliable, cold weather affect them at all?

Old diesel needed a warm up period (maybe bad terminology) before you could start them, is this still the case?

Any advice appreciated, pros or cons.

maidhc

miftha wrote:

Yes diesel is more economical so that is a major plus point, performance maybe a bit worse than petrol but acceptable.

In some cases the diesel is more powerful, e.g. Corolla 1.4 D4D v Corolla 1.4 VVti

miftha wrote:

Main question is what is the servicing cost of a diesel versus a petrol car?
Same or more expensive, if yes by how much? Is servicing required more often, how many miles typically? Are oil changes required more often?

Same as petrols pretty much.

miftha wrote:

Are they reliable, cold weather affect them at all?

No, never experienced a diesel not starting. It might take a couple more cranks at worst, but it depends on the car. My mondeo never loved cold mornings, but always started after 2/3 turns. They dont have an ignition system so there is less to go wrong in this department.

miftha wrote:

Old diesel needed a warm up period (maybe bad terminology) before you could start them, is this still the case?
Any advice appreciated, pros or cons.

The glowplugs need 1 - 5 seconds. It is best to idle a turbo engine (be it petrol or diesel) for about 60 seconds before moving off and not hammer it until it warms up. Also you should give it a minute or two to cool down after driving.

The only con to diesels I think the price new, and possibly the cost of repair to the injection system if it breaks. Some people complain about the power band being narrow, but I think you get used to the different style quickly.

Ronan Raver77

Power of the diesels is great.Price of diesel is slightly more at the moment.Gone are the days when diesel was way cheaper.Short of it i prefer driving diesels.