High Mileage Petrol v Diesel

eddie-n07

I work for a big civils/roadbuilding firm and have recently been moved to Limerick! Im living in Kilkenny so the drive is 2 hours + there and back say 180mile round trip - 150 - 200 euro a week petrol!!

Im currently driving a 1.4 petrol VW Bora and im seriously looking into changing to a diesel - more fuel effecient etc...

I know diesel isnt any cheaper at the pumps and may be dearer to buy but will it work out cheaper for me in long term???

Thanks in advance

Mr. Presentable

Depends on many things, but on a like for like you see about 15% more mileage per litre from deisel.

alpina

As mentioned before many variables to consider..at the moment with the current value of things one reaaly needs to consider the 'real' cost of changing, current value of your car, trade in allowance etc etc Possibly would buy a lot of petrol for what the dealers will charge you to trade even if you think/feel you are trading like for like...

eddie-n07

So on a €200 a week petrol cost i would only be looking at a €30 saving @15%??

eddie-n07

Say if i upgraded to a tdi VW Passat Costing approx €14000

Current value at trade in of an 02 bora hopefully €4000

€10,000 + additional tax and insurance say €11000 all in

I dont think that is gonna help my petrol bills in this economic climate!

Mr.David

I disagree. Choose a diesel wisely and you will see a 25% plus increase in mpg.

Example:

VW golf 1.4 estimate 35 - 40 mpg average

VW golf 1.9 tdi estimate 50 - 60 mpg

the other thing you need to consider apart from the direct cost relating to fuel would be the cost of changing car as you always loose money by changing.

on the whole though I am feeling to lazy to do the proper calculations and will conclude by saying that yes you should change to a diesel.:)

Anan1

Mr.David wrote: »

on the whole though I am feeling to lazy to do the proper calculations and will conclude by saying that yes you should change to a diesel.:)

+1. Although there is a caveat - how long will you be working in Limerick for? Too short a time and it's not worth changing cars, too long and i'd consider moving to Limerick. That kind of a drive after a full day's work is a killer on all fronts.

L-M

eddie-n07 wrote: »

Say if i upgraded to a tdi VW Passat Costing approx €14000

Current value at trade in of an 02 bora hopefully €4000

€10,000 + additional tax and insurance say €11000 all in

I dont think that is gonna help my petrol bills in this economic climate!

Actually, in the VW dealership in Limerick there is great value in 06 TDi Passats. I would advise going in for a look. Apparently they are flooded with them, and the 1.9tdi comfortline, new, has come down to something like €28,300 (since the 13th of Nov) as appossed to the €33,000 it was last year. Benifits all round for the buyer.

My dad does a 60 mile round trip to work every day and he wouldnt even dream of driving a petrol. He drives a 307 1.4hdi and gets over 50 mpg. He brings my 318ci every now and again and said he couldnt keep petrol in it(I get just over 30mpg, though he would drive more economically) if he drove it every day and his drive is traffic free also all back roads.(That said there are much more economical petrol cars around)

leincar

I've just driven 408kms to Newry and back for €26. Cost per litre 99.9cent.

VW Passat 2.0tdi if that helps at all.

L-M

leincar wrote: »

I've just driven 408kms to Newry and back for €26. Cost per litre 99.9cent.

VW Passat 2.0tdi if that helps at all.

Roughly 59 mpg, sound good. Unless i've done my maths wrong.

Edit : 59 kph, maybe i have done it wrong.

leincar

I think its around 45mpg. Not bad for a low flying car with a roof box and full to the brim coming back down.

eddie-n07

I will be working down here until next october! Then moved on again!

I think i will just buy a reasonably priced diesel and see how it goes i know its bound to bring savings!

Maybe an 05/06 Golf say €14,000 - doesnt seem unreasonable and maybe €4000 for my 02 Bora (Hopefully)

As regards moving down here! No interest and know nobody in the place!

408kms to Newry and back for €26. Thats 250miles am i right?

What year is your VW Passat 2.0tdi and can i buy it :pac:

If my calcs are right thats €26/250miles = €0.10/mile x 180miles = 18 x 5days = €90/week

Much better than €150

leincar

Its an 08 with the DSG gearbox. Colour me biased but I love the thing.

BlackWizard

Definitely got with Diesel.

I drive a 2003 VW Passat TDi 130. It's been great so far. Very comfortable, fairly quick engine and very economical.

I drove into the city center the other day for shopping. When I got home I noticed I done 37MPG and that's driving with a heavy foot and being stuck in traffic for a good bit.

When I'm driving up the North or down to Wicklow I usually can get 47MPG. That's motorway miles and once again with a heavy foot and at a nice speed I once drove from Palmerstown to Greystones and got 54MPG. Too much effort and I had to keep the speed down to about 90kmph

Geizer

I have owned a 2.0D4D Toyota Avensis and 1.4VVTI Toyota Corolla, both of which has MPG journey calculators.

On a typical medium range journey, the Corolla would get 40MPG, the Avensis around 55MPG, which is a saving of around 35%. In addition the Avensis has more power. Only downside is higher tax, and a slight increase in insurance.

CamphireCowboy

Diesel has to win hands down. I drive an octavia chipped from 90bhp to 120bhp, Easy driving 80-120Kph gives me over 60mpg, about 650 miles to a fill of diesel plus the bora is 75bhp, it's a win win situation with a diesel.

Tony Broke

You dont have to get a VW, so many other great diesels for under 10k.

The award winning 1.6 tdci diesel used in the newer Focus's/ 307's is the way to go.50-60mpg, 110bhp and cheap road tax.

Peugeot 307 1.6 HDI 110BHP 2004 €5999

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=1196689

air

I'd check out the Bangeromics thread if I were you tbh, you're already effectively taking a 33% paycut spending 4 hours of your own time getting to and from work. When you add in travel costs, a co worker of yours that lives near the job and walks to work could be making twice as much per hour as you are. You should treat the car like a tool and not a showpiece, even more so when you're going to be driving it into the ground with that kind of mileage. IMO there's very little difference in comfort between a cheap and an expensive car, good seats are the main factor.

Mr.David

air wrote: »

IMO there's very little difference in comfort between a cheap and an expensive car, good seats are the main factor.

Are you for real?!

Ferris

air wrote: »

I'd check out the Bangeromics thread if I were you tbh, you're already effectively taking a 33% paycut spending 4 hours of your own time getting to and from work. When you add in travel costs, a co worker of yours that lives near the job and walks to work could be making twice as much per hour as you are. You should treat the car like a tool and not a showpiece, even more so when you're going to be driving it into the ground with that kind of mileage. IMO there's very little difference in comfort between a cheap and an expensive car, good seats are the main factor.

+1

The car will be worth nothing within a year due to the mileage. I'd buy a good Citroen Xantia hdi (I can put someone onto a guy who sources and maintains them) for nowt and its one of the most comfortable cars out there. Good seats and great suspension. C5's would be the same there too. They have been known to put up mega mileage, 500k+.

You'd get this for 4k easy:

http://cars.rte.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=1203262

Not a looker but comfortable, reliable and economical.