Volkswagen Golf 1.6 petrol or 1.9 diesel.

rednik

A friend of mine asked me a question recently and I couldn't answer him so if somebody here can help me please.
This is the scenario : He travels 120 mile round trip 5 days a week and is looking to buy a golf but he has two models in mind. Both are the same year 01. The models are the 1.6 petrol or the 1.9 diesel. Which of these cars would be the more economical or is there much of a difference. Thanks

Drummerboy08

Diesel. 100% if he's doing that mileage everyday.

bmcgrath

Defo the 1.9 diesel!

madds

What if the mileage was closer to 50 mls per day 5 days a week?

Bearcat

diesel ditto all the way. Those 1.6 petrol engine golfs are nothing to write home about. Make sure he gets the turbo diesel as the sdi is asmatic.

kluivert

Madds - 50 miles per day - Petrol 1.4 or 1.6.

For the OP, GF does 100 mile round trip and we got her a diesel. No way could she manage in a petrol.

Also, if you are going to be doing that sort of mileage get a car with a big fuel tank, instead of filling up every other day, get an 01 Audi A4 Sport - 6 speed and it has a 70 l fuel tank.

Other recommendation would be a Ford Mondeo 2l deisel 130bhp version.

If its motorway mileage then the Ford will eat them up with no problem. The tie rods are leak on them but everything else is very good, very good engine in them.

HashSlinging

Bearcat wrote: »

diesel ditto all the way. Those 1.6 petrol engine golfs are nothing to write home about. Make sure he gets the turbo diesel as the sdi is asmatic.

No contest on the mileage should be the 1.9 Tdi, make sure he gets the 115 bhp PD or 130bhp PD.

??? the 1.6 16v petrol is a very good engine, very reliable and more than enough poke for daily use 105+ bhp for the 16v, you'll looking at around 35 - 38mpg at a constant 100kph. It will also cost less to own as tax and insurance will be cheaper, it should also be a lot cheaper to purchase.

Matt Simis

HashSlinging wrote: »

No contest on the mileage should be the 1.9 Tdi, make sure he gets the 115 bhp PD or 130bhp PD.

??? the 1.6 16v petrol is a very good engine, very reliable and more than enough poke for daily use 105+ bhp for the 16v, you'll looking at around 35 - 38mpg at a constant 100kph. It will also cost less to own as tax and insurance will be cheaper, it should also be a lot cheaper to purchase.

Yeah, it was the old 2.0L petrol that had almost the same BHP but weighed more than the 1.6 that was a dog.

HashSlinging

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volkswagen/Golf/GT-TDI-1/200852191288893/advert

TGi666

get the diesel and you'll never look back

stretchaq

kluivert wrote: »

Madds - 50 miles per day - Petrol 1.4 or 1.6.


Also, if you are going to be doing that sort of mileage get a car with a big fuel tank, instead of filling up every other day, get an 01 Audi A4 Sport - 6 speed and it has a 70 l fuel tank.

tought they werent six speed till 02 i had a 01 and twas 5 speed

Tech3

once its not the 1.4, some disaster of a car. Cant got wrong with the diesel

DaMonk

stretchaq wrote: »

tought they werent six speed till 02 i had a 01 and twas 5 speed

I think any of the sport models were 6 speed. once above 115bhp.

BFassassin

I have a 1.6 petrol golf and for that sort of milage I would recommend the diesel for sure. As Hashslinging said the 1.6 will only get around 35mpg roughly per tank.
Dont get me wrong its still a good car but the diesel will be cheaper to run.
I know tax is higher for the diesel but mine is 450 euro this year

rednik

Sorry for the delay in responding but thanks to all. I passed on the info and he has decided on the diesel. Once again thanks to you all.

Evil Al

Hi all,

Trying to make a similar decision, but for much lower mileage requirements. What's the cutoff where getting a diesel makes sense?

EPM

it all depends on how much you are spending on the petrol car or the diesel car. Then calculate how much each will cost you to fuel on your yearly mileage. Then factor into account that the diesel will be worth more and sell easier afterwards too. If your mileage is tiny dont bother with paying extra for a diesel secondhand. On a new car though it might be worthwhile just going diesel

Evil Al

EPM wrote: »

If your mileage is tiny dont bother with paying extra for a diesel secondhand.

Yeah, will be less than 5k miles pa and it's secondhand. So that answers that. Thanks for the info!

P.C.

Diesel is not always more cost effective.

It does depent on the car, and the milage you intend to do.

Remember that you have to service a diesel car more often than a petrol.

I went from petrol to diesel, then back to petrol, because the diesel was costing too much to service, and I was not doing enough milage to make it cost effective.

bazz26

P.C. wrote: »

Diesel is not always more cost effective.

It does depent on the car, and the milage you intend to do.

Remember that you have to service a diesel car more often than a petrol.

I went from petrol to diesel, then back to petrol, because the diesel was costing too much to service, and I was not doing enough milage to make it cost effective.

Most modern diesels have the same service intervals as petrols. I switched to diesel almost 2 years ago and it cost no more to service than my previous petrol car.

When faced with the petrol v diesel question the biggest expense you need to look at is the difference in price between a diesel model and petrol model. This is where mileage comes into it to justify the extra cost of buying a diesel. However also take into account when doing the maths, the fact that a diesel car will be worth more come selling time.

Hard to justify the premium of a diesel car if only doing 5000 miles a year imo.