Diesel vs. Petrol Question

haminka

OK, I need some advice from experts on the following :

A colleague of mine insists that he needs a diesel for the following :

he travels every day to work, altogether does max. 5 miles a day of commuting /that includes both ways/, i.e. 2.5 miles each way
every two weeks he does a return journey with 130 miles each way.

He insists diesel is the most economical option for him, petrol is bad. He can't drive manual, has to be automatic, 1.6 engine.
What's your opinions? He changes the car every 2-3 years. He's not one into taking any other trips, prefers to keep to his own.

UnknownSpecies

As far as my limited knowledge goes, I'm sure that is not a big enough distance to be getting decent savings on fuel for a diesel. You would have to be commuting 40+ motorway miles to make a decent saving I would reckon.

He is probably better off getting a small petrol with that money.

Anan1

2 1/2 miles each way? He needs a bicycle!

keithclancy

Anan1 wrote: »

2 1/2 miles each way? He needs a bicycle!

+1 My bike gets 1 Chicken Vindaloo / 10km

Emissions are awful though

bazz26

This is typical sheep mentality. The guy is doing less than 5,000 miles a year and he thinks he needs a diesel. Tell him do the maths including the difference in purchase price and maintenance costs between a diesel and petrol car. Take that away from the potential savings he will make at the pump and in motor tax (both not guaranteed forever). Should take him about 10 years to actually save money by buying diesel.

Somebody who does less than 5000 miles per year and is happy to spend thousands every 2 or 3 years upgrading his car should not be letting fuel costs influence his decision.

haminka

Anan1 wrote: »

2 1/2 miles each way? He needs a bicycle!

Well, that's not an option, he's partially disabled. Bet he'd change the car for a bike if he could.

haminka

bazz26 wrote: »

This is typical sheep mentality. The guy is doing less than 5,000 miles a year and he thinks he needs a diesel. Tell him do the maths including the difference in purchase price and maintenance costs between a diesel and petrol car. Take that away from the potential savings he will make at the pump and in motor tax (both not guaranteed forever). Should take him about 10 years to actually save money by buying diesel.

Somebody who does less than 5000 miles per year and is happy to spend thousands every 2 or 3 years upgrading his car should not be letting fuel costs influence his decision.

He is disabled so the state pays a part of the price, plus the fact that the car is quite new with lower mileage allows him to get more for it as a trade in.

Anan1

haminka wrote: »

Well, that's not an option, he's partially disabled. Bet he'd change the car for a bike if he could.

Petrol all the way, so. A diesel won't like all those short trips, the DPF will end up getting blocked.

dr.fuzzenstein

Anan1 wrote: »

Petrol all the way, so. A diesel won't like all those short trips, the DPF will end up getting blocked.

+1
And engine oil will end up looking like Hellman's.

Nissan doctor

We all know, of course, that no matter what you or we say, he will buy a diesel anyway:rolleyes:

dr.fuzzenstein

Nissan doctor wrote: »

We all know, of course, that no matter what you or we say, he will buy a diesel anyway:rolleyes:

Yep, 'cause 'tis chaep!