Which car to choose??

theflash

looking for some advice on a family car. looking to change to a diesel from 1.4 almera petrol. which car would be most economical on the juice?
mostly doing short trips. 3 to 4 miles maybe 4 to 5 times per day. school runs and football training. price range 5k. was thinking a vw passat or similar?

JohnBoy26

theflash wrote: »

looking for some advice on a family car. looking to change to a diesel from 1.4 almera petrol. which car would be most economical on the juice?
mostly doing short trips. 3 to 4 miles maybe 4 to 5 times per day. school runs and football training. price range 5k. was thinking a vw passat or similar?

No point going diesel with that small stop/start mileage. A good petrol car is what id be getting if I was in your position.

166man

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

No point going diesel with that small stop/start mileage. A good petrol car is what id be getting if I was in your position.

Depends, really. If the OP could pick up a newer 406 HDI for relatively little then she would have a comfy, economical family car. No DPF or any of those crappy things that make diesels so silly in the City. Could pick up a very good one for €2k.

Have to do the full figures first and only the OP knows these.

Chuck Stone

Honda Jazz
2006
1.2
106,000 Kilometres
Honda service history
€5,100

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4614835

JohnBoy26

166man wrote: »

Depends, really. If the OP could pick up a newer 406 HDI for relatively little then she would have a comfy, economical family car. No DPF or any of those crappy things that make diesels so silly in the City. Could pick up a very good one for €2k.

Have to do the full figures first and only the OP knows these.

For that small mileage it's not worth it because you won't save much on mpg as the diesel needs longer to warm up and won't become economical until it does, you will save on tax with the petrol car.

Also I wouldn't recommend a 406 at this stage as most are over ten years old and these are not a car that takes age well at all.

166man

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

For that small mileage it's not worth it because you won't save much on mpg as the diesel needs longer to warm up and won't become economical until it does, you will save on tax with the petrol car.

Also I wouldn't recommend a 406 at this stage as most are over ten years old and these are not a car that takes age well at all.

I'm a bit skeptical about the argument of diesels warming up and not being economical until they do. A diesel 406 will still easily do over 40mpg I'd have thought. The saving on tax though is a good point.

I'd be buying a car based on condition and not age tbh too.

JohnBoy26

166man wrote: »

I'm a bit skeptical about the argument of diesels warming up and not being economical until they do. A diesel 406 will still easily do over 40mpg I'd have thought. The saving on tax though is a good point.

I'd be buying a car based on condition and not age tbh too.

Well more goes wrong/needs doing in some cars compared to others when they age. A 406 diesel as comfortable and as nice to drive as they are would be classed as one of these cars in my book. They get nasty with age imo.

Now of course as you say if you could get a well maintained good condition example all well and good, but this is Ireland, a place where good examles of diesel cars are few and far between.

A good petrol 1.0L -1.4 should easily get 40 mpg in mixed driving.

I wouldn't bother with the diesel, not worth the higher tax if you're not doing the mileage. And they are not economical in slow town or short trips,

To be honest you'd be best to keep your Almera if it's not knackered.

If it must be a diesel then look for the Opel Corsa or Astra 1.3 cdti or fiat Punto 1.3 multijet (same engine) but their small size would be a little more economical in town then a 1.9 or 2.0L.

The Passats aren't the most reliable cars, but the older 1.9 TDI is very reliable, avoid the 2.0L TDI int eh 2005-2009 in the older model. Avoid the 1.6 Petrol, VW petrols are not the most reliable.

A decent size car and ultra reliable and very economical would be the Toyota Prius, 2004-09 it would be more economical than the Passat especially for town traffic.

You will pick up one with 80-100,000 miles for 5,000-6,000 Euro's but they go forever.

theflash

dont really like the look of the 406. the punto 1.3 is a possibility maybe a bit small. i will do a search for a prius. cheers lads.
would an avensis 2l diesel be economical?

No 2.0L in a big car will be economical for your kind of driving I'm afraid, that's why I said the 1.3 diesels at least, you will find them in the Astra, but they are rare and you will most likely pay a premium. They are all chain cam too.

I have a Prius so I can recommend them so if you got any questions you can PM me.

colm_mcm

For that sort of driving maybe an old model civic ima r if you could gt a mk2 Prius

Bpmull

Op I'm a big diesel fan and have only ever driven diesels but tbh for your type of driving 4 miles at a time they would be pointless. The reason I drive a diesel is my local nearest shop is 10 miles away the nearest town is 12 miles so I never drive any less than 10 miles. My focus diesel takes about 8miles to warm up on these cold days. When a diesel is warming up it is harder on diesel without a doubt. As for a 1.3 diesel astra or fiat I had an astra 1.3cdti and it done 50mpg but most of the time I drove it it was on 150km journeys at a time if I was only to tip around town in it it would do 35-40mpg most petrol car would do near that. Not trying to put you of diesel but if you only do 15-20 mile a day there is no advantage to owning one unless of course you do a load of long trips at the weekend etc.

wildefalcon

OP, why are people saying you should get a petrol?

Here's why:


A modern diesel needs to get hot.

It's not a universal truth but most modern diesels have a filter that captures the soot in the exhaust, every now and then this filter has to be heated up (nearly red hot) to burn the soot cleanly (near enough).

Lots of short trips will mean that the filter is less likely to get red hot to clean itself, which means that the filter may stop working, costing money.

The saving on MPG is out weighed by the cost of servicing the car. It's not all about MPG.

That's one of the reasons why.

A simple modern petrol is very close to a diesel in MPG on short trips, and can be cheaper to service, has less to go wrong, costs less to buy.

Most experienced drivers would say you'd need 10,000 kilometers a year to make a diesel pay.

colm_mcm

With the exception of some early French stuff that I'd avoid anyway, a 5 grand diesel probably doesn't have a dpf

Gael23

You won't see any saving with a diesel with your mileage and price range. You will be looking pre 08 so high tax and higher cost to buy as with any diesel. Better to put your money into an economical petrol

To be honest no car is great for short trips unless it's electric, because electrics don't care if the trips are long or short but on the OP's budget that's not an option so my money is on the Prius. but even that won't do super mpg unless it's driving so it can recharge the battery, but it will always be better than a diesel for that mileage. most important it's one of the most reliable cars out there and it has more than proved itself.

bazz26

Diesels are selling for silly money these days even the knackered ones fetch crazy money because everyone wants them, even people who don't actually have any real need for one. Your €5k will stretch alot more on a petrol car than a diesel one.