Diesel vs petrol car?

Keiweb

Hi everyone,I've decided to upgrade my car in the new year from a 1.4 petrol and have my eye on a few different cars.the one I currently want is the Volvo s40 or a Saab 93. I had a diesel 1.9 Audi a4 2yrs ago but encountered problems with its turbo.i dont do a lot of miles so mostly around town miles and am stuck on wether to go 1.6 diesel or petrol and would prefer something in the new tax bracket but I'm stuck on what's best long term..petrol or diesel?

650Ginge

Keiweb wrote: »

Hi everyone,I've decided to upgrade my car in the new year from a 1.4 petrol and have my eye on a few different cars.the one I currently want is the Volvo s40 or a Saab 93. I had a diesel 1.9 Audi a4 2yrs ago but encountered problems with its turbo.i dont do a lot of miles so mostly around town miles and am stuck on wether to go 1.6 diesel or petrol and would prefer something in the new tax bracket but I'm stuck on what's best long term..petrol or diesel?

These posts come up too often. Maybe some actual facts might help. How many miles, what type of driving/roads, budget?

Why 'new tax bracket'? hardly new any more it is co2 calculation method. Also you pay through the nose to save not usually very much in tax so do the sums it can often be a 10 year payback.

Keiweb

Was lookin for a saloon car under 10,000 e and average maybe 50 km a week driving

650Ginge

Keiweb wrote: »

Was lookin for a saloon car under 10,000 e and average maybe 50 km a week driving

Firstly I was thinking why bother, then I was thinking you lucky bastid.

At that mileage no economic reason for diesel. If it was me it would v8 +.

Petrol it's a no brainer.

Keiweb

I'm like a child in a sweet shop when lookin at cars,currently leaning towards a volvos40 so a1.6petrol it may well be

johndaman66

650Ginge wrote: »

Firstly I was thinking why bother, then I was thinking you lucky bastid.

At that mileage no economic reason for diesel. If it was me it would v8 +.

Petrol it's a no brainer.

In fact I'd go one further to say why bother with a car at all at that kind of mileage. I'd walk that distance in a bad week;). But yeah if you live in the back ar$e of beyond or even work funny kind of hours in a more populated area you will be needing wheels.

50 kilometres per week is less than 1,600 miles per annum. To be contemplating buying a diesel at that sort of mileage is insanity of the highest order

Idbatterim

These posts come up too often. Maybe some actual facts might help. How many miles, what type of driving/roads, budget?

Why 'new tax bracket'? hardly new any more it is co2 calculation method. Also you pay through the nose to save not usually very much in tax so do the sums it can often be a 10 year payback.

this hits the nail on the head, "new tax bracket" i.e. emissions based are cheaper than same cars on CC in MOST cases. But the 08's are about to go 6 years old, so hardly new.

At that mileage no economic reason for diesel. If it was me it would v8 +.

Petrol it's a no brainer.

Im thinking of a 645 as my next car, but you have to bear in mind, the tax will be E1809 and any v8 will be a luxury car and if anything major goes wrong, it could nearly make the car a write off at the prices they are selling for now. Op definetly go for a petrol, that "mileage" is minuscule...

Costs to factor in:

depreciation
loan interest if applicable
opportunity cost
tax
insurance
fuel
general wear items and servicing

Keiweb

The way I've been lookin at it is diesel is cheaper at the pump and can go longer and you could pay near 300e less tax on an 08 upwards..oh I don't know

Bpmull

Keiweb wrote: »

The way I've been lookin at it is diesel is cheaper at the pump and can go longer and you could pay near 300e less tax on an 08 upwards..oh I don't know

How long do you drive on average at a time with out stopping a few km. the problem is diesels aren't that efficient when there cold and it takes them at least 6 km or so to get to operating temperature so unless your doing the 50km a week on one journey and even then. 2860 km a year it's just so little petrol will be cheaper in the long run as you have to be doing at least 20k km a year for a diesel to make sense.

Idbatterim

diesel is marginally cheaper BUT there is far more to go wrong and if it does, one thing with your mileage could wipe out the diesel saving for more than a decade. they usually cost far more than the petrol equivalent, and the biggest con in my opinion, its a diesel!!! Ok 1.6 on CC is E514 a year, I only see 1.8L petrols from 08 and onwards and the motor tax on these is E750 per year... yeah just double checked, there are 1.6 pre 2008... The 1.6 is a small engine for an S40, not that the S40 is a big car...

MuppetCheck

Keiweb wrote: »

The way I've been lookin at it is diesel is cheaper at the pump and can go longer and you could pay near 300e less tax on an 08 upwards..oh I don't know

Short journeys will cause certain parts to fail costing you more in the long run. Added to the fact the petrol car will be cheaper to buy, most likely have lower mileage and if you chose right the tax difference can be minimised will mean that it will be the better choice for your use.

Scortho

Keiweb wrote: »

The way I've been lookin at it is diesel is cheaper at the pump and can go longer and you could pay near 300e less tax on an 08 upwards..oh I don't know

It's a few cents cheaper at the tank alright but how much cheaper is a 08 petrol with 80k miles compared to a 08 diesel.
The petrol will be significantly cheaper that you'd need to own the diesel a good many years in order to get those savings on original outlay.

Keiweb

Would an Audi a4 1.6ltr petrol be a good car to get?

Uriel.

How does one get around the fact that some lovely cars are diesel only.

Like I don't be doing many kms these days but I would really like to buy an XF. Only diesel available (in the newer models post 2009)

Idbatterim

Im sure you mean only diesel for sale in Ireland, you could import from uk...

Uriel.

Idbatterim wrote: »

Im sure you mean only diesel for sale in Ireland, you could import from uk...

There's petrol XF s? In the UK?

Personally, I'm not sure I'd take the risk on a UK import anyway

bazz26

The XF is available in 2.0 litre, 3.0 litre, 4.2 litre & 5.0 litre petrol in the UK.

Scortho

Uriel. wrote: »

There's petrol XF s? In the UK?

Personally, I'm not sure I'd take the risk on a UK import anyway

According to jag uk there a 3.0 l petrol.
No point in really getting a jag if it has a tiny engine.

I'd walk into an irish dealer and tell them in no uncertain circumstances that you want a petrol one.

Idbatterim

Personally, I'm not sure I'd take the risk on a UK import anyway

what risk are you taking buying used over there, that you arent here? you would get a proper history and finance check done and then get the ridiculously comprehensive AA or RAC car check on it...

Uriel.

Scortho wrote: »

According to jag uk there a 3.0 l petrol.
No point in really getting a jag if it has a tiny engine.

I'd walk into an irish dealer and tell them in no uncertain circumstances that you want a petrol one.

I'd be buying second hand, so i am not so sure i'd have a strong influence to demand from the dealers.

I'd be looking for 3 litre

Uriel.

Idbatterim wrote: »

what risk are you taking buying used over there, that you arent here? you would get a proper history and finance check done and then get the ridiculously comprehensive AA or RAC car check on it...

I don't know. I never imported from the UK (or even researched it much) so wouldn't even know where to begin in terms of what to look out for (or how to go about the checks etc)

Scortho

Uriel. wrote: »

I'd be buying second hand, so i am not so sure i'd have a strong influence to demand from the dealers.

I'd be looking for 3 litre

Oh right sorry I thought you were looking for one new.
Your best bet is the uk then. I'd rather buy a car in the uk than in Ireland as they're generally better spec'd and looked after better. That said if the right car came up in Ireland I'd buy it here (eg 3.0 l alfa gtv).

kirving

Kind of in the same boat at the OP as regard car choices and budget, but I expect mileage to be over 500km per week, maybe more. I think it really has to be diesel though.

Scortho

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Kind of in the same boat at the OP as regard car choices and budget, but I expect mileage to be over 500km per week, maybe more. I think it really has to be diesel though.

Yeah either diesel or LPG!:)