11 Corolla, diesel or petrol?

Royal Seahawk

Hi, I'm currently looking to purchase a Toyota Corolla, 10 or 11 year reg. I was all set for a 1.4 diesel but having recently discovered that the tax is the same on a 1.3 petrol I am now considering my options.

I'm just wondering can anyone on here guide me to the difference in cost of running either car? Will the 1.3 petrol cost vastly more to run than the diesel or is the difference minimal? The car would be doing around 250-300 miles a week.

I would have assumed that the diesel would be far cheaper to run but I haven't a clue about these new modern petrol engines and what they're capable of.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

JohnBoy26

The diesel will be more economical and that engine is more tolerant than others when doing stop start small mileage. However the 1.33 engine is a very good unit and if not doing big miles I'd pick it over the diesel.

The thing is though while the engines are nice enough, the car itself isn't.

That model corolla is a poor car. The build quality is poor by previous standards and they are cheaply made. Tbh there are far better options out there. The reliability and quality trump card Toyota held over the competition is long gone.

Something like an i30 or KIA cee'd would be a much better bet IMO. The cars themselves are well made and they will still have a good bit of warranty left over.

colm_mcm

The 1.33 petrol is a lovely engine but won't be as near the mpg of the diesel in real life as the figures would suggest.
Had an urban cruiser with they engine before and a diesel corolla or avensis does vastly better mpg.
If you're doing a lot of stop start driving the petrol is more pleasant.
The corolla is outclassed by its rivals though, its massive on the outside and tiny on the inside, you need to go top spec to get acceptable levels of equipment.
The 1.33 petrol will undoubtedly outlive the diesel and should retain alright value with the low tax.


Agree 1000% on johnboys view of the kia/Hyundai but they're hatchbacks.

Royal Seahawk

Thanks lads. When you say you'd pick the petrol over the diesel if not doing high mileage, would 250-300 miles a week be considered high?

ofcork

The quality seems to be hit or miss,guy at work had a 10 that went back so many times the dealer ended up replacing it.

colm_mcm

Royal Seahawk wrote: »

Thanks lads. When you say you'd pick the petrol over the diesel if not doing high mileage, would 250-300 miles a week be considered high?

If I was doing that mileage post 08 I'd probably go diesel but not in a corolla

toyotaavensis

300 miles a week is 15000 miles a year. 12000 is average milage so I would go petrol if I was you. I would be thinking of going for something other than the corolla though. I would be looking at an astra focus lancer or mazda3. If you believe what they say about renault quality being improved then you could consider a fluence.

colm_mcm

There isn't really much saving on the price of a 1.33 petrol to buy vs diesel though.

Royal Seahawk

colm_mcm wrote: »

There isn't really much saving on the price of a 1.33 petrol to buy vs diesel though.

You'd be surprised. Average of around 2 grand price difference between the two, circa 10 or 11 reg.

colm_mcm

Then there's a case for it.

toyotaavensis

If there is two grand of a difference in price and lets say you get 40 mpg out of the petrol car and 55 from the diesel. I cant find these figures online.
This means per week if you do 300 miles you will use 7.5 galons of petrol a week or 5.4 galos of diesel. This is roughly 50 euro on petrol or 35 on diesel.

That would mean that it will be two and a half years for the diesel to pay for itself.

colm_mcm

I'm not sure you'd actually get 45mpg out of it. I only got 40 from Yaris based Urban Cruiser.

toyotaavensis

edited numbers to 40 - would 55 seem reasonable with the diesel.

colm_mcm

Yep. Even I got that out of the diesels.

toyotaavensis

Does the DMF last in them?