09/10 Merc C class (petrol v diesel/price/resale/tax)

Starman07

Hi,

I do about 10k miles a year, and currently have an '06 petrol BMW 320SE, 80k miles that i'm looking to trade in against another car (2010/2011 ideally, audi,bmw,merc,vw)

These are two i'm looking at...

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/C-Class/C200-CDI/49814005969316170/advert?channel=CARS

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/C-Class/....AMG-/63814063691526730/advert?channel=CARS Though the mileage on this is baffling.


The tax savings on the diesel does appeal to me, and the resale value will obviously be better in 3 or 4 years. Is this the most sensible approach?

Is there a realistic chance of having issues with a diesel, doing 10k miles a year, city driving?

There seems to be so few petrol cars available compared to diesel anyways.

Thanks!

quadrifoglio verde

Diesel for 10k miles in the city is madness

You won't see the savings from the diesel at that milage and it's more likely to cause problems down the line with that milage.

Yes resale values on diesels will be higher in a few years when you trade in (provided the status quo remains as is) and yes the tax may be lower, however petrols are dirt cheap to buy as a result

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Petrol car will be cheaper to buy now but bear in mind will lose more than the diesel will in depreciation.

Caliden

Changed job location recently and it was mainly 60kmh stop start with the occasional 80kmh section in a 120d.

2 months later and I was getting an average of 30-32mpg. Switched to a 1.2 petrol and I've been getting 40-41 mpg.


For what you need, getting a diesel is madness. Not entirely sure what you meant with regards the mileage on the second car either. 70k miles over 4 years is 17,500 which isn't really diesel mileage either.

After a bit of searching the petrol claims to get 44mpg which is a figure you will never see in the diesel if it's going around the city.

So for the sake of 500 quid a year, the petrol makes the most sense here.

quadrifoglio verde

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

Petrol car will be cheaper to buy now but bear in mind will lose more than the diesel will in depreciation.

But you have to pay more to get the diesel. Spending a significant amount of money more to hopefully loose less in four years time is madness especially if you're doing 10k miles a year.

Most 2008 vehicles will be worth between 1 and 4k in 4 years time anyway. The advantage of having a post 2008 car will be minimal anyway in four years time as most cars will be post 08.

fmcg_scribe

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

Diesel for 10k miles in the city is madness

You won't see the savings from the diesel at that milage and it's more likely to cause problems down the line with that milage.

Yes resale values on diesels will be higher in a few years when you trade in (provided the status quo remains as is) and yes the tax may be lower, however petrols are dirt cheap to buy as a result

+1

Starman07

Yeah, i think i'd rather make the savings on purchase price now, and worry about resale value in a few years. Petrol seems to be way to go... I appreciate all the feedback, thanks.

fmcg_scribe

Starman07 wrote: »

Yeah, i think i'd rather make the savings on purchase price now, and worry about resale value in a few years. Petrol seems to be way to go... I appreciate all the feedback, thanks.

In general, diesel starts to make sense only if you are confident about doing 15,000 or more miles per year - 20,000-25,000 miles per year is even more ideal.

As has been pointed out by someone else in this thread - short journeys do not suit diesel engines. The same is true of large petrol engines, especially V8 or above.

Therefore, before buying a diesel car, a person needs to think carefully about the annual mileage and the sort of journeys that they'll be doing.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

fmcg_scribe wrote: »

In general, diesel starts to make sense only if you are confident about doing 15,000 or more miles per year - 20,000-25,000 miles per year is even more ideal.

As has been pointed out by someone else in this thread - short journeys do not suit diesel engines. The same is true of large petrol engines, especially V8 or above.

Therefore, before buying a diesel car, a person needs to think carefully about the annual mileage and the sort of journeys that they'll be doing.

What are you basing that on?
I do approx 5-7k miles per year in my v8 and it would comprise a lot of short journeys - in addition to 50-150mile each way round trips to shows etc.

fmcg_scribe

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

What are you basing that on?
I do approx 5-7k miles per year in my v8 and it would comprise a lot of short journeys - in addition to 50-150mile each way round trips to shows etc.

The general thinking is that excessive wear is caused to an engine if the oil hasn't had time to warm up. With certain engines, carbon deposits might also build up (more quickly) if short journeys are the norm. That's why more frequent oil changes and filter changes are sometimes recommended for cars that do short journeys most of the time.

To mitigate the downsides of short journeys, owners should try to down at least one long journey (say, at least 100 miles) making sure to use all the gears and the entire rev range.

In your case, you seem to be following that mitigation approach although an annual mileage of only 5-7K is slightly low, especially for such a powerful car.

Purists might also point out that short journeys also cause problems with recharging a car's battery, especially during the winter. It's these sort of driving patterns that have spurred BMW, Toyota, and some other car makers to push ahead with developing electric and hybrid cars.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

fmcg_scribe wrote: »

The general thinking is that excessive wear is caused to an engine if the oil hasn't had time to warm up. With certain engines, carbon deposits might also build up (more quickly) if short journeys are the norm. That's why more frequent oil changes and filter changes are sometimes recommended for cars that do short journeys most of the time.

To mitigate the downsides of short journeys, owners should try to down at least one long journey (say, at least 100 miles) making sure to use all the gears and the entire rev range.

In your case, you seem to be following that mitigation approach although an annual mileage of only 5-7K is slightly low, especially for such a powerful car.

Purists might also point out that short journeys also cause problems with recharging a car's battery, especially during the winter. It's these sort of driving patterns that have spurred BMW, Toyota, and some other car makers to push ahead with developing electric and hybrid cars.

Well I only really drive it at the weekends or to shows etc.
Most others at the shows have the similar type of engine (v8) as it's an american truck.

With correct servicing there's no reason that short journeys affect an engine, even a v8 or bigger.
Indeed in my owner's manual there is a mitigation - the service intervals are 7500 miles, or 3500 miles if doing mainly short trips. I see in my service history that it was serviced (with 2 gaps) at about 6-8k intervals, which I'm keeping up with.

There's no problem with using all the rev range in my case, practicing for the burnout competition at kilbeggan next year :P

fmcg_scribe

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

Well I only really drive it at the weekends or to shows etc.
Most others at the shows have the similar type of engine (v8) as it's an american truck.

With correct servicing there's no reason that short journeys affect an engine, even a v8 or bigger.
Indeed in my owner's manual there is a mitigation - the service intervals are 7500 miles, or 3500 miles if doing mainly short trips. I see in my service history that it was serviced (with 2 gaps) at about 6-8k intervals, which I'm keeping up with.

There's no problem with using all the rev range in my case, practicing for the burnout competition at kilbeggan next year :P

Indeed. Although "correct servicing" is such a loaded term. To be fair, you've put your vehicle and your mileage into context - you will accept that your situation is a bit "niche".

Interestingly, I recall an Autocar buyers guide (from several years ago) for the Nissan GT-R stating that service intervals (or was it only oil change intervals?) are 6k miles. (I expect that some Nissan GT-R owner in this forum will disagree with that.)

Even though the GT-R is a high performance car that operates at very high tolerances, I found that information interesting when so many car makers are trying to extend service intervals or move to condition-based servicing.

Then again, I expect that many exotic high performance cars have short service intervals and most car makers still recommend an oil change at least once every two years even if a car is not doing many miles per year.

ofcork

Not entirely sure what you meant with regards the mileage on the second car either

There are only 27k miles on an 09 car with 3 owners which is very low.