Thoughts on getting a diesel car

tsuzmir

quick question: does it make ANY sense to buy a small diesel when my daily commute is 15 mins - 10 miles each way?
i was looking at petrol cars only at first but there seem to be more to choose from in diesel. considering something like that:
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/ford/mondeo/used-2012-ford-mondeo-style-1-6-d-dublin-fpa-201114489906763150
or that
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/mazda/mazda3/used-2012-mazda-mazda3-1-6d-sport-dublin-fpa-201014476949400050

yes or no? thanks

Atlantic Dawn

No all day long.

bazz26

With only a 15 min drive a diesel engine won't even be properly warmed up meaning it won't be running at it's optimal efficiency to benefit from any fuel potential savings. Yes there is more choice in diesel cars out there but your not going to benefit from one with that sort of short driving.

Have you considered a hybrid?

http://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=1284778&r=s.php%3Fm%3D88%26o%3D747%26r%3D2012%26pp%3D50%26g%3D0

Canadel

Depends on the type of commute. Is it a straight run of 10 miles or does it mostly involve town driving or serious traffic and a lot of stop/start?

If the former, then you'll save fuel with a diesel all day long. If the latter, then a petrol would be better suited.

MugMugs

bazz26 wrote: »

http://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=1284778&r=s.php%3Fm%3D88%26o%3D747%26r%3D2012%26pp%3D50%26g%3D0

For your commute, this is the best advice you'll get................ all day long as it seems to be the trend.

worded

Ive had a Diesel and no big complaints .... Ive been lucky

BUT

They dont favour short runs and are ideal for long runs. (engine wise)
If you drive them on short runs they will tend to give relatively more trouble than a petrol and are very expensive to repair versus a petrol.

Total cost of owner ship is narrow now. You pay more for Diesel. Difficult to get a non new model with >100K that isn't clocked. If it has 2/3 owners, were all low mileage drivers ??? If it has FSH OK. But even they can be forged I hear.

Years ago ......... are you mad? A diesel? you had to be a farmer to buy one.

Companies can avail of -23% VAT and that makes them very popular.

For a private individual its not worth it IMO. Total cost of ownership / repairs etc

saabsaab

From what you say a small petrol would be less expensive overall. With low mileage like that would you consider an electric car?

vistaphotos

saabsaab wrote: »

From what you say a small petrol would be less expensive overall. With low mileage like that would you consider an electric car?

- Friend has a 30 mile each way commute daily driving a diesel (should be plenty of time to warm up) and has had to replace the DPF (Diesel particulate filter) which was expensive. My understanding (open to correction) is that shorter journeys lead to quicker failure/problems because it's not running long enough to heat up properly. On that basis petrol is the better option I think.

- I drove a Nissan Leaf recently, with short commute in mind, and thought it was brilliant. In the end I decided that it wasn't for me, too much uncertainty about future resale value (still a niche 0.37% of sales http://www.beepbeep.ie/stats), tied to Nissan for all maintenance (no independent knowledge out there) and charging network is not great in my opinion.