diesel or petrol..

gercoral

think i already know the answer but i don't suppose 7,000-9,000 miles p/year can justify me buying a diesel car?

Atlantic Dawn

Generally no.

JohnBoy26

If most of the driving you do is longer runs with little stop start driving then you should have no problem with a diesel doing that mileage.

If you do a lot of stop start driving then no petrol will be better.

stefanovich

gercoral wrote:

think i already know the answer but i don't suppose 7,000-9,000 miles p/year can justify me buying a diesel car?

You just want to have the right answer when asked "is she a diesel"?

Like being asked if you're Catholic in fermanagh.

acronym Chilli

stefanovich wrote: »

You just want to have the right answer when asked "is she a diesel"?

Like being asked if you're Catholic in fermanagh.

+1, I was wondering if it was just me that it sounded like "I want it to be a diesel, but probably I'm not able to justify a diesel"

Lot of folk would say "do I really have to buy a diesel?"

As JohnBoy26 says, if the runs are long, then the diesel will do ok. However, that doesn't mean that it makes economic sense. i.e. the cost benefit may favour a petrol. All it means is that you're not likely to incur extraordinary and user-inflicted repair and service costs through inappropriate operation of the machinery.

(I say all this as a long-haul driver running petrol...)

punisher5112

Op stick with petrol.

You know already the costs it will be to keep fixing all the problems which will be caused by such low mileage.

Diesels need long trips and motorway driving to stay healthy.

gercoral

OK thanks for the advice!
and another question..
as mentioned, annual mileage of <10,000, about 10K to spend, not much motorway driving, cheap to run (tax/insurance), something post 2010, and petrol, what would ye suggest:

- Ford Fiesta (1.2L + )
- Hyundai i30 (new model)
- Mazda 2
- Kia pro_ceed

Want to stick with japanese/asian models..no German/french etc etc...

MuppetCheck

Worth adding a Honda Civic to the list. The post-10 1.8 petrol is €390 to tax and as economical as much smaller engines. They're also spacious, well specced and have decent poke if required.

gercoral

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Worth adding a Honda Civic to the list. The post-10 1.8 petrol is €390 to tax and as economical as much smaller engines. They're also spacious, well specced and have decent poke if required.

I know this sounds ridiculous -->coz I want to buy a new car coz the tax i currently pay is too high! so i know buying a new car for thousands of euro doesnt make sense, but i was hoping to pay 280 p/y or lower. currently i pay 390 p/y.

the civic is a nice car though! but at that tax, i'd avoid.

bazz26

€390 is hardly expensive for motor tax though. It's a very small part of the cost of car ownership yet some folk use it as a yard stick in their decision making process. Your ruling a lot of good cars out by doing so. Spending €10k to save €100 or €200 a year in tax will take you an eternity to just break even on.

gercoral

bazz26 wrote: »

€390 is hardly expensive for motor tax though. It's a very small part of the cost of car ownership yet some folk use it as a yard stick in their decision making process. Your ruling a lot of good cars out by doing so. Spending €10k to save €100 or €200 a year in tax will take you an eternity to just break even on.

yeah i know i get that! i was havig the same conversation with a friend coz she did the exact same thing as me but howsever.

what car would you suggest?
what i want:
- around 10k to spend
- something after 2010
- H/B
- petrol
- easy to run
- looks nice!
- preferably 3 door but not overly fussed

bazz26

gercoral wrote: »

yeah i know i get that! i was havig the same conversation with a friend coz she did the exact same thing as me but howsever.

what car would you suggest?
what i want:
- around 10k to spend
- something after 2010
- H/B
- petrol
- easy to run
- looks nice!
- preferably 3 door but not overly fussed

Something like below? 1.4 petrol is quite nippy in them, pretty reliable and they actually do have cheap motor tax. Price is a little high but if you are buying with no trade-in I'd expect to buy it within your budget.

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/KIA/pro_ceed/1.4-3DR./200814452722919350/

Idbatterim

€390 is hardly expensive for motor tax though. It's a very small part of the cost of car ownership yet some folk use it as a yard stick in their decision making process. Your ruling a lot of good cars out by doing so. Spending €10k to save €100 or €200 a year in tax will take you an eternity to just break even on.

I am going to echo this sentiment, you are paying E390 its nothing, E280 is also nothing! Look I get why people might look to save tax when they want to change a car anyway and are sick of being done at rates over the €1000 mark or so. But these mickey mouse rates, high two or three hundreds are exactly that, when you compare it with what many are paying, voluntarily paying admittedly...

gercoral

bazz26 wrote: »

Something like below? 1.4 petrol is quite nippy in them, pretty reliable and they actually do have cheap motor tax. Price is a little high but if you are buying with no trade-in I'd expect to buy it within your budget.

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/KIA/pro_ceed/1.4-3DR./200814452722919350/

i have a list of about 6 cars and this very one is one of them! it was my first choice before i started looking at fiestas. have to wonder about the small mileage though? or am i being over critical? i spose if it was predominantly a city-used car then the low mileage is to be expected

gercoral

Idbatterim wrote: »

I am going to echo this sentiment, you are paying E390 its nothing, E280 is also nothing! Look I get why people might look to save tax when they want to change a car anyway and are sick of being done at rates over the €1000 mark or so. But these mickey mouse rates, high two or three hundreds are exactly that, when you compare it with what many are paying, voluntarily paying admittedly...

tbh, it just so happens the cars i have most interest in happen to have a lower tax rate. i still think 390 is a lot..as is insurance, as in NCT which i currently have to get done every year. it all adds up. and this new car is something i've been saving for for a long time. and even with 10k, i still need to get a loan to cover about 3/4 of the cost.
so for me, 390 is a lot. my brothers car is over 700. a (unnecessary) big peugeot that gives them nothing but trouble

bazz26

gercoral wrote: »

i have a list of about 6 cars and this very one is one of them! it was my first choice before i started looking at fiestas. have to wonder about the small mileage though? or am i being over critical? i spose if it was predominantly a city-used car then the low mileage is to be expected

It's not unheard of. Alot of people do a small amount of driving and still sensibly opt for a petrol car. My father has only 49k km up on his 7 year old petrol Auris. You will also have a fair idea is the mileage is genuine by the condition of the car. I'd expect a car with that low mileage to be in fairly tip top shape. Seats, trim, etc should all be in near new condition.

gercoral wrote: »

tbh, it just so happens the cars i have most interest in happen to have a lower tax rate. i still think 390 is a lot..as is insurance, as in NCT which i currently have to get done every year. it all adds up. and this new car is something i've been saving for for a long time. and even with 10k, i still need to get a loan to cover about 3/4 of the cost.
so for me, 390 is a lot. my brothers car is over 700. a (unnecessary) big peugeot that gives them nothing but trouble

You need to put things into perspective. If your finding €390 for tax high then it makes no sense whatsoever to consider spending thousands on a car to begin with. Depreciation, loan interest and maintenance over the length of time you own the car are usually a lot higher than annual motor tax yet people cannot get their head past the motor tax.

JohnBoy26

bazz26 wrote: »

It's not unheard of. Alot of people do a small amount of driving and still sensibly opt for a petrol car. My father has only 49k km up on his 7 year old petrol Auris. You will also have a fair idea is the mileage is genuine by the condition of the car. I'd expect a car with that low mileage to be in fairly tip top shape. Seats, trim, etc should all be in near new condition.



You need to put things into perspective. If your finding €390 for tax high then it makes no sense whatsoever to consider spending thousands on a car to begin with. Depreciation, loan interest and maintenance over the length of time you own the car are usually a lot higher than annual motor tax yet people cannot get their head past the motor tax.

But motortax is still an important consideration when buying a car. I'm not saying €390 is high but if someone is buying a new car and wants to keep running costs as low as possible then the cost of tax should be taken into account.

bazz26

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

But motortax is still an important consideration when buying a car. I'm not saying €390 is high but if someone is buying a new car and wants to keep running costs as low as possible then the cost of tax should be taken into account.

The problem is that many people put too much consideration into what car is cheapest to tax and it becomes their only deciding factor when choosing a car. They need to look at the bigger picture rather than focusing on one small aspect of it. Cars get ruled out because they cost €100 or €200 more to tax per year which works about at under €4 extra a week over 12 months.

MuppetCheck

I understand your thinking OP and you need to do what you feel is best.

One thing I will say is a slightly higher rate of tax might make the car cheaper to buy in the first place. So it might work out a similar cost. About 18 months ago herself picked up a 10 reg civic, admittedly slightly leggy for the year (75k miles with fsh), for a lot less than your budget. If that was now and say it was an 11reg one it would be almost 2k cheaper than the proceed for example, obviously ignoring the fact it had more miles. If it was more inline with the Proceeds mileage it might have been a grand more to buy. That grand would be the tax difference covered for 9 years.

My point is don't dismiss a car becuse of the tax and work out the total cost to you including the purchase price. A cheaper car means lower repayments and interest too. Over the course of your ownership it might work out cheaper for you.

JohnBoy26

bazz26 wrote: »

The problem is that many people put too much consideration into what car is cheapest to tax and it becomes their only deciding factor when choosing a car. They need to look at the bigger picture rather than focusing on one small aspect of it. Cars get ruled out because they cost €100 or €200 more to tax per year which works about at under €4 extra a week over 12 months.

I agree with you that people put too much consideration into motortax. All I'm saying is that along with all the other costs it should be considered.

bmwguy

gercoral wrote: »

I know this sounds ridiculous -->coz I want to buy a new car coz the tax i currently pay is too high! so i know buying a new car for thousands of euro doesnt make sense, but i was hoping to pay 280 p/y or lower. currently i pay 390 p/y.

the civic is a nice car though! but at that tax, i'd avoid.

Plenty of people here telling you the tax is not very important and in many ways they are right. I wish people would come on here and say 'I just fancy a new car and while I am at it I may as well keep the tax down' instead of 'my current car costs too much to tax so I want to buy a new one with cheaper tax'. No shame in wanting a new car it's fine! In answer to your question, yes petrol is what you need.