1.2 Petrol Golf vs 1.6 Diesel Golf

Liam McPoyle

Hi folks.

Myself and my other half have been car hunting the last few weeks and have pretty much decided on a new Golf Highline.

The two we are looking at is the 1.2 petrol or the 1.6 diesel, both 110bhp.

Specs in terms of extras are all the same so basically Im asking which would be more economical in terms of running costs, the petrol or diesel.

She will be driving it in the main, mostly used for commuting, mileage would be less than 15km per annum.

The petrol works out around €2k cheaper cost wise, we will be going PCP finance so the monthly cost will be about €50 cheaper too.

Insurance and tax would be similar too so its really the running costs that will be the final decider.

Obviously the petrol will be cheaper in terms of what it will cost us a month and for the initial deposit but will any savings made there be eroded by running a petrol vs diesel?

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

What will the car be used for? Town driving or lots of motorways? Any estimate of total yearly mileage?

Fiskar

Business Cat wrote: »

Hi folks.

Myself and my other half have been car hunting the last few weeks and have pretty much decided on a new Golf Highline.

The two we are looking at is the 1.2 petrol or the 1.6 diesel, both 110bhp.

Specs in terms of extras are all the same so basically Im asking which would be more economical in terms of running costs, the petrol or diesel.

She will be driving it in the main, mostly used for commuting, mileage would be less than 15km per annum.

The petrol works out around €2k cheaper cost wise, we will be going PCP finance so the monthly cost will be about €50 cheaper too.

Insurance and tax would be similar too so its really the running costs that will be the final decider.

Obviously the petrol will be cheaper in terms of what it will cost us a month and for the initial deposit but will any savings made there be eroded by running a petrol vs diesel?

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

We had a 2011 Golf 1.6D - 110bhp, it gave 800km plus per tank but the EGR gave issues and we flogged in jan 2015 for a Golf 1.2 - highline 110 bhp, it gives circa 670km per tank but the missus is happier with it. Less noise and more refined. She has already put 30K km on it in a year.
I don't think we will ever go diesel again, I have had my own issues on a diesel PSA engine and cannot wait to change it.

Liam McPoyle

donkeyoaty0099 wrote: »

What will the car be used for? Town driving or lots of motorways? Any estimate of total yearly mileage?

It will be 50/50 between town and motorway, she commutes to work every day on the M50 so not huge motorway driving. Certainly less than 15km p/a, probably under 10km really.

bazz26

It all boils down to whether your type of driving and mileage warrant a diesel car other a petrol one. If you are doing mostly short journeys then a diesel car is neither going to be suitable or particularly more economical to run.

Liam McPoyle

Fiskar wrote: »

We had a 2011 Golf 1.6D - 100bhp, it gave 800km plus per tank but the EGR gave issues and we flogged in jan 2015 for a Golf 1.2 - highline 110 bhp, it gives circa 670km per tank but the missus is happier with it. Less noise and more refined. She has already put 30K km on it in a year.
I don't think we will ever go diesel again, I have had my own issues on a diesel PSA engine and cannot wait to change it.

Good to know, thanks for that.

I think we are leaning towards the petrol model anyway, just trying to work out the costings over the next couple of years.

Atlantic Dawn

€2k will buy a hell of a lot of petrol to make up for economy difference. Best you could hope for would be a 30% saving with diesel on 50/50 driving.

colm_mcm

The diesel will be worth a little more on trade in, especially outside the VW network - and should have a higher guaranteed minimum value for the PCP.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Business Cat wrote: »

It will be 50/50 between town and motorway, she commutes to work every day on the M50 so not huge motorway driving. Certainly less than 15km p/a, probably under 10km really.

Under 10 k km is definitely petrol country.

veetwin

Personally OP I think you would be mad to consider diesel. The difference in running costs will be minimal compared to the costs of depreciation. The petrol is much quieter and more refined and does not come with the baggage of a modern diesel. It should be a little cheaper to service also.

If it was me I'd spend the extra €2k on the lovely dsg transmission instead of a diesel. Then again if it was me I'd push for the 150bhp 1.4 Tsi petrol.

billy few mates

I have a 1.2TSI with a DSG gearbox having driven 1.6 and and 1.9 diesel models in the past and the 1.2 is much more quiet and refined and really nice to drive. I do one long trip per week (160 miles each way) with a mostly a lot of short fifteen minute trips in between. According to the trip computer I get a constant 47 mpg out of every tank of fuel so while not as thrifty as a diesel it's perfectly acceptable to me. It cruises along comfortably at 120kph-140kph on the long trips but there's a heart stopping pause for what seems like seconds between you putting your foot to the floor and the car responding if you need do a rapid acceleration for some reason so while it's nippy enough once it's going it's not exactly fast on the uptake if you need to put your foot down. Once you get used to it and accept it it stops becoming an issue....