Where have all the petrol cars gone?

patsyrockem

I am looking at changing my old reliable 98 corolla for a newer corolla 2012-2016 and would prefer a petrol model. I am very surprised at the huge amount of diesel models for sale on the different sites and garages. Petrol models make up a very small ratio, I'd estimate 20:1. What am I missing here, I know very little about cars and can someone explain why there are so few petrol models on the market?

Del2005

The low tax on diesel effectively killed the petrol car during that period, not helped by the recession.

monkeysnapper

I know , I was looking for a petrol myself , its really frustrating , I was looking for petrol as I do small milleage . I've given up and decided to change my plan to electric .

Cee-Jay-Cee

The petrols haven't actually gone anywhere as there are none.

If you want a modern petrol engine in a decent size (ie bigger than an Auris or Focus) car then you have no other option but to look to the UK.

With buying from the UK, you can literally pick your spec, colour and mileage as the choice is so large whereas if you wait for something to appear here you take what is available as its the only one.

bazz26

OP must really have been living under a rock for the last 10 years or so.

Even Mary down the pub knew that the Greens changed the motor tax system back in 2008 and diesels became cheaper to buy and tax. They also told us they were cleaner.

Cee-Jay-Cee

bazz26 wrote: »

OP must really have been living under a rock for the last 10 years or so.

Even Mary down the pub knew that the Greens changed the motor tax system back in 2008 and diesels became cheaper to buy and tax. They also told us they were cleaner.

And the Greens were obliterated in the following GE for their hair-brained initiative which sunk the car industry within 12 months as the price of cars on the old tax system dropped through the floor and so no one could afford to change as they were getting so little for their old car in exchange.

Leonard Hofstadter

Interestingly though I notice with newer cars things are moving slowly back towards petrol, diesel is down to about 65% of new car sales now, was 75% as recently as 2014. Even last year diesels were still just over 70% of new car sales.

The UK isn't always a panacea for petrols either; depending on what you're looking for it's just as bad (if not worse) than Ireland. Yes the diesel mix is much lower (around 50% of the market, though it's also going down a bit) but they tend to buy smaller cars than we do (although with bigger engines and more spec).

colm_mcm

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

And the Greens were obliterated in the following GE for their hair-brained initiative which sunk the car industry within 12 months as the price of cars on the old tax system dropped through the floor and so no one could afford to change as they were getting so little for their old car in exchange.

That's not really what happened though.

theminstrel

patsyrockem wrote: »

I am looking at changing my old reliable 98 corolla for a newer corolla 2012-2016 and would prefer a petrol model. I am very surprised at the huge amount of diesel models for sale on the different sites and garages. Petrol models make up a very small ratio, I'd estimate 20:1. What am I missing here, I know very little about cars and can someone explain why there are so few petrol models on the market?

I've a 131 petrol corolla for sale on done deal if you're struggling to find one. Give me a PM if you've any interest.

Bigus

All hybrid toyotas and Lexus are petrol and very very reliable.

micks_address

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

And the Greens were obliterated in the following GE for their hair-brained initiative which sunk the car industry within 12 months as the price of cars on the old tax system dropped through the floor and so no one could afford to change as they were getting so little for their old car in exchange.

Well I think something happened around 2008 apart from the greens that meant there were very few new cars bought for a few years..

The problem with petrol for me is that it's still at least ten to 15 cents dearer than diesel at the pumps here..plus even in new cars there's a very limited petrol engine range. Petrol and Diesel are the same price at the pumps in the UK so petrol is a much easier choice

Lantus

micks_address wrote:

The problem with petrol for me is that it's still at least ten to 15 cents dearer than diesel at the pumps here..plus even in new cars there's a very limited petrol engine range. Petrol and Diesel are the same price at the pumps in the UK so petrol is a much easier choice

10 to 15 cent requires a significant amount of driving to recoup over petrol. It can vary depending on the car but generally the diesel costs more than the petrol version to buy making it a much harder choice.

Casati

Lantus wrote: »

10 to 15 cent requires a significant amount of driving to recoup over petrol. It can vary depending on the car but generally the diesel costs more than the petrol version to buy making it a much harder choice.

Thats correct for some of the latest effiecient petrols but generally since 2008 the diesel pricing premium has disappeared and in many cases petrols were more expensive

Sam Kade

bazz26 wrote: »

OP must really have been living under a rock for the last 10 years or so.

Even Mary down the pub knew that the Greens changed the motor tax system back in 2008 and diesels became cheaper to buy and tax. They also told us they were cleaner.

Cheap tax, whatever about anything else cheap tax means cheaper motoring, seems there's more than the op living under a rock

micks_address

Lantus wrote: »

10 to 15 cent requires a significant amount of driving to recoup over petrol. It can vary depending on the car but generally the diesel costs more than the petrol version to buy making it a much harder choice.

The problem is the choice just isn't there. I'd have liked to buy a petrol this time around but in the car I wanted there was only a 1 litre petrol 110 bhp engine... I ended up getting 2 litre 150bhp Diesel. Skoda do a 1.5 petrol equivalent in the UK but don't offer it here..

bazz26

Sam Kade wrote: »

Cheap tax, whatever about anything else cheap tax means cheaper motoring, seems there's more than the op living under a rock

Cheap motor tax is a very small part of the overall cost of owning a car. People can be penny wise yet pound foolish.

ofcork

I was the same looking for a 12 reg petrol avensis in 2014 couldn't get one as only 38 sold compared to over 1500 diesels so ended up buying diesel touch wood nothing has gone wrong,going back to petrol next time just for refinement alone.

Miike

I'm mad for a petrol E Class estate 2012 or over.... ha, that's all I have to say on that!

JohnBoy26

It isn't that difficult to find a 1.33 corolla though.