Would I be mad a buy diesel?

Wesser

saw a Ford focus i really like. only problem is its diesel. would i be mad. in 2 / 3 years time is it going to be so unfashionable and ' dirty' that the value will drop so low that i will be badly hit when i try to resell .

Agent_47

New = Yes, second hand = No

Atlantic Dawn

What sort of driving would you be doing, how much is the car?

Wesser

10000km year. city and occasinal.jaunt to the west. 9k plus trade in. 2013 ford focus.

Toyotafanboi

The car will depreciate regardless of fuel trends. I wouldn't be too concerned about buying a diesel Focus if you think you'll use it yourself for a few years.

Heres Johnny

If you have concerns don't buy it. Not making any comment on what will or will not happen with diesel as none of us really know for sure but at 10000kms a year a diesel focus won't save you much money over a petrol one on fuel costs. Diesel doing 6 litres per 100 kms will use 12 litres of fuel a week which is about 17 euro whereas a petrol doing 8 litres per 100 kms will use 16 litres or about 24 euro. So its about 7 euro a week you're taking about here. Just shows the utter folly of some of the diesel purchases that went on in the last while. And the utter folly of some people buying overpriced electric cars to save less than 20 quid a week in fuel costs.
Rough guesses at fuel consumption but I doubt I am far wrong.
I drive a diesel by the way so I'm not anti diesel. Or anti petrol or anti electric, but I think a huge amount of people haven't a clue how to work out their finances.

Wesser

Thanks everyone

drunkmonkey

With your milage your better off in a petrol. Diesel is no advantage. 30,000km is diesel territory.

colm_mcm

drunkmonkey wrote: »

. 30,000km is diesel territory.

Please back this up! Is that the break even point, the sweet spot, the minimum?
30k is certainly diesel territory, but so is 20k

TimeToShine

colm_mcm wrote: »

Please back this up! Is that the break even point, the sweet spot, the minimum?
30k is certainly diesel territory, but so is 20k

To be fair his point seemed to be that 10k is nowhere near diesel territory and wouldn't suit OP, rest is pedantics.

colm_mcm

On an older car, you’re not paying a premium for diesel, and it’s more the driving itself than the mileage that should dictate whether diesel is a runner. I agree the OP probably shouldn’t be going near one, but the x km per year argument doesn’t really work for a used car. On a new car if the diesel is a few grand more then fair enough.

Snotty

Used to be the higher tax of the diesel made it unattractive unless doing big miles. Then it was purchase cost, even second hand, of a diesel is higher that makes it unattractive unless doing big miles, then it was the service costs of a diesel that makes it unattractive unless doing big miles.

Now, the tax is same or lower, second hand diesels are no more expensive and usually have a better range to choose from and lastly service costs don't seem much more especially if the car gets a good run every so often. So what is the argument against diesel again?

colm_mcm

Snotty wrote: »

. So what is the argument against diesel again?

They go to shyte if your driving isn’t suited to diesel

They’re generally more complex than a petrol

An older one may have all sorts of issues that need attention

shnaek

I've had diesel cars for the last 16 years. Only do about 12000km a year. None of them went to ****e. Maybe I was just lucky. Granted it was all the green stuff about diesel that got me to change to diesel in the first place, so now they're saying something else. In another 10 years they'll be saying something else again no doubt. I was happy with petrol in the first place!

colm_mcm

It’s a fact that new diesels aren’t suited to stop start city driving. We have a new van here that’s regularly failing to regenerate DPF because it’s not often driven long enough to do it.
It’s actually doing a fair bit of mileage, but a lot of short trips or stops along the way.

FishOnABike

If it's mostly city driving and just the odd jaunt to the west I'd consider petrol over diesel. Short distance, stop start driving doesn't suit a diesel engine well.

Dravokivich

TimeToShine wrote: »

To be fair his point seemed to be that 10k is nowhere near diesel territory and wouldn't suit OP, rest is pedantics.

Look at what's out there, most petrol cars in his budget are small vehicles. If he needs something the size of a focus, he'd be looking at older cars, or a far less selection.

There's 125 petrol focus' on done deal, that are 4 years old ranging from 14k. Compared to diesel there's 606 ranging from 10/11k.

In the 2nd hand market, the question of Petrol/Diesel has been answered by what sold predominantly first.

colm_mcm

Focus is probably an unusual example in that Ford pretty much dropped petrol from Focus and Mondeo for years and concentrated on diesel.

In competitors cars like Golf, Auris, i30, Ceed etc you’ll see more petrols around.

ExoPolitic

Better with an electric car...

FirstIn

Diesels are ****e , best left in their primitive form to the agri and commercial vehicle world. A wallop of torgue down low, what a horrible driving experience.

Complicated as they attempt to "clean" the foul emissions they spew out. Just look at them on the M50, arse covered in black sooty dirt. Gloves in the forecourt for the use of the dirty black pump. Run away i say. Get a petrol. Even if it costs you a few bob extra in fuel it will win out as far less likely to **** itself.

Just shows how stupid the govt here incentivicing these things. Idiots. They are really awful.

colm_mcm

Are you in 1994?

FirstIn

colm_mcm wrote: »

Are you in 1994?

So they are not over complicated to get their emissions down? You don't get gloves in the petrol station to fill them? Most of them don't have dirty black backsides?

They aren't been banned from cities ?

colm_mcm

Specifically this:

FirstIn wrote: »

Diesels are ****e , best left in their primitive form to the agri and commercial vehicle world. A wallop of torgue down low, what a horrible driving experience.

then this

FirstIn wrote: »

Just look at them on the M50, arse covered in black sooty dirt.

It sounds like you haven’t driven a diesel or been on the M50 in a long time.


Not disagreeing with the spirit of your post, but using examples that are blatantly incorrect doesn’t really strengthen your argument.

FirstIn

I drive the M50 4 times a week. The interesting thing that has highlighted my observation is the recent move to white cars being popular. (before it was really only the white van man in his , well his white van, that had a white vehicle)

Then we have the diesel age coinciding with this , (again, the result of the govt and their unbelievable misguided stupidity).

You add those lovely white cars and their dirty discharge spewing diesel engines and you have = a dirty backside!!! Fact, not 1994, 2020.

John_Rambo

I'd have serious reservations about spending a lot of money on a new diesel car, particularly on PCP finance.
But I'd say there's going to be good enough deals on second hand ones in the near future for obvious reasons and there probably isn't many petrol cars available with the spec you'd like.

So, if it's a few years old it's probably a good buy. Wait a couple of more years and I can see them being sold off with good value.

Best of luck if you go for it.

colm_mcm

FirstIn wrote: »

I drive the M50 4 times a week. The interesting thing that has highlighted my observation is the recent move to white cars being popular. (before it was really only the white van man in his , well his white van, that had a white vehicle)

Then we have the diesel age coinciding with this , (again, the result of the govt and their unbelievable misguided stupidity).

You add those lovely white cars and their dirty discharge spewing diesel engines and you have = a dirty backside!!! Fact, not 1994, 2020.

Do you think it might just be dirt on the back and not soot?

Lantus

Diesel is still hugely popular and does a great job. Remember if you are seeing a huge drop in value the entire car industry has collapsed because every 2 of your 3 neighbours has a diesel and we can't afford to subsidise another failed industry.

I wouldn't worry. But do consider your mileage for fuel type. Get the best car for you and enjoy.

FirstIn

FirstIn wrote: »

I drive the M50 4 times a week. The interesting thing that has highlighted my observation is the recent move to white cars being popular. (before it was really only the white van man in his , well his white van, that had a white vehicle)

Then we have the diesel age coinciding with this , (again, the result of the govt and their unbelievable misguided stupidity).

You add those lovely white cars and their dirty discharge spewing diesel engines and you have = a dirty backside!!! Fact, not 1994, 2020.

You obviously come across a lot of people who don’t wash their cars and they are covered in dirt. Back of our modern diesel is spotless, no sign of soot. I.e you are talking a large amount of nonsense on your anti-diesel posts.

ednwireland

colm_mcm wrote: »

In competitors cars like Golf, Auris, i30, Ceed etc you’ll see more petrols around.

that really wasnt true when i bought a 2013 kia ceed diesel last april.

i think there were 3 or 4 petrols in the country for sale the rest were diesels, guess what i ended up with ?

pretty much the same as the OP in terms of driving slightly less short distance stop/start though

Lantus

FirstIn wrote: »

I drive the M50 4 times a week. The interesting thing that has highlighted my observation is the recent move to white cars being popular. (before it was really only the white van man in his , well his white van, that had a white vehicle)

Then we have the diesel age coinciding with this , (again, the result of the govt and their unbelievable misguided stupidity).

You add those lovely white cars and their dirty discharge spewing diesel engines and you have = a dirty backside!!! Fact, not 1994, 2020.

The government made fuel and tax a little cheaper for diesels but it an under educated populace went out and bought them.

Personal responsibility.....

At the end of the day most people just need a car to go from a to b and don't care about the details.

galwaytt

Wesser wrote: »

10000km year. city and occasinal.jaunt to the west. 9k plus trade in. 2013 ford focus.

It's a petrol you want, not a diesel of any kind. Hybrid also a good choice.

FirstIn

The black sooty emisisons dirty the back of a car. Ok, if it's brand new it might be ok but after some time they will be there.

See why so many diesels have their exhausts facing downwards? Ok, DPFs might negate that to some extent nowadays but not for all. Indeed some manufacturers leave a fake exhaust out the back and have the real one pointing downwards inside the rear bumper.

Aerodynamics pull the sooty emissions on to the back of the car. Making it dirty. (Try driving with you boot open on a hatchback)

Diabolical things diesels.

Anyway, OP, regardless of my acute Columbo type observations and "the emperor has no clothes" rhetoric above, you definitely don't need a diesel doing 10,000 km a year.

Wesser

i was more querying the resale value in a few years time to be honest.

anyway i didnt know there was a petrol version so might look into that.

shnaek

Lantus wrote: »

The government made fuel and tax a little cheaper for diesels but it an under educated populace went out and bought them.

Personal responsibility.....

At the end of the day most people just need a car to go from a to b and don't care about the details.

In fairness it wasn't just that. They banged on about how much better they were for the environment, just like they are doing now with electric. That populace is just as under educated now re electric, would you agree?

Idbatterim

FirstIn wrote: »

Diesels are ****e , best left in their primitive form to the agri and commercial vehicle world. A wallop of torgue down low, what a horrible driving experience.

Complicated as they attempt to "clean" the foul emissions they spew out. Just look at them on the M50, arse covered in black sooty dirt. Gloves in the forecourt for the use of the dirty black pump. Run away i say. Get a petrol. Even if it costs you a few bob extra in fuel it will win out as far less likely to **** itself.

Just shows how stupid the govt here incentivicing these things. Idiots. They are really awful.

But who cares about the environment, and the awful clatter they make. Many people can save a few cent a week and then Spend hundreds fixing the problems , that their driving style creates with diesel !