Petrol or diesel hatchback for work commute

Mars A7X

I'm returning back to Ireland soon and wanting a used automatic hatchback. I'll be doing 80km mostly motorway to and from work 3 and 4 days a week so 480 or 640km a week.

I never had a diesel engine car but heard they are better for that type of millage but is that still the case now? Would there be much of a price difference between both on the fuel cost per week?

mikeecho

How long before someone recommends an EV.

Shoog

I used to be a big fan of diesels and have a fantastic diesel camper with an old fashioned all mechanical engine - trouble free.

However modern diesels are loaded with so many emissions control mechanisms that they can cause significant trouble and huge repair bills. My current diesel has given continuous problems with the EGR valve and the DPF blocking up and an otherwise good engine will probably be retired way before it's worn out as a consequence. This is a common experience especially if you do a lot of short journeys. I would never buy another modern diesel again - end of story.

Petrol are just so much simpler that they are just intrinsically more reliable these days. You forgo a bit of economy but the difference isn't massive.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092746#Comment_121092746

Seems like a good use case to be fair

hoodie6029

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092890#Comment_121092890

If you want to talk like that, take to the EV forum, this insubordination won’t be tolerated round here! 😡😡🤬

(Hopefully it’s obvious that I’m joking)

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093655#Comment_121093655

Its hard to tell these days😂😂

R.O.R

Diesel all the way for that sort of mileage. I have a 70km roundtrip commute which is Motorway or decent R Road (used to be the old N1) and get switched between petrol & diesel fairly frequently.

Driving economically I can get 5 L/100km fairly easy out of a Diesel, and a bit lower than that during summer when there's less traffic. I'd struggle to get 7.5 L/100km from a Petrol. At today's fuel pricing, for 500km a week, that's about €45 for diesel but €69 per week for Petrol.

Shouldn't have any issues with a Diesel doing mainly long motorway runs - that's what they were built to do. Modern service intervals are generally the same between Petrol & Diesel, and the cost of a service is around the same.

If you can find a decent Golf DSG Tdi that would be my choice. Most of those over the past 5 years or so have Adaptive Cruise Control as standard, and that makes long distance commuting a lot less stressful.

mikeecho

What's your budget?

What are your requirements?

If buying new.. probably a golf, If second hand, a BMW 5er.. not a hatch, (unless you go for a touring/estate) but big boot and lots of autos.

Or an auto dacia.

Hard to say without knowing budget/requirements/preference.

galwaytt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058313056/petrol-or-diesel-hatchback-for-work-commute

A Ford Focus 1.5 diesel would be a good choice imho, and comes in hatch & estate forms.