Diesel v petrol?

muffler · 13-04-2019 04:05PM #1

Im thinking of changing the car shortly and Im divided between looking for a vehicle with a diesel or petrol engine. Every car I have owned over the years was petrol so Im reluctant to change.

The big question I have though is concerning low mileage using a diesel engine. I have had mixed opinion on this locally with some people saying that the diesel engine will clog up (jets, I think) because the car would be seldom used while others tell me it makes no difference. My annual mileage would be about 4000.

What do you experts think of the notion that a diesel engine is bad news for anyone doing low mileage?

shanec1928 · 13-04-2019 04:07PM

You would be mad to even entertain the idea of diesel with that sort of mileage.

iamtony · 13-04-2019 04:08PM

With that milage id be looking at hybrid or
Full electric cars not diesel.

Del2005 · 13-04-2019 04:15PM

iamtony wrote: »

With that milage id be looking at hybrid or
Full electric cars not diesel.

Yeah for that milage it'd be EV, PHEV, hybrid, petrol, then walk;) If you have your own driveway an EV would be ideal.

tuxy · 13-04-2019 04:17PM

What's making you consider diesel? The fact that the secondhand market is flooded with them?

micks_address · 13-04-2019 04:19PM

Yeah I wouldn't be looking at diesel for that mileage.. you would be fine for few years but if you intend keeping the car then petrol is the way to go

muffler · 13-04-2019 04:57PM

Thanks guys. I was always leaning towards petrol anyhow. No need to change the habits of a lifetime now

I only considered diesel (briefly) as there's more of a choice given the numbers being advertised. Cant afford electric yet so that would be out of the question.

The Nissan Qashqai 1.5 petrol would appeal to me - probably an 08/09 model. Given the low mileage Im not spending big money on any car or suv to have it parked in the driveway for half the year.

NIMAN · 13-04-2019 05:01PM

afaik, the 1.5 is the diesel engine in that year for the Qashqai.

The petrol was 1.6

uncle_sam_ie · 13-04-2019 05:17PM

muffler wrote: »

Im thinking of changing the car shortly and Im divided between looking for a vehicle with a diesel or petrol engine. Every car I have owned over the years was petrol so Im reluctant to change.

The big question I have though is concerning low mileage using a diesel engine. I have had mixed opinion on this locally with some people saying that the diesel engine will clog up (jets, I think) because the car would be seldom used while others tell me it makes no difference. My annual mileage would be about 4000.

What do you experts think of the notion that a diesel engine is bad news for anyone doing low mileage?

No, it's the DPF being unable to clean itself and becoming blocked with light throttle urban driving. You could end up needing to replace the DPF at significant cost.

colm_mcm · 13-04-2019 05:37PM

muffler wrote: »

Thanks guys. I was always leaning towards petrol anyhow. No need to change the habits of a lifetime now

I only considered diesel (briefly) as there's more of a choice given the numbers being advertised. Cant afford electric yet so that would be out of the question.

The Nissan Qashqai 1.5 petrol would appeal to me - probably an 08/09 model. Given the low mileage Im not spending big money on any car or suv to have it parked in the driveway for half the year.

I think if that’s the age you’re aiming at, you’d be better to go for an early 08 or older as I think the tax went up with the emissions. Later ones had cheaper tax but they’re much dearer.

SCOOP 64 · 13-04-2019 05:46PM

tuxy wrote: »

What's making you consider diesel? The fact that the secondhand market is flooded with them?

Why are there so many diesel on market now, i know the price of diesel is getting near the price of petrol but your still getting better MPG?

Belfast · 13-04-2019 06:26PM

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

Why are there so many diesel on market now, i know the price of diesel is getting near the price of petrol but your still getting better MPG?

Because so many people bought New Diesel cars in the past.
Also people are afraid they might not be able to bring their cars in to cities in the near future.
A lot of low mileage drivers bought them and are now finding they are not idea for them.

shanec1928 · 13-04-2019 07:25PM

Belfast wrote: »

Because so many people bought New Diesel cars in the past.

More like the Green Party thought it would be a good idea to reduce tax for diesel and everyone flocked for the cheap tax. Hence a real lack of choice in petrol models up until the last year or so.

micks_address · 13-04-2019 07:31PM

shanec1928 wrote: »

More like the Green Party thought it would be a good idea to reduce tax for diesel and everyone flocked for the cheap tax. Hence a real lack of choice in petrol models up until the last year or so.

Also for a few years it was almost impossible to find a mid size car that wasn't diesel..

Gael23 · 13-04-2019 09:07PM

Don’t even look into a Diesel doing 4K a year. In fact, you might even be better off using taxis on that mileage when you factor in tax/insurance/depreciation

Jofspring · 14-04-2019 08:30AM

Garages were also screwing people on trade ins of petrol and pushed everyone to diesel. I remember my father having a Mercedes petrol about 10 years ago and most garages didn't even want to look at it. They were saying Diesel is the future and they would find it extremely difficult to sell on his petrol. It was also an automatic and he was told that no one wants automatics either and that it devalued the car being an auto.

Belfast · 14-04-2019 10:29AM

Europe’s intoxicating love affair with diesel is dying out
https://qz.com/1183779/europes-intoxicating-love-affair-with-diesel-is-dying-out/

The link above explain a lot about the number of diesels on the market.

This is what could have been used to reduced co2 instead of diesel.

In this clip, Richard Hammond reviews the Volvo S60, taking to the road to look at its performance, practicality, and style- and discusses the pro's and cons of owning the hybrid vehicle. The S60's 2.4 Bi-Fuel engine produces 140 BHP, and averages 24.8 (LPG) / 32.1 (Petrol) miles per gallon. Furthermore, the S60 is capable of 0-60 in 10.3 (LPG) & 10.2 (Petrol) secs, and has a top speed of 130 MPH.

Diesel lobby was better organised than the lobby Lpg for cars.
The tax breaks on lpg ended not long after this and tax breaks went to Diesels instead.

NIMAN · 14-04-2019 10:32AM

Jofspring wrote: »

Garages were also screwing people on trade ins of petrol and pushed everyone to diesel. I remember my father having a Mercedes petrol about 10 years ago and most garages didn't even want to look at it. They were saying Diesel is the future and they would find it extremely difficult to sell on his petrol. It was also an automatic and he was told that no one wants automatics either and that it devalued the car being an auto.

They probably weren't lying though.

For over a decade, the vast majority of cars sold in Ireland were diesels.

If dealers had petrol cars in their stock, and most of the public wanted diesel, they would have struggled to sell petrols.

Diesel v petrol?

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