Petrol/diesel education

[TW]Fox;18291028 said:
This really is a non issue, there is nothing hard or involving about driving a normal car in a queue of traffic in town.

If you want to choose a car for the least faff around town then obviously what you really want is an automatic 3+ litre petrol engine, then you can waft with ease through traffic and the fact it does 18mpg is irrelevent because you cant cover 500 miles a day at 5mph anyway ;)

Remember your petrol Clio is the other end of the spectrum - it's power is all right at the top of the rev range. Most petrol engines are not like this.
Click to expand...

My argument is I cant understand why the OP stated a diesel city car would be less drivable. I just did not get that. I have no issues driving my car round a city in stop start traffic, just mearly saying it would IMO be easier in a diesel due to not having to engage the clutch much. Just a personal preferance.

I'm not a diesel fan I can appreciate what there good at and thats MPG and motorway cruising. Something I dont look at in a car hence the 182 :)
 
[TW]Fox;18291080 said:
Nobody will ever beleive me but I think enormous great petrol exec cars are amazing around town :D
Click to expand...
I totally agree. They're even better when they're automatics :)
My Volvo's great. Big, wafty and comfortable.
The only issue is the obscene MPG.
 
The point I am getting at is the way fuel prices are going the more and more I hear people say "well when I replace my car it will have to be a diesel".

We are getting into a situation when the average car buying Joe thinks he he/she can beat the increasing running costs by simply turning to diesel.
 
Having driven Petrol and Diesel cars, I much prefer Petrol. The clutch is a bit more heavier on a diesel and it doesn't appeal to me. City driving with a diesel blows, I dislike it.

Diesel cars on a Motorway are nice though, low rpm travelling is nice.
 
RSClio said:
My argument is I cant understand why the OP stated a diesel city car would be less drivable. I just did not get that. I have no issues driving my car round a city in stop start traffic, just mearly saying it would IMO be easier in a diesel due to not having to engage the clutch much. Just a personal preferance.

I'm not a diesel fan I can appreciate what there good at and thats MPG and motorway cruising. Something I dont look at in a car hence the 182 :)
Click to expand...

Point I was getting at is that traditionally small diesel cars had much larger engines than there petrol equivalent. Diesel engines still rattle, are louder and require a greater amount of gear changes.
 
Vita said:
Having driven Petrol and Diesel cars, I much prefer Petrol. The clutch is a bit more heavier on a diesel and it doesn't appeal to me. City driving with a diesel blows, I dislike it.

Diesel cars on a Motorway are nice though, low rpm travelling is nice.
Click to expand...

Clutch is a bit more heavier? Depends on the car not engine.

How does it blow?

What cars have you driven?
 
Third Opinion said:
The point I am getting at is the way fuel prices are going the more and more I hear people say "well when I replace my car it will have to be a diesel".

We are getting into a situation when the average car buying Joe thinks he he/she can beat the increasing running costs by simply turning to diesel.
Click to expand...

An extract from a spreadsheet I have written costing out my next car shortlist:

8k miles per year:

330i £140.73 pm
330d £115.55

£25 a month difference.

8k miles per year with fuel up another 10p a litre:

330i: £151.65 pm
330d: £124.38

£27 a a month difference.

As you can see, as fuel increases in price the actual monthly saving of a diesel hardly changes, especially in the context of other costs of running a car. For context over the same monthly period, the contribution to the cost of tyres, warranty, servicing and tax is £100 a month for each car..
 
Third Opinion said:
My point is that why is nobody educating people about the difference? I mean do people believe that if they buy a diesel they are gonna save mega bucks over the next couple of years that will justify the higher purchase price?

The way I see it if this goes on the majority of cars on the British roads are gonna be diesel.
Click to expand...

Yes people believe it. I'd have thought most cars are already diesel. I think it's that bad that I think you would be either mad, committed or loaded to buy a large car/suv without diesel just on the resale alone. You can just hear the intake of breath from the dealer as he prices your petrol suv/barge when you trade in, based upon the chances of him selling it down the line. Obviouslythere are a few exceptions on metal which is very niche or super premium but on most stuff it's the case.
 
[TW]Fox;18291153 said:
An extract from a spreadsheet I have written costing out my next car shortlist:

8k miles per year:

330i £140.73 pm
330d £115.55

£25 a month difference.

8k miles per year with fuel up another 10p a litre:

330i: £151.65 pm
330d: £124.38

£27 a a month difference.

As you can see, as fuel increases in price the actual monthly saving of a diesel hardly changes, especially in the context of other costs of running a car. For context over the same monthly period, the contribution to the cost of tyres, warranty, servicing and tax is £100 a month for each car..
Click to expand...

What's the purchase price different in the cars?
 
What it mainly comes down to is the amount of mileage you are expecting to do though.

If you do 6000 miles a year you may only save a couple of hundred quid a year, if that. If you do 20,000+ then your saving might be closer to the £1000mark or more.
 
mikeh501 said:
Yes people believe it. I'd have thought most cars are already diesel. I think it's that bad that I think you would be either mad, committed or loaded to buy a large car/suv without diesel just on the resale alone. You can just hear the intake of breath from the dealer as he prices your petrol suv/barge when you trade in, based upon the chances of him selling it down the line. Obviouslythere are a few exceptions on metal which is very niche or super premium but on most stuff it's the case.
Click to expand...

I know a couple of years ago that more than 50% of new cars sold were Diesel. Not sure what it was last year.
 
mikeh501 said:
Yes people believe it. I'd have thought most cars are already diesel. I think it's that bad that I think you would be either mad, committed or loaded to buy a large car/suv without diesel just on the resale alone. You can just hear the intake of breath from the dealer as he prices your petrol suv/barge when you trade in, based upon the chances of him selling it down the line. Obviouslythere are a few exceptions on metal which is very niche or super premium but on most stuff it's the case.
Click to expand...

It's not actually that bad with many cars because the lack of supply is limiting the loss through lack of demand in most cases. Lets take a look at this months copy of Glass's Guide and work out whether you'd be shafted if you had chosen to buy a brand new 530i Auto 4 years ago instead of a 530d.

530d M Sport Auto 07/07 with leather and media pack:

Cost new: £42615
Trade value @ 43k: £18100
Depreciation: £24515

530i M Sport Auto 07/07 with leather and media pack:

Cost new:£41805
Trade value @ 43k: £16350
Depreciation: £25455

So in reality far from being worth a bundle less, it's only depreciated by another few percent.
 
Jono8 said:
What it mainly comes down to is the amount of mileage you are expecting to do though.

If you do 6000 miles a year you may only save a couple of hundred quid a year, if that. If you do 20,000+ then your saving might be closer to the £1000mark or more.
Click to expand...


What car did you have in mind for that couple of hundred quid saving over a year? I am not saying your wrong or trying to wind you up but is that a feasible saving on average (maybe somebody has some figures?)
 
Third Opinion said:
What car did you have in mind for that couple of hundred quid saving over a year? I am not saying your wrong or trying to wind you up but is that a feasible saving on average (maybe somebody has some figures?)
Click to expand...

Look at my figures above - for my real world example if I chose a 330d instead of a 330i as my next car, then I'd save £300 a year. In that same period that same car would cost about £1300 in warranty costs, tyre costs, servicing costs and road tax. So really, that £300 isn't much and doesnt really factor into the decision.
 
[TW]Fox;18291197 said:
It's not actually that bad with many cars because the lack of supply is limiting the loss through lack of demand in most cases. Lets take a look at this months copy of Glass's Guide and work out whether you'd be shafted if you had chosen to buy a brand new 530i Auto 4 years ago instead of a 530d.

530d M Sport Auto 07/07 with leather and media pack:

Cost new: £42615
Trade value @ 43k: £18100
Depreciation: £24515

530i M Sport Auto 07/07 with leather and media pack:

Cost new:£41805
Trade value @ 43k: £16350
Depreciation: £25455

So in reality far from being worth a bundle less, it's only depreciated by another few percent.
Click to expand...

Has the fuel saving alone made it worth buying the diesel at 43k?
 
It's hard to calculate the fuel saving as prices have been up and down over that period and for about a year diesel was 10-13p more expensive. Lets say an average of £1.10 for unleaded and £1.15 for diesel.

Over that 43k miles, fuel costs based on each cars official combined figure:

530d (42.8): £5245
530i (37.7): £5696

So over that 4 years you'd have saved £112 a year in fuel.

In total then you'd only have paid an extra £350 a year, or £29 a month, to own the silky smooth 272bhp petrol six instead of the diesel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom