Buying a diesel

Crizzy

Crizzy

Crizzy

Associate
Joined
31 May 2007
Posts
2,482
Location
Bristol
So my better half has decided that for the next family wagon she would like an SUV, believe me I have tried to talk her out of it, but she seems to have her heart set on it.

We've been to see a few and decided the Qashqai +2 best suits our needs, however there are a fair amount of diesels on the market and I am not sure whether this is a good call.

I know it's not going to provide any savings on fuel, although my wife will be using it for work and she does higher than average miles as part of her job requires travelling.

We've seen this car which looks pretty decent and we're thinking about going for a look:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/183850870444

To be honest I am not bothered about whether it's a petrol or diesel in terms of driving the thing, however there is a lot of scare mongering going on in the news of late about the demise of diesel cars and how they'll all be banned from city centres in the next 5 years or so. Is there any truth to this?

Will I potentially be buying something that's going to loose all it's value and be heavily taxed because it's a diesel? From my research this car has a Euro6 rating...

Cheers all
 
Last edited:
I don't think anyone can say, we any certainty, what the future holds for diesels. As you say, there is a lot of chat about diesel bad, but car manufacturers are proving that diesel is actually able to output nothing more than water vapour and nitrogen (if you are using the latest EURO compliant engines). However, given that with increased technology comes an increased risk of malfunction and expense, (think DPF), diesel may still not be the best choice.

I think the current calculation is around 30k a year before diesel starts to offer better value over a petrol counterpart.
 
Thanks all, it's not because of the cost saving that we are considering one, as pointed out it really has to be much higher milage than what we'd be doing.

It's more the fact that there seems to be far more choice available, and as it's going to be a daily hack I have no real preference over either. I'll still have my silky smooth Mondeo for myself :p
 
There would be a school run element to it, but in general the commute is 20 miles either way plus covering commuting all over North Somerset. So mixed bag really.
 
Django x2 said:
I think the current calculation is around 30k a year before diesel starts to offer better value over a petrol counterpart.
Click to expand...

This depends entirely on the car in question as the efficiency benefits and residual values are very model dependant. On a big SUV it's much less than 30k a year, on a small supermini it would be unlikely diesel would ever make sense.
 
Your concern over DPF won't necessarily be mitigated by the odd A/B road thrash. Some of the regeneration criteria on cars is very particular.

For instance, VAG/BMW are along the lines of continuous speed over 70km/h for more than x minutes or x distance. If you drop below that speed, the regen stalls or pauses and is meant to continue on the next cycle. You really need to be sitting on a good clear dual carriageway or motorway for fully functional, uninterrupted regens
 
Had the same dilemma choosing what engine to have in my Ateca. My commute is 4 miles and most of the time in the week my car is on the drive, however in the weekends I can do hundreds of miles. It was a choice between the 150bhp 2.0tdi or the 150bhp 1.5tsi both in DSG.

Test drove both and preferred the 1.5 and how smooth/flexible it is, plus it does over 40mpg on a run with none of the worries of DPF's or AdBlue. Its so smooth when idling I have to check its running.

As mentioned above it takes some serious mileage to see any benefits in diesel now.
 
I'll be honest about diesels, I don't like them, I've had one for nearly 2 years and it'll be my last. Maybe the 6 cylinder or 8 cylinder diesels are nicer but the 5 cylinder diesel I have isn't refined.

It doesn't sound good either and it just doesn't have the responsiveness. I drove a fiesta 1.4 petrol the other day and it brought a massive smile on my face. Engine sounded nice, no tractor rattle sitting in traffic. Wanted to be revved out.

Just my opinion, some people love diesels and they do have their place, in 4x4's and Vans, towing stuff etc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom