Petrol or diesel?

[Blu]

I have never owned a diesel car, but many of the second hand ones that look promising are diesel.
Is diesel a disadvantage?
What are the pros and cons in terms of running costs and overheads, repairs, reliability, environmentally etc?
Bog standard small MPV - I am not interested in high performance sports car type driving.

[winchester1]

Depends on the type of driving (city/countryside),and mileage you normally do. Also could you get a van?
Lots of motorway miles id go for a.deisel van. City, short runs id get a little petrol car.

[Blu]

Mostly city short runs, but then a fair few weekend motorway trips.
I am looking at a Skoda Roomster - not huge as a city car but perfect for camping and our outdoorsy stuff as they really do have...room!

I think I usually do under 10,000 a year.

[Blu]

I would like a van, actually, if it had comfy seats....

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

I'm sure I was told you need to do more than 16,000 a year to make a diesel worthwhile.

I do about 7000 miles a year and have a diesel. Always wanted one and am happy I have one. Good mpg, though fuel is a couple pence more a litre than petrol. The actual cars normally cost a bit more for a diesel than a petrol.

I think it's recommended they're serviced a bit more frequently, think I read every six months. Advice I have totally ignored!

My emissions bill (aka road tax) is only £35 a year as the emissions are so low, diesels are meant to last longer/do more miles. I expect the body on my car to die before the engine. So far it's been very reliable. Dh has always had diesels, his last car did 200,000 miles before the fuel tank split and it wasn't worth replacing the fuel tank. The actual engine was fine. Car was ancient, like 15 years old, maybe older.

[MirandaWest]

I have a diesel car. Bought it about 8 years ago when I was married to xh and he used to drive about 500 miles a week to work. I drive a lot less now but there's no point in getting rid of something that is still very good . Diesel isn't much more than petrol at the moment although who knows how long that will last for.

Have never heard advice to get them
Serviced more often so mine hasn't.

[MirandaWest]

My car is nearly 11 years old (actually got it 9.5 years ago thinking about it) and has done 135,000 miles. Still going strong :)

[yadrosh]

A mechanic has told me that petrols are the new diesels. The problem with modern diesels are the high temps the engine has to reach because of the modern obsession with fuel efficiency. This, in turn, can make parts wear out quicker due to heat stress.

He told me that if I ever get a new car, make it a petrol, as a lot of modern petrol cars have excellent MPG and are just as rugged.

Maybe the golden era of Diesels was around 1997-2000? A lot of these old bangers just keep going (Pug HDi 306s, for example - know someone who owns one)...known to exceed 300k of mileage..

[Blu]

That's interesting about the emissions road tax - I thought diesel was the old 'clean' and now discovered to be mucky?

[winchester1]

Id get a 1.4 petrol if I was you to be ok on the motorway and city trips.

[Blu]

Thank you, Winchester, that's v helpful.

The one I was looking at is 1.2 and I did wonder as I think my current one is 1.6.

Any views on automatic v manual?

My current car is the first automatic I have ever driven, and I don't really like it. Prefer manual. But don't really mind.

[winchester1]

Id get manual, esp if there is any chance of bad road conditions, ice, buggy hills etc as I find automatics are rubbish for that type of driving but I've not driven autos much so it could be my lack of skill.
I certainly wouldn't pay more or tbh the same for an auto.

[winchester1]

Boggy hills, I've no idea what a buggy hill is

[Blu]

I most hate the auto when we are in the Lakes - coming down one of the steep passes.

And not being able to use 2nd gear to start in snow. Not that that happens very often here in urban London

Thanks Winchester - all v helpful.

[imwithspud]

We have a diesel. But be wary, as some (if not all? I don't know) diesel cars require you to do frequent drives down the motorway/at a certain speed in order to get hot enough to keep the DPF valve thingy from getting blocked up - well that's the non-technical way of putting it anyway. We learnt this the hard way, cost us nearly a grand in repairs and now we take ours for a quick run two junctions down the motorway and back once a week to keep it ticking over. We know when it needs doing because the fumes coming out the back are more noticeable. In my experience diesels are fine if doing frequent long journeys, but not so practical if not.

I think next time we will go for a petrol to avoid the faff in future.

[howmanyairmiles]

Usually there is higher running costs associated with diesels, and unless your doing a significant mileage I wouldn't bother, the small petrol engines on sale now are almost as good on mpg.

Personally am not keen on how diesels drive they don't suit my driving style.

[Blu]

Right!
I have my spec:
1.4 (or 1.6) Skoda Roomster, preferably Scout model, roof bars, petrol, manual. 2 or 3 years old, reasonable mileage, colour not too naff.

Thank you all!