Secondhand petrol family cars (C4 and similar)

[golondrina]

Hi,

Looks like we might need to replace our 2009 C4. It's a diesel (we bought it from a friend, so didn't chose diesel as such, it was just a great deal) and we really don't need a diesel. Don't do much mileage really and I think the tide is turning against diesel now.

Would it be a good idea to go for petrol (I think hybrids and the like are way out of our budget)? Most of the 2nd hand C4 sized cars seem to be diesel?

Recommendations? Don't want to go smaller and ideally a bit bigger to get 3 full seats across the back if possible.

Budget is more complex as we're not in the UK.

Would like something around 5 years old probably as current car is 9 years old.

Thanks!

I've just downsized car and gone from diesel to petrol for the same reason as you. But, I think the problem you may find with still wanting a big car is that these kind of cars tend to come in Diesel engines because they are more efficient on bigger cars. A big petrol engine will drink a lot of fuel even on short journeys, so from that point of view you probably won't be gaining a lot by switching to petrol.

We considered a c4 but don't want a diesel. We have a Ford cmax 1.6 and its a great 🚗 and looking to upgrade

yes, keepingbees I agree there's obviously a reason so many are diesel past a certain size. It's not so much about fuel economy, more that I think it will begin to be more expensive in terms of road tax, diesel fuel and so on as governments move towards penalising/discouraging diesel. Also, we've just had our other diesel die a death and it was typical diesel problems: injectors, turbo, particulates etc. Given we won't do much mileage in a future car I think a diesel is not a good choice, from what I understand.

The C4 might hang on a bit longer, it seems, so we might not need to change as soon as I thought.

happy how spacious are the back seats of the cmax? Is it the one with 3 full back seats?

If you get a Diesel with good emissions the road tax on them is often really low or even free. You won't find that on a petrol unless it's brand new/small engine with really low emissions.
But no, diesels aren't great on lots of short journeys so I totally see your point. I think with the size of car you're looking at though you're a bit between a rock and a hard place. I think you're looking at a 1.6-1.8 petrol engine size and it's a case of finding what the best mpg car is. Autotrader always used to be good for giving car comparisons on mpg/insurance/tax bands.

You're stuffed. We went older to get a petrol because diesels don't cope with constant short journeys and the newer ones are worse. Didn't fancy a 1.0l turbo petrol or hybrid out of warranty tbh. Got a 15 yo 3 litre subaru estate in the end. Only other options would have been leasing a hybrid or modern petrol.

Yeah, I don't really want a hybrid unless it's new and under warranty.
I know what you mean, what I'd like doesn't exist.

We replaced an 09 reg Skoda with an 05 reg Subaru (massively lower mileage). There are some petrol Mondeos around, otherwise Skoda VRS petrol or BMW had some decent sized petrol cars too - basically either premium or tiny engines was the fashion. Think we'll be waiting 3 years for the petrol fleet cars to start coming through again!

I think it's that awkward stage unless you afford new.
The car looks like it will go a bit longer so it's not as urgent suddenly, I'm just conscious that it's 9 years old now. We're not in the UK and the 2nd hand market here is poor.