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Some small diesels just don't add up
 
 
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Diesel or petrol?

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Added: 16 November 2008 13:04
My diesel hyundai people carrier fully loaded and towing a fully loaded trailer used (according to the how far left to go on the guage) used 44 miles worth of fuel on a 100 mile journey.So how come our beloved Govt says its higher emmissions. It uses less than my daughters Clio. Also on long journeys I can run for 6 hours full belt My Volvo petrol could only manage 3 hours. In France most supermarkets close on Sundays so you are at the mercy of overpriced normal station.
Nigel, Northampton

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Added: 10 October 2008 20:34
People make good points about the drivability of diesels. Here's some more:
1) Range.

Petrol or diesel models of the same car will carry the same volume of fuel. Therefore I can go further before filling up if I drive a diesel car.

2) Emissions.

Diesel pollutes less- you will burn a lower volume of diesel than petrol per mile driven.

3) Resale.

Diesel cars cost more, but usually sell for more second hand. Therefore you recoup a lot of your cost.
BOL, Bristol

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Added: 05 October 2008 12:11
Having owned 3 diesel cars, I'd agree that they are alot more relaxing to drive on long trips. Not to mention that servicing is much less hassle & can be (is) cheaper. Also, I do not recall having to ever change the exhaust system on any of the 3 vehicles owned!
Kiran, Feltham

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Added: 19 September 2008 15:51
I only paid £7325 for my brand new C1 diesel and have achieved just over 90mpg on a long journey from North to South Wales last year in normal driving.

Fuel economy is breathtaking with £10 of V power lasting over a week.

As with all diesels mechanical parts last so much longer and resale value always outshines plentyfull petrols.

Driving a diesel is far more relaxing over longer distance and with 47% of cars being sold last year being diesel its no wonder its more expensive to buy.
Peter JR Lewis, Llandudno North Wales

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Added: 11 September 2008 22:30
excellent.This is one of the real world driving issues facing real drivers on today's roads.This is the sort of stuff that programs like top gear should be doing,rather than doing stupid things like racing cars against speed boats or touring halfway round the continent in an expensive luxury car!I find this kind of general information interesting and very helpful as I will shortly be changing my car.To recoup the benefit of switch from petrol to diesel I would go for a year-old/nearly new car.
tom , livingston

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Added: 04 September 2008 16:14
The pay off duration is a very valid issue to many people. However, lets not forget that most modern diesels are better to drive than their petrol equivalents, especially amongst the lower powered petrol engines.
Plus, for some people there is the opportunity to run on bio diesel which shaves a few pence off the price of diesel.
Chris, York

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Added: 04 September 2008 00:08
the mpg figures or consumption figures are never right in daily driving. explore your engine, even in a mechanicly minded aproach like I do, and the gap between diesel and petrol is huge and well worth it. now if you are talking about lpg we can then compare further
raul, crawley

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Added: 03 September 2008 10:39
Thanks! This information is great and just the sort of thing that needs to be researched more and published for a larger range of cars today. How about a Parker's special column/pages on this sort of thing including depreciation costs etc.

I know each of your reviews give detailed information about mpg etc but it would really help to have a sort of comparison chart page(s) where economy like this could be highlighted and quickly compared with different cars.
Geoff, Oldham

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Added: 02 September 2008 16:22
As usual you have all missed the best cars, small cheap petrol = daihatsu charade less than one litre, near 60 mpg, and puts all rivals to shame in terms of speed, space and price, its even comfy and a well spec'd pleasent place to be
As for diesel the king is skoda fabia, cheap to buy, but is all VW, TDI is an easy 60 mpg average, up to 80 mpg if you spend all day doing 40 mph in 5th gear!
Also brutal torgue and power makes dispatching inferior traffic easy!
Engines last over 500,000miles!
Alistair, Bognor regis

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Added: 02 September 2008 07:43
After many years of running diesel cars and vans I now run Vauxhall factory fit LPG cars and vans ,registered as dual fuel makes them cheap on road tax, London congestion charging exempt ( when registered with ccfor London ) and LPG at 56 per litre available at most BP’s Shell and Jet forecourts as Autogas . There is no high rev test on the MOT. Emissions are measured at tickover when the MOT test man puts the correct setting into the computer.
Thanks
j lonsdale , thetford

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Added: 01 September 2008 17:35
in my opinion if you want a fuel efficient car, you should try and find a fuel efficient petrol. There are quite a few such as the hybrids (civic hybrid, toyota prius), the new bmw's and minis, citroen c1/toyota aygo/peugeot 107 and the new fiat 500 1.2. thes all get over 50 mpg and have low emissions for a low tax bill.
matt, preston

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Added: 01 September 2008 15:16
There is something more that just the fuel prices. You pay less VED but insurance premium is quite often higher. The other thing is servicing cost higher for a diesel. Someone said "diesel doesn't need new exhaust" but it will need new turbine and that can be very expensive. I did some calculation for my current car and considering milage, fuel price difference etc. I would get the return in 11 years- and I love the sound of my petrol engine.
henry, Reading

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Added: 01 September 2008 12:33
After just buying a 206 diesel 1.4 hdi i am very pleased with it, it has the low road tax £35 per year compared to it's £120 petrol version, it has plenty of grunt due to the mid range torque that you would not get from a small petrol. In a crash diesel is a lot safer as it it much harder to catch alight. Petrol in hot weather also eveaporates but due to diesel density it doesnt, so theres a little bit saving !
Mark Hubery, Co.Durham

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Added: 01 September 2008 08:17
I wouldn't swap my Skoda Fabia VRS for a petrol alternative such as the Fiesta ST150. Its only about £120 per year tax (much lower than the fiesta) ins group 9 (again much lower) and absolutely leathering it will return 38mpg all day long, not to mention depreciation. surely not all diesels are a waste of money
Simon, Manchester

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Added: 30 August 2008 21:05
The comparison should not just consider fuel costs. Over ten years the saving in VED alone is likely to amount to over £700 due to the generally lower band for the diesel (though of course future tax regimes could negate this). In addition diesels never seem to need new exhaust systems, another saving. Arguably some of the small diesels are also a better drive and return better fuel consumption than the average figures. For instance my clio regularly returns from 67 to 70 mpg.
Philip, Saffron Walden

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