Should I choose diesel or petrol?

[JDL60]

only the Cavansite blue diesel is current generation C class- the other 2 are previous (as JBD says) hence they are a 'little' cheaper than the petrols.

 

[Bellow]

The bulk of engine wear occurs while the engine is still cold. Petrols heat up much quicker getting out of the high wear phase earlier - and the Diesel is not delivering its best economy until at full operating temperature. On top of that DPF issues on short trips are nearly assured. But wholly worse are the repair costs associated with leaking injectors, HP pumps, glow plugs, etc - things that are either not present in a petrol car or tend not to go wrong and even if they do, are a sight cheaper to fix.

 

[Anthony 69]

I have recently changed after many years driving Diesel, and now have a Petrol. The driving I do is fairly relaxed and averages about 7k miles a year. My last Diesel was giving me 36.5 mpg it was a 2.4 engine, my new car is 4.7 and currently giving 28 to 29 mpg, with current fuel costs here that equals approx 2 pence a mile more for a much nicer engine and drive with the potential of less costly trouble in all accounts for the future. IMO well worth the swap.

 

[Crazyfool]

I can't believe it's taken the government this long to realise diesel is environmentally unfriendly/harmful to health. The E350 is my very first diesel engine and although it's lovely to drive, I would much prefer a 3.0T petrol. The 5.5 was a stretch too far for me based on its mpg. Would have loved to go for one though!

 

[Reggie-rock]

IMO wouldn't wonder if the used diesel engined cars will soon be much cheaper than petrol cars as they seem more environmentally unfriendly, have higher mileage, take much longer to warm up the engines and the government will or should be encouraging a move away from diesels.

I have always fancied a used car with a LPG conversion but seem very rare.

 

[tec]

I can't believe it's taken the government this long to realise diesel is environmentally unfriendly/harmful to health.

I would guess because the EU was more worried out the environment CO2 green tax, but now they have seen another tax opportunity in diesel.

Electric vehicles will also face higher taxation when they become more popular.

The new petrol eco turbo's GDI's are actually worse than diesels for particle emissions, and these will soon be targeted in some way.

 

[Deane x]

350 plug in hybrid ...if you are like me it's hard to consider hybrid but it's a no brainer

 

[Derek Smith]

The argument that a diesel model costs more than its petrol equivalent doesnt particularly convince me much since although that may be true, it is also true that when it comes to selling it a diesel car would be valued more than a petrol so you are not wasting much money in that respect.

I looked into this some time ago and had an error in my calculations pointed out to me.

The difference in price between the two fuels is generally as a percentage of the total price, so if you keep your car for, say, 5 years, as I tend to do, there is a significant drop in the value of the difference.

Given my mileage of just <6000pa any savings were limited if everything was taken into consideration. However, in the end I opted for petrol solely on driving experience. I drove otherwise identical cars within 20 minutes of each other and put a deposit on the petrol there and then.

Well within the 5 years I reckon the novelty of thinking that I'd saved 20p on a particular journey might well have worn thin.

If, as seems so from your post, the cost difference is not overwhelming, my advice is to see which you'd prefer owning.

 

[Maurauth]

Agree with the above, book in a back to back test drive with the same spec and similar engine size/performance!

 

[Deleted member 65149]

It's a shame that MB UK dropped the 350CGi from the C-Class saloon in 2012. It's a phenomenal engine that combines silky smooth power (306bhp) with respectable consumption (around 30 on very short town trips, upper 30s on long runs). Unfortunately they're harder to get hold of than hens teeth because once you have one you don't want to sell it. Highly recommended by R2D2 and me if you ever manage to spot one.

 

[C180CGI]

Hi dont buy diesels now because in UK, the new government will be getting rid of them within the next 4-5 years due to EU law. The car will lose value really badly due to this and car manufactures are also stopping production of diesel cars too.
I have a 1.8 CGI petrol and I was in the same position as you 2 weeks ago. I do 10k miles but all city, 2-3 miles. I did alot of research between diesels and petrols and went for petrol. Diesels are high maintenance if you are not driving on the motorway, DPF problems etc. My initial thought was that I would get bad MPG from a 1.8 petrol but in city I can squeeze just under 40 MPG and on motorway 55 MPG which is amazing. Definatley go for 1.8 CGI, smooth and quiet engine, diesels sound like tractors.

 

[billy21]

I have the 350 cgi engine in my E Class estate and it's fantastic, it returns about 20% less in mpg than my previous cdi E class saloon. But the driving experience is much more rewarding - quiet smooth and fast. I think it's a real shame MB have dropped this engine as it provides a real alternative to the diesel - especially if your mileage isn't too high.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Hi dont buy diesels now because in UK, the new government will be getting rid of them within the next 4-5 years due to EU law. The car will lose value really badly due to this and car manufactures are also stopping production of diesel cars too.
I have a 1.8 CGI petrol and I was in the same position as you 2 weeks ago. I do 10k miles but all city, 2-3 miles. I did alot of research between diesels and petrols and went for petrol. Diesels are high maintenance if you are not driving on the motorway, DPF problems etc. My initial thought was that I would get bad MPG from a 1.8 petrol but in city I can squeeze just under 40 MPG and on motorway 55 MPG which is amazing. Definatley go for 1.8 CGI, smooth and quiet engine, diesels sound like tractors.

I'd be delighted to see a return to the days when engines were relatively simple and petrol, diesel was rare and confirmed to commercials and weirdos.

However, I don't see it as commercially viable to tax diesels out of existence in the short term as it would have a catastrophic effect on the motor industry - we all recall the scrappage scheme.

As regards CGI and related technology I am unconvinced, my last BMW was a 3.0 ltr direct injection and it was very poor. HP fuel pump was unreliable along with injectors and coil packs, it ran very hot (on a car with no temp gauge!) but was very good on fuel.

For my own personal usage I will go for petrol next time as my mileage has decreased significantly and I do find large diesel engines make my car very nose-heavy.

 

[m500dpp]

I have a CDi250, a Peugeot 207HDi and have just traded our 207HDi SW for a Nissan X Trail. This will be used for short journeys so I deliberately bought an older one without a DPF as the recent Nissans are pretty poor with short journey DPF problems.

I am happy with our diesels and generally prefer the torque they deliver, together with the economy.

Thats not to say I dont enjoy driving our (petrol of course) MX5 when I get the chance!

Whilst the pendulum is swinging against the diesel at the moment, I am sure it will change, we should not forget even so called zero emissions cars need to generate power from somewhere which will not be clean.

As said, drive one of each then decide both versions will be around for a while yet.

 

[gIzzE]

I really wanted the 28i X3, which is a turbo 4cyl petrol, but BMW don't even bother offering petrol in the X3 now in the UK.

I have had a few cars in both diesel and petrol guise.

530d touring vs 530i touring. 3mpg benefit with the diesel.
A6 3.0tdi quattro avant vs 3.2fsi petrol. Again 3mpg benefit for the diesel.
535d Touring vs 335i Touring, 1mpg benefit to the petrol.
E320 V6 petrol estate vs E320cdi estate. 4mpg benefit for the diesel.

Around 10-15% benefit on average going diesel.
However petrol is around 7-10 cheaper, so less than 10% real world benefit.

The bigger difference is gear ratios imho. I had a Manual 18d X1 that used to average 38mpg, the 20d X1 auto was much better geared and that averaged 46mpg.

Our 123d auto was poorly geared and used to get around 39mpg average, the 120i I borrowed for 5 days was better geared and that was seeing the same 39mpg average.

I also looked at the new A3. Borrowed the 2.0tdi one sunday and did my 90 mile round trip commute and it returned 44mpg.
The following sunday borrowed the 1.4tfsi and that returned.......44mpg.


I am now down from 40k miles a year to about 20k miles a year and going diesel saves me around £10 a week, or in real terms around 5% in overall ownership costs.

I just don't get why we have all gone diesel mad, ignorance I suppose.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I really wanted the 28i X3, which is a turbo 4cyl petrol, but BMW don't even bother offering petrol in the X3 now in the UK.

I have had a few cars in both diesel and petrol guise.

530d touring vs 530i touring. 3mpg benefit with the diesel.
A6 3.0tdi quattro avant vs 3.2fsi petrol. Again 3mpg benefit for the diesel.
535d Touring vs 335i Touring, 1mpg benefit to the petrol.
E320 V6 petrol estate vs E320cdi estate. 4mpg benefit for the diesel.

Around 10-15% benefit on average going diesel.
However petrol is around 7-10 cheaper, so less than 10% real world benefit.

The bigger difference is gear ratios imho. I had a Manual 18d X1 that used to average 38mpg, the 20d X1 auto was much better geared and that averaged 46mpg.

Our 123d auto was poorly geared and used to get around 39mpg average, the 120i I borrowed for 5 days was better geared and that was seeing the same 39mpg average.

I also looked at the new A3. Borrowed the 2.0tdi one sunday and did my 90 mile round trip commute and it returned 44mpg.
The following sunday borrowed the 1.4tfsi and that returned.......44mpg.


I am now down from 40k miles a year to about 20k miles a year and going diesel saves me around £10 a week, or in real terms around 5% in overall ownership costs.

I just don't get why we have all gone diesel mad, ignorance I suppose.

Great to read some real world experience rather than the woolly responses seen from the 'I must post on every thread' brigade.

 

[st13phil]

I just don't get why we have all gone diesel mad, ignorance I suppose.

It's down to the fact that some 40% of new cars are registered to fleets, and BIK tax is kind to diesel.

Once people became used to the driving experience of forced induction diesels (it was the Passat B5 that was the breakthrough car, IMO) they were hooked - especially as there are few forced induction petrol cars available.

QED.

 

[John]

Once people became used to the driving experience of forced induction diesels (it was the Passat B5 that was the breakthrough car, IMO) they were hooked - especially as there are few forced induction petrol cars available.

I concur with this.

I once got to drive a nearly-new Ford Focus C-Max back in 2005 for a while as a courtesy car, and coming from a 350BHP V8 BMW, I expected it to be pants.

Quite the contrary. Very good to drive actually the way it delivered the torque.

I've never bought a diesel and I doubt I will - particularly as my mileage is less than 10k, but I wouldn't have been too bothered about having to choose a diesel where a petrol was uncommon (e.g. Audi A8 4.2TDI / CLS350CDI I was considering a move to a few months back).

 

[MBDevotee]

It's down to the fact that some 40% of new cars are registered to fleets, and BIK tax is kind to diesel.

Once people became used to the driving experience of forced induction diesels (it was the Passat B5 that was the breakthrough car, IMO) they were hooked - especially as there are few forced induction petrol cars available.

QED.

You are right - however more and more "Normal" petrol cars are going forced induction now.

 

[gIzzE]

It's down to the fact that some 40% of new cars are registered to fleets, and BIK tax is kind to diesel.

Once people became used to the driving experience of forced induction diesels (it was the Passat B5 that was the breakthrough car, IMO) they were hooked - especially as there are few forced induction petrol cars available.

QED.

It was the Audi A4 (B5) that got me into diesels.
At the time the 1.8i had 110bhp the same as the 1.9tdi and both took around 10.5 seconds to get to 60mph.
However, the 1.9tdi used to average around 50mpg, where as the 1.8 used to see around 28mpg.

It made perfect sense to go with the diesel with fuel bill that was halfed.

But just recently diesels have been getting worse for economy (although this gen seems to see them getting better again) while petrols have got better and better. The gap has got nearly as small as the cost difference at the pump, wiping out any worthwhile savings.

And loads of FI petrols now, more than ever.
All the Merc 4cyls are, all the Audis are, all the BMWs are, and I guess Seat, Skoda etc. all are too? Not looked at others.
The new BMW 318i is a 3cyl turbo, hearing great things on economy on that in the active tourer.
But people remember the difference 15-20 years ago, in 1996 1.9tdi vs na 1.8 was a no brainer, things have changed. But the UK wouldn't know as there are no petrols to test drive, so diesel is the go to choice.





If you're going to go diesel you may as well go for a 4cyl and see decent mpg, if you go for a really fast one, such as BMW 640d then you may well save £10 a week on fuel over the 640i if doing 15k miles a year, but when you're car is loosing £700 a month and you add in all other running costs is it really worth the sacrifice?
Surely if you can afford to do £10,000 a year on running a toy does it matter if it costs you £870 a month or £900? Jesus, if I am going to spend that sort of money I want to be in something I love, not a compromise.

I don't have a petrol at the moment, not had for over a month now, and I have almost forgotten how much nicer they are already, and probably for the best. Ignorance is bliss. But the guy next door pulling away in his late XK-R or 911 and hearing the revs climb and climb as he goes down the country road doesn't help.