New Car - petrol or diesel

I know but you lot are full of knowledge.

looking at a new(ish) car

Mileage approx 15K a year
Needed for work
commute is 18 miles each way
Long runs motoway to England and stuff

Looking at a rather minted GT TDI 150bhp version
but not sure if i should got for petrol with the short runs etc

so mighty orger's bamboozle me with your knowledge and opinions

[MisterTommyH]

Diesel. Don't think I'll ever go back to petrol.

Whats your budget for buying the car, insurance, fuel useage and running costs?

IMO you need to be doing sorta 14-15k a year before it is worth the extra costs for diesel. A diesel car is more expensive to buy and service and the fuel is dearer, however, consumption is MILES better so if you are going to be doing 15k, I would probably say you will be better with a diesel.

Diesel

Unless there are petrel version of the same car available for more than less that the difference in fuel is going to cost you over the x number of years you have the car.

I do 15k a year and I reckon I save £800 a year using a diesel car over its equal petrol.

Originally Posted by Quedos

I know but you lot are full of knowledge.

looking at a new(ish) car

Mileage approx 15K a year
Needed for work
commute is 18 miles each way
Long runs motoway to England and stuff

Looking at a rather minted GT TDI 150bhp version
but not sure if i should got for petrol with the short runs etc

so mighty orger's bamboozle me with your knowledge and opinions

I believe diesels can be problematic if they're only used for regular short trips. Not sure if it affects modern diesels as bad but something to consider if your commute doesn't include some high speed roads

Budget is cheap as chips as didn't expect to buying a new one as in max £4k

the petrol version I'm looking at all have similar mileage on them and not sure how good petrol engines are once they've gone over 70/80k

The insurance for the Golf Gti TDI is and extra £80 for the remaining 11 months total (almost £400)
tax is the same and i'm trying to cut down on mileage cost of fuel cost
though I think i need to factor in a timing belt change for the car- so apprx£200

Originally Posted by brennan

I believe diesels can be problematic if they're only used for regular short trips. Not sure if it affects modern diesels as bad but something to consider if your commute doesn't include some high speed roads

To be fair, I would suggest that an 18 mile trip isn't exactly a short trip, if she had said she was doing a 5 or 6 mile trip each way then I would have thought that might have effected the engine but I think it will warm up sufficiently, particuarly in a modern engine during the 18 mile trip.

I drive 140 miles a day. I drive a Pug 106 1.5 Diesel and it gives me back 60-70mpg. It had 125k on the clock when I bought it and last year I put nearly another 30k on it.

I changed the cambelt as soon as I bought it and the engine has been faultless throughout. It just passed it's MOT again.

Non turbo diesel engines are very strong and a high mileage one shouldn't give you concern too much. If looked after you should get 200k miles out of one easily.

To make if cost worthy of having a diesel over a petrol engine you need to be doing some big mileage and top gear. Not just long distance. I drive between 50-70 mph and most of it is in top gear. That's when I get close to the 70mpg region.

After say all that, it is also going to depend on if the difference between petrol and diesel stays as it is now. It wasn't that long ago that diesel was only a penny more expensive and in some garages it cost exactly the same. If the void between the two carries on growing, well it's going to cut the benefit of having a diesel engine.

Oh and I bought my car for less than £500. So well within your 4k budget.