New Car - petrol or diesel

Well Im on my 2nd TDI, 50k on first one, 13k on my present one, not had ( touch wood) a single fault, both VW golfs btw.

My first one I used to do 300+ a week and it got thrashed all the time.

So depends on manufacturer, especially French ones, some are bad, some are good, vag ones are pretty bullet proof IMO .

Originally Posted by mikerj

"replaceable auxiliaries"?? You could get a petrol engine rebored with new pistons and rings for the cost of a new turbo.

Yes, I'm talking about engines that are doing 250-300k in 5 or 6 years, driven by taxi drivers that don't own them, after which point something goes that makes it more cost effective to replace with a recon unit.

And so what if you could rebore for the same money as a new turbo? If a turbo has blown, it's not a rebore that it needs is it? It's a new turbo. You don't take a car off the road for days on end if you don't have to, if a turbo has blown you replace the turbo and get it's wheels rolling again.

In the taxi business you don't bother with major work such as rebores, with the labour involved and the length of time the car is not running, it's not economically viable. You could do it, then in another 25k (6 months or less) the big end shims or bearings could go. Let somebody else make a living doing all that work in one go, then buy the recon unit off them.

The TDCI's turbos may have been "replaced" by twice or three times during the lifetime of that engine, if your lucky and the driver radio's in the burning oil smell instead of just driving it until the end of his shift, or drives until the engine goes cataclysmic, whichever is the sooner.

In any high mileage business running working vehicles, anything with a lifespan significantly less than the engine is a replaceable auxiliary.

The old Sierra 1.8 TD used to do 350k before the engines were replaced BTW. I had one on it's second engine and third gearbox, with 520k miles on the clock.

Originally Posted by mikerj

"replaceable auxiliaries"?? You could get a petrol engine rebored with new pistons and rings for the cost of a new turbo.

or you could just rebuild the turbo for a tiny fraction of the cost. Having had 2 turbo's go bang on me (both on petrol engines) id have to say its a dam sight cheaper than new pistons and re boring an engine.

Diesel engines are normally a stronger unit, they have faults but so do petrol engines. Any engine that is well cared for and well maintained should see you ok with the basic bit of bad luck your going to get on any mechanical object that is put under alot of stress. Never owned a diesel until we just got one but i bet i dont spend anything like what i did on the scooby for repairs and engine rebuilds

Originally Posted by irons

or you could just rebuild the turbo for a tiny fraction of the cost

True, but again in the taxi business time is money, cheaper just to exchange it for a recon turbo and get it fitted and back on the road, let someone else do the rebuilding.

well i can say that the diesel won. I enjoy the torque that the diesel offers and the fact that you can pull in any gear!
I'll admit that the VW is quieter than the Merc and the ride is so much better but its 3 years younger and has 80k less miles
Petrol maybe cheaper but the mileage return is better on the diesle though I think I'll choke at the price of a full tank when i fill it up for the first time

[Wideboy]

Originally Posted by mikerj

Sorry but these days it is one of them (I am refering specifically to engine reliability). Petrol and diesel engines share the same basic components, but common rail d

iesels have fragile injectors, high pressure pumps that have ridiculously tight tolerances and are highly stressed, dual mass fl

ywheels that take a pounding due to the massive torque peaks, turbochargers that work under very harsh conditions and these day particulate filters that don't work very well under the short cycle times of city driving. Unsurprisingly all these parts are failure points, sometimes at surprisingly low mileages

What the the weak points on a petrol engine? Maybe the odd coil pack. Loads of potential sensor faults of course, but most of these are common with the diesel (MAF, electronic throttles, crank sensors etc). Some petrols have DMFs these days, but they are under less stress than on a diesel.

Ummm head gaskets?..... and the mafs and crank sensors are worse on petrols, especially smaller engine petrols. look on autotrade at cars @ 200k miles and count how many more diesel there is over petrol. The fact is if looked after they aren't more unreliable than petrol as both go wrong with different types of problens, the pro's of a diesel far outway the ones of petrols today

Are you by any chance related to clarkson? I've never seen someone whinge so much about diesels

Originally Posted by Quedos

well i can say that the diesel won. I enjoy the torque that the diesel offers and the fact that you can pull in any gear!
I'll admit that the VW is quieter than the Merc and the ride is so much better but its 3 years younger and has 80k less miles
Petrol maybe cheaper but the mileage return is better on the diesle though I think I'll choke at the price of a full tank when i fill it up for the first time

I don't think you will be disappointed,

Quality is remembered long after the cost is forgotten.

My 61 litre tank now costs £74 quid but I get 550 miles going small journeys

as long as you change the belts and tensioners and service it on time the diesels will go forever..

Stick some pics up for a quick oggle.

[mattSV]

Originally Posted by 454697819

I don't think you will be disappointed,

Quality is remembered long after the cost is forgotten.

My 61 litre tank now costs £74 quid but I get 550 miles going small journeys

as long as you change the belts and tensioners and service it on time the diesels will go forever..

Stick some pics up for a quick oggle.

And some of the car too if you get a chance

[Viney]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

True, but again in the taxi business time is money, cheaper just to exchange it for a recon turbo and get it fitted and back on the road, let someone else do the rebuilding.

Buy a second hand one, get that refurbed then swap over when it goes bang.

Originally Posted by specialone

Stick some pics up for a quick oggle.

Originally Posted by mattSV

And some of the car too if you get a chance

Matt - there's nothing worth oggling except the car!!

For those interested - 05 VW Passat 1.9 Tdi (100) trendline spec with 44K miles - FSH with 2 stamps (long service intervals its on)
Its bigger than anything I've had so far so no doubt I may be back on asking questions so be warned. For the girls its blue!

Thought it was a better deal than the 02 VW Golf GTI TDI PD (150bhp) with 98 K on the clocks

Should pick up thursday so will get photos at weekend once i get a chance to inspect repairs and start working on giving a damn good polishing!