alchresearch Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I wouldn't recommend a diesel if most of your journeys are around town and are of short duration. I strongly agree with this. Diesels need to get warm and need a bit of motorway driving - especially as modern diesels contain something called a diesel particulate filter which needs a very hot engine to burn off the emissions. Failure to do so and the engine and valves - particularly the EGR valve - will gum up and fail. You'll see the tarry like substance in intake pipes, on the MAF sensor and so on. I had a 1.3 diesel Punto. It was great -punchy, economical to run (£35 a year tax and great on fuel) but it suffered because I wasn't giving it that good a run. I think in a few years time we'll see a ticking time bomb of small engined diesels with loads of problems. Don't get me wrong, I love diesels. Im driving a Pug 407 1.6 HDI at the moment and my last four cars have all been diesels, but I commute via the motorway so I get to give them a good run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliceBB Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 If you can pick up a diesel Micra youll find them reliable and very fuel efficient - my sister gets 70-80mpg out of hers on a 30 mile commute, 50mpg in town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FORE Posted August 17, 2011 Author Share Posted August 17, 2011 Some interesting info - thanks to you all. However I am quite set in my ways for diesel, and have had 1 or 2 Peugeots always since '91. We only drive max 5,000 miles each, but the 205d is getting a bit old now, despite only 93k miles, and I am fed up of paying £215 tax for each. So I am tempted to look for more mpg and FAR less tax. Interesting about the egr valves gumming up, were they REALLY worth putting on in the first place. Our 406 2.0 hdi, has had it 'taken out', after an oil,leak a year ago. I THINK the diesel particulate filter applies to cars after ~2006 at a guess. The more they put on....the more.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eater Sundae Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Some interesting info - thanks to you all. However I am quite set in my ways for diesel, and have had 1 or 2 Peugeots always since '91. We only drive max 5,000 miles each, but the 205d is getting a bit old now, despite only 93k miles, and I am fed up of paying £215 tax for each. So I am tempted to look for more mpg and FAR less tax. Interesting about the egr valves gumming up, were they REALLY worth putting on in the first place. Our 406 2.0 hdi, has had it 'taken out', after an oil,leak a year ago. I THINK the diesel particulate filter applies to cars after ~2006 at a guess. The more they put on....the more.... At 5,000 miles per annum, the fuel consumption will not be as relevant as the road tax. At 50mpg you'll only be using around £140 of fuel. An improvement to 60 mpg only saves you around £30 of that. Worth having, but nothing compared to the potential road tax saving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FORE Posted August 17, 2011 Author Share Posted August 17, 2011 5000 miles at 50mpg will equal about £630. Sadly our current diesels give us less than 40 which approaches £800. A saving of £170ish, or maybe the £140 Eater refers to. This coupled with ~ £180 saving on tax makes the switch tempting. Don't petrol engines typically give higher CO2 emissions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmston Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Try KIA Cerato if you can find one very rare in second hand market I have had two KIA in last 9 years other than , tires and one set of front brake pads and servicing m.o.t and road tax £95-00 this year . no further expense clocking 8000 per year this has a 1400 c.c diesel and both cars have never let me down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crookesey Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I've never really considered a small diesel car, my Audi A4 tdi gives me an overall 45 mpg, I'm considering a BMW X3 2.0 tdi, but my Audi stands me at nothing and rarely goes wrong. I will say that I will never stray from a diesel, but remember this, if you are constantly in commuter traffic they rev at 1000 when stationary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eater Sundae Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 5000 miles at 50mpg will equal about £630. Sadly our current diesels give us less than 40 which approaches £800. A saving of £170ish, or maybe the £140 Eater refers to. This coupled with ~ £180 saving on tax makes the switch tempting. Don't petrol engines typically give higher CO2 emissions? Sorry, I had complete brain failure when doing my fuel consumption calculation. You are correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FORE Posted August 17, 2011 Author Share Posted August 17, 2011 Sorry, I had complete brain failure when doing my fuel consumption calculation. You are correct. 50miles per litre maybe? If only! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrannyGranny Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Even a small diesel will not average 50mpg around town. Most journeys it will not even get to running temperature. However if the OP really wants a diesel then older ones I think have less trouble than the more modern ones when doing lots of short journeys. Your budget limits you to 'older' models anyway. I would go for the Fiesta 1.4 TDCi Zetec with A/C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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