1litre petrol more economical than 1.8 Diesel?

P

pennypincher

Registered User
Messages
396
Just wondering what would be the best value run around family car only doing 10-20 miles a day!Currently the 1.6 petrol is costing a fortune...but am thinking about a 1.8 Diesel mondeo-very cheap to buy second hand...Would the 1.8 diesel outperform a 1Litre petrol?Also the car would need to be 6-7 years old for cost reasons.....
 
You're not doing enough mileage to justify a diesel. So you're looking at petrol.

Not sure I understand where you're coming from to be honest. You're looking at either a Mondeo (big family saloon) or a 1 litre petrol car (very small run around). Which do you want?

What do you currently own? 1.6 small hatchback will give reasonably good mpg. Large family sized cars in 1.6 format are rubbish. I've owned one previously. The engine is too small to pull the car around so eats petrol.

If it's a family sized large saloon you're after then you need to look at what gives good mpg...but essestially you're looking at a larger engine which can pull the car around without labouring the engine so much.
 
Shouls have been clearer.Only looking at mondeo cos I can get a high mileage one with air con/electrics etc and it'll hold a few children plus the shopping.Just didn't know if the diesel was economic in this instance with small mileage.
 
Unfortunately servicing costs tend to be higher with diesels so while you might get better mpg you'd need to play that against servicing...and with higher mileage more can and will go wrong.

If you're looking at 6-7 years old I would go jap purely for reliability...Honda or Toyota. They tend to outlive whole species! :)

However...and it's something I say to a lot of people when they're talking about buying a car. Look at the importance of a car in relation to your children. A 6-7 year old car is unlikely to have a good NCAP crash rating. So if you're ever in an accident you have to be thinking how you and your loved ones would fair. Just food for thought really...naturally budget comes into lay as well.
 
Funny you should mention safety,that was actually a factor,I figured a Mondeo has more crumple space hence safer than a smaller car,I'll look into the NCAP ratings.
 
There's such a big difference in real-world fuel consumption between diesel and petrol, you'll rarely encounter anyone who drives a diesel that would go back.

The price premium for diesel argument only really applies to new cars, and is in any case decreasing all the time.

One thing I'd say though is watch for service history, particularly oil changes.
 
In my experience in heavy traffic, in an urban enviroment, and a low speeds a diesel is often much more economical that a small petrol. I'd go with as small as possible diesel if possible. You can get 1.3 diesels now.
 
ang1170 said:
There's such a big difference in real-world fuel consumption between diesel and petrol, you'll rarely encounter anyone who drives a diesel that would go back.
Click to expand...
I've been trying to find a site that does comparisons based purely on mpg -the only ones I've come accross have been american.

Anyone aware of one?

Doing a 80 mile round trip 4 days a week - plus some running around on the other days. I want to compare some small diesel vans ie. berlingo/combi/inca/etc.
 
Don't know of a direct comparison of UK/IRL cars. But Parkers is good for looking up technical specs of various models, including MPG.
[broken link removed]
 
The problem with any comparison figures is that they're not done in real-world conditions, so although they'll certainly give a relative picture (i.e. A is clearly better than B), the actual figures aren't that meaningful.

My own experience, and that of others I've spoken to, is that diesel is far better than petrol in "real world" motoring, and that even without the couple of cent price advantage of diesel would be a better buy.

I don't really understand arguments such as "you don't do enough mileage for diesel": that may have made sense years ago when diesel engines were very much worse in terms of power, noise, driveability etc. and had a considerable price premium, but it really doesn't apply anymore. If anything, the engine characteristics (low revving, loads of torque etc.) are much better suited to modern conditions.

Higher servicing costs is a pretty much obsolete argument: just check on the costs for the particular model you're interested in.

The bottom line is that you'll rarely find anyone with a diesel who'd go back to petrol.

As a "real world" figure, from direct personal experience a 1.9 liltre diesel Scenic normally gets more than twice the range out of the same amount of fuel as a 318 BMW (2 litre petrol). My guess is that a well-maintained 1.8 diesel Mondeo would be similar it not better than a small hatchback. You'd really need to speak with someone with direct experience of both.
 
ang1170 said:
....I don't really understand arguments such as "you don't do enough mileage for diesel": that may have made sense years ago when diesel engines were very much worse in terms of power, noise, driveability etc. and had a considerable price premium, but it really doesn't apply anymore. If anything, the engine characteristics (low revving, loads of torque etc.) are much better suited to modern conditions....
Click to expand...

I think some of that is because that you couldn't get small capacity diesel so insurance and tax where higher negating any savings made in diesel. This is largely gone now with 1.3/1.4 diesel and turbo diesel engines. However the cost difference in buying a diesel is still considerable, usually about 3-5k difference. and so you still need to do more mileage to make back the difference, even taking into account lower depreciation than a petrol.

In our experience our petrol cars get approx 230 miles from one tankful in heavy city driving. So we'd fill our car at least twice a month sometimes 3 times. Whereas a good diesel gets about 450-500 on a single similar sized tank. The difference is about €40-50 a month. So thats x12=€600 then x 3yrs = €1800 etc.
 
aircobra19 said:
I think some of that is because that you couldn't get small capacity diesel so insurance and tax where higher negating any savings made in diesel. This is largely gone now with 1.3/1.4 diesel and turbo diesel engines. However the cost difference in buying a diesel is still considerable, usually about 3-5k difference. and so you still need to do more mileage to make back the difference, even taking into account lower depreciation than a petrol.
Click to expand...

There can still be quite a difference in the new price OK (way more than there should be: it's just what the manufacturers feel they can get away with): it all depends on make and model. In fact, for the Mondeo, the diesel is actually cheaper than the petrol version.

However, buying 2nd hand (as the OP is), this difference is greatly diminished.
 
Which of these small vans would be the most fuel efficient?

Berlingo/Partner/Inca/Caddy/Combi.
 
ang1170 said:
There can still be quite a difference in the new price OK (way more than there should be: it's just what the manufacturers feel they can get away with): it all depends on make and model. In fact, for the Mondeo, the diesel is actually cheaper than the petrol version.

However, buying 2nd hand (as the OP is), this difference is greatly diminished.
Click to expand...

How did you work that out? New Mondeo 4Dr LX 1.6i (110PS) is €25k. New LX 1.8TDCI (100PS) is €28K. a Clear 3K in the difference. Unless you are not comparing the same model and spec. In my experience in 2nd hand there is still a difference, and petrol can often better better value 2nd hand because of the frequently silly premium for diesels in Ireland.
 
I was going by the current model:

4-door LX 2.0 TDCi is €28,195
4-door LX 2.0i is €29,165

Maybe not the best comparison, I agree.

A lot depends on individual make and model.
 
Remember the extra tax and insurance on a big diesel compared to a small petrol. However when I was looking at cars around 10 years old recently big cars appeared to be much cheaper than small cars even though you get a whole lot more. It seems to me while we save on one element we pay more on another.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top