# Changing over to Diesel



## ci1 (25 Sep 2007)

Hi, just wondering if any car experts can offer some advice or suggestions on the following.

I'm driving a 2005 VW Polo which I always found heavy on juice. I have just moved to Meath from Dublin and commute to Finglas every day, there and home. Between that and any other mileage I'm doing I've put €160 into the car in the past 2 weeks.
I can't keep up with this & a few people have told me to change over to diseal to make it more economical for me.

I have no idea what cars come in diseal, I'm hoping to stick to 2005 or maybe a 2006 but I don't want my repayments to go up too much because I've just gotten a mortgage. Their 300 at the moment.
also, I've been onto peugeot becasue they do a 307 in diseal but rang 4 dealers and they said they're hard to come by...

can anyone help as I'm pretty clueless when it comes to cars.
thanks,


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## beetlebrain (25 Sep 2007)

*Re: Changing over to Diseal*

hi, used to own a 307 1.4hdi sold it there a while ago, the dealer already had a buyer for it before I even had picked my new one up. It was an 02 and gave no trouble what so ever..but there is ament to be lots of things wrong with them. Only thing that annoyed me was the indicator stalks would tick over to left after ticking of from right..but you get used to it!! It was a comfy enough car, hard to see out of sometimes because of the pillars.  Extremely easy car on diesel, full tank would do over 600miles.  
Maybe a 1.6hdi would be better and have a bit more power than the 1.4 as it did feel a little sluggish at times. 

Whatever you do change to a diesel €160 every two weeks on fuel is madness. Would you consider a corolla or a hate to say it golf (old models)?


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## ci1 (25 Sep 2007)

*Re: Changing over to Diseal*

I'm kinda done with VW now at this stage but I'll look into the Corolla.
Theres a Toyota dealer down the road.

My friend used to have a 307 aswell and she was not too impressed with it but I think you have to try these things personally rather than going on everyone elses word.

But I'll check it out anyway,

thanks,


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## ci1 (25 Sep 2007)

*Re: Changing over to Diseal*

Well I've always noticed that it was heavy on Petrol which I was disapointed about because I thought VW were economical, I acutally posted on it a while back.

I had a peugeot 206 before the Polo and that was easier on Petrol.
I'm not sure exactly how much mileage I am doing now but I drive quite a bit for my job aswell, and I have a part time business aswell which gets me out and about.

I'll do a bit of research on the net and see whats out there.

thanks,


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## silvermints (25 Sep 2007)

*Re: Changing over to Diseal*

First thing to do is find out what your mpg is. Fill the tank note the milage on the clock and the number of litres put in. Drive for a couple of days and fill up again noting milage and literage again. Simple subtraction tells you how many miles per litre your car is doing. To convert this figure to mpg multiply it by      .22. Somtimes you can be doing more milage than you realise. Either way you'll know the extent of the problem.


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## silvermints (25 Sep 2007)

*Re: Changing over to Diseal*

First thing to do is find out what your mpg is. Fill the tank note the milage on the clock and the number of litres put in. Drive for a couple of days and fill up again noting milage and literage again. Simple subtraction tells you how many miles per litre your car is doing. To convert this figure to mpg multiply it by      .22. Somtimes you can be doing more milage than you realise. Either way you'll know the extent of the problem.


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## xt40 (25 Sep 2007)

*Re: Changing over to Diseal*

the "you need to be doing 25k miles per year to justify diesel " argument is bs.
nowadays, unless you are after a sports car, buying a diesel is a no-brainer. better economy ,residuals, nicer to drive and capable of higher mileage then the equivelant petrol. they may cost a bit more to buy but you will get most of that back when you sell on.


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## beetlebrain (25 Sep 2007)

*Re: Changing over to Diseal*

totally agree with xt40


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## UpTheBanner (26 Sep 2007)

fuels cost difference between diesel and petrol based on 18k miles per year and obtaining 45MPG and 35MPG for diesel and petrol respectively

Car Price Mls/Gallon Mls/Litre Annual Miles Gallons Used Litres Used Total Fuel Price
Diesel 1.06 45 9.9 18,000 400.0 1,818.2 €1,927
Petrol 1.14 35 7.7 18,000 514.3 2,337.7 €2,665

Saving €738


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## ci1 (28 Sep 2007)

*Re: Changing over to Diseal*

Hi All,

just again looking for opinions as I'm totally clueless.

I am looking at buying a Ford Fiesta Zetec brand new. 1.4 dieseal.
But a friend told me they have a turbo engine that again burns even more diesel. I explained to the guy in the dealers why I was changing over and he never mentioned this, in fact he didn't go through the specs of the car or its highlights at all...

I don't want to make a bad decision, the repayments on this car are 
30 euro dearer than what I'm paying now, so I can live with that but I don't want to be defeating the purpose of changing over to be more economical.

I really am clueless about it all so any advice or opinions the Ford Zetec

Thanks,


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## Caveat (28 Sep 2007)

*Re: Changing over to Diseal*



ci1 said:


> Hi All,
> 
> just again looking for opinions as I'm totally clueless.
> 
> ...


 
Ci1 I think at this stage you would have to state, in m/km, what your annual mileage would be.  Stating how much in euro you put into your current car may not be enough as it is possible that there is a problem there.


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## xavier (28 Sep 2007)

*Re: Changing over to Diseal*



ci1 said:


> But a friend told me they have a turbo engine that again burns even more diesel.


 
Sounds to me that your friend doesn't know much about diesels. I would buy whatever car you actually desire, don't get too hung up on MPG. Depreciation is the biggest expenditure. Given the move to CO2 based road taxation I would just make sure that whatever you buy has the lowest CO2 figure.


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## ci1 (28 Sep 2007)

*Re: Changing over to Diseal*

Hi Caveat,

My KM per year to date is 20,000.
but is obviously is set to increase because I've moved to Meath.
I'm only living there 2 weeks so I haven't been taking much stock of what KM's I'm doing...only that its cost me €160

Xavier...I think you're right.  I'll check with the dealer about the C02 figure.

thanks,


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## gianni (28 Sep 2007)

have you considered other ways to avoid consuming excessive petrol ? It might make a difference to your fuel bills,

e.g. removing roof racks, not using air con, modifying your driving style..


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## Kluivert (28 Sep 2007)

Toyota Corrolla 1.4 D4D.


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## sammieh (1 Oct 2007)

I got a corolla 1.4 brand new in 03. Had 80000 miles on it after four years. would put approx 45-50 euro in her every five to six days changed to a 05 Corolla 1.4 D4D and fill her with 40-45 every seven to eight days, deffo notice the difference and would never go back to petrol. and all i do is drive half an hour with no traffic to work and back and drive around after a kid with a busy after school life!!!!


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## ci1 (1 Oct 2007)

thanks Sammieh...most people I've spoken to say deffo to change over.  A few of my friends have moved outside Dublin eg Ratoath, stamullen (where I live) julianstown and dunshaughlin and they all say they would never go back to petrol.

I put 40 euro in my car on wednesday, and another 35 euro yesterday.

so - I've just ordered myself a brand new ford fiesta zetec, 1.4 diseal..!!!!


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## xt40 (1 Oct 2007)

d-i-e-s-e-l


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## aircobra19 (1 Oct 2007)

ci1 can you tell us distance you are covering between fills. You should get a notebook and start recording this. Otherwise its hard to know if theres a problem with the car, or you are just doing a lot of mileage. 

Incidentally have you worked out what your car costs you including insurance, tax, depreciation, maintainance,  repayments per year.  Because if your aim is to save money perhaps buying a brand new car might be costing you more than you think in depreciation. 

The argument for buying a diesel has to take not just fuel costs, but the depreciation and purchase price, and servicing into consideration. Some diesels have bigger engines and this offset some of the advantages of better fuel economy. But these days there are small engined diesels with long service intervals which reduce the cost of tax and insurance, servicing.


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## Mad_Lad (1 Oct 2007)

My 03 audi A4 1.9 130bhp TDI Automatic can do up to 58mpg, Average 50-55mp3. A 1.2 petrol polo Dosen't do better maybe less and it's a manual with about 60bhp sometimes less! Diesels have great low down power. okay they are noisier. But on the open road they are not noticeable. Don't believe that a turbo uses more juice than a non turbo that's not true. I wouldn't drive a 1.4 turbo diesel ford fiesta. AFAIK they are only 60bhp and are not great at all. It's nice to have the overtaking power of a good turbo Diesel. A good vw, audi, seat, or skoda 1.9 130bhp engines are good. The 05+ 1.9 engines are only 104bhp. So if you are paying road tax on a 1.9 it makes more sense to go for the 1.9 130bhp. And that goes for any car. Go for the highest bhp You can afford in the turbo diesels. Better resale value! I would not go beyond 2.0 litres. I don't see the need. I think If you really are after fuel economy, Then check out the 1.6 HDI's of peugeot, and I think Citroen have them too. renault don't offer the 1.5dci turbo diesel in Ireland because , Renault Ireland say that no one that goes for a clio in ireland would go for more than a 1.2 because of the V.R.T. So it's not even a choice. The vrt scam here is insane. People have to drive around in petrol cars of 1.2-mostly 1.6 which uses more fuel and are less powerfull than diesel! And emit less CO2. Goot old rip off Ireland! Anyway if the tax on a 1.9 or 2.0 tdi is too much then check out the 1.4 hdi's. Fiat do a good 1.3 turbo diesel 70 bhp and 90bhp. Whatever you go for make sure you give it a good test drive and don't let the salesman tell you you can only drive it 200 meters down the road and back!


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## ci1 (2 Oct 2007)

sorry mommy!!!


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## hotbot (2 Oct 2007)

go for the highest bhp You can afford in the turbo diesels. Better resale value!. 

Not neccassey if you buy a 2.0l passat rather than the 1.9l the difference in is just over five grand due to VRT but come trade-in time a VW garage will price the 2.0l exactly the same as a 1.9l you'll get absolutely no benefit for shelling out an additional five grand.


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## hotbot (2 Oct 2007)

hotbot said:


> go for the highest bhp You can afford in the turbo diesels. Better resale value!.
> 
> Not neccassey if you buy a 2.0l passat rather than the 1.9l the difference in is just over five grand due to VRT but come trade-in time a VW garage will price the 2.0l exactly the same as a 1.9l you'll get absolutely no benefit for shelling out an additional five grand.


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## RS2K (2 Oct 2007)

hotbot said:


> go for the highest bhp You can afford in the turbo diesels. Better resale value!.
> 
> Not neccassey if you buy a 2.0l passat rather than the 1.9l the difference in is just over five grand due to VRT but come trade-in time a VW garage will price the 2.0l exactly the same as a 1.9l you'll get absolutely no benefit for shelling out an additional five grand.



I don't agree the 1.9 is an old tech. engine. 2.0 is up to date.

There will be a big difference in comparative resale values.

Having said that VRT is a joke.

This may all change in the budget btw. VRT and road tax may be linked to emmissions, in which case the 2.0 will be a very clear winner.


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## hotbot (2 Oct 2007)

RS2K said:


> I don't agree the 1.9 is an old tech. engine. 2.0 is up to date.
> 
> There will be a big difference in comparative resale values.
> 
> I'm not disputing the superiority of the 2.0l engine over the 1.9l merely saying the that the premium you get for your 2.0l engine over the 1.9l at trade in isn't worth talking about. Walk into a VAG dealer for a price on a Jan'08 car with your 2.0TDi Passat and you'll get a fright...I have anyway.


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## Mad_Lad (4 Oct 2007)

who said anything about buying new? Buy second hand, the 2.0TDI is a quiter more refined engine and much better than the 1.9 which now are only 104bhp. the 2.0 is 140bhp. People are insane buying new and giving the government such money. People really look for the higher hp while buying second hand. The 1.9 130bhp in the passat was a great seller second hand. I would never buy a 1.9 in the newer vw group cars, never. Anyway If you really want fuel economy. the opel 1.3cdti or the fiat 1.3 multijet in the fiat punto. the 90bhp in the punto. Personally id rather drive a car with a bit more poke. My sister drives a 1.2 petrol clio and spends more on fuel than my girlfriend who drives MY audi a4 1.9tdi 130 bhp multitronic to ucd every day  I still can't understand why v.r.t is higher on diesels when they are more efficient and emit less co2 than petrol’s? Why is it still based on engine size and not c02?


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## aircobra19 (5 Oct 2007)

Mad_Lad said:


> ....My sister drives a 1.2 petrol clio and spends more on fuel than my girlfriend who drives MY audi a4 1.9tdi 130 bhp multitronic to ucd every day ...



Clio 1.2 vs A4 1.9

Then theres the tax, insurance, depreciation etc...


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## Mad_Lad (5 Oct 2007)

€251 tax for the clio and €539 for the a4! That's well made back in fuel prices! And personally Id rather drive the a4 than a clio any day. Much better to drive and has a hell of alot more power, And still lighter on fuel. So to me the few quid extra on the a4 is worth it. The insurance to me makes no difference anyway, it's €1000 a year and no matter what I seem to drive. Depreciation is a point doing higher mileage, But again I buy 2nd hand. And the A4 will go for many more miles than the clio! The clio is crap with 84k miles the a4 drives perfect with 106,500k miles! + the clio has spent a long time off the road! And has cost my sister alot more in car rental! Maybe renaults are best avoid, or maybe every car has it's gremlins,  and maybe she was just the unlucky one!


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## aircobra19 (5 Oct 2007)

Sweeping generalisations aren't that useful. 

Everythings relative. If you are doing low mileage and all urban driving, a high powered diesel doesn't make sense. If you are a rep doing 20~40k a year all over the country it makes no sense to be in a 1.0 Yaris.


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## Mad_Lad (5 Oct 2007)

well dosen't everyone know diesels are for long distance driving? I thought they did! I would keep my diesel anyway long distance or not.  Anyway as I said if you want real economy, then opels 1.3 cdti or fiats 1.3 90bhp multijet. Or even a Prius! I just like the A4, I think you also have to be happy with what you drive, economy is part of it. My opinion anyways. For instance I wouldn't drive a 4.2 TDI I think that's a waste. Sure It would be fun with that much torque! But I think the 1.9tdi or 2.0tdi is more than enough and gives a good balance between power and economy.


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