What fueled car?

[Hobbit]

The time has come to buy a new smallish, Astra/Golf-size, car. But the question is petrol, diesel or electric?

I've pretty much discounted electric as there'll be one journey a month of 240 miles. But what the annual mileage will be I can't at present predict. Most journeys will be between 4 and 10 miles. A couple of times a month of around 100 miles and the 240 one once a month or once every other month.

Lots of short journeys would bring into the question of diesel particulates, especially if the filter is passive, not active.

I've had diesel cars for the last 20 years, and only one fault that's 'grounded' a car.

Is there anyone out there that has a diesel car and does about 300 miles a month? Same question for those with a petrol car.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

The time has come to buy a new smallish, Astra/Golf-size, car. But the question is petrol, diesel or electric?

I've pretty much discounted electric as there'll be one journey a month of 240 miles. But what the annual mileage will be I can't at present predict. Most journeys will be between 4 and 10 miles. A couple of times a month of around 100 miles and the 240 one once a month or once every other month.

Lots of short journeys would bring into the question of diesel particulates, especially if the filter is passive, not active.

I've had diesel cars for the last 20 years, and only one fault that's 'grounded' a car.

Is there anyone out there that has a diesel car and does about 300 miles a month? Same question for those with a petrol car.

I have taken the mental choice of Japanese petrol for my next car. My current diesel Barge does around 120-300 miles a month, mainly to and from the golf club. I love its torque and in gear pull, however as it seems the current hate for diesel isnt going away I shall be swapping back to petrol after 30 yrs. Electric isn't the future for me, and hybrids are either too pricey for what I get or the boots are too small.
Mazda 3 will likely be my next choice.

 

[Maninblack4612]

I changed from a 1.9 litre diesel Zafira to a 1.4 petrol turbo. Performance & economy are almost identical, although the petrol model has slightly less torque, which, on the diesel, was exceptional. The daughter has a 1.2 petrol turbo Clio &, driving it, you'd never believe it was a 1.2.

I had severe problems with the diesel resulting from many short journeys in the winter & really should have driven it down the motorway at 60mph in third gear to burn off all the soot. I didn't & eventually had to be towed to the dealer to px the car - embarrassing! Don't like the idea of having to have a tank full of urea to inject into the exhaust, as most modern diesels have, just another thing to go wrong.

 

[jim8flog]

I only do around 6k a year but my choice was still diesel (one of the 'blue' ones). It saves me around £400 a year compared to a similar petrol car. I need a larger vehicle to cart my buggy around and I drive auto gearbox.

What I have learnt form my last one is the same as MIB. It needs taking for a reasonably long drive on a regular basis. Dealer recommend 20 minutes after getting the engine up to temperature.

 

[williamalex1]

I changed from a 1.9 litre diesel Zafira to a 1.4 petrol turbo. Performance & economy are almost identical, although the petrol model has slightly less torque, which, on the diesel, was exceptional. The daughter has a 1.2 petrol turbo Clio &, driving it, you'd never believe it was a 1.2.

I had severe problems with the diesel resulting from many short journeys in the winter & really should have driven it down the motorway at 60mph in third gear to burn off all the soot. I didn't & eventually had to be towed to the dealer to px the car - embarrassing! Don't like the idea of having to have a tank full of urea to inject into the exhaust, as most modern diesels have, just another thing to go wrong.

I have a 3 year old Hyundai I40 diesel and only do around 6000 miles a year, mostly short non motorway journeys.
How often and for how long should i give it a good high rev run on a motorway. ?

 

[fundy]

petrol kia ceed imho

depending on what age you buy should have plenty of warranty left, get a lot of bang for your buck and if mines anything to go by very reliable

 

[CliveW]

This article makes interesting reading.

http://www.oilem.com/dpf-cleaners-and-dpf-cleaning/

 

[Bunkermagnet]

What until they are forced to put a type of dpf on all petrol cars....it's coming.

 

[chrisd]

We've had our all electric car for a week today and its brilliant, but like you Brian, I do longer drives, so need to keep my bashed up old diesel heap

 

[MegaSteve]

I have a 3 year old Hyundai I40 diesel and only do around 6000 miles a year, mostly short non motorway journeys.
How often and for how long should i give it a good high rev run on a motorway. ?

When herself got her diesel Hyundai she was told there was a heater element in the system that negated this [or something along those lines]... However being a belt 'n braces type I advise her to, at least once a week, keep it in a low gear whilst accelerating fairly hard for a half mile or so... Up an incline if possible...

 

[DCB]

I've driven diesels for 30 years, but, having left company car world I'm thinking more about what I need and what I need to pay. Currently running a 1.6 diesel engined car and it's fine, but, I still need to be doing over 14k miles a year to make it worth it. Morning commute is about 13 miles, so, engine running up to temp and fuel economy good. Driving about town now with a 20mph limit is a nightmare. Next car may well be a smaller engined petrol beast as a result. My wife has a 1ltr petrol car and it is great, punchy gears and a low cc engine are well matched and work well in town and on the odd trip to her folks in the west.

Not sure the Ops needs are really met with a diesel.

 

[drdel]

One of ours is a hybrid. Most running around uses no petrol and a full charge at home costs £1.10 for 25 miles. On longer runs of 100+ miles we get about 40mpg.

Zero road tax. No congestion charge and some places parking is free.

If you're doing less than 10,000 pa its a no-brainer.

 

[xcore]

N/a petrol car

 

[williamalex1]

When herself got her diesel Hyundai she was told there was a heater element in the system that negated this [or something along those lines]... However being a belt 'n braces type I advise her to, at least once a week, keep it in a low gear whilst accelerating fairly hard for a half mile or so... Up an incline if possible...

:thup:

 

[HampshireHog]

Had a petrol hybrid for 4 years now. Definitely, worth the investment, I do about 13,000 a year mostly queuing on the M25 & M3.