So I am looking to buy a car for my sister as her current run-around is constantly breaking down and its driving her to despair!
Looking to spend around £3500..... Theres quite a few interesting vehicles out there...
I quite like the Skoda Yeti...
The better deals seem to be diesel.....
My question is.... do we think the witch-hunt against diesel cars is cause for concern? Would it make running the car over the next few years become
more expensive or prohibitive if they start introducing more diesel car bans (as per Bristol).
The yet is also available as a 1.2T petrol but they are rarer and I worry they would be gutless..
Open to suggestions for other vehicles as well?!
Worse that could happen is a hike in road tax, but not silly amounts. Any major changes on tax or costs will be levied on new cars only.
I suspect Bristol Ban will be overturned in weeks.
[Edited on 11-11-19 by loggyboy]
The answer really depends on a lot of things but the main reason people bought diesels was that it was cheaper to run...
However the fuel is now much more expensive than petrol, roadtax is only going to go up for them, they require more expensive maintenance (especially
if used for short journeys) plus how will they hold their value against other options like petrol or EV... I think the arguments to go diesel are
getting very thin.
Some of the smaller petrol cars like mine get tremendous mpg, a real 75 mpg on my daily commute to work £18 per week, £20 a year road tax, £180 a year
insurance.
When a car seems a bargain for the money there is a good reason behind it, usually not a good one.
as Mr whippy said ^^^ , the new fangled diesels seem so complicated and fragile these days, i was recently looking at replacing my shopping trolley,
most cars for sale were diesel and a lot cheaper than their petrol equivelent....go figure
I have a 2.0td Yeti, great car!
I have had both diesel and petrol cars over many years. Pug 306 diesel in the late 90's was a basic car, smelly, noisy but cheap to run at the
time. Lots of short trips in it and it went on for years and years (I think I had it about 10 years).
Diesel Focus was expensive to run doing only short commutes (30 miles a day), poor economy, shagged tyres from crap geometry, worn out flywheel (x2).
I kept it for a couple of years but that is the shortest I have ever owned a car.
Now have a MY16 Discovery Sport (diesel), Euro 6 blah blah blah. As long as you ignore the original claimed '20,000 miles between services'
and change the oil every 6 or 7k it is fine. If my wife uses it for the school run the dpf struggles to clean itself but as we swap cars every-other
day (she has a petrol Mini Cooper) then it seems fine.
The Disco is really for towing the Striker which it does without you even realising you are doing it 
I would not by a diesel car now for a 'run-around' if regular trips are less than 25 miles each way.
Only real issue I see is that plenty of cities are now banning/charging Ds entering. I have two, one 15 years old, the other 25. Both would be outright banned, which would make getting to stuff in the city a pain.
The other issue is the "running around" bit. Modernish diesels do not like purely town driving, and some that are probably in the price bracket you are looking at could be a real liability. For town driving a petrol will be a better idea. And does it matter if it isn't quick? Unless space is required I would happily recommend a C1/107 as dirt cheap to run and pretty bombproof. If a bigger car, the uninspiring but again bombproof Toyotas are a good choice. If you want quick/interesting etc get something else, but often people just want a reliable hack.
Interesting replies thanks all.
A reliable hack is all she needs.
Petrol may make more sense for her. The Yeti or Fabia may be an option. Anyone had experience with the 1.2L engines?
For a few years we had a Cmax tdi 2.0, for towing the caravan it was stunningly powerful although that halfed its mpg. However it was the wifes car
and with all those short trips to school etc it was endless mechanical issues, blocked injectors, blocked particulate filter, whole front suspension
replaced before 35k miles! The only bit that didn't break was the interior... then the dual mass flywheel went and I got rid of it... Few cars
I've been so glad to see the back of as that one. Made quite a loss but in the long term probably saved thousands.
If your sticking to motorways doing huge mileages a year a diesel is the way to go, otherwise stay clear.
If she is travelling into or through an ULEZ area make sure the car is Minimum standards - Petrol: Euro 4; Diesel: Euro 6.
Diesels are a bargain - they will not go away for the next few years by which time another car will be needed - go buy a bargain. I am not going away from diesels until electric becomes cheaper, my current one is Euro 6 emissions standard so no issues in low emission zones either
Just throwing this into the debate went looking for either a Nissan X trail or Qashqi in 4wd and petrol only to be told that they were no longer
available and diesel was the only option! Never owned a diesel car and this doesn’t feel like a great time to be pumping lots of money into one Can’t
figures out what they are doing with this approach
Re engine size small petrol engines with turbos seem pretty pokey
quote:
Originally posted by trextr7monkey
Just throwing this into the debate went looking for either a Nissan X trail or Qashqi in 4wd and petrol only to be told that they were no longer available and diesel was the only option! Never owned a diesel car and this doesn’t feel like a great time to be pumping lots of money into one Can’t figures out what they are doing with this approach
Re engine size small petrol engines with turbos seem pretty pokey
I would but only a euro 6 compliant car..
The county's co2 emissions are going up because many cars are changing to petrol. I think it will all change again with the latest diesels
quote:
Originally posted by cliftyhanger
The other issue is the "running around" bit. Modernish diesels do not like purely town driving, and some that are probably in the price bracket you are looking at could be a real liability. For town driving a petrol will be a better idea. And does it matter if it isn't quick? Unless space is required I would happily recommend a C1/107 as dirt cheap to run and pretty bombproof. If a bigger car, the uninspiring but again bombproof Toyotas are a good choice. If you want quick/interesting etc get something else, but often people just want a reliable hack.
quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
Interesting replies thanks all.
A reliable hack is all she needs.
Petrol may make more sense for her. The Yeti or Fabia may be an option. Anyone had experience with the 1.2L engines?