Hi Guys

I will be looking for a newish car soon, probably a 66/67 plate, ive got a couple of cars that im interested in, but with Diesel falling foul of the emissions (we were all duped into buying diesel) and being phased out

Should I buy a diesel again, as I do like the economy and torque over a petrol based car, but do not want to end up with a lemon in 5 years time that I cant sell

I am in a very good position of being a car delivery driver, so drive pretty well everything from a Micra to a Ferrari
Yet have not come across any petrol car that is any way near as economic as my Mondeo tdci 45-60 average

Would be pleased to hear what others are planning on doing when they are in a position to buy a newer car

steve

You may as well flip a coin because the government can’t seem to decide if they want to kill the planet slowly (petrol, green house gasses) or kill people slowly (diesel, particulates), if you wait five year they will be back taxing petrol cars (as they were ten years ago, and espousing how clean diesels were) having got tired of giving the diesel drivers a kicking. And in ten years they will be giving electric drivers a hard time if their electric does not come from a renewable source.

Head you loose, tails you loose.

Sorry not much help, synical mode off.

[Edited on 8/4/19 by Ugg10]

I’ve recently bought a 15 plate 2.0 petrol Mazda 3 low emissions £30 tax really nice car in sport nav trim on a run I can get high 40s with town journeys where averaging high 30s which I think is pretty good for a petrol

Like you, driven quite a few standard cars and I still like the economy AND performance of the modern deisels
For 5 years, I think I’d run one more diesel, your not going to be that much difference on re-sale by then, then see where we are

Do you drive in any of our cities? Birmingham and Manchester are both looking at congestion charges based on vehicle engine type as in London - see recent change in charges here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-47815117. So if you have a diesel you need post 2015, but petrol is only post 2006. I have no doubt that these charges will spread to more cities and become more stringent, so a petrol car will (probably) hold its value better assuming you are already buying used. If you go on Holiday in Europe, note there are slightly different schemes there - For example Paris measures pollution levels and restricts what cars are allowed in - so your Euro 6 diesel may not be allowed in on some days, but an older one would be restricted more days, and an even older one on even more days etc....

I faced the same decision in 2017 and TBH any excuse to not buy a diesel was good in my book.

I went for a 2.0 Petrol Mazda 6 estate. Really nice car, bought new from a broker for less than second hand ones were going for. I had a Mk4 2.0TDCI Mondeo before and fuel costs are very similar.

There's about 5mpg in it between the two [Mondeo was no where near 60 unless you believed the on board computer] and given that unleaded is cheaper price per mile is the same. Mazda is 40MPG average, Mondeo was 45.

Look at the ULEZ website and if the car is ok go for it if not I'd be looking elsewhere.

ULEZ Checker

We face the same dilemma at Xmas,

We have driven around in a 3.2 Litre diesel turbo estate for the past 5 years, when the kids needed buggies etc in the rear, averaging 35 mpg.

Decide we need to be sensible in these days of austerity.

So we bought a 6.3L petrol SUV that averages 15 mpg. More leg room, less boot space.

Simple man maths.

And checking the TFL page, it seems we are exempt the U/LEZ cost.

[Edited on 9-4-19 by ken555]