38 to 40 mpg on my petrol but then i dont really ramp it and remain at an ambient speed. With regards to diesels i am going to agree on mileage, I spent years driving all over the south west and found i saved a hell of a lot on fuel, but with time the car started falling apart and became more of a cost to keep on the road, I mean i got the thing and the inlet manifold failed after 2 and half months... 

At the end of the day i prefer a petrol and know i have been advised by mechanics to avoid dpf vehicles...but that does't mean everyone should avoid them as alot of people trust them. Early dpf's were terrible, but now are improving.... 

Don't know if this will help. A little spreadsheet I created a while back when i was buying a new 3 series. I do 9000 miles per year.

fuel.JPG

Assuming a few values for consumption of 35mpg for petrol and 47mpg for diesel. With my diesel personally I'm £32 a month better off.

Price of diesel near me is 5p/ litre more than petrol which takes away a bit of the advantage and also diesel cars are always a lot more expensive to purchase initially.

Yeah you have to do the maths for your own personal circumstances. 3p a litre difference where I am and low miles really.

I had a PD 170 Leon with DPF for 38 months. Never saw a warning light. Now an again it would run a bit rough for 10 mins which I always assumed was when it was doing a regen. Otherwise no probs.

I think as long as all the sensors operate as they should then the DPF's operate and clear as they should. Big if!

I watched a forced regen happen via vcds once and it took about 6 miles at 50mph so less than 10 mins. They're really pretty quick

His suggestion is get a petrol and if you do high mileages get it converted to LPG dual fuel.

 

Not a bad idea on paper.....except when you factor in the £1500 or more for the conversion. And on some engines you'll experience the joys of burnt out valves and cylinder head overhauls every 30,000 miles.

 

diesel cars are always a lot more expensive to purchase initially.

 

True, but you get a lot more for them when you come to trade/sell it. which largely cancels this factor out....especially if initially buying used. 

Personally I prefer the driveability with the torque a decent diesel has to offer and the relaxed pace, gear changes are so much slower and tend to be fewer.

Petrol is the opposite and on some smaller engines, you spend all day working the box to avoid getting bogged down.

Horses for courses, never really bothered about purchase difference as when I sell the car on, it has the same engine and commands the respective price, a petrol gets petrol resale and a diesel gets diesel resale. Not sure were that argument stands up?

Regards

True, but you get a lot more for them when you come to trade/sell it. which largely cancels this factor out....especially if initially buying used.

When I bought my petrol secondhand the diesel model with the same spec was almost 3k more. I'll probably keep mine for 4-5 years by which time the diesel will not still be worth an extra 3k. Yes it will be worth more still but the inital gap will have reduced.

You have to work it out in percentages.

 

Suppose you paid £12k for your petrol vRS....at £3k more, a diesel would be 25% more expensive. I guarantee in 4-5 years the difference between the two will still be at least 25%.....probably a bit more.      

A mechanic who is a member of another car forum that I post on, says he could not recommend a diesel car to anyone because of how many very expensive problems they are prone to develop, all as a result of over complexity. I myself have had two cars in a row develop the DMF failure problem, and my in-laws have had the DPF problem. Would not be an issue if these were £100 fixes. His suggestion is get a petrol and if you do high mileages get it converted to LPG dual fuel.

I have had many, many diesels both company(thrashed everywhere) and private (driven with a lot more care)

TBH I have never replaced or had any problems with a clutch/dmf/dpf on any car, petrol or diesel (obviously where applicable).

The only diesel specific faults I have had are:

A ford escort diesel (1998) which had emission problems @ 65k miles (company car).

A 2.0di Vauxhall astra with 170k miles, then new fuel pump (private car). Which went on for another 30k until handed in on scrappage allowance as a deposit.

Some of my cars/vans with approx mileages;

Vauxhall corsa van 1.7 Tdi over 86k from new no problems.

Austin metro 1.4 diesel 45k no problems.

Ford Focus hatchback 1.8 diesel excess of 90k no problems, apart from first day poor seal on fuel filter allowed fuel to drain back to the tank would not start

:(

Ford focus estate 1.8 diesel in excess of 60k no problems.

VW Passat 1.9 deisel 60k no problems.

Seat Alhambra 1.9 in excess of 80k no problems.

Land Rover ninety 2.5 diesel 40k (km) n/a no problems.

Ford courier 1.8 TDI in excess 50k (km) no problems.

Nissan vanetette cargo 2.5 (think) in excess 30k (km) no problems.

Partner van 1.9 diesel in excess of 45k still going no problems.

Fiesta 1.4 diesel in excess 60k still going no problems.

Land rover defender 90 2.5 TDI 120k no problems still going.

Ford focus estate 1.6 TDI in excess of 160k (replaced injector seals) still going.

Land rover freelander 2 got to 86k from 70k major engine failure caused by (oil pump stopped at speed)

Octavia 2.0tdi CR 9k. Last 3k by me in last couple of months no problems.

Now you can see the trend with diesel and how terribly unreliable and expensive they are??

So speak with some experience. Yes they are getting more complex but TBH petrol cars are too, its all to do with emissions!

Ben

Oh and my best mate is a vehicle mechanic and he has 3 diesel cars/4x4. Only has a 2.0ltr pinto, petrol engine, in his classic rally car! He swears by diesel's for economy,reliability and longevity.

Edited 4 September, 201312 yr by Defenderben

Im no expert but each mechanic has there own opinion.....I was told to avoid diesels....others have been told to avoid petrols.....either way its about choice.....i prefer petrol and others prefer diesel....

If you want a Blackline I think you may be in for a bit of a shock..... There's a 62 plate white one with 6k on the clock in Skodas approved section, yours for a fiver under £19K, more than I paid for mine new. Ouch......I thought my dealer was having me on when I called in to see the MKIII when he said he could sell mine for more tha I paid for it. Petrols seem to be about £3k cheaper, so have depreciated much more and that's likely to continue plus they cost more to run too, Until VAG solve the camchain tensioner problem I'd be a bit nervous about a TSI, even though numbers are small there's no way of telling if you'll be one of the unlucky ones.... or make sure I had a decent warrenty if I took the plunge. Think some drink oil too which is expensive stuff...Most VAG wiesel problems relate to the PD170 with the DPF and even then they don't go bang

 

 

CR all the way for me. Brim to brim today over 431 miles 50.11mpg actual which was all mixed motoring and no miss daisy in sight   - still had over a quarter of a tank left too.

62 plate 12Regd Blackline at Simpsons of Preston if anybody is looking white 11.000 miles £18.000 diesel dsg.