15000 miles a year, petrol or diesel?

[24lemons]

My annual mileage has recently dropped from approx 21,000 to 15,000. I have a diesel BMW 120 which seems to get around 47mpg according to the on board computer. I'm tempted to change it for a petrol 118 but I just don't know if it makes sense with the mileage I'll be doing.

[caelite]

Honestly the 2.0D is going to be better to drive day to day than the little 4 banger 118. I would stick with it, or go for a 130

[va1o]

Which 118i would you change it for? The latest model with the 1.5 triple is a very nice engine, feels nippy and responsive with almost diesel like mpg. Fine for 15k miles a year.

[A500leroy]

1.do you drive in London ( congestion charge)?

2.do you drive into any big city that may charge for diesels to enter shortly?

3. If you keep your current diesel are you prepared to lose money on it if the environmentalists decide they should all be banned and make your car worthless?

[wemorgan]

If it's just to save some money, don't bother. P/x and buying another will cost a few £k.

[Helicopter123]

2.do you drive into any big city that may charge for diesels to enter shortly?

Really?

Name them and time frames please?

[DaveH23]

I think the big question is what kind of mileage.

If the choice is cost related then stay diesel If long motorway journeys.

If it's lots of short journeys door to door with the engine never getting up to temp then petrol.

If cost is not an issue then petrol regardless.

[daemon]

wemorgan said:

If it's just to save some money, don't bother. P/x and buying another will cost a few £k.

+1

Wait until you normally change your car and review then. Changing now would just cost ££££s and you'd end up with a less flexible engine. The x18i engine is fairly naff.

[24lemons]

My commute is about 20 miles each way and a mix of dual carriageway, A and B roads I'm looking at a 2014 model if that makes a difference. Cost is a consideration but I don't feel that I'm getting decent mpg considering my previous 2.0 golf did high 50's

[wemorgan]

The mpg will only get worse with the petrol, so you'll spend money to change then more on fuel. Hardly seems worth it to me.

[halo34]

A500leroy said:

1.do you drive in London ( congestion charge)?

2.do you drive into any big city that may charge for diesels to enter shortly?

3. If you keep your current diesel are you prepared to lose money on it if the environmentalists decide they should all be banned and make your car worthless?

So you think all diesels will be banned in the next 5 yrs?

WTF

[stuart_83]

I had the same decision to make a month or so back ... Ended up going petrol.

I cover around 15k / year, and have found that coming from an Alfa GT 1.9Jtdm at 40mpg to a MK3 Octavia VRS 230 at 32mpg costs me roughly an extra £40/month in fuel.

The diesel would consistently get 40mpg no matter how I drove it, whereas the petrol can be anywhere between 30-36mpg depending on traffic / mood.

If you're not all that bothered about a few extra quid a week on fuel then definitely go petrol - much smoother and nicer to drive, with wayyyyy less to go wrong ie DPF, EGR ... Plus in my case due to all the emission reducing tech, the diesel equivalent of my car only seems to do early 40mpgs ... Not a big enough gap to tempt me.

Admittedly for the first few weeks I obsessed over mpg moving from a diesel, but now I just drive and enjoy it.

Plus as some people have touched on, diesels probably won't be quite so popular in a few years when 2020 emission regs come in, and cities potentially start putting restrictions on diesels.