Diesel v Petrol

[JimM169]

Just changed jobs and my daily commute has dropped from a round trip of 50miles a day to 3miles! At the same time I also need to replace my ageing Ford Focus and now facing the diesel v petrol quandry. I know diesels don't really like lots of short trips but as I want an estate there doesn't appear to be much out there with a petrol engine especially as only have £7k to spend. Realistically looking at something around 2015 with 100k on the clock. 95% of my journeys are going to be less than 5 miles each way (to work when I can't walk, popping into town, dog walking etc) so if I did go diesel how often would I need to take it for a decent run and even then would this be enough or am I just going to kill the car.
Alternatively if I went petrol, what sort of mileage is a petrol engine good for these days, am I just throwing my money away on something with 100k on the clock?

[greenarrow]

Not the answer you are looking for but if I was just doing 3 miles a day id buy the nicest mk1 focus estate petrol I could find!!! Great for dogs and fun to drive and bombproof. Seems a waste to spend thousands For such a short journey work tool. But thats just me.....

For £7k choice is limited as diesels ruled 7 or 8 years ago. A Ford focus ecoboost estate would be ideal. Or one of the VAG TSI petrols. Modern petrol cars will easily go beyond 100k miles. We've a smart car on 95k miles and it drives like new....

[JimM169]

greenarrow said:

Not the answer you are looking for but if I was just doing 3 miles a day id buy the nicest mk1 focus estate petrol I could find!!! Great for dogs and fun to drive and bombproof. Seems a waste to spend thousands For such a short journey work tool. But thats just me.....

For £7k choice is limited as diesels ruled 7 or 8 years ago. A Ford focus ecoboost estate would be ideal. Or one of the VAG TSI petrols. Modern petrol cars will easily go beyond 100k miles. We've a smart car on 95k miles and it drives like new....

Thanks, know where you're coming from about buying a cheap runabout, that's what my current Focus Mk22 estate is but it needs a clutch, timing belt, a/c compressor and leaks oil like a sieve so is heading to the scrappy. We do do regular-ish trips down to Surrey to visit family and they'll soon be in the ULEZ plus we're also driving to South of France in August hence looking for something a bit nicer

[clockworks]

Petrol cars have been capable of well over 100k miles for at least 35 years. Back then, I had petrol company cars that did 120k miles in 3 years, then a sucession of cheap petrol cars used for 30 to 40k miles a year, bought with 100k+ on the clock. The only real breakdown in 20+ years was a broken clutch cable.

[ZX10R NIN]

There are a few decent options out there.

Astra Elite Nav 150:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301273...

SRI Nav:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301103...

Focus ST-2:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202207288...

Titanium X 180:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303285...

V60 T3 SE:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303315...

[Back2theFuji]

I know it's tempting, but definitely avoid a modern diesel for short trips. Much more hassle and cost than it's worth!

[georgeyboy12345]

Don't get a diesel. Slim pickings if you want something newer than 2015. These are the best I could find

Mazda 6 2.0 Skyactiv Sports Tourer
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208259...


Renault Megane 1.2 TCe Sport Tourer
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209049...



If you go for something older, you have a little more choice

BMW E90 325i Touring M Sport
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303255...


Honda Accord 2.0 i-VTEC Sport Tourer
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304086...


Subaru Legacy 2.0 R Sport Tourer for half your budget
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304186...


This Volvo V70 2.4 SE should be good for another 200,000 miles (that'd be 60 odd years at the mileages you are now covering!)
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304146...

[jonwm]

I've got a 330d that does short runs and had a 2008 1.2 petrol that did the same job for 18 months prior, that was brand new and at 6k has had to be terminated due to Peugeot not being able to fix an engine fault that they said is due to short journeys, will see if the beemer lasts longer

Don't think you can win either way on short journeys.

[Martyn76]

Thoughts on an EV? Only 3 miles each way, no matter what car you have the engine isn't going to get up to temp?

[fido]

How can you not be able to fix a problem? Sounds like French car issue. I have a Honda Jazz that does station runs all the time. It's done 9800 miles over 6 years and works perfectly - gets an annual oil change. There is no temperature gauge but lights to indicate air-fuel-ratio - it goes leans burn after abut 1.5 miles. No turbo to go wrong either.

[Ankh87]

You 100% want a petrol. Getting a diesel for such a short commute is going to be a nightmare once EGR and DPF start to play up on you. They can both be very costly jobs to fix.

What are you wanting from the car other than estate?

There's a few Dacia estates which are going to be cheap to run. There's also a few Fabia estates as well if you want something like that. Also is there really a need for an estate as there's some cars with big boots such as an Octavia or Insignia to which you could just remove the parcel shelf.

[JimM169]

Ankh87 said:

You 100% want a petrol. Getting a diesel for such a short commute is going to be a nightmare once EGR and DPF start to play up on you. They can both be very costly jobs to fix.

What are you wanting from the car other than estate?

There's a few Dacia estates which are going to be cheap to run. There's also a few Fabia estates as well if you want something like that. Also is there really a need for an estate as there's some cars with big boots such as an Octavia or Insignia to which you could just remove the parcel shelf.

Probably needs to be an estate or possibly MPV, one to give the dog a bit of room when she's in the back but more importantly when I go fishing my current Focus Estate is rammed (bivvy, bed etc takes up huge amount of room!) We also do trips to France at least once a year and the grief I would get if we had anything smaller just isn't worth the hassle
It really is a catch22, I've only driven my current car once in the last week as been walking to work most days, so it's not like I'll be doing a huge amount of short trips it's just when I do need to drive it will be a short trip (if that makes sense)
Did see a Citroen C4 Picasso 1.6THP which might do the trick but then saw the High Peak auto YT vid of the knackered one he has recently, to say he wasn't too complimentary about the cars would be an injustice!!

[Back2theFuji]

We bought one of these, same spec / colour etc. Works fine for the 2 mile school run! (I know, but littlest is only 4!).

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023030850...

Not exciting to drive though as it has a NA petrol engine...and it's an MPV! Also maybe consider a petrol Vauxhall Zafira Tourer:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023032355...

Not estates though, granted, and I do prefer an estate!

[georgeyboy12345]

Martyn76 said:

Thoughts on an EV? Only 3 miles each way, no matter what car you have the engine isn't going to get up to temp?

Show me this EV estate for 7 grand you talk of

[Fastdruid]

JimM169 said:

Alternatively if I went petrol, what sort of mileage is a petrol engine good for these days, am I just throwing my money away on something with 100k on the clock?

FWIW I bought my first petrol estate at 96k. Took it to 174k before I sold it and the engine was still ran well.

The only engine related issue in the entire time was the coil pack died. Cost IIRC £15 for a new one. Oh and the starter motor died at about 150k. That was about £50 from memory. Same clutch, everything. Used a bit of oil but nothing of concern (possibly partly down to how it was driven, as it would see a visit up near[1] the redline pretty much every trip!).

Current car is more complicated, has a turbo etc. Currently on 155k. Engine related issues in that time...Fuel (rail) pressure sensor. Same clutch, original turbo etc.

My experience of a diesel over short journeys is that they never get warm and in winter particularly the mpg will be utterly terrible. In the exact same usage in winter over a two week period I got 3mpg better out of a a TDCI140 galaxy (claimed Urban mpg 43.5) than my Mondeo 2.5T (claimed Urban mpg 20.8) while being horrifically slower.

The diesel didn't warm up until about 9-10miles, take it on a run and it was massively different, would do 50mpg etc but trouble is I wasn't doing more than ~3-6Mi round trips!

A diesel doing short journeys all the time is asking for problems.

[1] Near rather than too because the last 500rpm just made noise rather than any appreciable extra go.

[ZX10R NIN]

JimM169 said:

Probably needs to be an estate or possibly MPV, one to give the dog a bit of room when she's in the back but more importantly when I go fishing my current Focus Estate is rammed (bivvy, bed etc takes up huge amount of room!) We also do trips to France at least once a year and the grief I would get if we had anything smaller just isn't worth the hassle
It really is a catch22, I've only driven my current car once in the last week as been walking to work most days, so it's not like I'll be doing a huge amount of short trips it's just when I do need to drive it will be a short trip (if that makes sense)
Did see a Citroen C4 Picasso 1.6THP which might do the trick but then saw the High Peak auto YT vid of the knackered one he has recently, to say he wasn't too complimentary about the cars would be an injustice!!

Your budget will get you a very good Mazda5:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303044...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301263...

[RizzoTheRat]

Do you actually need the car for the commute? If you walk regularly now maybe consider cycling as an option for the days you want to be a bit quicker, which cuts down the really short trips a bit more. That said a diesel is still going to need a regen cycle every so often. I used to have no problems doing 9 miles each way to work and only doing longer trips every few weeks, but sounds like your short to long trip ratio might be a bit worse than mine.

If you can charge at home you sound like an ideal case for plug in hybrid, do the short trips on electric and you've got the engine for longer trips, not sure what's out there in budget though.

The other consideration on diesels is your budget presumably puts you in to Euro 5 or maybe Euro 4 rather than ewer Euro 6. There's already several cities I can't take my Euro 4 and the regulations are only going to get tighter.

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 20th April 09:19

[dhutch]

I guess from time to time, if it's absolutely belting it down, walking of cycling is for the very keen and or those who can turn up for work looking half drowned.

That and when you're making an onward journey from work.