a question about fuel

[steviegall]

hi all , my name is stephen and first post here......hold the pomp if you will*looks around and doesnt see a thing* mmmkay

ive never been a car guy, infact never owned a car even having driven for 17 years but im now in the market and ive always, lets say appreciated the look of volvos

so if i find a volvo in northern ireland thats within say +10-15% the price of another decent car then ill likely take it, currenlty looking at an 09 v50 se for 2500 but thats getting away from the point of my question

so here goes, i drive probably in the region of 5k-6k miles per year, what we use the car for is necessary but we dont use it a lot

should i only be looking at petrol cars because my the relatively low mileage per year or should i also be looking at diesel

or could i look at diesel if i drive a certain way

or am i looking at it completely wrong and if so please enlighten me

[HDAV]

Hi and welcome, here on the mainland around 20k a year has been the marker for diesel.

A lot of people have diesel that don’t drive that sort of mileage hence the current backlash....

Diesels are not suited to short trips from cold if you drive 3 miles to work and back each day once in the morning once the evening diesel isn’t ideal. If you drive 30 miles once a week to visit relatives etc diesel can be ideal as you do the right sort of journey just not frequently.

If you are city driving petrol is generally better but no fossil fuel engine is ideal for city driving and short trips.

Problem is finding a petrol after 20 years of diesel being over sold...... there is a raft of options pre dpf diesel might suit better and lower annual mileage might mean a D5 peach of a motor is suitable, the 1.6D best avoided

[blueblock]

For your kind of miles a petrol engine is probably the one to go for. Diesel engines have generally been more complex than petrol ones (turbocharging systems, EGR valves etc) up until very recently, and if you're looking at a V50 then anything other than a T5 is a 'standard' non turbo petrol. Less to go wrong, and not substantially enough extra fuel consumption to affect you at your kind of mileage, especially given the higher cost of diesel fuel.

Relative cost/performance benefits aside, with stricter emissions testing in the MOT set to come into force and the possibility of new regulations targeting diesel cars, I wouldn't want to risk being left holding the keys of a previous-generation used diesel car that could become worthless, or in the worst case scenario unroadworthy or banned from certain cities, overnight.

[hichamaziz]

Hi and welcome

[Packard999]

Have driven derv cars for years for many reasons, one of them being it means fewer trips to the pumps

[steviegall]

thanks all for the info, looks like its petrol for me then