I’m going to be shopping around for some new wheels. I’ve pretty much decided what I want, but I have the choice of petrol or diesel versions. I’ve always had petrol engines so apart from cost, what is there to consider between them?
I don’t know if it’s a relevant issue in the UK, but in the US, relatively few traditional gas stations have diesel fuel. This is a not-insignificant disadvantage for diesel cars in the US, meaning that diesel drivers will sometimes need to go to truck stops (fuel stations for big freight trucks – what you’d call “lorries”) to get fuel.
Isn’t London banning diesel cars from entering the city limits as well as several other European cities? If so it seems like diesel may be on it’s way out. Buying a new car might be more of a issue then a used one that may not be expected to last as long.
UK driver here, albeit one rather biased against diesels, for reasons I will explain.
Interesting. This is a complete non-issue in the UK. Even the smallest back-country petrol station over here will have both petrol and diesel fuel available, barring exceptional circumstances.
I don’t know about such bannings, but I personally would be surprised if this affected the choice of even a new car purchase right now, i.e. I think we’re looking about 10 years down the line here. But I could be wrong.
To the OP: I think it’s worth starting with a little bit of history. When I grew up in the 80s/90s, diesels were very much the poor relation to petrols in terms of passenger cars. They were generally slower, smellier, and noisier than their petrol equivalents, for which you had the compensation of better fuel economy and potentially longer life (if maintained well). Starting in the late 90s, it seems to me the technology of small diesel engines evolved more rapidly than petrol, and diesels became a much more mainstream choice, very comparable in performance terms with petrol equivalents but still retaining the benefits over them. However, in the last few years I would say the technology of petrol engines has caught up again, with small capacity turbo petrol engines being extremely economical. There is also the fact diesel fuel in the UK is significantly more expensive per unit than petrol, which wipes out a lot of the economic benefits.
Why don’t I like diesels? Partly I admit it is the legacy of the time I grew up, but even today I find the smell of diesel exhaust far worse than petrol. Admittedly this may be partly personal taste, but science also tells us diesel exhaust contains more harmful particulates than petrol (which contains more greenhouse gases). As a cyclist I would far rather be in traffic among petrol cars than diesels, though admittedly the most modern diesels are significantly better and the worst offenders are older vehicles. As a driver, I simply prefer the sound and driving style of a petrol engine, in a diesel I feel like you have to change gear just when you’re enjoying some acceleration (because diesels have a narrower power band and lower red line).
Putting my biases aside, the bottom line is that if you find them similar to drive, it is pretty much about the economics. Hope this is of some use.
What? It’s ~9 pence more per litre. That’s $4.41 per tank (assuming you drive a family hatchback).
I’m sure that some more intelligent and diesel experienced person will be along to discuss the trouble of diesel in extreme cold weather but I’m given to understand this may be an annoying but not insurmountable issue. Special additives are required in our diesel fuel blends to keep it from thickening beyond the point of use in our degree extreme seasonal cold. I have no clue if it gets cold enough in your location for this to be an issue but it would be wise to learn how this might affect you before you purchase.
But the fuel consumption of diesels is typically better - about 62 miles per [Imperial] gallon for a diesel Ford Focus v. 41 mpg for a petrol one, in my experience.
They sell a different grade of diesel in the winter. And it never gets all that cold here, anyway.
This must be a regional issue. Here in Texas I can’t recall seeing any gas stations without diesel in my normal weekday. Maybe in the past they were more rare, but I bought my first diesel pickup in 1990 and don’t remember any issues with finding fuel. This holds true for the South and Western states where I normally wander too. I could be wrong about the other states though, because all my fuel purchases are near the highway (probably more likely to have diesel there). I haven’t been to Illinois or that region in forever, so I’m not disagreeing with you.
FWIW: My normal wanderings in my truck in the past couple of years have been thru Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Other than a few mom and pop stores or trading posts, I can’t recall needing to hunt around for diesel.
OK, I should have said “wipes out some of the economic benefits”. According to Mk VII’s figures, the difference in fuel consumption is still more pronounced than I thought. But you also have to factor in that diesels can be more expensive to buy than the equivalent petrol model.
I’ve never heard of cold being an issue for diesels in the UK. In most parts of the country it’s rare for it to get below freezing, and even when it does, I haven’t seen any reports of this problem.
Which we don’t have in the UK except on the very odd occasion. I currently live in NE Scotland, my car is diesel, and it’s not a problem. I’m mulling over replacing my car and may go for a petrol-electric hybrid or a fully electric car (recharging at home is an issue). My next car won’t be diesel. The reason is that I really don’t do a lot of driving and this is bad for the particulate filter.
Thanks, everyone! As I’m in the UK and my car won’t be leaving our shores, the extremes of cold won’t make any difference. I have what I’m after though, a couple of good reasons why I don’t want to switch to diesel.
I’ve never driven a diesel car, my previous ones have always been petrol and I think I’ll stay that way. Now I just have to locate a petrol version of what I want 
Bit surprised no one has mentioned pollution, which puts me off diesel instantly.
My car is a hybrid. Can’t imagine going back to plain petrol or diesel.
It could quite possibly be a regional thing. A few web sistes I looked at yesterday indicated that just over half of U.S. gas stations offered diesel fuel, but that number seemed pretty high to me, compared to my own experiences, primarily here in the Midwest. My suspicion is that diesel cars have never really been a big thing in this part of the country, due to the cold winters, and that’s part of the reason why.
I owned a VW diesel about 20 years ago, while I lived in a place with serious winters. Neither finding fuel for sale nor starting when cold were meaningful problems then, and I suspect they are less so now.
But I recently bought a Ford T-250 van, which caused me to do some research into gas vs, diesel engine options. I concluded that the extra cost of the diesel engine (around $5k) and of the fuel it consumes (often > 20% more) made the gas engine a better choice.
Contributing to this decision was lots of online testimony by people with plenty of diesel experience to the effect that recent tighter diesel emission-control requirements have seriously affected diesel engine reliability, longevity, and maintenance costs. Typical statement: “We run a fleet of a dozen service vans. Used to consistently get 300k nearly trouble-free miles from Mercedes-Benz Sprinters. Of those bought during the past 5 years, not one has done even half that without expensive ongoing service. No more diesel engines will be added to our fleet.”
I also found reference to (illegal) mods that disable parts of diesel emission control systems, and to schemes of swapping old, overhauled engines into newer vehicles.
Are diesel cars being banned from London?
Huh? Diesel fuel is supposed to give you more miles per gallon, so if you do a high enough mileage it becomes cost-effective to use diesel.
It does give you more miles per gallon, but diesel isn’t taxed at a lower rate in the US like in the UK and is more expensive.
It used to be taxed at a lower rate, but now there is not much difference.
The petroleum fraction used for domestic heating is in demand for diesel too, and that makes it more expensive in the winter.
Modern diesels don’t like short journeys, which give the particulate filter trouble in regenerating properly, and the diesel Focus I had went back twice for expensive work on this.
London isn’t banning them, but charging a lot of money for ICE cars that don’t meet emission standards, with stricter standards for diesel: Cars - Transport for London
On a side note, german cities are banning them.
The OP had already made up his mind, but in case anybody else needs further arguments: New diesel cars need diesel exhaust fluid (“AdBlue”). At the moment, this is refilled during regular service checks. However, that may not be enough in the future, see the diesel emissions scandal.
I didn’t see it mentioned here, but a lot of pundits expect a sharp rise in diesel fuel costs after 2020. The short version is that various requirements will force better emissions from oceangoing freighters, and they will be competing with the rest of the world for (I think) the low-particulate fuel used by autos. Some are even predicting noticeable effects on the world’s economy. I’m not sure about this, just pointing it out.
It might cause a significant increase in per-gallon costs of auto diesel.