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What Car? Diesel, Petrol, Hybrid, Leccy?

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by West Cork Paul, Dec 8, 2018.

  1. hmm. not sure on the mpg tbh. heavier car but wont be much in it i would of thought. i service several but cant mind anybody bitching about the tax on em.
     
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  2. That’s always an option, to just pay the balloon on the current vehicle, I’m just of the opinion that in 3-5 years time no-one will be able to sell diesel cars as no-one will want to buy them as diesel, for domestic vehicles, will be taxed so heavily they’ll cost a fortune to run.
     
  3. They can't sell them now at 3 years old - some I've heard of at half what the balloon payment would be so be cautious. You could well be better off giving it back and buying elsewhere...
     
  4. it wont be taxed out the market, the road tax regime is always changed on vehicles after a certain build date. they wont back date it.
    probably.
     
  5. If you decide to go for a full battery-only car, it's essential to get one of these and keep it in the boot along with 5 litres of petrol - for enhanced peace of mind. But don't tell anybody.

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Petrol-G...=item54664e385d:g:3b4AAOSwmaJb-BMs:rk:13:pf:0
     
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  6. (Very difficult decision at the moment (depending on
    for
    how long you tend to keep your cars). Congestion charges in some cities are also a big consideration depending on where you live and work.
    The (UK) Government are being disingenuous (no surprise there) by encouraging electric vehicles. Firstly, we currently (no pun intended) barely have the capacity to satisfy demand for electricity so if we all swap to electric vehicles, chances are the lights will go out.

    Secondly, and more importantly IMO, once the country reaches a tipping point where electric vehicles exceed their petrol or diesel counterparts and the Treasury is losing huge revenue streams from fuel duty & VAT they will change the rules, guaranteed.

    It will become law that anyone charging an electric vehicle at home will only be allowed to do so via a dedicated meter which will be taxed at a much higher rate than the normal domestic supply. Householders will also have to pay for installation and maintenance which will only be available from Government approved companies (from which they will also receive a cut). Commercial charging points in filling stations & supermarkets will be similarly taxed. The penalties for bypassing the system will be huge (similar to red diesel) and draconian.

    In the way of evidence, I would draw your attention to the way in which car tax (vehicle excise duty) has changed recently. The Government encouraged the purchase of small-engined cars by reducing the vehicle excise duty on them to £20 pa or even £zero. Naturally, many people bought them & once the Treasury realised that their revenue was being hit they reverted to a flat rate tax of £140 for all vehicles plus a high first year charge for large/luxury/performance cars.

    Providing it gives you sufficient range for your needs, an electric vehicle or hybrid would probably be a good idea as an interim but unlikely to be a long term solution because of the above.
     
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  7. This.
     
  8. Just went thru similar, and with diesel becoming way more expensive and car tax increasing, it still made way more sense to take a diesel with 300hp that will do 45+ mpg than a petrol car with similar performance that will only do 30-35 at best. Electric simply isn’t even a starter, if you need to do 100 miles per day and don’t have an 80k budget
     
    #49 bradders, Dec 9, 2018
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2018
  9. Diesel around our way is 10% more expensive than petrol, add on possibly higher road tax and purchase price and the running costs get a lot closer.
    My wife bought a series 2 petrol bmw recently and it was surprising how much they were pushing the diesel option. The auto petrol is about 8mpg worse than the manual diesel series 1 it replaced on the same commute.
    That's before you factor in dpf problems if you do shorter journeys and turbo failure if you ignore a blocked dpf....
     
  10. Yeah, I don't plan on crashing it really. I tried that in a Renaultsport Clio 197 that had 5 NCAP stars. I wal.... ...I was stretchered away with a burst vertebrae. Bastard CD player wouldn't give me my Genesis 'way we walk' CD back either.

    Fairly certain it'll crash better than a bike though.
     
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  11. If I were only doing 10k pa, i’d have an rs3 or a cayman or similar as the additional fuel is offset against the increased running cost per litre and could be made to pay.

    Using man maths, obviously
     
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  12. Diesel in Ireland is around €1.38 (£1.25), petrol is €1.42 (£1.28), yes, diesel is cheaper than petrol here. The majority of cars here are diesel because it was pushed as a 'clean' fuel and they're more economical, or at least were.
    This is my concern. The market is falling rapidly on diesels, due mainly to Dieselgate IMO and as PeterT rightly states
    . A vast proportion of those deals were done regardless of the ramifications of Dieselgate so the ballon/residual will be higher than the market value of the car when they come to fruition. They'll all be returned to the manufacturer and the manufacturer will be stuffed with them so no-one will want to take another as a trade-in if I buy out the PCP now and want to sell on in a few years time. Yes, I could pay the balloon and keep the car but I reckon, taking into account future residuals (ie zero) it could be an expensive purchase. Would anyone purchase a car today, new or used, knowing it's value would be close to zero in 3-5 years time.

    Additionally, here in Ireland, there are significant Govt grants to switch to EV now, these will be whittled down over the next 3 years for sure. So, taking into account everyone's thoughts above, and I thank you all for your input, much as I'd love an RS4 (or even to have a 911 again, which IMO is the most practical car in the world), for our present needs I'm veering EV. It's just a shame unless I buy a Tesla S (€120k) my choice is limited to one - the new Nissan Leaf :(
     
  13. For what it's worth, my opinion is that you will be hard put to beat diesel for mpg and therefore range (practicality).

    I drive a hybrid (RX400h) because I like a big petrol engine which gives me at very best 40 mpg (only one tank ever!.... but regularly around 36 mpg - according to dash computer of course). I am biased towards Japanese reliability and my car has just turned over 150,000 miles / 12 years with only a wheel bearing, handbrake cables and headlamp level sensor to show on top of normal service parts.

    If I were buying (ignoring my wife's preferences) I would buy a cheap 2nd hand diesel and run it into the ground - However, I don't think you are in that place.

    I would also be wary of a new diesel on PCP or whatever deal you want to go for as they will potentially have the maximum to lose, in xx years time you - may have a minimum trade in value but there could be some pitfalls we don't know of yet were you to have a more 'desirable' form of motive power as you are already wary of. Assuming you want to change it in xx years.

    Hybrids compete with diesel in terms of mpg but diesel torque is better in smaller engines giving you a better driving experience to coin a well worn phrase.

    Fully electric will also give you lots of torque but range is your concern if it's your only form of family transport.

    The incentives sound good but do they compare well with the price of a diesel/petrol/hybrid? Do you want a spanking new car or would a used one serve just as well?

    Don't suppose that helped much :thinkingface:
     
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  14. just gone through the same decision process.

    Gave my company car back (Skoda Octavia VRS Combi diesel) and took the money instead as annual mileage is nowhere near what it used to be (8k v 40k).

    Would've happily had a new petrol engined VRS (great discount deals available - ie around £22k for a 30k car and now with the 245bhp engine as standard)...but ridiculous leadtimes (March?) due to VAG's failure to meet WLTP stds) put the kybosh on it.

    Ended up ordering a petrol Kia Sportage GTLine S, great std kit list, smooth/quiet/comfy and a 7 year 100k warranty to boot. Done 2k miles in the thing so far and I'm well impressed. Good residuals and no diesel worries. Running it as a "10 year" car.

    Now if only Skoda did a 4x4 petrol engined VRS estate variant (like they do in Europe) I might have been prepared to wait.........
     
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  15. What have Europe ever done for us :)
     
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  16. If anyone actually walks into a pcp and expects a penny towards a new car, they probably also believe in fairies and Santa. ;)
     
  17. I looked around and a 4yr old car like the one I bought is about 15k. Balloon is 16k. Zero % and 11k off the price.

    It was a no brainier really
     
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  18. you might want to try Carwow for good deals. Would recommend them.

    https://www.carwow.co.uk/

    I got around 4.5k off list on a PCP deal.
     
  19. Audi A4 Allroad petrol. Almost the same and a very nice car.
     
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