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Mrs D wants a car

ChrisFilter said:
Out of interest, why wouldn't recommend a diesel for sub-12k miles a year?
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Because they cost more money to buy, don't achieve good fuel economy on short trips (warm up time), and fuel costs more per litre. Along with the added complexity of a turbo, newer ones are increasingly stuffed with environmental equipment that goes wrong, especially on short trips, unlike most contemporary petrols.

I don't know that 12k would be my threshold, but 12k in a petrol car at 30mpg costs about £2,000/yr in fuel. Imagine a pretty extreme situation in which you manage to half that with a diesel. You have to be sure that averaged over your ownership of the car, including the premium to buy it and the usually higher repair bills, you don't spend more than £1,000/yr extra. Sounds a lot but it's not that hard to eclipse it. Do 4,000 miles a year and it's piss easy. Plus halving that cost is hard work in the first place.
 
Chz said:
It's a car. Cunts drive cars of all sorts. For my money, there's a surplus of them in Audis but you can find them anywhere.
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it's true, audis as well. but i'm learning to drive at the moment and 8 times out of 10 the bully who won't tolerate the learner driver is driving a BMW. the other two are driving Audis :(

i was really surprised actually, as every driver will tell you that some vehicle or other is the mark of a cunt and i always assumed this was bollocks but it's not.. BMWs, Audis. and white 4x4s are the ones that i've developed a hatred for over the last few months.
 
mauvais said:
Because they cost more money to buy, don't achieve good fuel economy on short trips (warm up time), and fuel costs more per litre. Along with the added complexity of a turbo, newer ones are increasingly stuffed with environmental equipment that goes wrong, especially on short trips, unlike most contemporary petrols.

I don't know that 12k would be my threshold, but 12k in a petrol car at 30mpg costs about £2,000/yr in fuel. Imagine a pretty extreme situation in which you manage to half that with a diesel. You have to be sure that averaged over your ownership of the car, including the premium to buy it and the usually higher repair bills, you don't spend more than £1,000/yr extra. Sounds a lot but it's not that hard to eclipse it. Do 4,000 miles a year and it's piss easy. Plus halving that cost is hard work in the first place.
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My diesel Qashqai wasn't any more expensive than a petrol one and averages 53mpg. I'll take that!
 
ChrisFilter said:
My diesel Qashqai wasn't any more expensive than a petrol one and averages 53mpg. I'll take that!
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http://www.nissan.co.uk/GB/en/vehic...-and-equipment/prices-and-specifications.html

New, a diesel's two grand more than a petrol. If supposedly 74mpg vs 50mpg ('my arse' on both), then at current prices, 12k/pa costs £1164 for petrol vs £823 for diesel.

Now admittedly the diesel's worth more when you come to sell it, but without that, it takes over five years in fuel savings to pay off that difference.

If you buy it used, obviously the problem is reduced, but it still costs plenty more.

Either way, if you get a single bill relating to EGR valves or the DPF or whatever else, your saving is fucked.

There are plenty of reasons to buy a diesel but economy often isn't one.
 
Diesel may cost more but a diesel car will only slow down when you hit a massive puddle at 50mph, a petrol one probably would have died. I haven't found my diesel Golf any dearer to fix than my petrol ones were, and maintenance is very easy.
 
Petrol in Spain €1,20 litre. Diesel here €1,08 litre. Due to the mileage Mrs D is likely to do, maybe 5k a year, I'm not that bothered about fuel cost. Mrs D will pay for her own fuel anyway.
 
I would recommend a modern Corsa (I think they have a 3 cylinder petrol engine). Someone I know bought one and seems pleased with it, the only downside seems that when they leave it for a week or two (holidays) the battery fails, this has happened a couple of times. Otherwise it seems a good car.
 
My corsa went on forever despite massive neglect/abuse. However, it had the worst red fade of any car i've ever seen. Do not get a red one.
 
I have the Clio with Diesel and its really reliable and robust, plenty of room. I think its about 8 or 9 years old, really high mileage but only costs me around 300 a year for random fixings and MOT. It gets from from the North of Scotland to Somerset on less than 40 quids worth of fuel. I had an old Micra before so to me its a luxury car - and the Micra just kept on going for years, also reliable. I thought it would never die.
 
spanglechick said:
My corsa went on forever despite massive neglect/abuse. However, it had the worst red fade of any car i've ever seen. Do not get a red one.
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Yes red fade is an issue, not only on the Corsa indeed. I would think twice about buying any red car I think.

There is a red Audi 80 near hear in a terrible state.
 
weltweit said:
Yes red fade is an issue, not only on the Corsa indeed. I would think twice about buying any red car I think.

There is a red Audi 80 near hear in a terrible state.
Click to expand...

The fading on red paint was caused by the molecule in the red pigment compound (the name of which escapes me) being very large with lots of double bonds which made it more susceptible to oxidisation in the present of UV light. Just about all cars built in the last 10 years will have a clear coat so it should never be an issue on modern cars as long as the clear coat isn't compromised.
 
She should take advantage of the fact she's not going to be using it very often to get something super-cheap and pimp it how she likes it. She could have something brilliant! #againstmoderncars :D
 
weltweit said:
Yes red fade is an issue, not only on the Corsa indeed. I would think twice about buying any red car I think.

There is a red Audi 80 near hear in a terrible state.
Click to expand...


I had a red Audi S2 a while ago- the bonnet and the wing had been resprayed / flashed over in the past for road chips and non serious scatches.looked perefct at the time

but fuck me, it looked like a patchwork quilt 5 years later
 
If she only needs it occasionally - don't you have a car club thing near you?

or this would be cheaper:
images
or
images
 
friendofdorothy said:
If she only needs it occasionally - don't you have a car club thing near you?

or this would be cheaper:
images
or
images
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No car club. Public transport is virtually non-existant, no rail, few buses; and if she uses taxis it will not encourage her to drive. The problem with living in a small Spanish town is the restrictions on getting out and about without a car. I use mine every day for work during the week, at the weekend we also use mine. But Mrs D would like to start driving again, and would like some more independence so that she is not dependant on me being about when she wants to do anything. The problem is that she would use it infrequently.
 
spanglechick said:
My corsa went on forever despite massive neglect/abuse. However, it had the worst red fade of any car i've ever seen. Do not get a red one.
Click to expand...

My late foster-dad's first Corsa was red. He had it on a three year lease (from Motability), and by halfway through the second year it was a bit faded. By the time he returned it, it was getting toward Barbie Pink. :D
Mind you, the parking space he had meant it had no shade at all.
 
She has, today, suggested a Fiesta "might do". I'm getting a bit bored of looking at cars now. She might have to have a weekend break in a nice hotel for her birthday instead. (I guess that it would at least save me some money)
 
mauvais said:
Because they cost more money to buy, don't achieve good fuel economy on short trips (warm up time), and fuel costs more per litre. Along with the added complexity of a turbo, newer ones are increasingly stuffed with environmental equipment that goes wrong, especially on short trips, unlike most contemporary petrols.

I don't know that 12k would be my threshold, but 12k in a petrol car at 30mpg costs about £2,000/yr in fuel. Imagine a pretty extreme situation in which you manage to half that with a diesel. You have to be sure that averaged over your ownership of the car, including the premium to buy it and the usually higher repair bills, you don't spend more than £1,000/yr extra. Sounds a lot but it's not that hard to eclipse it. Do 4,000 miles a year and it's piss easy. Plus halving that cost is hard work in the first place.
Click to expand...

I thought the problems re diesels and short trips was down to the soot not getting burnt of, leading to a very expensive replacement of the DPF. Besides, diesels tend to be noiser than petrol cars.

el-ahrairah said:
it's true, audis as well. but i'm learning to drive at the moment and 8 times out of 10 the bully who won't tolerate the learner driver is driving a BMW. the other two are driving Audis :(

i was really surprised actually, as every driver will tell you that some vehicle or other is the mark of a cunt and i always assumed this was bollocks but it's not.. BMWs, Audis. and white 4x4s are the ones that i've developed a hatred for over the last few months.
Click to expand...

Very pleased to this this coming from a new young driver and not a cynical old driver with a few miles nder his belt. If anew young driver notices this, it must be bad. This is particularly a problem in my neck of the woods in Sarf London :mad:
 
hash tag said:
I thought the problems re diesels and short trips was down to the soot not getting burnt of, leading to a very expensive replacement of the DPF. Besides, diesels tend to be noiser than petrol cars.
Click to expand...
It is, but diesel engines also take longer to warm up, and on any engine, you only get good fuel economy - and cleaner running - once it's warm.

Diesels can be very quiet these days (and some actually sound very good when being thrashed)
 
Having driven newish diesel BMW, Merc and Nissan, you will not and never convince me. They are noisy, I don't like them.
But, I am a bit of a petrol head :(
 
I had a ten year old Alfa 2.4 JTD for a month or so and it was gooood. It's a five pot and made a ridiculous almost V10-esque roar when pressed. Didn't sound like a taxi at anything but idle. My own car is petrol and that would be my preference but the diesel was surprisingly impressive.
 
mauvais said:
I had a ten year old Alfa 2.4 JTD for a month or so and it was gooood. It's a five pot and made a ridiculous almost V10-esque roar when pressed. Didn't sound like a taxi at anything but idle. My own car is petrol and that would be my preference but the diesel was surprisingly impressive.
Click to expand...

Now your talking my language. Alfa's, nuff said :thumbs:
 
hash tag said:
Very pleased to this this coming from a new young driver and not a cynical old driver with a few miles nder his belt. If anew young driver notices this, it must be bad. This is particularly a problem in my neck of the woods in Sarf London :mad:
Click to expand...

i'm in south east london, so maybe it's just a local thing!
 
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