Hello,
I am taking driving lessons in a diesel car and I want to buy my first car. However, I am not sure whether to chose a diesel or a petrol car considering the following:
1)I will use the car mostly outside of the city one or two times a week which means between 100 and 200 kilometers a week, so just for the road to my countryside and back. I don’t intend to use it much in the urban area.
2)My girlfriend has a diesel car so there could be situations where I will drive her car one week and the next week I will drive my car. So the question is, if I buy a petrol car, considering that she has a diesel, will I be able to adapt every week to diesel/petrol routine?
I would like to buy a petrol car just for the fact that since it will be a used car I am afraid of all the problems with injectors, turbines that diesel has. Otherwise, I don’t have a preference between diesel and petrol.
What are your suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
That is an excellent question. I would say that we average 2 or 3 posts each month from people who put diesel fuel into their petrol-powered vehicle, and are now wanting to know how expensive the “fix” will be.
All I can say is that, if you are a person who is not easily confused, and who truly focuses on what he is doing, then you shouldn’t have a problem. Obviously, there are significant numbers of people who don’t have those qualities, but if you do, you should be okay with a petrol-powered car.
This Forum is mostly populated with US members and you must be in Europe . Deisels are just not a common vehicle here . Both types will drive pretty much the same way so that should not be a problem except if you put the wrong type of fuel in the vehicle.
Thank you.
And what about the way I intend to use the car from point 1? Should diesel or petrol be more suitable?
Also is it really that easier to drive a diesel car today and tomorrow to drive a petrol car and the next week a diesel and so on? If I buy a petrol car, wouldn’t I be tempted to drive my girlfriend’s diesel car in a different/bad way?
My only concerns would be with gas/petrol vehicles getting fueling mixed up, and with a diesel vehicle the imposition of any government controls/limitations on diesels that wouldn’t apply to petrol cars. Being in the US, we don’t know what they’ll be doing in the UK, which is where I assume you live.
How can we possibly answer what is going to tempt you and what isn’t?
Other than the fuel, how are the two vehicles different?
If one is a sports car and one is a top heavy SUV, then I could see where you could have issues/concerns driving one like the other.
In the US even when diesel cars were sold in some numbersm the same car with a gasoline engine was cheaperand easier to find mechanics for. The only reason to buy a diesel here was if you drove a lot of miles a year, you could recover the extra cost with fuel economy.
With your driving pattern, the payback period would be never.
I don’t know what the relative cost of diesel VS gas is where you live , but here gas is cheaper.
Suit yourself is all. Your questions and concerns have little to do with the actual choice. I put 480,000 miles on my diesel (I don’t know what that is in Kilometers) but would I do it again? Never. I paid $1000 more for the diesel. Put at least two engines in and head gaskets. About 4 or 5 injector pumps at $500 (until I got smart and bought used ones and did it myself), a $300 starter, and on and on. The only advantage was that I got 27 mpg instead of 20 or something. Did I ever get my money out of it? No.
