Petrol Or Diesel Car

[autumndream]

Hey guys which version of a car should I buy, petrol or diesel? I wanna to buy Honda city (https://autoportal.com/newcars/honda/city/). To be honest, at first I thought about diesel variant... But judging by the description on the official site, the diesel engine doesn't have an automatic transmission. What does it mean for driver? It's my first car, so, I hope to your help.

[Zeakiwi]

Depends on what make / model/ version the petrol or diesel vehicle is. Are there extra taxes for diesels over petrol vehicles in your area etc.

When the new tech is added or new version of of an engine is bought to market, there can be problems that develop for the 1st or 2nd owner or recalls for features overlooked etc.

[Starter]

It also depends on where you live and the type of driving you do.

[D-Type]

If you plan to buy an automatic, which is ideal for stop/start city driving, then don't get a diesel. As far as I know, nobody has yet managed to produce a diesel automatic that works well. The problem is that an auto basically works off the revs the engine is doing while a diesel generally runs at relatively low revs as that's where its maximum torque occurs.

[GridGirl]

I have a PHEV. Would happily go fully electric for the right price.

I enjoy getting in excess of 90 mpg.

[zako85]

I don't know about other parts of the world, but here in the USA people drive diesel cars only for bragging rights ("I got a euro-diesel, ugggg, worship me)". There used to be a time when petrol cars had very poor fuel economy and torque curve of a lawnmower (that was mostly in the 1990s). But today, diesels don't make any sense from financial perspective. Most petrol cars come with turbo engines, which means they have a good enough torque curve. They also have very good fuel economy (e.g. our Honda Accord, which is a midsize sedan, with 1.5 turbo petrol engine gets 34mpg in real life mixed driving). The diesel cars (if you can still find them after the VAG diesel cheating scandal/fiasco) could get even better miles per gallon, but those savings will be eaten by higher fuel costs. Where I live, petrol is about 2 dollars a gallon, while diesel is 2.7. To make things worse, cars with diesel engines are normally more expensive.

The only reason diesels were so popular in Europe is because the governments adjusted the tax incentives (e.g. fuel costs and other taxes) to make diesel popular. This was done at a huge cost to the environment because diesels spew a crazy amount of particle pollution into the air, which is why diesel engines had a difficult time passing the more strict environmental requirements in the USA.

[D-Type]

Emissions aren't that simple. At one time, diesels were considered to have better emissions as the NOx and CO values were lower than petrol. But this ignored particulates, ie specks of carbon, and various nasty carbon compounds.
In much of Europe the lower taxation of diesel and hence lower fuel cost is a hidden subsidy of the road transport and farming industries.

[Jag_Warrior]

I don't know about other parts of the world, but here in the USA people drive diesel cars only for bragging rights ("I got a euro-diesel, ugggg, worship me)". There used to be a time when petrol cars had very poor fuel economy and torque curve of a lawnmower (that was mostly in the 1990s). But today, diesels don't make any sense from financial perspective. Most petrol cars come with turbo engines, which means they have a good enough torque curve. They also have very good fuel economy (e.g. our Honda Accord, which is a midsize sedan, with 1.5 turbo petrol engine gets 34mpg in real life mixed driving). The diesel cars (if you can still find them after the VAG diesel cheating scandal/fiasco) could get even better miles per gallon, but those savings will be eaten by higher fuel costs. Where I live, petrol is about 2 dollars a gallon, while diesel is 2.7. To make things worse, cars with diesel engines are normally more expensive.

The only reason diesels were so popular in Europe is because the governments adjusted the tax incentives (e.g. fuel costs and other taxes) to make diesel popular. This was done at a huge cost to the environment because diesels spew a crazy amount of particle pollution into the air, which is why diesel engines had a difficult time passing the more strict environmental requirements in the USA.

Being that diesel automotive/on-road fuel (not farm/off-road) costs more than 93 octane/premium gasoline in my area, that is certainly the case, IMO. Most of the diesel vehicles I see these days are kids and (immature) adults "rolling coal" in ridiculous looking, $60K, 4x4 pickup trucks. But hey, when you want to impress your girlfriend after cheerleading practice at the high school, sometimes you just gotta roll some coal, man!

I didn't realize diesels were still popular in Europe. I thought I read that Jaguar-Land Rover was taking a major financial hit because they over-invested in diesels and they're not selling well anymore.