Buy diesel in 2018 or not?

S Sharma

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Hi all,

I am in the market for a used reliable, economical and low tax car (2015, less than 30k and the budget is around £16 to £18k) for my family and commute. I am looking at Merc 220d, 200d or Merc 200 (petrol). My first thoughts are, should I look at diesel cars or avoid due to the possibility of them being hammered tax and costs wise in a few years?

Struggling to make my mind in between c200 petrol and c220 diesel, Looking for 40-45mpg.

20miles round trip (45 minutes one way) daily commute to work (city driving), more miles on the weekends.

Currently, I drive Audi A3 1.9tdie, fantastic car, getting 70 odd miles per gallon on the motorway but day to day commute to work (35 to 40 minutes drive in traffic) is around 40mpg. Yes, I am getting DPF error few times in a year but not a massive problem as we do more miles on the weekends. Now looking for a new used car (15 plate) but keeping Audi A3 as a second car.

Planning to keep this new used car for at least 4 to 5 years.

Your help is much appreciated.
 
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S Sharma

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What it best mpg you can get out of C200 petrol in the city? Anybody who owns c200 petrol, please?
 

daibevan

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Mine is a few years older. Can get nearly 40 on a good long fast run, only just 30 when doing lots of short journeys. At present only getting about 28, though mostly under 5 miles from cold. She is lovely though.
 

Wighty

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What it best mpg you can get out of C200 petrol in the city? Anybody who owns c200 petrol, please?
My C200 Kompressor Clk does about 30mpg average , maybe on careful motorway driving 36mpg .
 

mercedes13156

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CLK 200 Cabrio and a Ford Kuga
Our CLK 200K gives an average of 32mpg across the board. Mrs 13156 does a 70 mile round trip three times a week to work in Glasgow via the M8 at 70 -80 on the motorway for 60 miles with cruise and at city speeds for the other ten.

During the summer we had a bimble around the Trossachs with the roof down and we got over 40mpg over a couple of hundred miles.

Frankly, if you're willing to pay the vehicle tax on a diesel, and pay the premium on the fuel you should feel free to drive one without feeling guilty about it. You pays your money.....
 

Submariner1

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I wouldnt personally buy a diesel, the recent German appeal ruling now allows Stuttgart and Dusseldorf or any other German city to ban diesels.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...es-air-pollution-vehicles-block-a8230641.html
Note the first city ... er Germany’s Detroit!

Its only a matter of time before before The Gengis of London hops on that mad bandwagon.

I’ll openly admit I am not a fan of noisy clattery diesels, nor would I want all this AD Blue .. DPF crazy stuff, to have to add to the ‘already-long-enough’ unreliability list.

But when you see hybrid diesels getting 70 mpg, I have to admit Yes, in cold weather when I can see 21-22mpg until she is warm, I am a little jealous !
Especially as Shell Optima has gone from £1.09 to £1.37 since I bought “she who likes a good drink”.

The fact that to replace Germanys 15 million diesel cars would generate an horrific carbon footprint, seems not to matter...... or even get mentioned.
But then these Evangalists always have a very narrow, single-tracked selective logic!

Whereas before we tended to follow a fair policy of not retrospectively hyper taxing vehicles, as our Political whims changed.
The modern lemming-like, bleating in unison, drowns-out all rational opposition policy (particularly advocated by sectors like Momentum) is not to be underestimated!

It could happen in a City near you!
 

flowrider

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I part exchanged my 2012 40k mile ML350 last November and i noticed today the ML is still for sale! You would think an SUV would have sold over the winter but clearly not. I'm pleased i got out of diesels.
 

Rappey69

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c220 w204 amg sport
There are quite a few diesels that are well below 100g/km so zero road tax.and up to 84 mpg . I'm seriously thinking about one of these cars, such as the skoda Octavia, due to having a golf for 10 years without any problems at all, then a merc for 10 years and slowly changing many electrical parts as they fail (and cost a lot).
I think ive decided reliability and economy are more desirable than a very nice car!
 
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S Sharma

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Mine is a few years older. Can get nearly 40 on a good long fast run, only just 30 when doing lots of short journeys. At present only getting about 28, though mostly under 5 miles from cold. She is lovely though.

Thanks daibevan, Is your's year 2015 and c200? How expensive is it to maintain? I can expect 30 as the official figures are 40.9 miles per gallon.
 
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S Sharma

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It is definite I am not going for diesel. I only do 20miles round trip (45 minutes one way) daily commute to work (city driving), more miles on the weekends. Still struggling to find the right petrol car which is not too expensive to run and maintain.

Went to see C200 (2015) on the weekend but lost a bit of confidence as there were few warning lights (parking light and front bonnet) on the dashboard. It was not from the main dealer but leading automotive retailer for new and used cars. The dealer has not got any clue.

What should I look for in petrol 2014 onwards?
 
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daibevan

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W203 C200 Kompressor Elegance SE 2006 Tanzanite Blue with cream interior
Thanks daibevan, Is your's year 2015 and c200? How expensive is it to maintain? I can expect 30 as the official figures are 40.9 miles per gallon.
Mine is quite a bit older 2006. I do my own maintenance & servicing, so you need to ask SOE for details on cost. Mine has been very reasonable so far.
 

Yugguy

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C220CDI W204 Elegance Comand
There are quite a few diesels that are well below 100g/km so zero road tax.and up to 84 mpg . I'm seriously thinking about one of these cars, such as the skoda Octavia, due to having a golf for 10 years without any problems at all, then a merc for 10 years and slowly changing many electrical parts as they fail (and cost a lot).
I think ive decided reliability and economy are more desirable than a very nice car!

Indeed, and in Elegance spec the Octavia is very well-equipped.
 

Yugguy

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It is definite I am not going for diesel. I only do 20miles round trip (45 minutes one way) daily commute to work (city driving), more miles on the weekends. Still struggling to find the right petrol car which is not too expensive to run and maintain.

Went to see C200 (2015) on the weekend but lost a bit of confidence as there were few warning lights (parking light and front bonnet) on the dashboard. It was not from the main dealer but leading automotive retailer for new and used cars. The dealer has not got any clue.

What should I look for in petrol 2014 onwards?

Get a Lexus GS450h. fast hybrid.
 

Capra

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I also thought about the deisel/petrol debate and decided that, I don't drive my card into the key European zones, and I never drive into the city of London.
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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EU5/6 diesels won’t be banned from cities but everything without a DPF will be penalised eventually. There are emission hotspots in some cities which may lead to exclusion zones but it won’t affect most.

The OP will find there is nothing more efficient than a 220D, miserly even at tickover
 

Taffy7hfa

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"Once the ban on diesels starts in cities in the UK". What ?,no buses, hgv's, commercial vehicles in cities, how is that going to work?. All that's going to happen is that vehicles that don't comply with ever more stringent emissions regulations will be heavily penalised and therefore uneconomical to use in cities.
Generally speaking banning things is a last resort, governments will always try and price things out of the market first. Dirty old diesels will just be taxed to death. Newer, cleaner vehicles (diesel or petrol) will be fine.
 

Capra

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SO really, unless you want to drive into Paris it is still economical to buy a class EU5/6 diesel?
 

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