Should I buy a diesel or petrol C class?

[bc100]

I do around 6-8K miles a year in my C240 (petrol engine) and I'm very happy with it. I mainly do motorway journeys mixed with some crawling around London and average about £2000. So far, after two years, the engine at 72000 miles has been reliable. I do worry about resale value as people are scared of large petrol engines but don't look at the total cost of ownnership.

 

[yeh yeh]

Absolutely agree, with your mileage , it's not worth the extra noise, petrol is so much smoother,quieter , especially on bigger engine, ie all v6s,

 

[BlueGriff]

In all honesty don’t buy either.

If you get C class you will eventually have to visit a Merc dealer, go and look at a 3 series instead.

 

[taxii]

Why would anyone buy a C180 in any guise? Isnt that like buying the cheap base model? I would plump for petrol at that mileage as thats the mileage I do and its nice to be able to do the mileage that means you dont have to buy a diesel. I would look for something a bit bigger in the engine stakes though.

 

[pcb]

In the End

So I got the car!

After driving petrol and diesels and by looking at many models, I didnt choose the A4, Quashqai, BMW 3 series or a C220 Petrol... I got the C220 CDI 2009 with 28k on the clock.

I drove it on the motorway and locally in traffic and I will say that its fantastic.

I am very grateful for all the advise and help but there was one thing that made me get this car and that was the feeling it gave me.

I have decided to increase the miles I do more road trips and visit our lovely the UK.

Thank you all very muchly.

 

[Paul1975]

I would say petrol only with full service history! They're not fitted with timing chains made of cheese on these later models I hope?

 

[st4]

C220cdi 2009 like mine. I've been touring today, most excellent car. Not many known issues with these, they seem to be reliable.

 

[mika63]

petrol every time...diesel i'd rather walk

 

[S.Speed]

Forget Petrol being "Just as economical as Diesel"..The ARE NOT!
A year ago my boss bought an Octavia with the 1.4 TSi engine (Manual gearbox)..
Its boasted as being one of the most efficiecnt Petrol engines out there..
His commuter run averages 31mpg..
My 7 year old 2.7 Diesel (auto gearbox) on its commuter run averages 38mpg..

His driving holiday around Scotland averaged 41mpg..
My Scottish GTG with ST4 and co (Not a slow amble by any means) averaged 45mpg..

I recently borrowed his car to do a round trip (Mainly motorway) to deliver some instruments and it averaged 45mpg on a "Normal" long distance run out. I drove it as I would drive mine and did not look at the fuel consumption till I had returned home 165 miles later.

My car typically averages 53mpg when I drive to the forum GTG's or go on my own longer distance drives..

The Octavia is a fabulous car with brilliant build quality but there is no way on earth the small "eco" petrol engine of 1.4 litres is as good as my 2.7 litre "older" Diesel in any driving situation..

Even my boss who is on his second Octavia admits to being "Disapointed" by the fuel consumption.

I have owned my C270 for 36,000 miles now and the only thing requiring attention (other than servicing) in all that time is a MAF (Probably as its now done 66k).
For the last 28,000 miles it has averaged 44.3mpg.
All in all a brilliant enging that is worthy for carrying the pro diesel flag !

 

[whitenemesis]

I drove my 270CDI for 116K trouble free miles and loved every minute and evrey mile. I now have my CLS and have been thrilled to drive it the 2k miles I have owned it.

I draw some amusing comparisons..

2700cc v. 5439cc
170bhp v. 479bhp
38mpg v. 18mpg (urban commute)
55mpg v. 28mpg (motorway journey)

I have doubled my engine capacity, tripled (almost) my bhp but only halved my mpg?

The experience is very "night and day", "chalk and cheese" but both thoroughly enjoyable

You takes your pick ....

 

[Disillusioned]

Buy a petrol based on your mileage!

Recently part exed my C180 compressor auto (5 speed) estate, having done 29K miles, bought new 8 years ago, for a new 2012 S204 180 petrol. No probs in 8 years, no rust apart from slight corrosion on a few spot welds underneath - waxoyl remedied, 30+ mpg short runs, 40+ mpg on long runs. Brilliant to drive.

New 204 is a turbo (allegedly on the grounds that turbos are more efficient than superchargers) but struggle to get 25mpg short runs, and 30 on long runs, despite a 7 speed auto box.

I want my 203 back!

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

The mpg figures will improve as the weather gets warmer. I wouldn't believe and of the official mpg figures given out by the manufacturers, most are unobtainable by quite a margin in the real world.

Having said that we don't buy Mercs solely on the basis of fuel consumption so I hope the car is a good drive and judging by your annual mileage the loss is marginal.

I hope you enjoy the car.

 

[The Pan Man]

New 204 is a turbo (allegedly on the grounds that turbos are more efficient than superchargers) but struggle to get 25mpg short runs, and 30 on long runs, despite a 7 speed auto box.

Based on those figures I will stick with the E500.

 

[television]

New 204 is a turbo (allegedly on the grounds that turbos are more efficient than superchargers) but struggle to get 25mpg short runs, and 30 on long runs, despite a 7 speed auto box.

Based on those figures I will stick with the E500.

And when we update in a few years time to a later than 2011 car, we get the 7g plus and combined with the stop start we will improve our fuel consumption by 11%

 

[PeterCLK]

So I got the car!

After driving petrol and diesels and by looking at many models, I didnt choose the A4, Quashqai, BMW 3 series or a C220 Petrol... I got the C220 CDI 2009 with 28k on the clock.

I drove it on the motorway and locally in traffic and I will say that its fantastic.

I am very grateful for all the advise and help but there was one thing that made me get this car and that was the feeling it gave me.

I have decided to increase the miles I do more road trips and visit our lovely the UK.

Thank you all very muchly.

Must say I find the same. The 204 feels a lot easier to live with than the 209 and is a pleasure to drive. Stop Start is fine, no noticeable delay when you touch the accelerator to restart.

 

[GeeAy]

Just gone through the same deliberation myself. My online calculator gave me a payback time of 14 years for a new C class Diesel. That said I bought used. 12 months old. I've had a Diesel car for the last 5 years and the tourque delivery made it really easy to drive, averaging 47-50 mpg. So I thought I'd end up getting the C diesel, but I didnt. I got the petrol. 1.8T BE model.

It was no where near as weedy as I thought it may be. Great spread of tourque and whisper quiet. Given the price plus refinement I didn;t even bother driving the Oil burner which would have set me back another 4k at the same age.

Drove home at the weekend 3 hour drive on the cruise at 80 (where possible on a private road) - 44.1 MPG. Which is 3mpg more tha I managed in a Ford Mondeo 1.8TD which I had as a courtesy car last year.
Things have moved on since my 1.8 auto Audi A4Se used to give me 27mpg in 1997!

Great car!

 

[st4]

Just gone through the same deliberation myself. My online calculator gave me a payback time of 14 years for a new C class Diesel. That said I bought used. 12 months old. I've had a Diesel car for the last 5 years and the tourque delivery made it really easy to drive, averaging 47-50 mpg. So I thought I'd end up getting the C diesel, but I didnt. I got the petrol. 1.8T BE model.

It was no where near as weedy as I thought it may be. Great spread of tourque and whisper quiet. Given the price plus refinement I didn;t even bother driving the Oil burner which would have set me back another 4k at the same age.

Drove home at the weekend 3 hour drive on the cruise at 80 (where possible on a private road) - 44.1 MPG. Which is 3mpg more tha I managed in a Ford Mondeo 1.8TD which I had as a courtesy car last year.
Things have moved on since my 1.8 auto Audi A4Se used to give me 27mpg in 1997!

Great car!

What does your C250CGI average to the gallon.

Looking at your motorway speed at 80 that's as good as my diesel. I know I've got an estate with 5g which is quite short geared but figures are facts.

Overall could you break down what you get in town, on rural roads as I'd consider a petrol motor next time if they're good

 

[Richard Hinds]

Well, all the above posts are very interesting!
I've just had a C180 petrol automatic, on a 61 plate, as a courtesy car for the day whilst my SL350 was serviced.
I don't know what size engine was in the "C" class, but I was surprised by how well it accelerated (well, you have to give them a good test drive, don't you!), how quiet it was, and how often the "stop start" operated. I covered about 120miles today. The first 35 or so were "quite quick", around the M25 and up the A12. I then went shopping with my wife, got stuck in roadworks on the A13 ("Take me to Lakeside!"), and then more miles around the M25. Overall was 36.3mpg, which I thought was quite reasonable.
My wife has a Nissan X Trail, 2.0 litre diesel automatic. On the type of journeys she normally does, averages about 25mpg, so no-one should runaway with the idea that diesels are good around town! On a sensible run, I can easily get the X-Trail over 35mpg, so there's nothing wrong with the car. It's just that diesel autos in town are not very fuel efficient.

 

[AMGry Man]

2011 C250 CDI Coupe averages me 30.8mpg, daily 8 mile start-stop city commute, 24-27mpg, temperature depending.

The only reason I sold my much coveted C32 Estate was for fuel ecomony so after such a wrench you can imagine I am dissapointed with the diesels returns.

But I have opportunity to change into younger C250 CGI Coupe, better spec with no money changing hands.... test frive Thursday

 

[MBDevotee]

Can't see why anyone would recommend a diesel for 6000k. I love my 270cdi I cover about 15000k a year average 43mpg and have got over 60mpg on occasions. However would not hesitate to change to petrol if my mileage went below 10000k. Only problem in two years has been a split o ring on the fuel pump and servicing of course which I do myself. However a local Merc specialist charges £165 for a B service which as far as I am concerned is the only service I would entertain anyway. As the glorified oil change that is an A service seems a waste of money to me. However from my limited knowledge short journeys and cold engine diving that you would be doing would not be healthy for a diesel.

Pure blind prejudice.

I was in Asda today -
Petrol 128 per litre
Diesel 135.6 per litre - difference of 6%


So if the OP does 6000m a year at 30mpg at 128ppl he'll spend £1162 on Petrol or £972.69 on Diesel....

So a massive 189.31 saving a year buying the diesel..... So if for the same power, the diesel car costs £1500 more - then it's only going to take 8 years to pay back the extra cost of the diesel car - and if the DPF fails (which on 6k a year it will.....) then that saving is blown away....