Diesel or Petrol??

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Sunshine Claire
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Post by Sunshine Claire »

We are looking at a used C5 and our dealership has a 1.2 Petrol with 11,000 miles and a 1.5 diesel with 30,000 miles for roughly the same price. They are the same spec.

The diesel is showing better mpg so based on combined figures I reckoned it would be £200 a year more to run the petrol so to me the diesel seems the no brainer..... But am I missing something??

People seem to rave about petrol..... Is the diesel somehow going to cost me more in the long run for servicing or something? Its such a big investment we want to buy the right one but don't know which! Any advice would be appreciated!

Airtool
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Post by Airtool »

Would you be doing the mileage to warrant a diesel ? Other than that, checkout the reliability of the petrol engine against diesel more so ad blue systems on diesels. Not on this aircross its relatively new, checkout the earlier citroen/ peugeot model forums.
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Juan Sheet
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Post by Juan Sheet »

Some issues to consider:

The Petrol engines will likely be the 3 Cylinder EB2 engines. Timing belt services may be a lot shorter as they use a 'belt in oil' system and regular servicing with the exact correct specification of oil is essential to avoid issues.

The diesels are good runners, reliable and proven engines - they of course will have both a particle filter and a SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system to reduce pollutants and particulate matter. These will need topping up with Adblue every 6-10k miles or so, so that is another cost to consider, although it's quite cheap, but the price you pay for better economy and more lower down torque.

Diesels like cruising, so not really suitable for short stop and start journeys as it won't give the particle filter sufficient time or opportunity to regenerate.

But at the end of the day your choice.

I've had the PSA diesels for the last 20 years and never had one issue with them. The later petrol engines are improving, but do have their own set of issues - as the stringent Euro standards mean they have to get more out of less, so still early days yet...
routemaster1
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Post by routemaster1 »

I have run 8 diesel cars since 2000, and although they are now a lot cleaner than the early ones (3 Renaults without particle filters that were difficult to get through MOTs, emissions are still potentially an issue. All diesels produce soot particles, its just that you can't see them in newer dpf fitted cars. The issue is the technology that regenerates the filter and the Adblue system which reduces nitrogen oxides in the exhaust. I have had dpf s on 5 Citroens, and these have not been an issue, and Adblue on 2, one made 40,000 miles with no problem, the other had to have a new Adblue tank under warranty. I seem to recall being one of the early victims of this issue, which has been a common theme on Citroen sites over the last few years. I enjoyed my diesels, but I became rather disillusioned and my latest cars are both petrol. This is partly on the purchase cost of a petrol car being lower, and my experience of the latest petrol cars is that the performance is ok and mpg isn't too far away from diesel, and I can't get stuck with an unusable car if the Adblue system fails.

As diesel becomes less acceptable in society it does worry me that diesel cars may become worthless much sooner than petrol. They are a good choice if you plan to do a lot of miles on the motorway, but please don't consider one if youy are just going to potter round a town or city.
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Juan Sheet
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Post by Juan Sheet »

I'd agree, but I also think the latest diesels are extremely clean with ever tighter Euro standards. We've bought this Aircross with the hope it will do us for a good 10 years until we are forced into going for electric which are not green as made out considering the carbon footprint used in producing the car and the batteries (but that's another story).

If anything, I suspect they are going to hold their values as people who do not want or can't have an electric vehicle are going to hang on to their ICE vehicles as long as they can. :)
Chrislo
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Post by Chrislo »

I have now reverted back to petrol from my previous 2 Citroen Diesel cars, some of the reasons have already been mentioned! I think the price of Diesels will decline a lot more rapidly than petrol over the next few years; though perhaps this isn't so important if you plan on keeping the vehicle for a long time and are doing high mileages. Another reason for my change was that my last DS3 HDi had to have a very expensive injector replacement at 20,000 miles (out of Warranty), and looking at Peugeot and Citroen forums, this appeared to be quite a common issue with this particular engine!
I do miss the low down torque of the Diesel and the economy, but overall I'm glad I made the change.
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Beanee687
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Post by Beanee687 »

I was a through and through diesel man. High mpg, plenty of torque, effortless driving and according to government good for the environment. To that end I had a 2.0Hdi Xsara Picasso 51 reg. I followed that with a 1.6Hdi C3 SX on a 54 plate and a1.4Hdi C3 on an 07 plate. Tried a 58 plate second hand 1.6Hdi C4 Picasso with EGS but hated that and after 6mth bought a 1.6Hdi C3 Picasso on a 62 plate. In 2017 it was change time but I wanted a torque converter auto box and yes Citroen reintroduced them after an absence of 13 years. I liked the look of the C3 MK3 hatchback and went for one of those but it had to be petrol as no diesel with auto in C3 range. Loved it, 6 speed box 110 bhp very responsive and in sports mode brown trousers. Even the overall mpg wasn't bad. Yes less than the C3 Picasso which averaged 48/50 but at 39/40 mpg in an automatic good. After 3 years and as age had crept up on me I was finding it difficult to get in and out of. So another change. This time a C3 Aircross auto. When I ordered it in
November they told me that the engine power had been increased from 110 to 130 bhp. I tried the 110 a demo and I was at first worried that the extra weight of the car might change the dynamics but no it was fine. On delivery the 130 bhp was and is fantastic. According to Mycitroen App it averages 41 mpg and on a long trip last year I got 65mpg on the M1. Remember it's an auto 1.2l 130 bhp.
So would I go back to diesel, no not now. As we know at the moment fossil fuel cars days are numbered, but I am not sure EVs will be the prime vehicles. Infrastructure not there and I don't think it ever will be. But hydrogen fuelled cars are lurking in the wings for future use.

Smallest engine in a car I owned was a 803 cc Dawoo Matiz. The largest a 7.2 litre Buick le-Sabre.
I started driving in 1962 and at 77 am still loving it
Last edited by Beanee687 on Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Juan Sheet
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Post by Juan Sheet »

PSA have had full automatics for as long as I can remember Beanee, the AL4 as way back as the Xantia and before. I had the 4HP18 on my XMs, the 6 speed AM6 was even on the C8, the C5 also had the AL4. The C4 and the C4 Picassos were also available with it and even the Xsara Picasso had the AL4. Even the C3 MK I Petrol could be specified with the AL4.

But I do agree with you that the piloted manual boxes are horrendous to troubleshoot when they go wrong and I'd avoid one of those even if I was offered one for free. It has to be a fully auto or manual for me :)
Beanee687
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Post by Beanee687 »

The C3 MK1 did as you say have a full auto when it came on the market. But following a fire in the factory in China the C3s were only available with Sensodrive or EGS type semi auto Boxes, normal engine with gearbox but actuator operated clutch and gear shifting. When I went to order my new C3 MK3 hatchback in January 2017 I handed over a pre configured list which included the new EAT6 TORQUE CONVERTER box. The salesman told me that there was no such car available, I showed him the Citroen website and still not convinced he went to see his boss. He returned and said yes it's correct but first ones will not be delivered till April. I ordered and waited and was the first customer at the dealership to get one.
Last edited by Beanee687 on Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Pepper red with red roof and black mirrors & roof bars
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Juan Sheet
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Post by Juan Sheet »

I like it - what does that tell you about some of the staff there...
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