Petrol Vs Diesel Cars

By Darren Hirst

Petrol, or diesel? This is the question to be asked when you're looking to buy a car. There are advantages and disadvantages to both which is why you need to decide the purpose you're buying your car for.
Disadvantages to buying a petrol car:

• The first been that a petrol car isn't as good with fuel as a diesel. A petrol will do less miles per gallon on fuel as it burns quicker in the engine. Most cars used on your driving lessons are diesel as it's more cost effective for the instructors.
• In addition to this petrol engines don't last as long as a diesel. Where a petrol engine will do 150,000 miles, a diesel will keep going to about 300,000 which is double. This isn't to say that diesels are more reliable, you may have a lot more problems with a diesel car even through you will get more miles from the engine.

Advantages to buying a petrol car:

• Although petrol cars may have their disadvantages, they're very popular for a number of different reasons. Firstly the engine is cheaper to make that a diesel and therefore they cost less to buy. This is quite a contributing factor to why some buy petrol cars as they're substantially cheaper.
• In addition to the cost price of a petrol car, the fuel is cheaper per litre. As mentioned earlier a diesel will do better on fuel even thought it costs more per litre as it works out that it does more miles on the same cost price of fuel. But if you're not looking to travel far then a petrol car may be perfect for you as you have to do more than 20,000 miles a year for it to be worth paying more for the car.

If you're buying a car that it's going to be placed under excessive use a petrol car may be the way to go as the actual car is cheaper to buy and the different in fuel consumption may be cancelled out by the additional cost of the diesel car. Most instructors prefer to use diesel cars on their driving lessons as they use their car a lot.
Disadvantages to a diesel car:

• Diesel cars cost more to buy than petrol hence why a lot of drivers are deterred from buying them, even more so if they don't plan to travel a lot of miles.
• It has been said that diesel engines don't perform as well as petrol engines in terms of responsiveness and speed, however some experts say this is just hearsay. Although diesel cars can perform just as well as petrol cars it takes additional extras for them to match where the petrol engines starts out. When learning how to drive you don't want a car too quick which is an advantage to using them on your driving lessons.

Advantages to a diesel car:

• A diesel doesn't need a spark to ignite the engine which eliminates possible faults with electrical components on the car.
• Usually diesel models emit less C02 emissions making them cheaper to tax that a petrol model. Another reason why they're a favourite of the driving professionals.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both diesel and petrol cars which leaves you with a difficult decision. Decide which is best for you by taking into account how much use the car will get and how long your considering keeping the car.

Source