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Ok here goes any help greatly appreciated !
About 7 weeks ago I bought a VW TOURAN 1.6 fsi Auto to replace our Honda Stream that was written off thanks to a refuse truck !
Its a 55 plate one owner fsh and to be fair a great looking car etc. got it for a good price.
The car is pretty much only used in the week by the mrs for childrens play dates and used at the weekend by me, has to be Auto as the Mrs wont drive a manual ! Our annual mileage is about 6500 to 8000 a year.
As I got the car for a good price I'm thinking sell the car get an auto diesel (saab £3000 plenty of them) and cash in £1500 or so.
Or am I being daft ? will the diesel be cheaper to run ? 1.6 auto only gets 37mpg on a motorway run which is pretty bad so a trip to Cornwall or the Lakes is going to be pretty ££££ (from London)
HeLp !!!
So your saying most of its tiny little milage is going to be pootling round town .
Keep the petrol
Have you sat down and worked out the cost difference on those odd trips to the lakes or london ?
The SAAB's only generally manage about 42MPG, the fuel costs are far larger and the complexity of servicing the diesels and issues that they can have would be putting me off.
I run bangernomics, and generally prefer to buy lower mileage petrol engined cars, I get a newer/cheaper car and don't "most of the time" have problems with the engines.
Modern diesels are getting very complex with high pressure fuel pumps, turbos, and injector problems, whereas the humble old petrol engine hasn't really changed since 1991 when the catalytic converters became mandatory.
No I haven't worked out costs
cornwall x1 900 miles main holiday
lakes x 2 1000 miles half term holidays
leeds x 5 2000 miles brother/sister visits
few weekend trips norfolk/eastbourne 1500 miles
local 2000/2500 miles
road tax is more by £100
are servicing costs more on a diesel ?
So 8000 miles in the touran on fuel alone at current petrol costs
1371pounds
In a saab at 42 mog in current diesel prices it would be 1229
So saving 150 quid ,another 100 quid in tAx and you have saved 50 quid
Doesnt take many repairs to diesel system abused by local town driving to wipe out the 50 quid you saved and the 1500 quid from swapping cars
tax is £100 more on the Touran but I get your drift not that much in it and also petrol better better for town
Service on diesel more regular, so dearer. Exhausts rot faster.
Cannot see that you will save anything, diesel will hate the local trips and clog itself costing money to clean/replace egr valve.
The Saab will cost more to insure as well.
If you have to have an auto then from you describe mileage/usage you already have a reasonable compromise.
i think you need to have a conversation with the other driver as to how much thier choices are costing..
the vw in preference to the saab anytime.. which manufacturer is currently building/ selling /maintaining /repairing cars at over 800 dealerships nationwide..?
I'd keep the touran or get the wife to drive manual and swap for a manual deisel touran.
Tyre type makes a massive difference to mpg on ours, verdestein sportrac gave about fifty on a run and sixty ish on the motorway, Michelin winter tyres give forty ish.
Try some Eco tyres on it, they won't be any good in the winter but it'd give you a similar mpg I reckon.
Oh and don't forget Saab no longer exist and parts and servicing will become a nightmare in the not too distant future.
[tee hee]
He said 'play date'
[/tee hee]
she wont drive a manual as her first car was a 1969 vw beetle (belonged to her neighbor who bought it new) that she owned in the early 90's and she still thinks manuals are like that ! No amount of persuasion is going to change her mind !