This is the most asked question on our Celbridge forecourt at AOR Motors in 2019. And the short answer is: “It depends…”
Assuming the car you plan on buying ticks all the other boxes, and you do more than 12000 kms per annum, then yes – you can buy that Diesel. It will offer super MPG (unrivalled in motorway or rural driving), and it will have very low annual motor tax and insurance costs. It’ll drive nicely, with a grunt and solid, proper-car feel. If you commute from say Celbridge, Leixlip, Maynooth or Lucan, to Dublin City, Naas or Meath, then it’s still a no-brainer to drive a second hand diesel car.
The cons to diesel:
Not as good for the planet as the Green Party and certain German car manufacturers told us initially.
Unfair to buy a diesel car and then to use it on short hops. Every 10 days or so a modern post-2010 diesel car needs a continuous 15 minute drive at 2000 RPM or more. This heats up the DPF (diesel particulate filter) in the exhaust, so that it can blow ash and soot buildup out. Otherwise the DPF gets clogged over time, and that’s an expensive fix …
An Taoiseach wants all cars electric by 2030 so taxes could and will go up in the 2020’s. But so will petrol we reckon. After all, they’re both fossilized fuels…
The pros to diesel:
Do you trust the infrastructure for electric cars yet?
Diesels can often be manual, so the driver is in control. Hybrid and Electrics are Automatics. And while we are huge fans at AOR Motors of progress in cars, we still like driving our cars the way we learned to do it…!
Re-sale wise, any used car you buy today will be worth next to nothing in 2029 anyway (at least that’s how we see it!!!). So, if you like the car, and you like the drive, and you can get out on a motorway once every 10 days to let the Diesel Particulate Filter do its stuff – Then go and be happy in your diesel self, you won’t regret it.
Thanks for Reading
Aongus
