Diesel or petrol that is the question

[mhinton]

My wife has a 1.9cdti 150 chipped to go a wee bit faster but I am now looking for a replacement Vectra or Zafira for myself (need more space) I have just returned a 1.9.cdti 120 08 plate with 26k on the clock to the local car market after 48 hours as Arnold Clarke put it throught with a f***ed turbo and 2 dud injectors. The diesels are nippy but in the long run doing mainly school and local runs which works out more cost effective over say 3 to 5 years??

Pro's for Diesel
Faster, more economic, longer engine life??

Con's
DMF will go £1000 to repair
Turbo may go £1000 ish to repair
EGR will go and soot manifold (not sure of cost)
Belt change not cheap but only done at 100k according to VX (no way!)

Pro's for petrol
Cheaper fuel
NO DMF
No turbo
Tiny EGR east to service
Belt change much cheaper
£2- £3K cheaper than an equivalnet aged diesel

Con's for petrol
lower power no torque
noisy at motorway speeds
Engine probably won't last as long??

Any comments would be apprecieted as I have no experience of either the new 1.7cdti or the newer 07 on petrol range

Thank you in advance

[mattv6diesel]

Working on the cars i am petrol bias. If you aren't doing over 13k miles a year diesel usn't worth it but insignia is a big car so would go for a turbo of some sort. Or wait to see what the bi-turbo diesel is like

[armoured farmer]

sorry im talkin vectra, you r goin to get a thousand replies, but its down to personal choice mate, i had a 3.0 v6 cdti diesel and it was superb, ****** fantastic in fact, but now im drivin a 57 2.2i direct sri and i love it but wish id bought a newer 3.0 v6....
things go wrong on all cars, its pot luck, however as long as its looked after and serviced regularly its either...

micky

[armoured farmer]

double posting again...

[barney490]

Mainly short round town runs, petrol. Plenty of fast A roads or motorway runs, diesel. It's all down to striking a balance on what kind of motoring you do on the whole.
I have a CDTI 120, it's an 06, 114k and is on it's original turbo and DMF, so as with any car, it's really down to service regime, driving style and ultimately some luck as to how long components will last.

[rich r]

Don't forget about LPG

OK - as far as factory fitted LPG, it's only on the 1.8, which isn't the most thrilling engine in the Vectra C range. But if you're doing more than 15,000 miles a year, and you're concerned about running costs the choice is between diesel and LPG, petrol doesn't really feature in the current economic climate.

In terms of servicing costs it's no different to a non-LPG 1.8. Just needs a filter change and pressure check every 80,000 miles or so (ie about £40). No DPF to worry about either.

LPG is currently about 67p a litre, and you'll get around 350-400 miles to a £30 tank of fuel. That's equivalent to around 75-80mpg on petrol. Also you get cheaper tax - £155 for a year. Plus you've still got your petrol tank, and the 1.8 will do over 50mpg.

However if you want something more nippy - forget about the Dual Fuel Vectra, but it's worth considering aftermarket LPG converted Vectras. I drove a very nice 2.0 turbo estate last year, on LPG.

[Penfold101]

Plus you've still got your petrol tank, and the 1.8 will do over 50mpg

[LeeU]

If you are only doing short runs if you go diesel try to get one without a DPF, town driving produces alot of smoke and this causes the DPF to regen more.
I've only ever had diesel Vectras, the 1.9 120 is good, my first 2 company cars were the 120's, I abused them on a daily basis and the worst issues I ever had was one EGR and the CIM issue on the second car.
They return a very good MPG and can move if required, ok they don't have the power the 150s have and definately aren't as good as the 3.0 but would have one again.
The 150s, providing the usual issues have been resovled then it should be ok, again go for a non DPF version.
Take out a good warranty and hope you never have to use it.

[rich r]

I've had 52mpg on petrol, about 40mpg on LPG. But LPG is half the price of petrol, so I very rarely use petrol. Just keep about a third of a tank in case I get stuck somewhere with no LPG filling stations. It's only a flick of a switch on the dash to change over.

[keith1983]

I've had 52mpg on petrol, about 40mpg on LPG. But LPG is half the price of petrol, so I very rarely use petrol. Just keep about a third of a tank in case I get stuck somewhere with no LPG filling stations. It's only a flick of a switch on the dash to change over.

Does the LPG tank take up a good chunk of the boot?