Suppose you are looking at a new car (brand new).

Would you consider diesel with an AdBlue additive over a Gas model?

Thanks

If you drive a lot, then yes.

Brand new, in Switzerland? No, probably not.

Depends what you'll be using it for, of course, and what sort of thing you're looking at. Yes, a diesel will use slightly less fuel than a similarly powered (important point, that, for any valid comparison) petrol version of the same car, so if you're planning on doing hundreds of thousands of km then it might be worth it, but for shorter journeys in particular that better economy can be marginal.

It's also worth bearing in mind that diesel prices have risen more than petrol over the last couple of decades, as governments have started to discourage them on their not-so-cleanliness. Whether that trend will continue is a guess, but it's not unlikely.

I'm not hugely familiar with the ad-blue thing, I have to say, so don't know how that would affect the equation.

Before considering a diesel, consider this:

https://phys.org/news/2019-02-pollut...ed-diesel.html

...and what reports like that will do to a future trade-in value. I suspect that road taxes could also be affected ...

don't forget that current modern diesels are pretty clean.

see for example this article from ADAC: https://www.focus.de/auto/news/abgas..._10344767.html

the cleanest car in the comparison was actually a diesel (Mercedes C220D)

Environmental politics are not only based on facts but also strongly emotion driven and diesel more and more is becoming the outcast.

If I now would buy a new car that I would hope to drive for let's say 8 years to afterwards sell it for hopefully a fair price I would not buy a diesel.

Years ago I bought a new Diesel (Netherlands) which had all kinds of tax benefits due to being estimated environmental friendly, only a few years later government already slammed me with a road tax of 1200,- Euro's a year and second handed value took a hit that it normally not should have taken. I'm done with diesels.

Thanks for the responses. I am specifically interested in the AdBlue addition - is it really „cleaner“ or just hype.

Also, the car would be a lease, so resale is not as much an issue.

Adblue makes sure that Nox (all/most/a lot dunno tbh) is transformed into water and nitrogen which both are harmless.

And given that it was the temporarily addition of AdBlue that caused a bunch of "filthy" TDI engines to pass the environmental tests I'd say it clearly makes a difference.

Just make sure it's Euro 6d-temp or Euro 6d compliant.

For gas (Benzin), this means it needs an OPF (Otto motor particle filter).
For Diesel, a whole little chemical factory is needed (SCR and other stuff - it's really quite impressive what they've come up with).

6d-temp Diesels are very clean.

But if you only drive very short distances, it's usually not the best engine for that.


How much do you want to spend, how many km do you drive per year, sedan or station wagon or SUV?

Also consider electric - though the selection of cars will be much better in two or three years.

Thanks. Not ready for electric.
Probably 15k km/year, car would be a smallish suv. My big concern is that many trips are less than 50km, and a lot are around 10 km, so I wonder that Benzin could be a better choice. Looking at cars around chf 50k.

On very small distances, Hybrid is actually useful. Especially as the batteries are getting slightly bigger and you can do 10-40km (50 on paper) purely electric.

Though, beyond Toyota you will have to wait for next year to get a much better selection.
The RAV4 Hybrid seems to get good reviews.

Personally, with 50k, I'd look into Skoda Karoq, Seat Ateca or so.
2.0 TSI.

I'm not a big fan of SUVs, more into station wagons. But station wagons are on the way out.
It's a European and especially a German thing, the rest of the world (and China foremost doesn't care enough to warrant production, that's why there are no electric station wagons.
These days, what doesn't sell in China or in Asian markets is doomed as a product.

I would never buy a new car.

Tom

Technically, she doesn't want to buy either but lease it...


I, too, would rather try to find a recent used one (1-2 years old) because the deprecation on new cars is so huge.

The outliers are, again, electric cars. There are few or no rebates, availability is often constrained (at least those that are worth having).

BTW: for a bit over 50k, Tesla has a few Model 3 in stock:

https://www.tesla.com/de_CH/inventory/new/m3

If I was in the market right now, I'd definitely check those out.

CNG

I thought that about twenty years ago, when I had a Volvo V70XC, but in fact they underwent something of a resurgence in the late 2000s, when a good estate version of just about every large saloon was available and seeming to sell quite well. Personally I could never understand why anyone would go for a saloon version when there was an estate available.

Even Jaguar brought out an estate, FFS. Sacrilege on so many fronts, not least that it was little more than a rebadged Ford Mondeo and that it was front wheel drive (apart from the 4wd version). Oh, and it was also available in a diesel.

But now? I don't really keep up with the latest trends, but the SUVs do seem to be the tool of choice for many people, most of whom would probably be better, objectively, with a big estate. It's a fashion thing, of course, so things may swing the other way again.

I still have an estate (Passat R36) as well as a proper Station Wagon (using the traditional UK meaning) in the form of a LR Defender. Oh, and the wife's convertible, of course... but saloon/sedan, or indeed the many SUVs that are glorified MPVs? Nah, I can't see the point.

I have a small SUV, Audi Q2 2.0tdi Quattro with 190bhp. I went for diesel as it was a mix of good fuel economy and performance. It does around 55-60mpg and fuel where i travel for holidays (Spain & Portugal) it is around 15cents cheaper per litre. I even travel to Austria to fill up where it is 1.19e per litre compared to petrol that is about 5cents more.

A few things you should consider is that petrol engines and not just diesel engines were affected by the recent emissions scandal but only diesel was in the spotlight. All the congestion charges that are coming in apply to older generation petrol and diesel engines so whatever you chose will be fine for quite some time, but like the advice given already, make sure it is EU6B and up. The new generation diesel engines are very clean. Petrol engines are now being fitted with particulate filters too so if anyone comes along with an argument against this aspect then remember that it will affect both engine types. Im not a mechanic but i think im right in saying that petrol engines get hot quicker than diesel so the particulate filter will not be so affected by short distances like the diesel engine.

It really depends what kind of driver you are and what you need your car for. An SUV is probably better with a diesel engine unless you want a performance version. I chop and change cars a lot and i always decide on whats best for me and the type of car i have.

Was going to get a new diesel but then read all about the hassles of Adblue...

If you run out of fluid car will not start.. (but of course you`ll never run out, just like AWS and Google cloud are 100% redundant...)

Find out the capacity of the Adblue tank and see how many KM`s you can get from 1 tank.. Hint: subtract 25% from what dealers says about range...

It warns you before you run out.


Just like it warns you before you run out of gas/diesel.

It sure does but only if theres no bug in the software... look it up..

At the end its a personal choice...

i`ve had Turbo diesels for over 15 years and love them but if they need Adblue I`ll pass this time..