Implications of buying a diesel car in 2024?

HarveyMushman

Bit off topic but I know there’s some knowledgable folks here on cars.

I’m looking to buy a ‘new’ car and looking at an X3 from around 2020. We don’t do lots of annual miles total but regularly do a 600 mile round trip to see family.

The 2.0d engine variant seems a lot easier to find but I haven’t owned a diesel in over 15 years so I’m out of touch. I’m not interested in performance (I have motorbikes for that…) so I just want a comfortable, spacious car for the long journeys.

We don’t live in London (or a low emissions zone) but is it a bad idea to buy a diesel at this point?

What considerations should I factor in?

JimmyP

HarveyMushman Don’t do it. BMW build quality is awful these days and parts are very expensive. Also a seriously uncool SUV!

Dusk

If you mostly do shorter journeys then petrol is probably best. Obviously you need to factor in the cost of diesel Vs petrol and likely higher repair costs of DPF’s and dual mass flywheels that diesels typically have. You can get some very frugal petrol engines now so I don’t think the MPG difference is quite as clear cut as it used to be with diesels.

HarveyMushman

Thanks. We have a 2L petrol currently and yes it’s quite economical.

As far as I can see the only 2L petrol equivalent on the X3 is a hybrid which I really don’t want. There’s a 3.0L petrol and a 4.0L but obviously they’re fairly thirsty I think.

I might look into how the mpg compares with the 2L diesel and 3L petrol.

What’s a DPF?

Dusk

Diesel particulate filter, they filter out the extra nasties that diesels emit and then burn them off in a slightly more environmentally friendly way. Depending on how you drive, DPF’s can effectively clog and stop working properly and will either need cleaning or replacing which isn’t very cheap. If you do occasional longer journeys then you might not have such issues.

Elcarajillo

With some diesels you have to use an additive ADDBLUE or similar=additional expense?
I would also agree with@Dusk’s comments on parts / servicing costs. =. not cheap items

HarveyMushman

I’m wondering more about legislations and phasing out etc. Whether we’d get to the point diesels aren’t allowed to drive in certain areas etc.

Ideally I’d like to keep the car for 5+ years so want to make sure there’s a level of future proofing.

Cuprajake

BMW make sure you have a good warranty is all ill say 😂

HarveyMushman

Cuprajake BMW make sure you have a good warranty is all ill say

Really? I’ve had two for the past 7 years and zero probs. Got a mate with a 3 series estate on 150k miles and he’s not had trouble either.

I always thought they were one of the more reliable manufacturers.

HarveyMushman

@Cuprajake you’ve got me having second thoughts now. Are they that bad? It has a years warranty but beyond that it’s a ‘third party’ warranty option which always concerns me.

Cuprajake

dpf £1800, injectors 200 each lol

id say they are expensive to fix, but these days every car is

if you dont need a diesel i wouldnt get one

dont know your budget but a customer got a brand new mg zs for 23k 7yr warranty same as kia, who i also rate

DavecUK

I would never, ever, buy another BMW.

JimmyP

DavecUK My trustworthy local garage/mechanics hate them.

HarveyMushman

Quite surprised to hear so many negative experiences with BMW. As above, I’ve had no problems with the two I’ve owned in the past few years. One was brand new and one a few years old. In fact the most I’ve had to do is new brake discs and pads on the one I got in 2020. I had one in 2012/13 too which was great.

The parts/servicing is expensive but reliability has been great for me.

I was more hoping to get info on diesels in general as I was wondering if anyone knew of additional fees or upcoming tax rises or anything but I guess I’ll have to have a Google.

DavecUK

HarveyMushman Quite surprised to hear so many negative experiences with BMW. A

There are always those who have not had any problems yet.. but the problem with a modern BMW is

labour rates £150 +VAT per hour, this was 3 years ago.
parts 3 times the cost of other cars
poor parts availability
built in failure, too clever by half, unnecessarily so

Here’s another thing which bugs me immensely and I believe needs a law change to actually improve the situation for the consumer. Courtesy cars…In the first 3 years of a cars life, they should be obliged by law to provide a courtesy car, if one is not available, then they should hire you a car. You might think this is harsh, but as an EV owner, as more of us will eventually be, trust me, this law change needs to be made.

disposable vehicle after about 10 years when things go wrong with all the clever stuff, fix so expensive you will scrap the car.

Cuprajake

Not sure on the future, don’t think the powers that be know

I have just got a 1.6hdi DS3 like a go kart free tax and is doing 45mpg round town, cheap and cheerful

I didn’t choose diesel but it was a gift. Very lucky

HarveyMushman

DavecUK

Fair points. I guess I’m somewhat desensitised to ludicrous maintenance costs from riding Harleys for years where parts are equally pricey and unavailable. With that I also have to factor in a trek to the nearest dealer, I got mine from Guildford which is over an hour away.

Made worse by many garages refusing to work on belt-driven SAE (imperial) bikes or having lifts low enough to cater for the silly lack of ground clearance.

I fully agree with the courtesy car thing though, especially as many dealerships are out of town and even getting there/back isn’t always easy.

I did consider an EV, and have enjoyed my experience driving a rented one recently but my in-laws who we visit regularly live in the furthest darkest reaches of the south west where the charging network is less than ideal.

Probably for the next car though.

JimmyP

Why not buy an older car? There’s plenty of very capable and fun machines out there that can be reliable and cheap to run.
I’m running two cars at the moment (sensible/sports) with a combined age of 41 years. Both cost very little to buy 😎👍

HarveyMushman

I definitely prefer older motorbikes, haven’t quite had a 40 year old one but 30 years. As above, motorbikes are the vehicles I have my fun with.

Cars though, for the regular 600 mile trip I just prefer a bit of comfort and luxury. Big comfy seats, quiet cabin, good stereo system etc.

Not necessarily set on the X3, just wanted to ask about diesels in general!

Dusk

More modern diesels(roughly last 20 years) have traditionally had more that can go wrong than petrol but modern cars have so much tech that repairs are always going to be quite expensive so buying something reliable is always a good place to start.

There’s plenty online about general reliability of certain brands but even specific engines can make a massive difference within the same model. It’s almost best to narrow down what you like the look of then do some more detailed research on owner forums etc.

DavecUK

Dusk This is all part of creating the disposable car, effectively not worth repairing at 10 years old.