The first and only brand spanking car I bought was a diesel when the prices of diesel were considerably lower than petrol and blow me down, not 6 months after buying it, the price of diesel went higher than petrol and kept climbing never to go back ever again… just call me lucky.
Seriously though, I carried on with diesels and my last ICE car was a 2.2ltr Honda Civic which we had for 11 years, and it cost us not a bean apart from brake pads, tyres, wiper blades, the odd bulb and MOTS. Reliable, economic, engine built like a tank (no rubber fan belt to replace) and did not have even a whiff of exhaust smoke after over 150k miles. We loved it.
But, then we decided on the EV route (leasing not buying) and could not be more happy with our e-Niro 64w. Advertised as a 280-mile range in the summer, we have been getting 309 and in the winter down to about 260. We have done long journeys like from North Yorkshire to Folkestone and had no problems with charging. I would say in the three and a half years we have had it, I have found the charging infrastructure to have improved massively and only once in that time have I had to reroute to another (which was nearby) when one was not working. But I will say one thing, if you can, have a home charger. We are with Octopus, and home charging has saved us literally hundreds of pounds.
No, EVs are not for everyone and I would never try and convince anyone to get one, but for us, it is perfect, and I cannot ever see myself going back to an ICE car.
Oh, and on the BMW discussion. My brother-in-law drove Honda’s and then one year decided he would go for a BMW. He got rid within 18 months because servicing was extortionate, parts were extortionate, build quality (seats in particular which started to wear) was rubbish, and it did not offer anywhere near the extras as standard as the Honda did you had to pay lots more for them. He went back to a top of the range Honda and never had a days’ problem, either mechanically or cost wise.
Over the years, I have had four Jap wagons, Datsun, Toyota and 2 Honda, two Fords (Mk I and II Cortinas), Two British (Wolsley Hornet and Morris Marina - I know I was young and did noy have a pot to pee in, so don’t judge), one Swedish (Saab) and now one South Korean and I have to say, the Japanese, Swedish and South Korean cars have been by far the most reliable and feature rich (for their time) or should I say best bang for my buck.
German Vorsprung Durch Technik?…. 日本のエンジニアリング、信頼性、コストパフォーマンス for me.