I don’t look to the ‘official’ industry line when it comes to concerns about the used car market. Instead, I look to you.
And what I’m seeing in a lot of recent emails is one burning question: ‘do I go for petrol or diesel?’
It would help if we had a clear answer on what’s happening with the fuel tax system. But we don’t. So, in the meantime, I suggest that if you are likely to keep the mileage fairly modest – say, about 10,000 a year – petrol is going to be your best bet.
Right now, there are four cars on my driveway. There’s also one of slightly advancing years in the garage – and they’re all petrol-powered. I simply don’t have a good enough reason to drive a diesel and, unless circumstances dictate, nor do you.
Sure, 85mpg is impressive diesel economy but you need to spend serious money on something new and state-of-the art to get that kind of return. Used cars are not always dirt cheap, of course, but they do cancel out depreciation, the heaviest motoring cost of all.
The next highest cost – unless there’s a large-scale mechanical breakdown – is fuel. Which takes us back to the original point about mpg and the related appeal of diesel. It’s not that simple, though. Even if you get lucky with a high-mileage model, potential repair bills for particulate filters, dual-mass flywheel clutches, injectors and turbos can be frightening.
Our reader was on the market for a reliable and practical family car to cover a consistent few thousand miles each year. His budget put him in the market for relatively recent models with around 100,000 miles on the clock.
His shortlist already featured a Vauxhall Insignia and a Honda Accord. Playing safe, I suggested adding a Ford Mondeo and Toyota Avensis. With a £5,000 budget – which is about right for a decent, petrol-powered used model – the choices are a 40,000-mile 2009 Insignia 1.8 16V SE, a 2008 Accord 2.0i EX with 69k, a 2008 Mondeo 2.0 Zetec with 60k and a 74,000-mile 2009 Avensis 1.8 V-Matic TR.
The good news with the Avensis is that £5k gets the latest shape. The Mondeo is always great value. And the Insignia stands out for excellent overall value. In the end, however, our reader went with an Accord – to me, the most sensible decision.
It is, without doubt, a classy car. More important than that, though, it’s unlikely to hit the owner with any out-of-the-blue disasters. The same can be said for the others, in fact. Why? Because they are almost completely run-in petrols.
