Wheelerdealer1 91 Posted January 25, 2015 I'm guessing this may hit residuals............... The Great Car Con Channel 4 26 Jan @ 2000hrs ''Diesel, once touted as the green fuel of the future, may not be as cheap or as clean as we thought. Dispatches looks at plans to charge those who drive diesel cars in polluted cities and asks why politicians encouraged the 'dash for diesel'." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James Baggott 227 Posted January 25, 2015 It wasn't just politicians. The media was just as to blame. Consumer mags banged on about diesels being the preferred choice for years! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Edmonds 28 Posted January 27, 2015 In reality though, diesel was the better choice at the time. If you had to drive a 2006 Mondeo and had the choice of the 2.0 TDCi or the 1.8 or 2.0 Duratec petrol when new I bet most drivers would prefer the diesel irrespective of the fuel economy. Now that petrol technology has caught up in terms of torque and driveability it's a more even fight, but at the end of the day company car tax is still CO2 based and favours diesels, so they're far from dead yet. The fact VW isn't going to import a petrol Passat and you can only buy the new Discovery Sport in the UK with a diesel engine shows (you can order them here with the 2.0T 240ps Ford EcoBoost engine) the manufacturers don't think there's a wholesale switch any time soon. Is there a new car today which isn't a con? Diesels are causing huge public health problems in spite of being sold as the eco-friendly choice, downsized turbo petrols can't get anywhere near their published economy numbers in the real world, the Euro 6 Fiat 500 1.2 is tuned in a way that means it can't pull away on a hill... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin@Rousdon 137 Posted January 27, 2015 And in 15 years time there will be a issue with the bi-products of what petrol cars produce. Amazingly the politicians answer is to increase the tax on these vehicles, which in no way reduces the problem as no right minded person is going to scrap a 4 years old BMW 320D or a Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi. What increasing the tax does do it help bring in more money which used to be dressed up as a 'green' issue but is now going to be dressed up as a 'public health' issue. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Edmonds 28 Posted January 27, 2015 It might mean they get scrapped slightly sooner, but with most modern common rail diesel cars the size of repair bills they manage to generate once they reach 10 years old and about 150k miles is enough to see them off anyway. The CO2 based road tax has been so 'effective' at getting manufacturers to build low CO2 cars, and drivers to buy them, that the annual revenue from RFL has fallen drastically. In 2001 there were a handful of diesel city cars which qualified for the sub-120g £30 tax band (VW Lupo SDi did, Peugeot 106 1.5D didn't) but now the best selling BMW 5 series is £30 to tax, and you can buy a regular petrol Fiesta (not even an eco-special model) which qualifies for zero RFL. I'm sure this will have an impact on government taxation policy going forward, the problem is that motoring taxes are now considered pretty toxic so most politicians will shy away from them where possible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wheelerdealer1 91 Posted January 27, 2015 I'm guessing the next big con will be these ancient hybrid cars with massive battery and tech that know one will know what to do with them when they are shed money Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Edmonds 28 Posted January 27, 2015 Yup, I still can't believe that an interstellar mileage ex-minicab 7-10 year old Prius retails at over £3k - the battery must be down to well under 50% of its original capacity and there are so few places which know how to fix them that they must be due to take a big bath soon. For the same money you can have a nice petrol Auris with less than half the miles, and I know where my money would go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie Edmonds 28 Posted January 27, 2015 But where are all the mk1 Priuses (Priii?) There are three on Autotrader at sub-£1k, are the rest all languishing on suburban driveways with terminal faults? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wheelerdealer1 91 Posted January 27, 2015 A lot are getting exported Jamie, hence why the price has held, they are seen as prestigious in some countries so even having an old prius is still a status symbol in those countries Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin@Rousdon 137 Posted January 28, 2015 I can't remember the figure that the Government is losing in RFL income due to people buying cars with lower Road Tax, something like £200 million a year springs to mind (it maybe more or less). Now with the price of oil failing I expect the motorist to get hit with some extra fuel duty in the next few months. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wheelerdealer1 91 Posted January 28, 2015 Naturally Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wheelerdealer1 91 Posted January 28, 2015 Naturally Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wheelerdealer1 91 Posted January 28, 2015 Naturally Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wheelerdealer1 91 Posted January 28, 2015 Naturally Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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