Should I buy a petrol or a diesel?

I am soon to order a new car and am debating whether to have diesel or petrol. My driving pattern is changing as I am spending time between Italy and the UK. The problem is that when in Italy, I will be doing a lot of low mileage, low-temperature journeys and will not be undertaking "regular" long journeys. You have said before that a DPF might last 80K miles, so should I be "safe" for my initial 4-year contract? If I were to think of this as a long term purchase, would I be better off choosing petrol as in the long term I would avoid such problems (ignoring fuel costs etc)?

Asked on 11 March 2019 by Ken Brown

Answered by Andrew Brady

DPFs need to be regenerated regularly by driving at high speed for a prolonged period. Just how long, how fast and how regularly this is required will depend on the individual car but, for example, you might have to drive at 20 minutes at a constant 65mph every 300 miles or so. If you don't drive on the motorway this regularly, you might experience issues. In this case, you'd be better buying a petrol.

Tags: diesel particulate filter dpf petrol or diesel? new cars buying advice

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