Mechanic advising me to buy a petrol.

[FamilyTruckster]

Hi all, I’m luckily buying my new rig within the next 2 months, and while the wife’s car is in for a service I decided to ask my local mechanic that age old question - petrol or diesel? I drive no more than 15,000 kms a year (50 kms a day to and from work. Half highway, half city), and will go camping only a couple of times a year (no more than 100-200 kms from home), and some light off roading a couple of times a year. I currently drive a 2003 Holden Crewman, so highish fuel usage is something that I’m used to. Their main concern was if something goes wrong with a diesel then it will be pretty expensive to fix. The wife drives a Holden Captiva. Great car, but when the odd issue pops up it’s a bit dearer than fixing a petrol. But if I buy a diesel, what if nothing goes wrong with it? I’m not worried about the power and torque difference between the two, because like I said, I currently drive a Crewman, and I’m happy with what it does. Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers.

[Joe98]

You said you are not interested in the higher torque of diesel, so there is really no reason to get one.

Two of my friends had diesel in their Subaru Forestor and another friend had a diesel in a (I think Ford something). In all cases at about the 4 year mark the diesel partical filters failed and they are expensive to fix so they all switched back to petrol vehicles.

[FamilyTruckster]

Originally Posted by Joe98

You said you are not interested in the higher torque of diesel, so there is really no reason to get one.

Two of my friends had diesel in their Subaru Forestor and another friend had a diesel in a (I think Ford something). In all cases at about the 4 year mark the diesel partical filters failed and they are expensive to fix so they all switched back to petrol vehicles.

Yep, wife’s Captiva’s DPF failed at 6 years. No coolant left in it and she kept driving. Oh my god. Ended up stuffing the head as well. $8,000 later it’s back to normal. It’s little things like this that make me think maybe a petrol is better. But as it’s my rig I always check the temp gauge, so this shouldn’t happen to me (fingers crossed). I have noticed though if a get a petrol that there are a couple of Overlands in my price range.

[SouthernComfort]

The WK2 diesel is a robust and reliable engine, but like all diesels it needs to be used for decent journeys - a shopping cart it is not - that's where most diesels come unstuck with DPF issues.
.
IMO the diesel is no more troublesome than a petrol. Most of the 'expensive' servicing/maintenance relates to the 4WD drive train, but I agree that petrol would be fine for your needs. On purchase price you'd save a lot of $$ on a 2WD petrol vs. 4WD diesel. There have been common cyl head woes on the 3.6 petrol, not sure if problem still exists on current models.

Just my thoughts.

[spoondog]

I do love the power and torque of the new diesels but I went back to petrol for the reasons your mechanic mentioned. I think these days there is too much crap on the diesels to go wrong and you only need to get one tank of dodgey fuel to cause all kinds of expensive havoc.
The servicing of the petrols is also slightly cheaper so your never really going to see your money back in fuel savings on a diesel, unless you do very high km's per year.
I have also spoken to my mechanic about petrol vs. diesel and although he drives a diesel, he said he won't keep one for more than 5 years due the cost of parts if something goes wrong.

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[FamilyTruckster]

Originally Posted by spoondog

I do love the power and torque of the new diesels but I went back to petrol for the reasons your mechanic mentioned. I think these days there is too much crap on the diesels to go wrong and you only need to get one tank of dodgey fuel to cause all kinds of expensive havoc.
The servicing of the petrols is also slightly cheaper so your never really going to see your money back in fuel savings on a diesel, unless you do very high km's per year.
I have also spoken to my mechanic about petrol vs. diesel and although he drives a diesel, he said he won't keep one for more than 5 years due the cost of parts if something goes wrong.

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Same with my mechanic. Have diesels, but get rid of them after 4 years. They are saying too expensive as well. What fuel figures are you getting with petrol?

[spoondog]

I have a 3.6 JK now which I have had for almost 4.5 years and done 150000km. When I got it I was getting about 10.5l per 100km on the highway and about12.5 to 13 around town. Added a lift, bullbar, rear bar and 33's and that jumped to 12.5 to 13 on the highway and about 14 to 14.5 around town.
So it does love a drink but I figure with the cheaper initial purchase price, cheaper servicing and cheaper fuel prices there's not too much in difference anyway.
I haven't had any issues with the 3.6, mine is a six speed manual so it can feel a bit sluggish in top gear on the highway but it does love to rev and it does get up and go pretty well when you do rev it.
If you're looking at a Grand Cherokee I'm sure the fuel economy would be quite a bit better and with the auto it would be a lot more relaxed at cruising speed.

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