Is it a bad idea to buy a diesel car? I'm looking to get a big boring family car, most likely a Citroen Picasso, and the overwhelming majority of them are diesels. I know the government announced plans to ban the sale of diesel and electric cars from 2040, with the aim that there are no petrol or diesel cars on the road by 2050, and that diesel cars have been having a lot of bad press recently but I'm wary of getting carried away and it still seems a long way away so I'm on the fence.
>>3945 I recently bought a diesel car (one of those VW ones that cheats the emissions test, too). They're still fine. Mine is a VW BlueMotion so does about a million miles to the gallon and is noticeably cheaper to run. I plan to keep it ten years.
I bought a petrol thinking the same thing, but I do regret it now, at least in terms of fuel costs. My mates diesel Golf does about 60 mpg and it's not depressing to drive. I wouldn't worry about what might happen in the future.
Recently bought a diesel van, as it's what I want/need now, and may be useful if there's a scrappage scheme at some point.
I think that the 'no ICE from 2040' is merely 'everything new must be at least hybrid', rather than 'everything must be electric'. I'd be surprised if that date isn't comfortably beaten, as a feeble hybrid system is pretty cheap and pretty useful in gaming MPG numbers (and sometimes may even be useful)
Over the lifespan of a second-hand Picasso, the only thing you've really got to worry about is road tax and fuel duty. There's a possibility that tax hikes could be used to push diesel drivers towards petrol cars. It's unlikely to be totally punitive, but you might find that your cost of ownership goes up, with a commensurate increase in depreciation. I certainly wouldn't buy a brand new diesel, but a five-year-old one would probably be a reasonably sensible purchase.
Zero-emissions zones will make plug-in hybrids a much more attractive option. Dozens of European cities plan on either banning internal combustion completely in the city centre, or introducing a punitive congestion charge. Manufacturers are planning for this with a selective hybrid system, allowing drivers to enter and leave the ZEZ in pure electric mode. Once you've fitted the essential gubbins of a hybrid system, it isn't that much more expensive to add a charging socket and bump the range up to 30 or 40 miles. That kind of range will allow a majority of drivers to make the majority of their journeys on electric power alone.