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Why are diesel powered cars so popular these days? 1) Diesel stinks. When you fill up, the odour gets on your hands even if you wear gloves, and it stinks when it comes out the back. 2) It's an oil, so if you spill it on your clothes, it's there forever. I suppose you diesel owners wear overalls to fill up. 3) Diesel motors sound like tanks when they start up, and make the neighbours' dogs bark. 4) Just how is diesel cleaner than petrol? Haven't you been near a bus / truck / accelerating diesel car, or doesn't smoke/soot count as pollution these days? 5) Diesel spills on roads are a great way to kill motorcyclists. 6) Diesel isn't cheaper than petrol - it takes almost 50,000 miles for a diesel to become cheaper than the equivalent petrol. As a regular urban pedestrian, cyclist & motorcyclist, I beseech you not to buy one of these monstrosities!

genji:

..1) Diesel stinks. When you fill up, the odour gets on your hands even if you wear gloves, and it stinks when it comes out the back. 2) It's an oil, so if you spill it on your clothes, it's there forever. I suppose you diesel owners wear overalls to fill up. 3) Diesel motors sound like tanks when they start up, and make the neighbours' dogs bark. 4) Just how is diesel cleaner than petrol? Haven't you been near a bus / truck / accelerating diesel car, or doesn't smoke/soot count as pollution these days? 5) Diesel spills on roads are a great way to kill motorcyclists. 6) Diesel isn't cheaper than petrol - it takes almost 50,000 miles for a diesel to become cheaper than the equivalent petrol. As a regular urban pedestrian, cyclist & motorcyclist, I beseech you not to buy one of these monstrosities!

As a diesel car driver I've gotta admit, if I could buy a petrol car with similar kind of fuel consumption, I'd go for the petrol version every time. Despite their progress, diesel engines are still nowhere near as refined and smooth as their petrol equivalents and still have a far narrower power band.

However I believe you are over blowing the case against diesels somewhat. So to answer your points:

1) Diesels do stink a bit when you're filling up, but that's about it. The odour does not get on my hands or clothes and there is no further discernable odour once I leave the petrol station. 2) You suppose incorrectly. You've gotta be pretty careless to get fuel on clothes, but if you do as long as you don't light a match, it really is no big deal. 3) Yes, diesels, although much improved these days, still rattle a bit when starting up, but I've had no complaints from neighbours or their dogs and no barking either. 4) That is a valid question; I believe the jury is still out on that, with both petool and diesel being cleaner in certain areas. 5) Can you provide verified stats to back up this claim? Is diesel is any more dangerous than petrol, engine oil and other chemical fluids in this regard? 6) The cost/value question is open to debate. However, although in the UK diesel is more expensive than petrol and diesel cars are generally dearer than their petrol equivalents, aside from lower fuel consumption, diesel cars do tend to hold their values better. Add the ever decreasing cost of road tax for diesels to the equation and the economic case for diesel begins to stack up.

But to repeat, I'm not defending diesels just for the sake of it, as I still prefer petrol cars for driving pleasure and refinement and I hope petrol engines continue to become more efficient and reverse the losing market share trend. However, currently there is much to be said in favour of diesels, at least for a significant proportion of drivers and the kind journeys they have to take day in day out.

Genji, I think you're on a hiding-to-nothing with this topic. On a certain other forum I frequent, there seems to be nothing that promotes such impassioned debate, which usually denigrates in to simple abuse.  Then again, this place is a lot quieter, but good luck anyway!

For what it's worth I'll still chip in my twopenneth. I drive lots of diesels for work (all sub £20k admittedly) and even as an ardent petrolhead I can see they've improved immeasurably over the last ten years.  If I had to buy a car for pounding the motorways, there's no doubt I'd get a diesel; you can't argue with the more relaxed cruising and increased mpg (most people I'm sure are forced into diesels by this type of mile crunching and/or financial pressure associated with it). But it's around town I find them horrible; sluggish off turbo, ridiculously short first gears and stupidly long second gears, short of revs, clattering and droning.  However, I have driven some cars with 'Sport' buttons, and they have been a revelation; the crisp throttle response and the torquey shove of the finest large petrol engine. They almost convinced me I could live with one, but they still don't rev freely and still sound rubbish...

Thanks for your replies. I was hoping to stir a little more debate on the issue! I was thinking of my own experience with diesel vehicles when typing, however, I'm prepared to concede that diesel cars have come a long way in recent years, and in certain situations, like high-mileage driving, have their uses. That said, around town they are the equivalent of your neighbour lighting a bonfire in their garden - and training a large fan at your back door. In the past few years diesels have sprung out of nowhere - almost nobody drove them 20 years ago despite their 'advantages'. I believe that the popularity of diesels is the result of a fantastic marketing exercise that has convinced Joe Public that an inferior product is actually better. Like VHS and Betamax. Interestingly, here in Japan, nobody drives a diesel car; you can't buy the stuff from most garages. There are some sensible people in this world. :)

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More like trying to start a conversation in graveyard, unless it's about some erosion of liberty.  Perhaps the regulars are too busy reading their 'Mail On Sunday' to comment, or may be the subject is beneath them, and just too tiresome.  Or perhaps they are just too busy trading personal insults.
 
Genje, I'd recommend you get on a dedicated manufacturer forum and make the same post; sure you'll get a response there.  Shme WhatCar? don't have a forum, it'd go down a storm there...

I think part of the reason diesels are so popular in recent times has been the effect of CO2 output on company car use over the past few years (the effect on BIK costs). That, together with (often unjustifiably) comparably higher residuals than their petrol equivalents, has made diesels a default choice for a huge number of company car drivers / car fleets across the UK over the past 6 or 7 years. And company cars/fleets make up a massive proportion of the UK new car parc. However, the other issue is that diesel engines have improved immeasurably over the past few years. A bog standard VW Golf TDi 138 has got a decent amount of poke, is pretty quiet once you get above 15mph and has great overtaking ability. Then you get the 'super diesels' such as the BMW 330d, which have simply tremendous shove. I think high fuel prices, which due to prolonged diesel supply issues in Europe, will lead to an even greater widening of the gap between diesel and petrol pump prices, and increased emphasis on petrol engine technology will swing the market back towards petrols somewhat.

I currently have a passat 1.9tdi company car and it gets about 43mpg. Which sounds fairly rubbish, but when you consider the size of the car PLUS all the gear i carry around it pretty good. It also means that i get about 600 mile between fill ups. Which, when you do as many miles as i do, means less time looking for a garage!

However, my new smart roadster, is in the 35 a year road tax, and even though its been modded, it still returns 50mpg when cruising. Even when i hammer it, it goes down to 45! which is fantastic!

 I think both fuels have their place in life. Depends what your circumstances and needs are. Small cars with diesel engines seem pointless to me as petrol equivalents are cheaper to by and not much less to run. But when you get into bigger cars, which are mainly company cars, the cost factor isnt as much of an issue, and the running costs are loads better than a petrol equivalent.

I've driven a few diesels and they can be fun to drive but they just don't do it for me the same may a petrol engine does. Particularly when it comes to the sound they make - I've yet to hear a good sounding diesel engine. I can see why lots of people like them though - powerful turbo diesel engines can be great on the motorways.

Very few of them have particulate filters as standard so they are not cleaner than petrol - it's only the CO2 based tax system and relative fuel economy that implies that.

I've had a couple of diesel cars and did find them OK. Soon got used to them.

I'm coming to think that in a 'boring' car (like my Focus), a diesel is the best bet. Small petrol engines are lose-lose - slower and less economical. The TDCi was out of my price range when I was buying, the 1.6 does 35mpg which isn't great. My 2.0 turbo petrol Saab did 30! The 1.8 TDCi would give me 15% more power, a shedload more torque and much better fuel consumption.

If you're going to get a petrol-engined car, make it a decently powerful one or don't bother is what I'm thinking.
 

Genji, Firstly Audi and now Peugeot would not spend millions developing large diesels for Le Mans cars if they were a dead duck. Now they wipe the floor with the petrol powered competitors.

Although I would agree diesel does not seem to be the cleanest of fuels, it certainly has benefits in economy, torque and longevity of life over petrols. Agreed a big V8 petrol sounds glorious.

Test something like the 3 series 330d and see how stress free overtaking can be by just having to flex your right foot a little, then look at the rev needle while checking your speed and fuel economy. You can see and feel the benefits at the same time.

not 100% sure i could get over that "minibus clatter" on start up though.  i had a pug 306 diesel a while back and I swear that people were laughing at me for driving something that sounded like a bus.

even BMW diesels, as best in breed, i fear would suffer from this.