mk3 switching from petrol to diesel

[TomWood]

Selling my 1.6 petrol automatic Focus at end of month as its too bad on fuel and getting either a 1.5tdci or 2.0 but i read you have to keep taking it on trips down motorway to clear dpf or something? how often would i have to do a long run it in as i mostly do short trips and don't live close to a motorway to just keep taking car for a run. Sister just bought a Fiesta 1.6tdci and she's averaging 55mpg and she does mostly short trips with the occasional dual carriageway and to me that MPG is a far improvement from my 27mpg petrol Focus and why i want to switch, i'll most likely get automatic again as im used to driving them now so i wont expect same MPG as her diesel manual but anything above 40 will do me.

[unofix]

40 minutes ago, TomWood said:

i mostly do short trips

Unless you are planning on buying a really old diesel then I would very much advise against buying a modern diesel car for short trips. You will end up with many problems and any savings you might have made with better MPG will be lost in servicing and sorting out failed DPF re-gens.

It's horses for courses I'm afraid. A newer petrol engine (stay away from 1.0 ecoboost) may well give a better MPG, but if you're only doing lots of short journeys that could very well be the reason that you get low MPG from your current car.

[Wino]

It really depends on which diesel variant and which Mk Focus you are looking at.

I've had both the MK3 1.6tdci and Mk4 1.5d ( current car) and have had no issues regarding the regens/dpf but both cars do the regens in a slightly different way.

In the Mk3 it returned 50+mpg around town/ short journeys but needed a run once a month. Had a remap done on it and it returned 60+mpg and had no issues for the 4yrs had it.

The Mk4 however is not as good on fuel. Struggle to get 50mpg around town but comes into it's own on a run 65mpg+. Short journey's arnt an issue at all as the regen is worked differently so no need for a long run/blast down the motorway. A 20/30 minute steady drive around town is enough to keep the regen/dog issues at bay. My current daily commute is 3.2 miles round trip and with the coldish weather it's only returning 42mpg.

[TomWood]

45 minutes ago, unofix said:

Unless you are planning on buying a really old diesel then I would very much advise against buying a modern diesel car for short trips. You will end up with many problems and any savings you might have made with better MPG will be lost in servicing and sorting out failed DPF re-gens.

It's horses for courses I'm afraid. A newer petrol engine (stay away from 1.0 ecoboost) may well give a better MPG, but if you're only doing lots of short journeys that could very well be the reason that you get low MPG from your current car.

I made another thread about my car and its poor fuel economy but to sum it up i own a 2012 1.6 powershift and even on long runs i dont even get above 30mpg...i do a lot of short trips as my work is not even 5 miles away same for shops and everything else and with lockdowns and all the rest there is really no point me going on long trips and if i did it would be forcing myself as there is really no point me going far unless i have to.

50 mile trip mixed with dual carriageways and 50 roads i was getting under 30MPG and short trips i get around 24 mpg or 27 mpg if i barely touch the gas which isn't how you should have to drive a car, granted its powershift and wont get the same MPG as manual but automatic alone cant explain such a crap MPG and why i need to switch to diesel before it bankrupts me, car has full service history and gearbox was checked over by Evans Halshaw and is fine and mechanics there told me thats roughly what these powershift petrol's get and told me to get a diesel.

Anything above 40mpg i'll be happy with but not under 30mpg and i was thinking of getting the 1.5tdci and do a good run in it every few weeks? my parents have always owned diesels and never had any issues with dpfs and they do pretty much short trips too but if getting a diesel will just create issues what would you suggest i do? only other option is the 1.0 ecoboost or scrap the idea of a focus all together and get an automatic Audi or something instead? i just need a car that's automatic but does more than 30mpg.

[unofix]

It is a problem with the very poor selection of engines we now get to choose from. As Wino has said he doesn't have any issues with his 1.5 diesel, even his Start/Stop system works all the time 😉

If you could live with having a little bit of a run every couple of weeks then maybe the 1.5 diesel auto is the way to go. If you budget will stretch far enough, have you considered a hybrid or even all electric ? by the sounds of it the range would not be an issue to you.

[StephenFord]

At 30 mpg, 10,000 miles/year and 1.40/liter, you'll spend £2116/year on petrol (333 gallons). At 40 mpg, you'll spend £1589/year. Saving just over £500/year (250 gallons). At 50mpg, you'll use 200 gallons at £1270.

Before you obsess with the consumption, make sure you compare apples to apples, and that the saving compensates for change of car/servicing etc...

[alexp999]

49 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

At 30 mpg, 10,000 miles/year and 1.40/liter, you'll spend £2116/year on petrol (333 gallons). At 40 mpg, you'll spend £1589/year. Saving just over £500/year (250 gallons). At 50mpg, you'll use 200 gallons at £1270.

Before you obsess with the consumption, make sure you compare apples to apples, and that the saving compensates for change of car/servicing etc...

A lot of people always get hung up on mpg and (pre 2017) tax rates without factoring in the overall cost

[unofix]

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

1.40/liter, you'll spend £2116/year on petrol (333 gallons)

and don't forget that diesel is typically 1.47/litre

[TomWood]

Seems i may end up just ditching a Ford then to be honest, maybe i am a little "hung up" on the MPG but when your not even getting 25mpg half the time its hard not to think about diesel or dropping down engine sizes or changing car completely. I am not expecting amazing fuel economy but i'd expect a car to at least give me 30mpg or what's the point in even running it, suppose i could look into electric vehicles as range isn't really an issue for me but either way i'll be getting rid of this 1.6 petrol at the end of the month for either a diesel or a completely different vehicle.

 

Thanks for your suggestions! 

[alexp999]

I really wouldn't go for diesel if you do short journeys. You'll have the same issues with any manufacturer.

Even an old pre-DPF car will not thank you for short journeys, you can still get blocked injectors where it doesn't get hot enough to burn off the deposits.

Hung up probably wasn't the kindest phrase I could have used. Just make sure you are factoring everything in. MPG isn't everything, particularly if you are low mileage user.

[HomeMechanicCotswolds]

I'm shocked, I've not looked at petrol mpg figures in a very long time having exclusively ran diesel cars for over 20 years now; but 27mpg from a 1.6 engine?!   By eck that's awful !!!  

If you're in the market for a Diesel  you could do a lot worse than a Pug 106 (1527cc) or 206 (1360cc IIRC), if you can find a good 'un; the 206 lump also being used in some Fords, the "DLD" engine.  More than enough 'Go' for most and amazing economy.   Watch out for Head Gasket issues and rot.  

NB: has anybody else noticed how expensive petrol cars are to tax?  I'm sure the topic's come up here...  eg 2005 Fiesta 1.4 Petrol £170, v 2005 Fiesta Diesel £30.   

[TomsFocus]

8 minutes ago, HomeMechanicCotswolds said:

NB: has anybody else noticed how expensive petrol cars are to tax?  I'm sure the topic's come up here...  eg 2005 Fiesta 1.4 Petrol £170, v 2005 Fiesta Diesel £30.   

Between 2001 and 2017 car tax was based on CO2 figures.  Diesels emit far less CO2 than equivalent petrols hence the cheaper tax.

[Mark-UK]

Diesel cars have lost a lot of their allure, my first new diesel was a 2003 Nissan Micra, I was getting 75mpg (110 mpg on one very long run) and at the time diesel was cheaper to buy than petrol and tax was cheaper (over the 17 years I had it the extra purchase price was worth it)

Times have change, fuel is dearer than petrol, tax is the same and my Focus is getting between 50 and 63 mpg (due to furlough and now early retirement, I'm doing nowhere near enough miles)

I would really look at what mpg you can get from more modern petrol cars and look what's out there,  is it important you have a Ford ?

[TomWood]

I have decided on ditching the idea of a diesel as with my current job and everything else its very rare i'll do long trips and if i did get the diesel then the most it will probably see is a dual carriageway and 50mph roads probably a few times a month. Evans Halshaw where i bought my current Focus from is trying to sell me a 1.0 ecoboost automatic but on my previous thread people warned me to stay away from them, are they that bad? my main concern after owning a 1.0 for a first car is acceleration and with a Focus being quite big and heavy does the 1.0 have issues getting up to speed and pulling away? as i mostly do short trips a 1.0 seems to fit what i need but will it be okay for when i actually do come to doing long trips in it and being 1.0 it should do decent MPG and be probably £30 tax?

 

 

[RMurphy195]

I bought my first diesel about 7 years ago, and a couple of months ago - a Skoda Rapid  1.6tdi 90

Did about 12kpa until Covid set in, when it became much lower.

We are retired so no commuting, just days out and local running around. every 3rd or 4th week on a day out I made a point of travelling down the m'way in "Re-GEn" mode i.e what Skoda recommended you do if the DPF light comes on - in that case, about 30 mins at a steady 60 in 4th on the motorway. DPF light never came on while we had the car, bought s/h with 9k miles and sold-on 9within the family) with 75k miles. Or towing the caravan of course really hots things up in the exhaust department!

Since buying the Focus a few months ago, I've been doing something similar based on the handbook recommendations, as preventative maintenance (Page 177 of the manual recommends 30mph or above for 20 minutes, see Online Owners manual.

We live on the outskirts of Birmingham, and don't do much sitting around in traffic as a rule. If I lived in say, central London I might find things a tad difficult avoiding the sort of non-recommended use.

When we bought the Skoda the first thing the salesmen asked was how many miles do you do in a year, rule of thumb was <10k then be aware of the risks. I looked at our projected mileage, and fuel costs based on prices at the time, and the legth of time I anticipated keeping the car (100,000 miles-worth) and compared the fuel savings costs with the potential cost of replacing one DPF. And no, I didn't let Skoda or VW anywhere near the car once dieselgate broke, about 2 weeks after I bought the car!

BTW my 120ecoblue averages about 50-55mpg across a tankful of mixed use (using normal or sport mode), with motorway cruising going up to 65mpg - similar to the Skoda in fact, which could achieve 75-80mpg trunding across the North York Moors on the 50mph roads there! (I did once see 130mpg average but this was on the stretch of downhill road from Whinlatter in the lakes!). I've found the computer is about 1% or so pessimistic on the Focus, it was 5-8% optimistic on the Skoda. So if the Focus trip computer says 65mpg, then it probably is.

Addendum: The Focus does seem to have a bit of turbo lag compared to the Skoda, but once you get used to it its a very nippy peice of kit, lots of flexibility, even picks up speed quite well from 60 in 6th up a m'way gradient, though 5th is better!

[HomeMechanicCotswolds]

Evans Halshaw where i bought my current Focus from is trying to sell me a 1.0 ecoboost automatic but on my previous thread people warned me to stay away from them, are they that bad?

from what I understand, yes!!   But check for yourself by typing 'Ford 1.0 EcoBoost Review' into Google or YouTube

Also, if you're a VERY low mileage driver, consider whether you need a car at all and if the occasional Taxi would actually work out cheaper.  

 

[DaveT70]

The MK3.5 1.5 TDCi is a fantastic car, 50+ MPG all day long.

The Powershift version is even better. More torque than the manual and slightly better on fuel.

Just make sure it has been serviced regularly to correct standards.

Make sure you keep the battery fresh as Powershifts are sensitive to voltage drops, clean paint of all earth points too )come back and ask when you get it and I'll describe)

If you are too worried about performing DPF regens, don't worry too much, you could get a decent OBD connector and Forscan and about every 1500 miles, once you have warmed the car up enough, you can force a standing DPF regen using Forscan (no need to go on a run)

[TomWood]

4 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

The MK3.5 1.5 TDCi is a fantastic car, 50+ MPG all day long.

The Powershift version is even better. More torque than the manual and slightly better on fuel.

Just make sure it has been serviced regularly to correct standards.

Make sure you keep the battery fresh as Powershifts are sensitive to voltage drops, clean paint of all earth points too )come back and ask when you get it and I'll describe)

If you are too worried about performing DPF regens, don't worry too much, you could get a decent OBD connector and Forscan and about every 1500 miles, once you have warmed the car up enough, you can force a standing DPF regen using Forscan (no need to go on a run)

Very useful to know! thank you