Should I buy a diesel or petrol car for my daily city drives

Is there any advantage of having one petrol car along with an existing Diesel car?

BHPian gopalnt recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have a Toyota Innova Crysta diesel, which I use for long drives. I am planning to buy a 5-seater for city drives and I have this love for panoramic sunroofs. So, I am looking at one such car that satisfies the above driving purposes.

Not-withstanding fuel price comparison or car prices (I have learnt to make peace with both of them), question is - whether it would be better to buy a petrol car or get another diesel one? Will there be any long term issues owning only diesel cars? And, is there any advantage of having one petrol car, along with an existing diesel car?

Here's what BHPian Researcher had to say on the matter:

For pure city usage, it is better to go for a petrol than a diesel, as modern diesels require some amount of highway driving once or twice a month for burning off the deposits in the diesel particulate filter. Not all cars have a button for the manual regeneration process and in extended city usage, you may find the filter to be clogged up more frequently as it will not be able to reach the optimum temperature for self-regeneration.

Failure to do so can light up the instrument cluster and a mechanic at Tata Service Centre even told me that BS6 vehicles may not even start without passing the internal emissions check of the vehicle. More sensors, more complications, and a higher chance of failure if not operated as intended. Even the Harrier BS4's manual has a page on maintaining higher rpms for 20 minutes for DPF regeneration. So unless you can manage that, I will suggest you to stick to petrols.

More details regarding this can be found here and here.

Additionally, it depends on the vehicle you're choosing. Marutis and Hondas will have smoother petrols than diesels. Tatas and Mahindras will have slightly better diesels than petrols. You can swing either way with a Toyota, Hyundai, Ford or VW / Skoda. I prefer a heavier vehicle to have a diesel for the extra torque low down, that helps in pulling the weight. For a light and agile vehicle, I will prefer a petrol.

Here's what BHPian self_driven had to say on the matter:

Do not let vehicle fuel-type be your selection criteria.

You can go like this:

• Select a segment you like
• Select a vehicle you like in that segment
• Pick the best one from the engine + transmission combinations available in that vehicle

I see that you have a pretty good budget for this purchase. And almost every modern car these days has a decently enjoyable powertrain option on offer, right from the Magnite to the Korean twins. It's just a matter of finding the right car (w.r.t. comfort, space, etc.) with the desired feature set.

Petrol vs diesel; I don't see any major cause of concern if you can manage to religiously take the car on the highways, once a month, which I'm sure no car enthusiast would mind.

Here's what BHPian SaiSW had to say on the matter:

Depends on what type of cars you're into.

If it's a large SUV like the Harrier or Compass, then definitely diesel. You have mentioned that you are at peace with the fact that a large petrol SUV will give you pathetic FE figures, but there's more to it than that - the tank range will also be pathetic.

If it's just a small car, I would recommend going for a petrol.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.