Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage

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Tue 14 Feb 2017 11:04
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - crofty

Hello
My annual mileage is low (6000) but my trips are usually in excess of 50 miles as they are just for leisure activities. I am about to buy a new car and the deals on the car I want are mostly diesel. Citroen Picasso/Berlingo. Taking into account the lifetime savings on low VED (before March)and the fact long trips would be better for the DPF and better mpg would diesel still be the best choice.
Regards
Crofty

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Tue 14 Feb 2017 11:48
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - RobJP

Well, going from the RealMPG section of this site, today's fuel prices from petrolprices website, and your 6k miles per annum.

A 1.2 puretech petrol will average 39mpg. That's 154 gallons of fuel, todays price is 120ppl (5.45 per gallon) = £839 on fuel per annum.

The 1.6 blue HDi 120 diesel will average 51mpg. 118 gallons of fuel, current cost 122ppl (5.54 per gallon) = £654 on fuel per annum

So the diesel would cost £185 per annum less in fuel. Or roughly a saving of £550 over 3 years

No idea if the diesel car needs Adblue, extra cost if it does. A single EGR failure or if the DPF starts to get clogged, and all those savings vanish.

In addition, the diesel car costs roughly £1k more than the equivalent petrol car.

If the legislation continues to move the way it is (against diesel) then you may well find in a few years that the car is unsellable to a considerable part of city dwellers, if a diesel. So diesels won't hold their value so much.

All told, for your annual mileage, I'd go petrol. Keep it simple, less likely to be clobbered by future legislation and pollution taxes.

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Tue 14 Feb 2017 13:29
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - SLO76
The 1600 HDi has a terrible reputation for problems and is punished accordingly by the trade come resale time. If you must have a Citroen these days then petrol is the only real choice for longterm reliability. The 3cyl 1.2 puretech is a nice engine with enough go and a pleasant offbeat thrum to it when extended which suits the laid back quirky nature of the Berlingo well and it's lighter weight makes for a better handling and ride ballance.

Your low mileage makes diesel uneconomic and the fact that the petrol engine is a more pleasant thing to drive along with its superior reputation for reliability makes petrol a no brainer in this case assuming you can get a decent deal on one. Shop around online before approaching dealers to see if they'll match the best deal you've found.

Edited by SLO76 on 14/02/2017 at 13:31

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Tue 14 Feb 2017 16:40
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - RichardW

A new diesel one will be the much better DV6C....

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Tue 14 Feb 2017 17:22
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - SLO76

A new diesel one will be the much better DV6C....

The very same 8v unit as my neighbor had in his 2012 Berlingo before it died at less than 80k and despite a full service history. Improved over the 16v it may be but plenty of tales of woe still exist on the later engine... avoid.
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Tue 14 Feb 2017 18:29
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - crofty

Thanks for the comments, you have confirmed the fears I have for a few years down the road. i will have a look at the petrol models available.

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Wed 15 Feb 2017 23:28
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - daveyK_UK
The 1.2 pure tech petrol engine in the Berlingo is brilliant, completely transforms how the car handles and drives, a real peach of an engine.

Arnold Clark and a few Citroen dealers had 66 plates pre registered end of November and end of December puretech petrol Berlingo

Also check out the Peugeot Partner Tepee which is identical to the Citroen Beringo Multispace and also comes with the 1.2 puretech petrol engine.

The 1.6 diesel has a bad reputation but it's only fair to point out Peugeot/Citroen have improved it over the years; while it's still not 'reliable' , they have improved its longevity of the engine before it starts causing issues.

Of the earlier builds of the engine, the lower powered versions of the 1.6 diesel appeared to go longer before picking up issues.
I Read a report that the modifications from 2016 have improved the 1.6 diesel again, but it's to soon to say and the reputation of the engine as unreliable once 4 years old / 70000 miles has stuck.

Edited by daveyK_UK on 15/02/2017 at 23:30

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Wed 15 Feb 2017 23:35
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - Bromptonaut

The very same 8v unit as my neighbor had in his 2012 Berlingo before it died at less than 80k and despite a full service history. Improved over the 16v it may be but plenty of tales of woe still exist on the later engine... avoid.

What exactly are the issues affecting the 8 valve version?

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Thu 16 Feb 2017 00:15
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - SLO76

"What exactly are the issues affecting the 8 valve version?"

The later 'improved' 8v engines still blow their turbos, but not as much as they used to.

The oil feed (in the sump) is revised, however, the turbo oil feed pipe still goes right next to the DPF, nicely cooking the oil when you turn the engine off. Also the injector seal (on injector 3, I think) still goes occasionally, and in effect a lot of carbon ends up in the engine, further contaminating engine oil which leads to oil starvation, turbo failure and often the blades being ingested by the engine ruining it as experienced by my neighbour despite apparent regular servicing.

It's well known as a weak engine, better than before but still inherently flawed, Ford went further with the redesign when they created their latest 1.5 TDCi unit which is based on the origional PSA design. If the latest DV6 8v unit was cured of all its ills why did Ford bother redeveloping it? I suspect this will be the only one to have but only time will tell.

Edited by SLO76 on 16/02/2017 at 00:21

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Fri 17 Feb 2017 23:11
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - daveyK_UK

peugeot / citroen do seem to be committed to this 1.6 diesel engine, its still being put in new models.

Its probably an ideal design for their commerical team - its very rare they go wrong before 4 years old, and after 3 years the warranty has long ran out.

Thus they either pick up an inflated part price for a new engine or another sale.

Neither citroen or Peugeot offer an option to extend the manufacturer warranty

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Fri 17 Feb 2017 23:19
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - SLO76
"Neither citroen or Peugeot offer an option to extend the manufacturer warranty"

No wonder...
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Sat 18 Feb 2017 10:43
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - Wackyracer

The very same 8v unit as my neighbor had in his 2012 Berlingo before it died at less than 80k and despite a full service history. Improved over the 16v it may be but plenty of tales of woe still exist on the later engine... avoid.

What exactly are the issues affecting the 8 valve version?

Brompt, what engine did you have in your 'Lingo? I seem to remember you did over 100k in that.

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Sun 19 Feb 2017 10:06
Citroen Berlingo/Picasso - Diesel v Petrol, with low annual mileage - daveyK_UK

The small pool of commerical vans we have including Berlingos have been upto 120,000 miles without problems but we always get shut once 3 years old.

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