diesel cars

I've had a Diesal for years due to the mileage I used to put on it .

Never really noticed the noise but in December I swapped from a Vauxhall Zafira to a SEAT Alhambra and although both are diesels the Alhambra is noticeably quieter .

I would never have thought of a SEAT before but it's surprisingly good, spacious and with some unexpected bells and whistles.

Might be worth a look if you have a dealer locally.

Speaking as someone who has never owned a diesel car I would say that generally petrol cars are much quieter. I know this because when our neighbour flashes his diesel van up in the morning it sounds like a convoy is going past.

I bought a diesel Quashqai 2yrs ago never having had a diesel before
and honestly its quieter than my old Zafira you would never know it was diesel and the mileage is excellent it seems to almost run on fumes I fill so rarely. The days of diesel cars sounding like a London cab are long gone they are quieter than they ever were.

All engines have improved though over the years. For a long time diesel were thought to be the thing - more economical as well as environmentally better. They were always sold at a loss on the engine itself - they are far more expensive to produce than petrol engines. However more recently they have found that the fumes from these engines are far from good. We have had Diesel engines for years but I think the next car will either be electric or petrol. There are very few diesel cars in USA.

The diesel cars we have had are Mondeo, Citroen C5 (both estates) and now we have a Fiesta Titanium. Mileage is excellent - now getting 60+ a gallon - mileage gets better over time. All of them are quiet once running - vans have a much heavier sounding engine - we have one of those too - Mercedes Sprinter.

The latest electric cars are doing 240 miles to a charge - DS works in the design of the engines.

We had a Subaru diesel and didn't really notice much difference in the noise level. Changed it for a newer model in the summer and realised it is a petrol engine (luckily before I tried to refuel it)! I find it annoying that a few years ago we were encouraged to buy diesel for various reasons but now it's seen as very environmentally unfriendly.

We still have both, and yes slightly noisier but prefer it. Ford galaxy been going for years and years and probably still will ?

My Peugeot diesel is very quiet, quieter than previous petrol engines. DH's Freelander is noisy, mostly due to the all weather tyres.

I did test drive a Vauxhall Mokka diesel and found it very noisy and growley. Needless to say I didn't buy it.

We have an oldish diesel but are not thinking of replacing as the engines seem to last forever. I would advise doing some research before changing as diesels are very out of favour with the particulates and pollution rates. We are hoping that there will soon be a scrapage scheme for diesels as I think their days are numbered for cars.

It is more difficult now to put the wrong fuel in a car - seems the pump nozzle size is different for petrol and diesel and certainly with our car only the diesel nozzle will go in the tank opening.

We have had a number of diesel cars and found that generally, while they are a bit noisy to begin with, once they have warmed up they are no noisier than petrol cars.

However we have moved back from diesel to petrol because it is becoming clear that diesel cars are more polluting than petrol cars. Originally diesel cars were encouraged because they emit less hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and lead pollution than petrol cars. However it is now realised that they produce more noxious gases and significantly more particulates, which seriously and dangerously cause high levels of pollutants in the atmosphere especially in towns and there are plans to either ban them or supercharge them in big towns with congestion charges.

I bought my first diesel a couple of years ago, with a bit of reservation because of the growing information about the fact diesels aren't better, but worse for the environment.
I bought a Fiat 500L, the extended 500. I bought it because the diesel has a 1600 engine, whereas the 1400 has a 1200. I don't drive fast but I did want to have enough pull to move on the motorway if I needed it. I love my car. It has a big boot for the dogs/babies buggies. It is high off the road so good for ageing backs. Diesel consumption is so much better than petrol. The car makes a bit more noise than a petrol when I start the engine but it's no different when driven.

As Funnygran says, we were encouraged to buy diesels some time ago. I bought one, and love it. It is economical, and I know we don't do a lot of driving these days, but she is so comfortable, I would be loathe to swop. I don't think that she is noticeably noisier than other cars.

Thank you for all your responses. Most of you don't seem to have a problem with deisel noise, but I am aware that deisel is not environmental flavour of the month and that is another thing that is bothering me. DH favours this car because he still has a love affair going on with Honda, he thinks it will be more economical than the 1.8ltr petrol engine we have at the moment, and because he now knows it provides a better driver experience for me. Our present one has never suited me and I shy away from driving it as much as I can, which puts all the burden of driving into him. Nothing is ever straightforward, is it? Or maybe I'm overthinking it - again.

We had petrol cars for years and last month traded in our 6yr old Mercedes C Class estate for a diesel A Class hatch, the plan being to sell my little Fiat 500 so that we only run one car that we can both happily drive.

I like the car, although yes I do agree they are a tad noisier. My main complaint though is that they don't seem to be as responsive as petrol cars. I've given up trying to get quickly over a roundabout as it's got that stop/start engine so by the time it's decided to start and I've put my foot down I've often lost the opportunity to zip around like I used to

We decided against a car with stop/start technology for similar reasons Mercedes55 maybe we won't have the choice in the future.

You might find you can turn stop/ start off. Mine only engages if you are in neutral when stopped. I tend to go into first and brake, ready to go off.

I telephoned the dealership this morning and told them I had issues with the deisel noise, and that I would like another test drive to see if I could overcome them as DH is really keen on this car and desperate to have a car that both of us are happy to drive. He loves the one we have, which, in terms of quick getaways on roundabouts and overtaking, is like the proverbial off a shovel. We have stop start technology on this one and don't tend to use it that often; it quite often doesn't come on anyway - you get a little sign on the screen indicating that the aircon is stopping it working, or the engine temperature is stopping it working or some other damn thing. Anyway, tommorrow we shall see what we shall see! I think the salesman thinks I am a b****y nuiscance and that if he could get DH on his own, he would have tied up the deal ages ago ?!

Hope u didn't buy diesel. Think they will be worth nothing in a few years time and the road tax is just going to soar.

Diesel engines will definitely be on there way out now that we know what the manufacturers have been hiding. Far worse than we ever imagined.

I love my golf. Its diesel, great on fuel and really reliable!

It is a pity about the emissions from Diesel engines as they are a better engine - DS is an automotive engineer with GM. They are actually sold at a discount on cars as much more expensive to build than petrol ones.
This stop/start was developed on electric cars - on them it saved valuable battery power but of course on normal engines it lowers the amount of emissions particularly in towns when cars are at a standstill. It is a very difficult thing to get correct - all to do with algorithms.
I find it very odd the news today about road tax on new cars particularly the cleaner engine ones. I wonder what the thinking is behind that as some Eco cars are more expensive to buy but the ongoing cost with tax was a benefit. Our last couple of cars have had very low tax rates.
We have a diesel car and I don't find it unresponsive at all neither is is noisy driving along - we have a Ford but have also had Citröen as well. Our old Mercedes van is a tad noisy though I must say. Hope you get the car you are both happy with.

My DS3 is diesel - the first one I've had and I've not really noticed it being any noisier. My husband has had diesel cars for years due to the mileage he does and is reluctant to go back to petrol when he finally changes his current one but like everything else what was once promoted as the best is now just the opposite and we're being discouraged from buying diesel. The road tax issue is going to hit some people buying a new car after April very hard - hence garages doing their very best to get people to buy before it comes in!

We have a Nissan X-Trail which is only three years old so is quite good on the emission front. Given the far superior mileage over petrol it's surprisingly economical on a run. It's no noisier than the petrol cars we had before.

We have it because we tow a caravan and a boat but also have a Peugeot 106 (inherited from my mum) for short journeys and city runs.

Well, we took the plunge and bought the deisel and I have to say we're very pleased with it. Unlike our other car, I love driving it, it's very responsive, and the fuel consumption, compared with the petrol engine Civic, is amazing. I still find it noisier than a petrol engine but I'm getting used to it. Both DS and DH don't think it is noisy at all - just me. I do have a bit of a guilty conscience about deisel, but at the end of the day we don't do a lot of miles and use public transport whenever we can.
Thank you all for your input, all of which has been very valuable.