On 05/03/17 16:14, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 05/03/17 15:13, Another John wrote:
In article ,
"tim..." wrote:

"TheChief" wrote in message
news Hi all

I have been looking at cars today with a view to replacing my
aging Focus.
I have found that the vast majority of mid range cars are that
spawn of Satan known as diesels.

I've just had a thought are you talking about 2nd hand?

well there's a reason for there being an excess of diesels on the market
it's the same one that's causing you not to want to buy one.

Quite. It was on 25th February that Transport Minister Chris Grayling
said:

"People should take a long, hard think about what they need, about where
they¹re going to be driving, and should make best endeavours to buy the
least polluting vehicle they can.
I don¹t think diesel is going to disappear but someone who is buying a
car to drive around a busy city may think about buying a low-emission
vehicle rather than a diesel."

That's what he said (apparently). But it was *universally* headlined in
the media, including the now-tabloid BBC outlets, as "Think twice before
buying a diesel, Transport Minister warns"

Thus, at one stroke, ****ing up the car market for millions of diesel
owners.

(As you might guess) I have recently bought a diesel (63-reg Skoda Yeti
--- for the OP 'The Chief': it's damn' good might I add). It's a 2.0l
TDI, 110bhp.

After a lifetime of avoiding diesel because I don't like the noise, and
I like even less the stink, of exhaust and fuel alike.

However I bought this one precisely because of the gist of this thread:
diesels are very hard indeed to avoid. "And anyway: they're much, much
better than they ever were," to quote owners, manufacturers, and dealers
for the last decade or so.

But now Grayling wades in, with his size 14s. There has *never been a
mention* of making allowances for modern engines, with their particulate
filters, and their engine management, in contrast to the guy at the end
of our street who has been driving a clapped out transit since about
1992.

I would suggest that by far the vast bulk of diesel pollution in London
(which is where this all kicked off, of course) is caused by the
thousands of clapped out vehicles that are still driving around (or
sitting around, engines running).

If Chris Grayling wants to do something serious about car pollution, he
should *very forcefully* tighten up the MOT, *and all its testers*.

Diesel John


Of course if they really wanted to limit diesel, they would tax the
diesel, instead of taxing the car.

For those of us who do very low mileage we pay a lot on road tax and
cannot afford to own two cars - a low emissions one for local use and a
long distance one for the occasional trip



They were doing this through VED but now (for new cars registered this
year) they are going back to a flat rate.

I really think the gov has absolutely no idea what they are doing.

In the 90's they wanted everyone to buy diesels.

Now they are doing a panic punishment with talk of "diesel charging" in
London and other cities.

And yet they are removing all the controls that discourage diesels.