Is swapping from petrol to diesel a good move?

I am on the cusp of trading in a 2016 TSI VolkswagenTiguan (Mk2) for a 2018 TDI Volkswagen Touareg (Mk3). Putting the cash differential to one side (the Touareg is broadly twice the price of the Tiguan and they have done very similar mileage), is going from a 2016 petrol to a 2018 diesel a smart move? They are both fossil fuel cars so ‘satanic’ either way for some!

Asked on 25 August 2022 by Hugh

Answered by Lawrence Allan
While in some areas of the media/car community diesels are somewhat 'demonised' now, unless you regularly need to drive into cities well into the future we'd say it's a wise swap. You should be getting better fuel economy from a TDI Touareg than a 4Motion TSI Tiguan in most circumstances, so that benefits CO2 emissions, while the newer diesel such as the Touareg are a high enough emissions standard (greatly reduced NOx/particulates) to have no restrictions on them. In 5-10 years time? We can't say for sure that stricter regulations won't mean potential charges required to enter cities.
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