Diesel GTI not a good choice for Poland?

Hello everyone

We are about to buy a Skoda Octavia GTI (Diesel) in Germany before moving to Poland. We were told that a Diesel is the best choice for Poland as it is cheap to run. Now a friend from Poland said that we should definitely not buy a Diesel as it is too expensive to run and that the diesel freezes in Poland.

Could I have your opinions/experience please?

Thanks
Jars

You basically need to make sure that you only buy diesel from big garages and in the winter you buy winter diesel (and not the cheaper stuff). Winter diesel is usually about the same price as 98 octane and summer diesel is about the same price as 95 octane.

Diesel is cheaper than petrol in Poland and we all know that you get more mileage from a diesel, generally speaking diesel freezes at about -40, it doesn't have an exact freeze rate as different companies use different compounds.

Your friend is a bit of a plonker.

orlen.pl/PL/DLABIZNESU/HURTOWECENYPALIW/Strony/default.aspx

suggests otherwise.


You got that right though.


Nailed that bit too.

Thanks guys.
How is insurance and taxes etc? In Germany they charge your loads more for Diesel. I suppose if the running cost is slightly cheaper/the same for a Diesel then it probably comes down to the rest?

Also is a Skoda Octavia TDI easy in terms of possible repairs in Poland?
Thanks
Jars

No extra taxes to pay if you have a diesel and as far as I know the insurance would be the same as a petrol car of similar value (although in theory it should be slightly less).


Very much so. Skodas are very popular in Poland, so it will be a problem neither to find somebody to work on it nor to get parts. Skoda dealerships also have a fairly good reputation. I found their press office to be extremely nice people but I guess you won't be dealing with them.

You know ive been out of the country for 8 months now, diesel was cheaper when i lived there about 4% if i remember rightly, it is more expensive in the Uk has been for years around £1.40 a litre, I think petrol's about £1.34. Cant say im surprised about the price hike. Im driving a diesels here as you might have guessed.

I had a diesel van in Poland and never used winter diesel or anything like that and it went fine, it was exposed to -20 or more and started and drove just fine.

Stop worrying, the days of using blowtorches to warm up diesel engines on a frosty morning is long gone.

Poland isn't the automotive backwater it was a decade ago; you and your Skoda will be fine here.

It's true if you buy 20 +years old car.
Skoda Octavia isn't Zastava,Yugo or Lada,no worries :)

It's done. We bought it! Thanks everyone!

what's car's year of production?

On the topic of running costs: How many people have fully comp insurance?

My Mrs WON'T and says it's a waste of money and none of the people I've asked have it. This includes her pals who recently spent 80 000zl on a brand new Honda and can't drive it until they save up enough to have it repaired: It rolled down a friggin hill into another car, as a result of not using the hand brake, this being another local fashion, I've noticed. Christ knows why.

I do, and rate it as utterly essential here. In part because the roads aren't too good, in part because the drivers are utter maniacs and it is very easy to have an accident which is not your fault at all but which you have to pay for (a friend was pushed off the road by a nutter who was overtaking where there wasn't room, she crashed, he of course didn't stop, she had to pay the repair bill), and in part because if I do have an accident which is not my fault but the other guy claims is (happened once when a twat drove into the back of me and then claimed it was my fault because I'd stopped too quickly, I pointed out that I was stopped at a red light and had been for a couple of minutes), I can just get my insurance company to pay for the repairs and then either go after his insurance company, if he has insurance, or go after him in person (if he has no insurance or his insurance is invalid due to him having no driving licence or being drunk or being disqualified or the car not having a valid technical inspection certificate).

Leave your handbrake on full over the weekend in February, and then see what happens when you try to take it off on Monday morning. It was standard practise not to use the handbrake in winter because of how quickly the shoes rust onto the brake disc/drum. These days however, it's just laziness, the same as people holding their brake pedal at traffic lights (cooking their brake pads and warping their discs at the same time.)

Ah, good, some more ammunition for the fully comp argument.

Funnily enough, I had an idea that the hand break thing might have been to do with cold weather experiences, but this happened in July so it was just stupid (along with not have comp on a new car).

@magpie
10 years later and diesel is out. Diesel is much more expensive than gasoline and modern gasoline engines need less fuel than diesel engines. Surprised?

I still drive diesel. It is more economical than petrol when you step on it.

I have been driving diesels for 18 years. I don't know if I will come back to them again. Now it is difficult to buy Ad Blue (diesel additive for Euro 6 diesel) in Germany because of Ukraine war.

I see it is still on sale here.

I have never owned a diesel car.
They perform like crap,smell bad and make too much noise.

That means you are still thinking of diesel cars from 1980s. :):):)
While now it is 2020s. :):):)

They may be less rubbish now, but no sane person will buy a smelly diesel.car, even now.
Petrol,Hybrid or Electric is the.way to go.
I would avoid full electric right now.

1980s memories are still haunting you. :):):)

Not at all, read my post above.

Full electric as a city car - yes.
Full electric as a family universal car - no. Not yet.