Best car I ever had was a 1994 Citroen ZX 1.9D. No turbo - not even power steering but what a car. Changed the oil every 3k, Millers Dieselclean now and again and it never let me down. Did 100k in the family before it was sold on. Anyway to my shame I've been driving a petrol for the past 10 years but am thinking of returning to the fold. I'm hoping for good economy and low road tax, but my main reason is that I loved the reliability and solidity of a diesel. But are diesels still more reliable than petrols? I know they used to be, but the reader reviews I read all too frequently mention particulate filters getting bunged up (Vauxhall and Mazda), injector problems, turbo fails which are pricey to fix and other issues. Have they just got too complicated? I used to love the simplicity of it all. And that diesel throb. Any thoughts would be valued. I'm maybe thinking of a Hyundai i30, Citroen C4/C3 Picasso or Nissan Note.
Cheers!

That's a difficult one to answer.

I think all cars have generally become more reliable but when something goes wrong then it can be very devil to sort out as it almost invariably will need a reader to analyse the error codes held in the ECU. The particulate filters introduced nearly a decade ago by Peugeot/Citroen were initially alittle troublesome but seem to have matured as a technology now. Unfortunately what many can't get over is that these are consumable items, both in terms of the special (expensive) liquid needed to make them work at low temperatures and the filter itself which, apparently, needs to be changed at about the 100k mark when the filter itself has become clogged up.

Unfortunately there's no going back as legislation has brought this about for diesel engines just as it did for petrol engines a decade or two before that. I think that your right to come back to diesel for its positive aspects (low revs, quiet and effortless cruising, longer intervals between filling the fuel tank and, yes, the diesel throb) as much as for the opposite negative aspects of petrol. As with petrol engines I think that regular servicing in general is the key to longevity.

WRT which car, crikey. I'm currently Peugeot/Citroen based so this will always colour my opinion and TBH I really have no idea what the Hyundai or Nissan look like or even what size they are!

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As I get older I think a lot about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.