Used car diesel values are remaining stable despite the so-called “demonisation of diesel” in the mainstream media, according to Andy Cutler, forecast editor at automotive industry providers and vehicle valuation experts Glass’s.
He said: “There has been a lot of negative press recently about how bad the diesel engine is, and how London in particular is being seriously polluted by diesel fumes. There is a lot of misunderstanding with regards to the ‘dirty diesel’ theory; it relates mainly to anything manufactured prior to Euro5 and Euro6 engines.
“The latest vehicles are much cleaner than they have ever been, however, the UK motorist appears to be an easy target and yet again seems to be getting singled out as the root cause of the majority of the pollution, which is not believed to be the case.
“The Mayor of London has indicated that he wants to kill off diesel vehicles in London and the UK press have jumped on the bandwagon. It has been suggested that as a result of the negative press coverage, some dealers and underwriters in the London area are extremely worried about taking anything diesel into their stock. If you live in central London and don’t travel outside the area very often, then why would you have a diesel vehicle anyway?
“If you look elsewhere in the UK, to more rural areas that aren’t in the vicinity of a major city then diesel is still as popular as ever.