The other big advantage with a diesel car is that you can go much further on a tankful. This mean less frequent stopping to fill up, which can be difficult in a country where the facilities are far apart, not very predictable, or may have restricted opening hours. It also means that you can buy fuel more often at supermarkets (which are much cheaper) rather than on the autoroute.

Diesel fuel evaporates at a much higher temperature than ordinary gasoline, which means that it sticks to your hands and shoes. Avoid spilling diesel, and use the polythene gloves that you will find by the pump.

FWIW, rental car companies do not normally guarantee specific cars (except for ultra-premium models), so I wouldn't put too much effort into the choice, as they may hand you keys to a gas car when you order diesel or vice versa.

In Spain, around 70% of new cars run on diesel. It´s about 10% cheaper than gasoline and consumption is much lower.

Three names for the same product in France: diesel (dee ez ell), gazole (gaz awl), gasoil (gaz wal). It is still cheaper than gasoline by about 15%.

Did you know that, if you put gasoline in a diesel gas tank (but only 20 liters or so), it still runs?

for the next few minutes... Just try it

for a very large car or people carrier i would worry more about trying to get a diesel but for a small car it matters very little in the running costs over a short term hire. and no matter what the manufacturers (and even the car reviews) say, diesels are about 40% less fun to drive as compared to a petrol.

>40% less fun
Have to comment on that ;-). Never ever a petrol car again. I need torque (and the sound). Both, torque and sound are just heaven. And then the turbo kicks in... Roooarr.

Well, just see me lighyears away, while you're still standing at the traffic lights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68C-r9kSLNE

Tomboy: yes, we know that because about the second "gas-up" my husband didn't pay attention and put 20 euros worth of gasoline into our diesal tank before realizing his mistake and finishing up with gasoil!

For the next few days I kept waiting to hear chug-cough-sputter-die. We also kept "topping-off" the tank at 3/4 to keep diluting the mix down. Finally, I relaxed and we just always filled up before the tank got down to 1/4, which we do anyway. Whew! And I had just been telling my husband not to do a "Mai-Tai" ! See how well he listens to me?! (if you have'nt read Mai Tai Tom's adventures in Italy, do!)

We have always request and got diesel, but as others have suggested, you need to do the math especially if your mileage is not going to be high, to see if it will really make a difference one way or the other

My experience has always been that we are not promised a certain car, just a certain class of cars. We usually rent small cars but on three occasions have been provided with a diesel.
One company in Budapest said that if I rent the Smart Car they will definitely provide me with the Smart Car but not any of the others.
I think I will just take my chances and hope that I get the diesel when I reserve a car with that engine in the class.

Unless family is visiting from abroad, I <b>always</b> reserve the sub-compact category, but since there are nearly no actual cars in that category, I am consistently upgraded, often to a diesel, even when it is really small. This weekend I have a tiny Fiat 500 and it is still a diesel. Yay!

kerouac. Unfortunately, this will be an automatic and those in diesel are few and far between. We always rent a compact and I believe that is the smalled category they list with that transmission.