Do diesels really save you money?
Growing numbers of people may be buying diesel cars to save money but a new study has found that it may take years for the purchase to pay off.
In fact the analysis found that the typical three-year-old diesel car will need to be run for a further seven years before the financial benefits outweigh those of a comparable second-hand petrol model.
It has been found that the average three-year-old mid-sized family diesel car currently costs between £600 and £800 more than its petrol counterpart to buy, but the annual fuel bill is currently only £105 less.
Annual fuel costs for a typical three-year-old diesel car currently stand at £1,373 - up 25 per cent, or £273, over May 2007.
For the equivalent petrol car, fuel bills are now £1,478, up 15 per cent, or £186, compared to May last year.
"As well as the prospect of lower fuel bills, some consumers are attracted to used diesel models in the expectation that depreciation will be lower compared to an equivalent petrol car,’ said Adrian Rushmore, managing editor at EurotaxGlass's, which commissioned the report.
‘However, if the average three-year-old used car was retained for seven years in order to make the most of the lower fuel prices, the premium over a petrol model of the same age might, by then, only be around £100.’