At what annual mileage does a diesel become a better buy?
Discussion
This is easy to work out op.
Get a list of cars you are interested in. Diesel and petrol versions.
Get their mpg data from various places. Spritmonitor.de has proper real life mpg for cars.
Do an excel spreadsheet using current fuel prices. Figure in cost of car, likely things to go wrong and what they cost to fix.
Get a list of cars you are interested in. Diesel and petrol versions.
Get their mpg data from various places. Spritmonitor.de has proper real life mpg for cars.
Do an excel spreadsheet using current fuel prices. Figure in cost of car, likely things to go wrong and what they cost to fix.
It depends on the car.
I have a petrol car that costs 25p per mile on fuel and a diesel that costs 16p per mile, diesels come in to their own on the motorway, a few weeks ago coming out of central london in very heavy traffic my 520d averaged less than 10mpg.
You really need to tell us the choice you are looking at.
Sounds like an excuse to get nerdy (btw, i'm just plain awful at maths, so please someone correct me where i'm wrong)
Compare my car versus my other halfs: Both are average hatchbacks, similar weight. One is a 2.0 diesel mpg mile muncher. The other is a 1.8 petrol, a fair bit more spritely and far more fun.
My car - 10,000 miles, at 48mpg, 140per per litre for derv = £1326
Her Car - 10,000 miles at 38mpg, 130 per per litre for petrol = £1555
Thats only a difference of £229, over 10,000 miles. Personally, i'd really much rather pay that little extra and pootle around in petrol car.
There are other factors to think about though - my car is cheaper to insure and tax, but also more to service and maintain, and the car itself costs more than then petrol equivalent.
- So I really think you need to really be exceeding 10,000 miles, for the diesel equivalent of a car to really make financial sense, in my opinion.
Also begs the question why I have my car at all, when I only need it at the weekends! Why on earth am I not driving something fun? off to the classifieds it is then......
Compare my car versus my other halfs: Both are average hatchbacks, similar weight. One is a 2.0 diesel mpg mile muncher. The other is a 1.8 petrol, a fair bit more spritely and far more fun.
My car - 10,000 miles, at 48mpg, 140per per litre for derv = £1326
Her Car - 10,000 miles at 38mpg, 130 per per litre for petrol = £1555
Thats only a difference of £229, over 10,000 miles. Personally, i'd really much rather pay that little extra and pootle around in petrol car.
There are other factors to think about though - my car is cheaper to insure and tax, but also more to service and maintain, and the car itself costs more than then petrol equivalent.
- So I really think you need to really be exceeding 10,000 miles, for the diesel equivalent of a car to really make financial sense, in my opinion.
Also begs the question why I have my car at all, when I only need it at the weekends! Why on earth am I not driving something fun? off to the classifieds it is then......
Edited by Fordo on Monday 26th December 14:04
Edited by Fordo on Monday 26th December 15:18
Why do we think of this in terms of annual mileage? Things don't reset magically when your car is one year old. It's based purely on mpg.
Lots of short journeys are likely to effect mpg and make the diesel worse on fuel. But what if you only do a 100 trip every week? I bet the diesel would be better on fuel over a year in that case.
Lots of short journeys are likely to effect mpg and make the diesel worse on fuel. But what if you only do a 100 trip every week? I bet the diesel would be better on fuel over a year in that case.
Depends on the car and if buying new or used. On a BMW 3 series, new, the diesel is a better lump than the 4 cylinder petrols and, as such a better buy, it'll make back any extra and more when selling.
On the other hand, low powered diesel superminis are hateful in the main while smaller engines offer great economy and generally better prospects long term.
Horses for courses as your grandad may say
On the other hand, low powered diesel superminis are hateful in the main while smaller engines offer great economy and generally better prospects long term.
Horses for courses as your grandad may say
Rob P said:
Why do we think of this in terms of annual mileage? Things don't reset magically when your car is one year old. It's based purely on mpg.
Lots of short journeys are likely to effect mpg and make the diesel worse on fuel. But what if you only do a 100 trip every week? I bet the diesel would be better on fuel over a year in that case.
Well we could do it per week, or per month - but it doesmt really matter. Everyones salary is usually measured per annum, so why not measure all your other expenses by the same yard stick - puts it all into context.Lots of short journeys are likely to effect mpg and make the diesel worse on fuel. But what if you only do a 100 trip every week? I bet the diesel would be better on fuel over a year in that case.
if I only earn 20k pa, and im working out what car i can afford to run, if i work out fuel costs and see i'd be spunking £2500 on fuel if i went with that car, its easy to see that thats one 8th of my money a year being burnt into gaseous emmisions. Its easier to put in context.
thats why people like looking at yearly costs - just looking at mpg alone disguises what your actually going to spend
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