Mileage paid: Diesel or Petrol?

[dema]

looking for a cheap run around to do 10/15K in the next 12 months.
Company will pay either 26p per mile for petrol or 24p for a diesel.

I initially was looking for a 45+mpg diesel, but, then someone suggested a 40/45+ mpg petrol as are generally cheaper to buy and maintain.

Any thoughts?

[T1547]

How much of your annual mileage is personal?

[dema]

None, this will be used purely for work, mainly motorway driving but, long journeys i.e. London to Scotland etc will doen by plane

[T1547]

Sounds like mpg may not matter then as it's paid for by the company?

In which case - probably petrol car will be cheaper to buy and easier to fix.

Edit to add: of course this depends on whether you are receiving a car allowance to pay for the running costs / maintenance of the vehicle. If not then this might change things as you'll want to consider wear and tear within the mileage reimbursement.

For info\\

Petrol: 40mpg at £1.30 per litre is £.15 per mile

Diesel: 45mpg at £1.38 per litre is £.14 per mile

Edited by T1547 on Wednesday 16th October 00:40

[jimbop1]

I still think diesel if you are only using it for work. Unless you really dislike the noise and prefer to take your car to the red line then a good Diesel engine will probably be the better choice. Diesels are not only about mpg... Their engines are sometimes a better choice for specific types of driving. For example cruising up and down motorways.

Slate away at my opinion.....

[ahenners]

Without knowing the budget etc. it's going to be hard to say either way. If you're leasing new with a company car allowance then diesel would be a better shout as you have a warranty and a new car without wear and tear. If it's going to be a used car that is a few years old then the potential bills and maintenance of a diesel may easily wipe out the mpg saving, so in this case a reasonably economical and reliable petrol would be a better shout IMO.

Also OP, why is the mileage allowance so low if it's your own car? My company pays the full HMRC rate of 45p under 10k and 25p over regardless of petrol or diesel, those rates look pretty low if it isn't purely for fuel.

[IainT]

T1547 said:

Sounds like mpg may not matter then as it's paid for by the company?

My company pays 42p per mile and my diesel A5 will do 45mpg on a motorway run. More in my pocket compared to using my TT that does 26mpg.

If you're doing 10k+ company miles it's a big difference. 26p a mile seems pretty tight though, not sure fuel and wear will be covered at that rate.

[750turbo]

dema said:

None, this will be used purely for work, mainly motorway driving but, long journeys i.e. London to Scotland etc will doen by plane

That is not really a long journey, unless London has moved South a wee bit

Seriously though, remember to factor in the fact that you can claim back the tax difference between what you are paid, and the Gov's approved rates. If you do a fair old mileage, this can be a fair bit.

[Rumple]

It depends the petrol your looking at, I think in a lot of cases the Diesel would be a more desirible car.

[surveyor]

I keep seeing people say that diesels are less reliable, but I've never had a large 'diesel specific' bill.

I am needing some work done on my injectors right now, but this is at 145,000 miles, and many Petrol's would need attention in some way.

[panholio]

Don't forget you can claim the difference between your rate and 45p, multiplied by your tax band, from HMRC.

Up to 10,000miles.

[eltax91]

panholio said:

Don't forget you can claim the difference between your rate and 45p, multiplied by your tax band, from HMRC.

Up to 10,000miles.

Yes quite. But the difference in the OP's case is less than £100 per year, given the narrow difference in paid rate. In my opinion, not worth factoring in. Effectively, he could claim £40 more p.a (if a 20% tax payer, £80 if a 40% tax payer) by buying the petrol over the diesel.

[mrmr96]

eltax91 said:

panholio said:

Don't forget you can claim the difference between your rate and 45p, multiplied by your tax band, from HMRC.

Up to 10,000miles.

Yes quite. But the difference in the OP's case is less than £100 per year, given the narrow difference in paid rate. In my opinion, not worth factoring in. Effectively, he could claim £40 more p.a (if a 20% tax payer, £80 if a 40% tax payer) by buying the petrol over the diesel.

I don't think panholio's point was in reference to the difference between choosing a petrol or a diesel. I think it was a more general point which applies whichever car is chosen, and the saving is more than £100.

10,000 at 45p = £4,500
10,000 at 25p = £2,500
Difference is £2,000. If he's a 20% tax payer then he gets £400 back from his tax return. If he's a 40% tax payer then he gets £800 back. Worth having IMO.

[300bhp/ton]

dema said:

looking for a cheap run around to do 10/15K in the next 12 months.
Company will pay either 26p per mile for petrol or 24p for a diesel.

I initially was looking for a 45+mpg diesel, but, then someone suggested a 40/45+ mpg petrol as are generally cheaper to buy and maintain.

Any thoughts?

Is LPG an option? A nice barge on gas would offer good pence per mile ratio?

[nickfrog]

Rumple said:

It depends the petrol your looking at, I think in a lot of cases the Diesel would be a more desirible car.

Desirable ? In what way?

[Thehandshake]

nickfrog said:

Desirable ? In what way?

Don't underestimate how many pounds people are willing to spend in order to save pennies. That's the beauty of diesel

Edited by Thehandshake on Wednesday 16th October 11:56

[dema]

Thsank you for all the imput.

Not sure why we only get 24 an 26p tbh, speaking to one of my collegues it was mentioned that at the end of the year more money can be claimed form the tax man.

Budghet wise,as this will be used for 12 months only and cash flow is minimal, I'm lookin gat £1000 top.
Choices for petrol would likely be a Ford Ka as I know the car already and can retunrn 40/45mpg,
Diesel, likely to be a 306 either 1.9 or HDI, LPG, would work well but, I'll need to look inot maintenance, potential issues etc..

Obviously more idea/advises are wlecome

[Lee540]

dema said:

speaking to one of my collegues it was mentioned that at the end of the year more money can be claimed form the tax man.

Can complete P87 forms and send them off to HMRC yourself..

This is how I managed to run my BMW 540i 4.4 V8 for business use, 150 mile round trips, 2 or 3 times a week all paid for.. averaging 24mpg. You have to wait till the end of the tax year and expect to get taxed on the money you claim back but every little helps!

[Rumple]

nickfrog said:

Rumple said:

It depends the petrol your looking at, I think in a lot of cases the Diesel would be a more desirible car.

Desirable ? In what way?

For me, most 4 pot petrols are god awful soulless things that sound cack, you may as well have a nice slug of torque and better economy.

[nickfrog]

Ummm...Not sure what torque has to do with it really. It's power that makes you go. I applied a lot of torque to a seized bolt the other day. It didn't move!

Economy yes. Although it could be soon wiped out by a blown turbo. Having said that, the same will soon apply to most petrols...