RE: Should I be driving a diesel?

L

lotus

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Hi all

I drive a 1.4l petrol VW golf and have had it for about 15 months. In that time i have put 50,000KM on the clock. While it is quite an economical car to drive would I be better to purchase a diesel - 1.9TDI next time round?

I think its about €2,500 more expensive to purchase the TDI as opposed to the 1.4l petrol but on this milage I would probably save on fuel in the long term.............or would I?

Advice appreciated!
 
RS2K said:
The breakeven point is higher than that I'd have thought?
Click to expand...
I suppose it depends what petrol engine you are comparing to what diesel and the difference in the cost between the 2 fuels also plays a factor.

I'll stick with petrol no matter what
 
I would say definitely go for the diesel. Not only will you be saving a significant amount on fuel but will you have a far more powerful car with alot more torque which should make doing all that mileage a bit easier. Yes they are more expensive to purchase and will cost more in road tax but you have to remenber that diesel cars also hold their value better so you should be able to re-coup some of the extra outlay at the other end.
 
I had a Mk V Golf 1.4 petrol when last I lived in Dublin. Currently run a 1.9Tdi 116bhp Golf Mk V in Romania.

Simply no contest between the two. The 1.9 diesel kicks its weaker petrol version into touch any day of the week.

Whereas the 1.4 was ungainly, sluggish and rolled badly due to the soft Irish suspension set-up. The 1.9 pulls like a train, sticks to the road like pooh to a blanket and is very frugal, 5.6 litres/ 100km on long runs even when worked hard.
 
I would go for the diesel too. Wouldn't woory about a difference in resale value tho. Putting up 50k a year, you'll have 150k after 3 years and it won't be worth much anyway. Would you give big money for a petrol or diesel car with 150k on it?
 
With the Golf you will save up to e500 per year on tax and Insurance (comparing a 1.4i to a 1.9Tdi)

Let's say the diesel costs about e3000 more, so factor another e300 as the cost of that money. Add extra servicing for the diesel, say e200.
That makes approx e1000 extra costs involved, per year.

Now, if the petrol gets 40mpg (8.8 miles per litre) and the diesel 50mpg (11 miles per litre ) (2.2 miles further per litre) you will save 25% on fuel by running a diesel.

To break even, therefore, you will need to be using e1000 less fuel, every year. (at e1.00 per litre, that's 220 gallons of petrol)

The break even mileage, using the figures above would therefore be
44,000 MILES per year. (1100 gallons of petrol, 880 gallons of diesel, 5000 litres of petrol or 4000 litres of diesel)


To complicate things, the 1.9Tdi is a vastly superior car to drive, compared to the 1.4i.

Also residuals will not necessarily be linear, and depreciation will be significant,

and you could always buy a used car with a different price.
 
Gone Fishin' said:
With the Golf you will save up to e500 per year on tax and Insurance (comparing a 1.4i to a 1.9Tdi)

Let's say the diesel costs about e3000 more, so factor another e300 as the cost of that money. Add extra servicing for the diesel, say e200.
That makes approx e1000 extra costs involved, per year.

Now, if the petrol gets 40mpg (8.8 miles per litre) and the diesel 50mpg (11 miles per litre ) (2.2 miles further per litre) you will save 25% on fuel by running a diesel.

To break even, therefore, you will need to be using e1000 less fuel, every year. (at e1.00 per litre, that's 220 gallons of petrol)

The break even mileage, using the figures above would therefore be
44,000 MILES per year. (1100 gallons of petrol, 880 gallons of diesel, 5000 litres of petrol or 4000 litres of diesel)
quote]

These are the figures I come up with

Tax for 1.4 Lt = 292
Tax for 1.9 Lt = 511
Difference = 219 extra for the diesel per year

For my Policy with Quinn direct €79 extra insurance per year for the diesel

I would accept your € 300 cost of money for first year only. I would take an average of €233 per year over two years.

I do accept the €200 per year extra service cost

Total average extra running costs = €731

Taking 40mpg petrol @ €1.08 and 50mpg diesel @ €1.05 costs....

€0.1227/mile for the petrol
€0.0955/mile for the diesel

Diff = €0.0272/mile cheaper in the diesel

Thus the €731 is made up in 27,000 miles

Well thats how I convinced myself anyway
Click to expand...
 
The figures will be different for everybody and I was just showing how to calculate the break-even point.

As I said, it's much more than fiscal.

Best of luck and safe driving in whatever chariot you choose.
 
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