Petrol or diesel?
With the
rise in petrol prices there is a mad scramble to replace petrol cars with
diesel options. Even the manufacturers have jumped into this game to launch new
diesel versions of successful models to ramp up sluggish sales.
Choosing between
petrol and a diesel car is quite difficult. Petrol models are cheaper to buy.
However knowing which is going to cost you more in the long run is a bit more
difficult.
This is because the overall running costs of petrol and diesel cars are
affected by so many factors, including fuel prices,
servicing bills and mileage.
Click here
for a simple calculator that can help you to decide.
The
calculator takes initial purchase price, interest on loan, fuel costs and
mileage into account. It should give you an idea of how many years’ driving it
will take to make buying a diesel the better cost-effective choice - if indeed
the diesel will ever be cheaper.
The
'diesel payback' period could take much longer than you would think -
especially for lower mileage users.
While routine maintenance costs are
similar for petrol and diesel, it is potentially more expensive to repair a
diesel car if anything serious goes wrong.
With manufacturers asking a premium for diesel models, and the
development of super-economical petrol engines, is diesel still the answer to
cheaper motoring?
