Petrol or Diesel?

tux130582

Hello,

I currently drive a Citroen Saxo, and have done for the past 7 or 8 years, now is the time to change the car and im looking for something bigger,

My favourite car is in my budget etc is a Saab 9-3 with the current petrol prices should I go for a diesel or a petrol model?

They come in the following

1.9TDI
2.2 TDI

1.8T Petrol
2.0T Petrol

Many thanks for your help, also any other car recommendations of the same car size appreciated. I am looking to buy used, about 3 or 4 years old

thanks

vikingaero

How many miles do you do a year?

Glass's Guide said that it takes 7 years to recoup the extra outlay of a diesel if you only travel average miles (I take that as 10 to 12k per annum).

Saab Petrol Turbos are quite thirsty, I used to own a 9-3, and I would take 5-10mpg off the official figures to get an accurate mpg figure. That said Saabs are good value secondhand.

moonrakerz

A lot of trouble with dual mass flywheels is now being reported on diesels, pricey to fix.

Conor_3

Mine is on 106000 miles and still OK.

save-a-lot

vikingaero wrote: »

How many miles do you do a year?

Glass's Guide said that it takes 7 years to recoup the extra outlay of a diesel if you only travel average miles (I take that as 10 to 12k per annum).

Totally agree with the recouping your investment. You have to do alot of miles to break-even when buying a deisel especially when considering the price of diesel too

alanrowell

These days the only advantage of a diesel is that a full tank will give you a bigger range without having to refill

AdrianHi

save-a-lot wrote: »

Totally agree with the recouping your investment. You have to do alot of miles to break-even when buying a deisel especially when considering the price of diesel too

It's all none sense this, what are Glasses saying?
Lets say a diesel car list price on the road is £1500 higher than the petrol. Are they saying it takes X thousand miles to recoup £1500 in fuel savings?
That's not the right way to measure the difference in cost because that diesel car will sell (in current market conditions) for more in the used car market than for the petrol so the only costs you have to make up for in fuel savings the the cost of financing the extra £1500 to get the use of the diesel car until you sell it and get some of your money back.
I recently calculated the petrol vs. diesel cost question properly for someone on this forum a couple of weeks back. They were considering a new Mondeo on which they could get a £3500 discount on (not everyone has access to this discount). They did 12,000 miles a year. It turns out that 12,000 a year annual mileage is the break even point so the advice is pick the one you like the best. In this case they decided not to believe that the residual value % of the petrol and diesel would be the same in 3 years time (it's not for any other car, so why should the Mondeo buck this trend?) and went for the diesel.
The answer to the petrol vs. diesel which is best question depends on the cars and engines, how many miles a year you do, how long you will have the car and even your own personal financial circumstances (i.e. what does it cost you to have an extra £1500 tied up in a car not pay off debts or invested?).
There is no simple "you need to do x miles in total or per year" answer to the question.
The other problem is, over the next 3 years the right answer to the question might change if the used car buyer decides diesel fuel is actually too expensive to be worth it and changes buying habits to petrol cars.

To answer the original question, if you do the average 12,000 miles a year What Car calculates the following
1.9TDI Airflow total cost over 3 years (depreciation, fuel etc.): £17,464
1.8t Airflow: £19,477
or you could get:
BMW 318d SE total cost over 3 years: £17,093
Audi A4 2.0TDI SE: £15,982
Audi A4 1.8T SE £17,565
I have not looked up the list price of these cars because it's not relevant to the answer.
What car do not include in this calculation what it costs you in finance charges or lost interest on cash tied up in the car, so the real cost to you is probably higher than this.

The question is, what is your budget exactly?
Saying I can buy a car list price up to £X is not that relevant to what it will actually cost you.

Smi1er

It won't take 7 years to recoup the additional expence. When you come to sell a Diesel will get more than a Petrol.

AdrianHi

AdrianHi wrote: »

It's all none sense this, what are Glasses saying?
Lets say a diesel car list price on the road is £1500 higher than the petrol. Are they saying it takes X thousand miles to recoup £1500 in fuel savings?
That's not the right way to measure the difference in cost because that diesel car will sell (in current market conditions) for more in the used car market than for the petrol so the only costs you have to make up for in fuel savings the the cost of financing the extra £1500 to get the use of the diesel car until you sell it and get some of your money back.
I recently calculated the petrol vs. diesel cost question properly for someone on this forum a couple of weeks back. They were considering a new Mondeo on which they could get a £3500 discount on (not everyone has access to this discount). They did 12,000 miles a year. It turns out that 12,000 a year annual mileage is the break even point so the advice is pick the one you like the best. In this case they decided not to believe that the residual value % of the petrol and diesel would be the same in 3 years time (it's not for any other car, so why should the Mondeo buck this trend?) and went for the diesel.
The answer to the petrol vs. diesel which is best question depends on the cars and engines, how many miles a year you do, how long you will have the car and even your own personal financial circumstances (i.e. what does it cost you to have an extra £1500 tied up in a car not pay off debts or invested?).
There is no simple "you need to do x miles in total or per year" answer to the question.
The other problem is, over the next 3 years the right answer to the question might change if the used car buyer decides diesel fuel is actually too expensive to be worth it and changes buying habits to petrol cars.

To answer the original question, if you do the average 12,000 miles a year What Car calculates the following
1.9TDI Airflow total cost over 3 years (depreciation, fuel etc.): £17,464
1.8t Airflow: £19,477
or you could get:
BMW 318d SE total cost over 3 years: £17,093
Audi A4 2.0TDI SE: £15,982
Audi A4 1.8T SE £17,565
I have not looked up the list price of these cars because it's not relevant to the answer.
What car do not include in this calculation what it costs you in finance charges or lost interest on cash tied up in the car, so the real cost to you is probably higher than this.

The question is, what is your budget exactly?
Saying I can buy a car list price up to £X is not that relevant to what it will actually cost you.

Forgot to add
BMW 318i SE over 3 years £16,416
This one bucks the diesel is cheaper trend due to "efficient dynamics" resulting in a petrol engine that delivers 150bhp, 0-62 in 9.2 seconds and 47mpg. The diesel 318d is over 58mpg but a lot more expensive to buy.

adjests

I woudl agree with adrianHi.

One other thing to factor into the equation is the annual RFL cost and insurance bandings.

Recent changes mean that the cost is now based on the emissions. The difference between petrol and diesel models can be significant. Take for eample the the two models below:

CO2 2008-09 2009-10

BMW 318i Petrol 196 210.00 260.00
BMW 320D Diesel 153 145.00 150.00

With respect to iinsurance - I found that our quote for the petrol model was £100 higher than the diesel.

We bought the 320D - Payback on the diesel was 3.5 years which is good considering we only do 7000 miles a year and usually change cars every 10 years.

AdrianHi

adjests wrote: »

I woudl agree with adrianHi.

One other thing to factor into the equation is the annual RFL cost and insurance bandings.

Recent changes mean that the cost is now based on the emissions. The difference between petrol and diesel models can be significant. Take for eample the the two models below:

CO2 2008-09 2009-10

BMW 318i Petrol 196 210.00 260.00
BMW 320D Diesel 153 145.00 150.00

With respect to iinsurance - I found that our quote for the petrol model was £100 higher than the diesel.

We bought the 320D - Payback on the diesel was 3.5 years which is good considering we only do 7000 miles a year and usually change cars every 10 years.

I remember doing these sums too and worked out that fuel savings would recoup the extra list price for the 320d over the 320i after that sort of mileage, but of course you don't have to do any miles at all on an older 320d over 320i for the diesel to be cheaper. It's only with the September 2007 onwards efficient dynamics models the rules change and there is little difference between them.

While we should consider the cost of tax disks and insurance it's important to keep this cost in perspective. Is £50-£100 a year one way or the other really that important on a car that's going to take £17,000 out of your pocket over 3 years? No, of course not.
Something to keep in mind if the prospect of £400+ a year bothers anyone on their older cars, it's not much compared to the total outgoings for any car - even if it is unfair.