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Suggest you start by calculating what the actual fuel savings would be.
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I agree - it's impossible to give any sensible answer as you haven't actually said what your new mileage will be.
Rough calculations :
10,000 miles in a Petrol car @ 40mpg = 250 gallons @ approx £4.15/gal = £1037 in fuel
10,000 miles in a Diesel car @ 55mph = 181 gallons @ approx £4.30/gal = £778 in fuel
So over 10,000 miles you'd save £259 in fuel costs. So hardly going to offset the cost of changing is it?
Now, if you're talking 40,000 miles a year then the savings become more significant and it may be worth changing.
Also consider servicing costs and future value. E.G a 100,000 miler 1.4 petrol will be worth peanuts compared to a 100,000 miler diesel.
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MoneyMart
Current car: 55-reg Audi A4 2.5 V6TDi Quattro flappy-paddle
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"I paid (well my parents paid) £11495 for MY Golf."
Do Mum & Dad know about this?
Grumpy Dad of two teenagers who want, but won't be getting, a car (each).
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Had the very same discussion last night with a guy who may be doing 25,000 miles pa. We worked on a Volvo S60 2.0T auto doing an average of 25mpg and an equivalent executive car doing 40mpg. (A mutual mate has an S60 D5 auto doing almost 40mpg with mostly motorway work).
The difference at for both Petrol and Diesel was worked out at £1,534pa at 90ppl. If Petrol is cheaper than Diesel by 5ppl, then the difference is less. Worthwhile I reckon if you have to change cars anyway and the Diesel is no more than £1,500 more to buy. If you are changinge to get better economy, I would save the money unless the minimum saving was at least £1,500pa.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I read a very good cost comparison report between an A4 1.9 TDi and a 2.0 FSi - the two were chosen as they had similar purchase costs and similar performance. After everything was taken in to account - purchase costs, depreciation, servicing, road tax and maintenance the diesel worked out about 5p per mile cheaper to run.
In the case of the Golf above the cost to change would have to be zero and then possible road tax and insurance increases will need to be considered to see if there are any savings.
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"After everything was taken in to account - purchase costs, depreciation, servicing, road tax and maintenance the diesel worked out about 5p per mile cheaper to run."
I do 15,000 miles a year, so over a 3-year ownership period, therefore, I would save £2250 by choosing the diesel. That certainly would be enough to sway my decision.
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Also consider servicing costs and future value. E.G a 100,000 miler 1.4 petrol will be worth peanuts compared to a 100,000 miler diesel.
Plus consider possible costs of changing from a car with known history to an older vehicle of less certain provenance.
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Also consider servicing costs and future value. E.G a 100,000 miler 1.4 petrol will be worth peanuts compared to a 100,000 miler diesel.
Would it though? I suspect that both cars would be worth peanuts (especially if it takes 5 years to get to that 100K miles). Probably only talking a few hundred pounds' difference.
Compared to the additional cost that the diesel would cost in the first place, the diesel most certainly won't make all of that back on resale.
I did some calculations on this a few weeks back, and found that if a diesel has a £2000 premium on the new price, you need to run it 100K just to break even (ignoring depreciation). Even allowing for depreciation, you'd have to do a lot of miles in the diesel before you started to really feel the benefits financially.
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IIRC, the VW 2.0 FSI is dearer than the diesel 2.0 to buy.
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Hi everyone, thanks for all your replies so far. Im thinking of putting it on autotrader at £10,500 and seeing if anyone bites, if not, im quite happy to keep it, if they do, then I think a vRS is the car for me (although i saw a very nice 05 (old shape) Focus 3dr TDCI in Metallic grey for £9500 today)
MoneyMart- I stated above my Annual mileage would be about 20k, i can only give a rough estimate im afraid.
Does anyone know of any deals going on old shape leons? I have had a look on Seat's site but couldnt see anything. It would have to be the TDI 130.
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IMO there is a tendency to over-estimate the advantage in fuel economy of a diesel over petrol, and this is especially so with an auto gearbox.
Most of the magazines I have read give the diesel a 20% advantage over the equivalent petrol for everyday motoring. So, again IMO, the figures given in posts above of 40mpg to 55mpg and 25mpg to 40mpg are optimistic.
For a golf sized car I would think a realistic fuel saving would be in the order of £20 per 1,000 miles, perhaps a little less.
If Nick were to get a vRS I would think any savings on fuel would be cancelled out by an increase in insurance premium - especially if he is young enough?? to be given a car by parents.
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Does anyone know of any deals going on old shape leons? I have had a look on Seat's site but couldnt see anything. It would have to be the TDI 130.
Why? If you are looking for cost savings, you'll find that the lower-powered TDIs are cheaper to buy and to run, and still faster than the 1.4 petrol.
I'd still suggest that if your aim is reduce costs, that it'd be a good idea to do a full cost analysis of your current car, and do the same for any potential replacement. As others have suggested, it's not just purchase costs v fuel. There is also insurance: the Golf is group 5 versus 9 for the Fabia VRs or 10 for the Leon 130 , and as a younger male driver you may find that makes quite a difference to your premium. Add in servicing costs, road tax (might the diesel be higher?), servicing costs, and the fact that some of the cars you are looking at buying seem to be older with higher mileage, so will be out of warranty sooner.
Once you've calculated the full costs you'll be in a better position to decide how to balance the costs against the thrills.
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What about a 2.0 TDi (140bhp) Octavia? Should get a decent spec nearly new (under 10k miles) one for under £11k. Does over 50mpg with normal usage and has plenty of power? Have heard that the 140bhp is actually more fuel efficient than the 130bhp as it is a more modern engine.
Nick
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