MPG ready reckoner?

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 09:51
MPG ready reckoner? - Beejy
Hello,

I need to change my car - I want a big diesel with plenty of luggage space and power enough to tow a caravan.

Does anyone know of an easy way of working out annual fuel costs based on average mpg?

I want to work out how much, say, a Nissan X-Trail would cost per year in diesel compared with a big estate like a Ford Mondeo.

I would be upgrading from a Ford Focus diesel estate so I know everything will be more expensive on either car (though insurance and purchase price of either would be v similar - just more tax on the XT)

Thanks in advance....

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 10:28
MPG ready reckoner? - DP
Diesel is almost exactly £5 per gallon at the moment (£1.10 per litre)

The calculation would be your annual mileage divided by the miles per gallon of the car. Then multiply the result by 5 to give you the yearly cost.

Example - car A at 45 mpg doing 20,000 miles a year:

20000 / 45 = 444.4 gallons of fuel
444 gallons of fuel x £5 per gallon = £2,222 total fuel cost.

car B at 35 mpg doing 20,000 miles a year:

20000 / 35 = 571.4 gallons of fuel
571.4 gallons of fuel x £5 per gallon = £2,857 total fuel cost.

Combined consumption figures from the manufacturers are usually on the optimistic side, and certainly will be if you tow. However it is relevant for comparison purposes.

Cheers
DP

Edited by DP on 19/02/2008 at 10:29

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 12:33
MPG ready reckoner? - Beejy
Hi thanks for that - work out about an extra £37 in fuel alone. That's not including the extra tax.

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 23:56
MPG ready reckoner? - PhilW
If you are buying new, Auto Express does a PPM (pence per mile ) running cost for each car over 3 years.
X-trail diesel varies from 51 to 58 PPM depending on model; Mondeo diesel is 48 to 63PPM.

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