How to you choose whether or not to buy a petrol car or a diesel car ? Now that the petrol prices have increased, many of us tend to go for a diesel cars. Diesel cars are costly by atleast a lakh when compared to their pertol varients.
We need to take a look at the following factors and then decide.
- Whats your average usage per year
- What are the maintenance costs per kilometer
- How long are you planning to use a car
Diesel cars are best suited for people who’s usage is high. Maintenance costs are high for diesel cars and their life is smaller compared to petrol cars. So lets do some math and find out.
Lets say, diesel variant for a particular car costs 1 lakh more than the petrol variant. Now that additional 1 lakh can get you 1923 liters of petrol and 2631 liters of diesel for the current price .
Lets assume a mileage of 13 for petrol and 17 for diesel for our particular car. So we can travel
1923 X 13 = 24999 kilometers on petrol with that 1 lakh if we buy the petrol varient
Spreading it over 3 years you get to drive 8333 kilometers a year. If your driving needs are less than that its better to go for the petrol variant. For the diesel varient you have to shell out the additional 1 lakh and also money for diesel after that.
Apart from this, diesel vehicles adds approximately Rs 1 to the maintenance cost for every kilometer you drive. So do the math before you go decide on petrol or diesel.
Hello Kenney:
Don’t talk about the life span. Whether its diesel or petrol it has a life span of 15-20 years. Your maths seems to be good those who buy a car for luxury not for use
Comment by iamatechie — August 28, 2008 @ 10:10 am
Hmmm Interesting. By the way one more thing that I would like to mention here is about the diesel engine itself. People still think that the diesel engine is still only for slow vehicles – Diesel engine technology has come a long way and now a days matches the performance of petrol engines. I have seen some of the premier car models (like the BMW X5′s) performance first hand.
As for how long you intend to keep your car – the Indian society is moving towards “consumer-isation”. I dont expect people to keep their cars for more that 5 years. It is like the mobile phones – gone are the days that people use there mobile phones for more than a year.
And with the amount of spare cash that the Indian consumers seem to have – I really dont think it matters…
Comment by JMJ — August 28, 2008 @ 12:28 pm
In Dubai, Diesels prices are double that of petrol prices!!
Petrol costs around 7-8 dirhams per gallon where as Diesels costs 17dirhams per gallon!! (remember 1 gallon of drinking water is around 6dirhams! )
To buy cars, its cheap again! A full option latest model Toyota Corrola is only 66,000 dirhams!! (Convert it @1dir=12ruppe)
Comment by Cijo Thomas — August 28, 2008 @ 7:48 pm
Halooo kennychaaaa….
This is really good …. but just think in a different way.. u are buying the car for long drive’s and to enjoy the driving… this matter’s the mileage… and Swift DDIS version is pretty puppy….
Now just think u want to go out, just with petrol version just giving 10 KM mileage… the cos is 55 /- and ur need is just buy some little things… u wil think twice..if i want to go by car or bike or bus…. and this will restrict you from taking the vehicle.So i suggest take Diesel version which is a good in the market.. and nowadays diesel version comes with good life time for the engine … rather than thinking of old versions of diesel cars
this can help you to take up the decision to buy an diesel version … hoping so
Comment by ajish — August 28, 2008 @ 8:03 pm
Your maths is right if it is a cash purchase. But loan repayment and all is a different ball game. Anyway, good thinking. Keep it up!
I thought this way too. If we invest that 1 lakh to a good scheme we can easily generate 5000 or more per month and the 1 lakh will be there as it is. 5000 plus will be enough for petrol expense for a moderate car user. All these calculations are effective only when we go for a cash purchase.
Comment by S.K Praveen Kumar — August 28, 2008 @ 9:53 pm
New generation diesel cars don’t cost much on maintenance… even the noise is reduced…
diesel being mass fuel used for trucks and buses, govt thinks twice before increasing diesel price, while petrol prices are increased in a higher proportion…
I feel diesel is a better bet, except when the car is for some minimal city use-just a few kms a day for local driving
Comment by Shrinidhi Hande — August 29, 2008 @ 1:11 pm
This is a old theory based on these calculations. You buy a car that suits your budget.If you get a diesel for that price, go for diesel.If you have a petrol car, you tend to use it less as you may consider your wallet than comfort.If you buy a Diesel you wont think abt wallet as Diesel is cheap and more miles you can travel in 1 ltr.
If you have diesel , you can drive more, you can go anywhere with out being bothered about expenses. It is pre-purchase economics but post-purchase mentality to be considered. Throw away such economics on petrol and diesel.
Comment by Renju Mathew — August 29, 2008 @ 8:03 pm
I’d rather go 4 the petrol one, especially when driving through the city. Its curious to note one thing…Here in Ireland Diesel always costs more than Petrol..
1 L petrol now goes at 1.40 Euros and 1 L diesel sells at 1.44 euros.. In India its the opposite. Know why?
Comment by scorpiogenius — September 1, 2008 @ 1:38 pm
In India Diesel is subsidized. Thats why
Comment by Kenney Jacob — September 1, 2008 @ 1:41 pm
Hi Kenney, There is a difference. You are not considering the car value separately. Your calculation deducts the running costs from car value which is not always the case. Means, after the span of 3 years, if you try to buy the vehicle you will get more price for the diesel variant. Hence that point is not actually a break even as it seems.
And of course, the new generation diesel engines are competitive to petrol engines in terms of both performance and maintenance costs.
Comment by sreekanth — September 1, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
diesel needs 2000 to 3000 kilometers per month and petrol needs 600 to 1000 kms per month
diesel is prefered in trucks , buses and the which travel on a highway or mountain areas .
diesel have noise
the persons which have need in a city should prefer diesel.
Comment by mr.satish — November 6, 2008 @ 4:52 pm
@Mr.Satish
R u a fool? you yourself contadict your statements.
Comment by Naveen — November 17, 2009 @ 12:02 pm
A petrol car will always compell you to calculate between travelling by car and travelling by Public Transport. For highway travellers, diesel is the best choice.
For visiting a city 300-500 Kms, AC 3 costs 600-700
If you do not travel alone, a trip for 2 means 12-1400
Up & Down = 2400-2800
Local conveyance (Not of the level of the luxury of own car) @200-500 per day
Total cost by Rail = 2600-3300 (Say 3000)
For additional persons, cost increases.
By Diesel Car (mileage 20, Rate 40) = Rs. 2 / Km
300-500 Kms x 2(Up & Down) @ Rs. 2/Km = 1200-2000
Local travel in a day (40-100 Kms) = 80-200
Toll (If applicable) = 100-150
Total Cost by Diesel Car = 1380-2350 (Say 2000)
For 3 or 4 persons instead of 2, cost remains almost the same.
By Petrol Car (mileage 12.5, Rate 50) = Rs. 4 / Km
300-500 Kms x 2(Up & Down) @ Rs. 4/Km = 2400-4000
Local travel in a day (40-100 Kms) = 160-400
Toll (If applicable) = 100-150
Total Cost by Petrol Car = 2660-4550 (Say 3600)
For 3 or 4 persons instead of 2, cost remains almost the same.
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SUMMARY
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Total cost by Rail = 2600-3300 (Say 3000)
Total Cost by Diesel Car = 1380-2350 (Say 2000)
Total Cost by Petrol Car = 2660-4550 (Say 3600)
This is for a single trip of 1 day stay.
Train saves the pain (OR PLEASURE !!) of driving.
Diesel gives poor pickup (As they say. I wonder how many times you start from 0 in highway)
Petrol saves maintenance.
Gautam
9424102030
Comment by Hellosuny — December 17, 2009 @ 8:32 pm
still in confusion which one is better, pls suggest if my daily requirment is between 10to 12 km, den which one better petrol or diesel one
Comment by punit gupta — September 25, 2010 @ 8:22 pm
@ Gautam-Very practical calculation. (…are you Gujarati…????) just kidding.
I have also felt same confusion when i bought care few years before. Mine usage was not regular. Even some time my car seems to park at same place for days together. I finally bought TATA Indica (Diesel) and I tell you, it has been 3 years completed and almost 20,000+ kms, Indica has….NO PROBLEM at all.
Don’t think that I am advertising the brand TATA, but it is real life experience.
any one can go ahead with Diesel or Petrol, as long as it fits to your pocket.
Comment by Dr. Siddharth — December 13, 2010 @ 12:01 am
What about Tata Manza Quadrajet ABS? Can that be preferred over its petrol counterpart Manza Saffire ABS??? really confused…It has a Fiat Engine …but really wonder if the diesel variant engine has a good life or not..also concerned about the humming sound and maintenance that everyone talks about for diesel cars….Pls help
Comment by sachin — February 21, 2011 @ 4:38 pm
Diesel engines have longer life, its an oil burner no spark plugs nothing. Petrol is a spirits burns with a blast and engines works overtime to build that extra torque, most petrol engines need overhauling after 1 lakh KM
Comment by Anuj — March 21, 2011 @ 12:59 am
In India about 25-30 percentage of people purchase cars just to maintain a status where uses of car is not frequent or everyday.In this case, you want to enjoy the driving for some particular day or during some special need. Here petrol car is better to purchase and probable you will not think about the wallet as you are not a regular user.If you have a daily need,I would rather suggest you to go for diesel car because it gives good fuel economy and saves money.
Comment by Mondal — April 20, 2011 @ 4:36 pm
All the comments are good to decide which car to buy..Was just wondering for the use of 15000KM per year is it ok i go for Fiat Punto Disel??
Amol
Comment by Amol — April 20, 2011 @ 5:34 pm
Amol,
As per the initial estimation… go for it, the car is really very well built and it has equal performance of the petrol engine. I have a santro and drove it to the showroom of punto. When I had test drive of punto through it is a demo car which has already driven hard by so many testers… the engine was really giving good response. The test car was of 2009 model it means around 2 years old car and it performed really well. I would suggest go for it.
Comment by Ameet — May 1, 2011 @ 1:14 am
hi guys,
I tried petrol and diesel variants for my needs, and after experiencing both variants for 4 years, i came to a conclusion that if your yearly running is less than 8000 kms, you should opt for petrol only. I calculated with variables including, diesel and petrol cars, price diff, fuel price diff, maintenance diff and resale value diff that diesel cars should only be bought if your yearly mileage is more than approx 8000 kms and more. comparison was done between a new gen crdi common rail diesel engine,and a new gen variable time fuel injected petrol engine.
Comment by milan — August 8, 2011 @ 10:52 am
If your running is 1000 KMs a month ( i guess most of people who visits blogs are in this category
Petrol Cost (avg. milage of 14 KMPL) : 1000/14*67 = 4785 Rs.
Diesel Cost (avg Milage of 18 KMPL) + Maintainence cost ( 1 Rs/Km) : 1000/18*41+1000 = 3277 Rs.
Difference is 1508 Rs a month. so ROI is approx 5 Yrs if you have spent 1 Lac additional.
SO GO FOR PETROL : MORE PICK UP, COMFORT RIDE, LOW NOISE
Comment by rahul — August 24, 2011 @ 1:59 pm
Im considering New Swift for a average monthly travel of 1000 km (both city and highways).Petrol mileage is around 12-13 and Diesel’s around 16-17.The Maruthi sales person suggests go for Diesel only if monthly usage is more than 3000 km as the maintenance charges and frequency is higher.Is that true.What will be the maintenance charges of the Swift Petrol/Diesel.Please suggest.
Comment by Sanjay — August 26, 2011 @ 6:23 pm
Dear Milan ( More Précised)
Really after reading all reviews and forums I agree with Milans realistic variable consideration which are missed by lot people. Your calc are absolutely right today 8000 Km a year.
Comment by Sanjeev Yadav — August 31, 2011 @ 11:31 pm
I planned to buy a car (Petrol).
But after today’s news.. Petrol price hiked by INR 3. Diesel app. Rs 45 whereas petrol Rs.70. Confused whether to go for petrol or diesel car….:|,
calculating Rahul’s maths, 8000 more than 1 lac.
Also, no confirmation that petrol price will be 70 for 5 years. I do agree that diesel price will also be increased. But the ACCELERATION of petrol price is very much higher than that of diesel price.
In future,, dont go for years
, assume after one year the petrol price be INR 100/litre and that if diesel be INR 60/litre
REcalculating .. Makes a huge difference.
Confused a lotttttt,.
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My need:- max of 15 km per day then every 2 months will travel to my home town from chennai to cbe about 1000 km (up/down) My usage is about 1500 km/two months.
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Can any one suggest me a car. My options are Tata ev2 (which gives 25km/ltr) or Tata Vista or Hyundai i10 Magna 1.2 Kappa2 VTVT or Maruthi Ritz Vxi (Vdi) or Chevi Beat Petrol. Please do comment about the engine performance.
Then what about the engines… Kappa2 Engine with VTVT, K12 series and CRDi. which is a better one.
Comment by Dhana — September 16, 2011 @ 12:26 am
For your usage Petrol is better.I am thinking for Swift Vxi. I did’nt do any Research for car mentioned by you
Comment by ajayg — December 12, 2011 @ 8:42 pm
I’m a surgeon and my routine work in city by car is approx. 10 km per day. but I have choosen a diesel car ford fiesta.If you buy a Diesel you wont think about wallet while filling the car as Diesel is cheap and more miles you can travel and for going outside,i never think just take the car and move to any place. I’m happy that I have done right choice.I suggest to all the peoples that dont go on mathematics, just buy diesel cars as the prices for petrol are hiking so much.
Comment by Dr Anil Dongre — December 26, 2011 @ 10:16 pm