last year 88% of brand new cars were diesel

:eek:

OK, so please convert your countrymen to petrol users, so the diesel price goes down!

Guys

Bear with me if I am stating the absolute obvious here but here is something I was pretty sure of and is now support by VCA stats.

I was only looking at DSGs, they are outstanding automatics and I would not be without one in a car, I do about 20,000 a year mainly on motorways.

The best engine/fuel for performance/cost is the 1.8 TFSI 160bhp Petrol

Now I had looked into it and worked out that the CO2 rating was exceptional and the miles per gallon, good, especially when the diesel driver is being hammered at the pump (ie me for the last 5 years)

So I ordered the 1.8 DSG Elegance.

But now, looking ate the VCA figures I was absolutely right.

Diesels

140bhp DSG £1,485 per 12,000 miles / CO2 177 (ie Tax Group E)

170bhp DSG £1,331 per 12,000 miles / CO2 159 (tax group D)

Petrol

160bhp DSG £1,453 per 12,000 miles / CO2 165 (tax group D)

140 bhp diesel is £460 more expensive than the Petrol 160bhp:thumbdwn:

170 bhp diesel is £1,510 more expensive:thumbdwn:

So in cost comparison the 140bhp costs you £460 more to purchase, costs more in fuel per annum and is not as fast as the cheaper petrol variant.

and, the 170bhp costs more but will in 12 years time :eek: break even with the petrol overall, without any gains in performance.

having said that, I have probably missed something, somewhere,

Can someone put me straight, or is it really this simple?

Thanks

That all has the "feeling" of being absolutely correct............as long as the current petrol vs diesel delta remains............and at that annual mileage. A lot, (?), of folk who buy diesels for "economy" confuse mpg with overall cost. You need to do a fair few annual miles before the overall economics are in the diesel's favour. However, that's a simplistic view and people do buy diesels for reasons other than just "economy". If I was buying a new Superb to-day it would be a petrol version.

You might want to do the numbers at 20k miles per annum, (your pattern), and see what happens to them. The gaps will, (?), close but where the break-even or win points are I don't know.

Good post. Thank you.

Do the maths at 45k a year on 95% urban cycle then I'll be even more interested!