Diesel savings

patrickincork

Hi,

I'm driving a 2008 Nissan Qashqai 1.6 SE petrol at the moment. Just started a new job where i'll be driving 600km a week to and from work, as well as evening and weekend city driving. Am i better off to get a diesel? If i sell my Qashqai now, i'll be taking a big hit but will it be worth it with the savings on tax and diesel?

Thanks in advance

Hiace.

patrickincork wrote: »

Hi,

I'm driving a 2008 Nissan Qashqai 1.6 SE petrol at the moment. Just started a new job where i'll be driving 600km a week to and from work, as well as evening and weekend city driving. Am i better off to get a diesel? If i sell my Qashqai now, i'll be taking a big hit but will it be worth it with the savings on tax and diesel?

Thanks in advance

That's about 19.5k miles per year, about 20k per year is considered the start of economic diesel territory, so you're only on the borderline. You have to compare like with like, i.e. a diesel Qashqai with the same km's on it, will be more expensive to buy, will cost slightly more to mechanically maintain in the long run, and has more that can wrong with it than the petrol one has, so at 19.5k it would probably balance out overall.

You could consider trading slightly down to something like an 08 focus diesel, but that is another ballgame, and is not a like for like comparison.

If you're otherwise happy with your Qashqai, i'd hold onto it.

killwill

Well I went from a 1.8 Accord to a diesel Passat and am saving €200 a month and I don't do that kind of milage at all.

bazz26

killwill wrote: »

Well I went from a 1.8 Accord to a diesel Passat and am saving €200 a month and I don't do that kind of milage at all.

When you calculated that savings did you take into account the cost of trading up from the Accord to the Passat?

CiniO

Convert it to use LPG.
It will probably result even cheaper than diesel.

homer90

CiniO wrote: »

Convert it to use LPG.
It will probably result even cheaper than diesel.

Would make sense, However LPG is all but gone in most forecourts now.

shedweller

patrickincork wrote: »

Hi,

I'm driving a 2008 Nissan Qashqai 1.6 SE petrol at the moment. Just started a new job where i'll be driving 600km a week to and from work, as well as evening and weekend city driving. Am i better off to get a diesel? If i sell my Qashqai now, i'll be taking a big hit but will it be worth it with the savings on tax and diesel?

Thanks in advance

Based on the combined l/100k of the qashqai being 6.7 and your average diesel doing 5 L/100k, you will save 936 euro per year on fuel bills by switching to diesel. Not a lot really but it is subject to my figures. Your actual figures may be different.

Your current motor tax is 447 i believe? You'd most likely get a diesel car with a 150 (for now) euro motor tax so you'll save a further 297 per year. Thats a total of 1233 euro per year.
Thats what, nearly two weeks average after tax pay?

If anyone wants to chime in about (actual, not scaremongering;)) servicing costs it would help refine the above figures.

roosterman71

bazz26 wrote: »

When you calculated that savings did you take into account the cost of trading up from the Accord to the Passat?

Trading up?

Hiace.

shedweller wrote: »

Based on the combined l/100k of the qashqai being 6.7 and your average diesel doing 5 L/100k, you will save 936 euro per year on fuel bills by switching to diesel. Not a lot really but it is subject to my figures. Your actual figures may be different.

Your current motor tax is 447 i believe? You'd most likely get a diesel car with a 150 (for now) euro motor tax so you'll save a further 297 per year. Thats a total of 1233 euro per year.
Thats what, nearly two weeks average after tax pay?

If anyone wants to chime in about (actual, not scaremongering;)) servicing costs it would help refine the above figures.

You've not factored in how much it will cost him to trade in the petrol and buy a diesel with the same mileage on it and as good a condition, and one that he knows the history of with regard to washed diesel etc. etc, which modern diesels are very sensitive to over time.

I've been driving diesels since they first became popular in the early 80's, but back then diesel was half the price of petrol, and diesels were far more robust. I stil drive a diesel and I currently also run a petrol car for my wife. Taking all current cost factors into account, I reckon you still need be doing approx. 20k plus before you'd bother your arse with a diesel. I will be doing my sums very carefully before buying any over complex modern diesels any more. Diesel cars have their uses though, every situation is different.

shedweller

Hiace. wrote: »

You've not factored in how much it will cost him to trade in the petrol and buy a diesel with the same mileage on it and as good a condition, and one that he knows the history of with regard to washed diesel etc. etc, which modern diesels are very sensitive to over time.

True. I figured it was a grey area and also better suited to somebody more knowlegable on the subject.
I just wanted to point out the fuel bit as it is a given. Trade in prices vary a bit.

I suppose it must also be pointed out that at the figures i mentioned earlier, the OP would save 12,233 euro in fuel and tax alone over the next ten years if he went for a diesel now and held onto it for the next ten years.

Bangernomic City!

Trade in cost would have to come out of that. The difference in servicing costs will have to be calculated too. Random breakdowns cannot be realistically priced into this. Maybe extra tyre wear on the diesel but after that......

After all is said and done the OP is looking at a saving of 23 euro per week by switching to a diesel, based on fuel and tax only. It's not a lot and it could be saved by a number of other means, like cutting down on cans at the weekend etc. Perish the thought but it may have to be done OP!!