Fuel Costs/Usage

gaillimh

Hi.
Apologies if this is a stupid question but anyway here goes...
I have a 2003 Audi A3 1.6L petrol.

I'm looking at purchasing a 2012 diesel Audi A4 2.0L.

I'm trying to calculate how much it will cost me to run the A4.
I've been looking at official fuel consumption figures (I know these are not necessarily always accurate).
The A3 has an "urban combined" mpg of 36.2mpg.
For arguments sake say the A4 is exactly double that at 72.4mpg (it is a little less in reality) - does this mean that I get 50% more out of a full tank?
So if €70 worth of fuel were to last me 7 days in the A3 - it should last 14 days in the A4?
Or am I misunderstanding things?
Cheers.
And again this may be a silly question I'm just unsure

flyguy

Well diesel is cheaper so for €70 you get more fuel anyway... Comparing the 2 it wouldn't surprise me if you'd save half on fuel cost, add to that the road tax savings. Insurance likely dearer for the A4, you'll still save loads though...

CiniO

Can you link to any source saying that A4 is doing 72mpg in combined cycle?

Do you mostly drive in the city/town or on national roads/motorways?

9935452

i have a 2009 A4 2.0tdi which is averaging 40/45mpg to a tank with 50/50 long short trips. it will do 60mpg on a long trip if i drive like a granny at 80kmph.
Diesel is cheaper per litre but there is more to go wrong with a diesel, DMF, DPF injectors, , heavier engine means more wear on tyres brakes etc. Insurance will be dearer as well

bazz26

Not a hope of getting anywhere near 72mpg in the real world anyway. Anything over 50mpg would be very good imo.

OP what sort of driving do you do, annual mileage? If its mostly short trips, lots of stop/starts then even a diesel car will not be overly frugal as a diesel engine takes longer to warm up.

flyguy

Agree of course he won't get 72mpg, but neither will he get 36mpg in his current A3. As for things going wrong, diesels tend to massively outlive petrols...

Atlantic Dawn

Also calculate the depreciation cost to run it, 50% of the value of the car every 3 years.

bazz26

flyguy wrote: »

Agree of course he won't get 72mpg, but neither will he get 36mpg in his current A3. As for things going wrong, diesels tend to massively outlive petrols...

DPFs, DMFs, turbos and injectors don't tend to however. You need to consider all costs involved not just the headline savings.

gaillimh

Thanks for the input so far guys.
I live in the city (about 3 or 4 miles from my work) & probably drive to my hometown (about 20 miles away) 2-3 times a week for football training,games etc. I'd be doing the usual mileage running around the city as well for everyday stuff - shops,cinema,dining etc - nothing too far distance wise.

Within the next year I will be moving back to my hometown so will be driving 20 miles to and from work each day then.

I was considering getting an older A4 or A6 (2009 or 2010) but the 2012 model seems to have much improved mpg figures and is also cheaper tax wise.

ShaunieVW

flyguy wrote: »

Agree of course he won't get 72mpg, but neither will he get 36mpg in his current A3. As for things going wrong, diesels tend to massively outlive petrols...

I'd say he would, I get 35mpg constantly out of my a3 with a 1.8t though and I've a lead foot! The a4 on the other hand will struggle to get out of the 40s on a regular basis, depends on driving style and conditions though!

Crumbs868

gaillimh wrote: »

Thanks for the input so far guys.
I live in the city (about 3 or 4 miles from my work) & probably drive to my hometown (about 20 miles away) 2-3 times a week for football training,games etc. I'd be doing the usual mileage running around the city as well for everyday stuff - shops,cinema,dining etc - nothing too far distance wise.

Within the next year I will be moving back to my hometown so will be driving 20 miles to and from work each day then.

This is a perfect thread to unleash the anti diesel brigade! What a dream start to a Sunday morning!

Attack and copy and paste the template replies. Bonus marks for buzz words like dpf, dmf (even if you don't know what these do but you read about it on the Internet) and cheap tax

flyguy

To get more balanced comments the OP should be asking should he get a diesel or petrol 2012 A4? Wonder how many would then still say get the petrol....

Johnny K

gaillimh wrote:

I'm trying to calculate how much it will cost me to run the A4. I've been looking at official fuel consumption figures (I know these are not necessarily always accurate). The A3 has an "urban combined" mpg of 36.2mpg. For arguments sake say the A4 is exactly double that at 72.4mpg (it is a little less in reality) - does this mean that I get 50% more out of a full tank? So if €70 worth of fuel were to last me 7 days in the A3 - it should last 14 days in the A4? Or am I misunderstanding things? Cheers. And again this may be a silly question I'm just unsure

The straight answer here is that yes you get double the mileage as in your example. However stated mpg not to be trusted try honest John website to gauge talk world. PS I like your maths double the distance equals 50% more. Should be 100% lol. Good luck with the new car

Special Circumstances

Crumbs868 wrote: »

This is a perfect thread to unleash the anti diesel brigade! What a dream start to a Sunday morning!

Attack and copy and paste the template replies. Bonus marks for buzz words like dpf, dmf (even if you don't know what these do but you read about it on the Internet) and cheap tax

Lol wot? Guaranteed half the fuel costs and an engine that will definitely outlive any petrol? And good for the environment too? There are zero negatives for most people.

Go for it gaillimh, don't listen to this guy telling you there are crazy people who don't like diesel engines and their buzzwords. You could save a few hundred a year looking at your mileage.

firestarter51

go for the bigger deisel, i did the same thing 5 years ago, i was spending 100 a week on petrol now averaging 50 and the benefit of cheaper tax, only problem i had was an emissions build up at the nct, which i was told was from driving like a granny lol
so i put the boot down every now and then just to clear it

Crumbs868

firestarter51 wrote: »

go for the bigger deisel, i did the same thing 5 years ago, i was spending 100 a week on petrol now averaging 50 and the benefit of cheaper tax, only problem i had was an emissions build up at the nct, which i was told was from driving like a granny lol
so i put the boot down every now and then just to clear it

...

KFed

Mileage 10000 10000

A3 A4
MPG 32.00 45.00
Gallons 312.50 222.22
Litres 1,418.75 1,008.89
Cost per litre 1.43 1.33
2,028.81 1,341.82
Tax 514 270
Total 2,542.81 1,611.82
Depreciation - 2,500.00 Being 20k/8 years
Maintenance 1,000.00 500.00 Assuming a 12 year old A3 will start to have isssues
Total 3,542.81 4,611.82

I reckon the A4 would be about one thousand cheaper to run (from fuel and tax perspective). Assuming the A3 (as a 12 year old) needs more maintenance too then it's probably more like 1,500 a year cheaper.

If you consider depreciation/loan repayments though, chances are the A4 is more expensive to run. Not my a vast amount, maybe 1k a year.

At the end of the day though, a 12 year old A3 isn't going to last forever so you'll have to change sometime and there isn't a vast difference in running the older A3 versus the newer A4 due to the lower tax / fuel costs.

Up to you whether you want to run the A3 until it dies (at it's age and assuming no big repair bills) then with minimal depreciation it's very cheap motoring, or switch to something newer and more powerful for little extra money.

browniepoints

KFed wrote: »

Mileage 10000 10000

A3 A4
MPG 32.00 45.00
Gallons 312.50 222.22
Litres 1,418.75 1,008.89
Cost per litre 1.43 1.33
2,028.81 1,341.82
Tax 514 270
Total 2,542.81 1,611.82
Depreciation - 2,500.00 Being 20k/8 years
Maintenance 1,000.00 500.00 Assuming a 12 year old A3 will start to have isssues
Total 3,542.81 4,611.82

I reckon the A4 would be about one thousand cheaper to run (from fuel and tax perspective). Assuming the A3 (as a 12 year old) needs more maintenance too then it's probably more like 1,500 a year cheaper.

If you consider depreciation/loan repayments though, chances are the A4 is more expensive to run. Not my a vast amount, maybe 1k a year.

At the end of the day though, a 12 year old A3 isn't going to last forever so you'll have to change sometime and there isn't a vast difference in running the older A3 versus the newer A4 due to the lower tax / fuel costs.

Up to you whether you want to run the A3 until it dies (at it's age and assuming no big repair bills) then with minimal depreciation it's very cheap motoring, or switch to something newer and more powerful for little extra money.

Agreed the problem is the daily commute to work of 20 miles really isn't enough to get the full benifits of the diesel engines .
You will get many of the benifits from the diesel but 50 mile plus on motorways commutes give the best saving using diesel versus petrol .
So it is your call on this one is the A3 to old to hack it

Jed

gaillimh

Thanks again for all the replies.
I've had some problems with the A3 so have put a nice bit of money into fixing things over the years (I've had it nearly 8 years now).
To be honest I just want a change now. And I want something a little bigger than the A3.

Stheno

gaillimh wrote: »

Thanks again for all the replies.
I've had some problems with the A3 so have put a nice bit of money into fixing things over the years (I've had it nearly 8 years now).
To be honest I just want a change now. And I want something a little bigger than the A3.

The sort of driving and mileage you are and will be doing are probably better suited to a petrol engine