How more economical is a petrol vs diesel for me?

dinneenp

Hi,
I currently have a 2009 Saab 93, 1.9 tid linear se 150bhp, 42-51 mpg according to Parkers

I use it for driving to work, 12km trip one way (mainly main road, not much stop start)and 16km the other way (bendy country road 1/2 way, some stop start). Besides that I'd use it for short trips (1km, 3km) probably every second day- shop, sports and weekly 10km trip.

I'm wondering how much I'd save on fuel if I bought an economical petrol car, something like a 2010 Honda Civic, 47mpg, Seat Leon, 45 mpg. Would it be sub €100+ year or much more?

People say that you need to drive a diesel longer for the engine to warm up and to get the economical benefit.

Cheers,
Pa.

JtByrne

I was talking to a mechanic recently and he said that I should buy petrol if im driving in city as you need to drive at high speeds every so often to clear out a diesel.
Also there is talk recently that Europe is going to push for more petrols to be bought for environmental reasons which may lead to higher fuel and taxes on diesels in the future.

oppenheimer1

dinneenp wrote: »

Hi,
I currently have a 2009 Saab 93, 1.9 tid linear se 150bhp, 42-51 mpg according to Parkers

I use it for driving to work, 12km trip one way (mainly main road, not much stop start)and 16km the other way (bendy country road 1/2 way, some stop start). Besides that I'd use it for short trips (1km, 3km) probably every second day- shop, sports and weekly 10km trip.

I'm wondering how much I'd save on fuel if I bought an economical petrol car, something like a 2010 Honda Civic, 47mpg, Seat Leon, 45 mpg. Would it be sub ?100+ year or much more?

People say that you need to drive a diesel longer for the engine to warm up and to get the economical benefit.

Cheers,
Pa.

Have you any idea of your actual MPG?

professore

I doubt you would save anything on fuel. Where you would save is expensive servicing, and stuff exploding / needing replacement like flywheels,DPFs, turbos etc.

bazz26

OP, are you factoring in the cost of trading up into your figures too? If your current car is not giving any trouble I'd tend to keep it. It only might make sense to consider changing from diesel to petrol if your current car starts giving trouble as a result of your change in driving style or your changing cars anyway.

A hybrid might be worth looking at too.

SBPhoto

professore wrote: »

I doubt you would save anything on fuel. Where you would save is expensive servicing, and stuff exploding / needing replacement like flywheels,DPFs, turbos etc.

This more expensive servicing on a diesel quote is very misleading, if maintained and driven properly they are no more expensive to maintain than a petrol. There was a tread on this very topic recently

dinneenp

Thanks for the posts.
I've no idea of actual mpg. The lcd display shows 'fuel 0 47.8mpg' cut don't know from when that is or if it changes.
I get the cat serviced at a decent price.
Wouldn't be willing to add much onto the price.
Will keep.

ShadowHearth

As mentioned already. By changing car and paying extra, you wont save any money. You will lose. Unless you want a change, then its different.
Petrol would be better in your case, maybe you wont save much or even iver pay at pump, but you wont have any issues you will have with diesel doing small milage.
For now it is holding on, so keep driving it. No point in change.

dinneenp

ShadowHearth wrote: »

As mentioned already. By changing car and paying extra, you wont save any money. You will lose. Unless you want a change, then its different.
Petrol would be better in your case, maybe you wont save much or even iver pay at pump, but you wont have any issues you will have with diesel doing small milage.
For now it is holding on, so keep driving it. No point in change.

Hi,
Late reply but I wonder every now and again about this. Say I sell my 2.0 Saab 93 diesel and buy a petrol for the same price would I save money? I've always heard that petrol is better for short journeys, diesel takes time to warm up so doesn't become economical as quickly.

Cheers,
Pa.

colm_mcm

Even when cold I would say a diesel 93 would be more economical than a 1.8t

dinneenp

colm_mcm wrote: »

Even when cold I would say a diesel 93 would be more economical than a 1.8t

I'd be looking at something like a 1.3 or 1.4 petrol, like this Honda Civic 1.3l (ignore the price).

bazz26

Spending more money to save money is never financially sound. Unless your driving style is causing issues I'd just keep the 9-3.

JohnBoy26

dinneenp wrote: »

I'd be looking at something like a 1.3 or 1.4 petrol, like this Honda Civic 1.3l (ignore the price).

That car is seriously overpriced. The 1.8 I vtec would be a better bet if buying a civic. Only €110 more to tax, way more power better spec'd more economical and nicer to drive.

Mooooo

For op's use a second hand electric would surely be the way to go.

acronym Chilli

dinneenp wrote: »

Thanks for the posts.
I've no idea of actual mpg. The lcd display shows 'fuel 0 47.8mpg' cut don't know from when that is or if it changes.
I get the cat serviced at a decent price.
Wouldn't be willing to add much onto the price.
Will keep.

start tracking your fuel use, get an app on your phone. Fuelly seems to be really popular, and has neat feature of being able to look at stats from real cars online. Personally I settled on Fuelio some time back, and it does everything I want. Just checked and have 35,384 miles logged so far, just over 5000l of petrol, and €6,369.15 spent, average fuel consumption of 8.77 l/100km (Saab 2.0t, 2002).

It's really only a tiny bit of effort to log the info (half a minute per visit to the petrol station: 3 numbers, odometer mileage, litres of fuel, price (either of purchase, or per litre), and if not a complete fill up tick the box to say so), and means you can track your true fuel consumption.

dinneenp

acronym Chilli wrote: »

start tracking your fuel use, get an app on your phone. Fuelly seems to be really popular, and has neat feature of being able to look at stats from real cars online. Personally I settled on Fuelio some time back, and it does everything I want. Just checked and have 35,384 miles logged so far, just over 5000l of petrol, and €6,369.15 spent, average fuel consumption of 8.77 l/100km (Saab 2.0t, 2002).

It's really only a tiny bit of effort to log the info (half a minute per visit to the petrol station: 3 numbers, odometer mileage, litres of fuel, price (either of purchase, or per litre), and if not a complete fill up tick the box to say so), and means you can track your true fuel consumption.

Thanks, installed Fuelio.

Sam Kade

SBPhoto wrote: »

This more expensive servicing on a diesel quote is very misleading, if maintained and driven properly they are no more expensive to maintain than a petrol. There was a tread on this very topic recently

A Diesel engine is heavier and causes more wear on front joints and more tyre wear. Also more frequent servicing than petrol. I've owned both petrol and diesel and the maintainence of diesel was always dearer. Anyone that says differently must be changing to newer cars regularly.