Is diesel dead?

With petrol at 119.9p per litre and diesel at 131.9p is it still worth running a diesel car?

It means petrol is now £5.57p per gallon.
Diesel is £6.13 per gallon.

What does this mean for the motorist?

First thing is you pay a premium to buy a diesel car. Roughly £1,000.00. Over the past 6-7 years you would have mostly likely got the premium back when you sold the car. With diesel prices as they are it can’t be predicted that you will get the premium back.

Here’s how petrol and diesel compare. I’ve simply divided an average 12,000 miles per year by the combined fuel consumption in mpg of the car models to arrive at how many gallons of fuel is needed and multiplied it by the price per gallon.

Vauxhall Corsa manual super-mini

1.2 16v – 48.7mpg, needs 246.4 gallons to cover 12,000 miles at cost of £1,372.00
1.3 CDTi 16v (75PS) – 62.8mpg needs 191.1 gallons costing £1,171.00
You’re £200.00 better of with the diesel but you pay a £805.00 more for a diesel Corsa. It takes about 4-years to get the premium back.

Vauxhall Zafira manual MPV

1.6 16v – 39.2mpg, needs 306.1 gallons to cover 12,000 miles at cost of £1,705.00
1.9 CDTi (120PS) – 47.1mpg needs 254.8 gallons costing £1,561.00
You’re £143.00 better of with the diesel but you pay a £1990.00 more for a diesel Zafira than a 1.6 or £1,265.00 more than a 1.8 petrol. It takes nearly 9-years to get your premium back.

Chevrolet Epica manual large saloon

2.0 petrol – 34.5mpg, needs 347.8 gallons to cover 12,000 miles at cost of £1,937.00
2.0 diesel – 46.3mpg needs 259.1 gallons costing £1,588.00
You’re £348.00 better of with the diesel but you pay a £1,000.00 more for a diesel Epica. It takes nearly 3-years to get the premium back.

Here’s a surprise:

If a petrol SUV did 31.7mpg it would cost £2,108 for 12,000 miles
If the diesel version returned 37.1mpg it would cost £1,982, only a £125 difference.

A change of 3p in the price of a litre of fuel can make a difference.

Regards
Ralph
www.chevroletreviewsandprices.co.uk