Optra - Petrol 1.6 v/s diesel 2.0 EDIT : Now booked Magnum Diesel

[manaa45]

hi friends

i am looking for a change from my NHC 2006 to an Optra, but i am highly confused because i cans see any proper long term ownership review for an Optra Petrol while there are many for Magnum here.

i have the following criteria and i would request you to vote on the basis of the points that i am mentioning here.

the car will be used by my parents and their daily average running is 50 kms for 20 days of the month and around 30 kms for rest of the days.

i am looking at an comfortable ride as it would be a mainly chauffeur driven car.

it will be carrying a lot of my company's material at an average of 50/60 kgs atleast 4 times a week. so i need something with a good boot space, good ground clearance ( atleast better then NHC which stands at 160 while OPTRA stands at 165) and a good flexible suspension.NHC, according to me has a rigid suspension and the bumps on the road are very prominent while driving. In fact the suspension springs or coils as it is called have not been able to withstand such weight and have contracted by a few inches leading to scraping of all the underbody parts at each and every bump/speed breaker.

the reason having choses OPTRA, is that it fits my requirements to a T

i am not looking at performance in relation to high speeds but surely looking at a car with good driveability and comfort.

now the real confusion starts. i am keen on buying a diesel but it means streching my budget to over a one lakh rupees. it still can be managed but will it be worth to invest around 1.5 lakhs more then a petrol jsut because i can save on diesel price.

as the parity between diesel and petrol is going down day by day and i dont intend to sell my car for atleast 4 years, will it be really worth that the savings that i have calculated. for eg. NHC consumes petrol worth 7500 Rs / month. in that comparision, at today's price of diesel at 37 rs it will consume diesel of aqround 5000 rs that means a saving of 2500 / month i.e maximum saving of 120000 over a period of 4 years.

i havent counted the service costs at all for both the versions but having decided to take up the complete service package that they are offering for 3 years/45000 kms for optra petrol as well as diesel, i beleive that i dont have to worry about that part.

so the bottom line for this poll is, looking at my budget of around 9.5 lakhs on road price for optra, should i put in another 1.5 lakhs for a diesel.

so now the ball in in your court, please help me decide what would be best for me as i have to decide in another 15 days time as to what i will buy.

please also do not suggest any other car as i have already decided to buy an OPTRA.

thanks for all the help.

Mansi

P.s Mods if you think you want to merge this thread with existing one, please do so.

[Sahil]

Oops...i voted for diesel accidently... my i guess my heart just clicks on diesel

But for your case petrol makes more sense as the running is low.

[hsejars]

I think the base model of Magnum Diesel comes at 9.5L on road. So you will not have to stretch that much. Of course it may not have all the bells & whistles found in the top end Optra Petrol but it has quite decent specs. Given your requirements, the base model should do you pretty well.

[HotChillyPepper]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Oops...i voted for diesel accidently... my i guess my heart just clicks on diesel

But for your case petrol makes more sense as the running is low.

Im using diesel magnum for 2 months. Feels its a real value for money. With respect to drivability, apart from the initial turbo lag its better than the petrol version.

[hondadude]

Originally Posted by manaa45

hi friends
as the parity between diesel and petrol is going down day by day and i dont intend to sell my car for atleast 4 years, will it be really worth that the savings that i have calculated. for eg. NHC consumes petrol worth 7500 Rs / month. in that comparision, at today's price of diesel at 37 rs it will consume diesel of aqround 5000 rs that means a saving of 2500 / month i.e maximum saving of 120000 over a period of 4 years.

You have sorta answered your question yourself here . I voted for Petrol.

There could be an argument in diesel's favor if we look at resale value but Optra in general isn't selling all that well so resale won't be great anyway. Nevertheless Optra has a great ride and is very comfortable. Factor in the 3 year service package that GM offers and you have a very good deal.

Go for the Petrol!

OT: Why aren't you considering Corolla ?

[aaggoswami]

Its diesel. The running cost are low and the ease of use is good because of high torque avaliable.

[karanraheja]

Diesel it is! The base model should fit your budget.

[abhinav.gupta88]

Your running is around 1300 kms a month so I think Petrol will be fine as the break even cost would come quite late. Also you dispose of cars early ( Read NHC 2006 to go out) , so reaching to the break even cost will not be attained at this running.

P.S. I too voted for Deisel but forgot that your running is low.

[snaronikar]

Voted for Diesel. Just because of FE, less fuel cost and suits your requirement. If you want to add accessories, you can do that at later stage. But it has a perfect specs for what you are looking for....

[Jeep]

It should be diesel. More than the 120,000 that you are going to save on fuel costs, diesel will fetch you a lot more in resale

[aditya.86]

Go in for the diesel. Guess the optra petrol returns lesses compared to the magnum for a litre.

[manaa45]

many thanks to all for the replies.

can anyone update me with the FE figures for both petrol as well as diesel.

i can see the results of the poll veering towards diesel.

[airfoil]

If it has to be an Optra, then it has to be diesel powered. The petrol Optra is boring; IMO your NHC is a better car and is probably worth keeping.

[suman]

Originally Posted by manaa45

can anyone update me with the FE figures for both petrol as well as diesel.

Manaa45, you should PM Shuvd & Rudra for the FE figures

[RX135]

Originally Posted by manaa45

many thanks to all for the replies.

can anyone update me with the FE figures for both petrol as well as diesel.

i can see the results of the poll veering towards diesel.

I wouldn't just go by the poll results.

I am surprised that everyone is suggesting you diesel for FE, low running cost etc, in spite of your calculations about monthly running/break-even costs. Diesel doesn't make much sense for you.

Another thing is about resale! Traditionally diesels don't hold as much resale value as Petrol after few years. Things may have changed recently with CRDi, but this has always been the case earlier. I can be wrong in current context, but I do know people still apprehensive of maintenance of a diesel vehicle.

One thing I found contradictory in your first post, is about NHC and Optra suspension. If NHC suspension is rigid, it won't get compressed much under load contrary to what you say. A soft suspension is prone to scrapping under load, while a hard/rigid suspension won't. Softer suspension of course gives much plusher ride at lower speeds.