[samsan02]

Buy diesel if you really feel the need for it i.e your monthly running is very high. i20 CRDi is more powerful and is surely better to drive but its expensive. IMHO I found i20 petrol to be underpowered, especially try to go up an exit ramp in some apartment complexes from underground parkings. But it should be adequate in city driving.
Now coming to the financial aspect as you mentioned below.

Originally Posted by karthik_rao

A price difference of 1.2 lakh today will probably be somewhat offset by a relsale price that is around 50 k better. So I effectively need to make up around 70K of extra capex, which, at a saving of Rs 2 per KM, will be covered in 35000 Km. I am sure I will do that much in three years. I havent covered for higher maintenance, but I am assuming that the New Age Diesel is as easy to maintain as a Petrol.

As per your calculations above you will start realising FE gains from your third year onwards, but thats when you want to sell the car. So how is it helping. And further 1.2 L saved today by buying a petrol against a Diesel will fetch you more at the end of 3 years, just calculate investing that 1.2 L in some bank/ good Mutual Funds for 3 years and earning the interest on it. For example At 7% interest you can get 1.47 L at the end of 3 years.
Now your fuel costs for 3 years
If petrol 35000 km / 13 kmpl(avg of city + highway) = 2692 liters X 50 Rs/lt. = 1,34,600
If Diesel 35000 km / 17 kmpl(avg of city + highway) = 2059 liters X 37 Rs/lt. = 76,183
Difference = 58,417 (saved over petrol) (70k savings for 35k on the odo is a tough ask i guess)
Lets say after 3 years you get a resale of X.5L for Diesel and XL for petrol as per your assumption.

So at the end of 3 years after selling your car you will be left with
If Diesel = X.5L + 58k(saved money) = Y.08L
If Petrol = X.0L + 1.47L = Y.47L
and ofcourse no car.

I din't consider any maintenance costs here. So for another 40k you need to drive still more to reach a break even point.

So the logic holds if your driving is more then it makes more sense to go for diesel. But In your case just 10 kms per day is very less, i.e 300 km plus 4 weekends say another 4 X 200 = 800 kms Total = 1100 kms
1100 X 12 = 13200 km per year, thats 39600 kms in 3 years. Provided you travel every weekend for 3 years.
So you do the math and choose what is right for you. Good Luck !

[akshaymahajan]

Wow sam. Why are you into IT? You should be a CA or something.
A friend of mine is in the same confusion. We went to the Maruti Showroom. We asked the salesperson for a Swift Vdi. When we told him our running would be around 1000kms per month, he said that its not a good idea to buy a diesel. According to him "Sir agar Swift Vxi ki servicing Rs1000 ki hai to Vdi ki Rs2200 ki hogi. And if you go on a trip where you drive for around a 1000 kms in 2 days you need to get the car serviced again even if you just got it serviced before 2000 kms. Something to do with a dry diesel engine."
My friend just wants a car for sheer driving thrill so will be booking the car tomorrow.
Please tell me that we are making the right decision and maintenance is not two and a half times.

[malgudi]

All the Maths, calculations are fine and point towards the 1.2 Petrol. All I can say is testdrive the Diesel before finalising. The sheer pleasure that you would gain in those 3 years would compensate for the 50K or so difference

[samsan02]

Originally Posted by akshaymahajan

Wow sam. Why are you into IT? You should be a CA or something.

No dude, IT is better ofcourse these calculations any car buyer would think of before finalising on something.
See CRDi is no comparision to 1.2 kappa, they are of different segments CC wise and torque wise so even price diff of whopping 1.2L is somewhat justified. But just for city driving 1.2 kappa would be sufficient I feel.
But if one has the cash and can buy a diesel for the sheer pleasure of driving rather than benefitting much on FE persepective then all this math just goes to trash. He mentioned the financial aspect of buying the car so I wanted to show some numbers if it does really work that way.

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by samsan02

No dude, IT is better ofcourse these calculations any car buyer would think of before finalising on something.
See CRDi is no comparision to 1.2 kappa, they are of different segments CC wise and torque wise so even price diff of whopping 1.2L is somewhat justified. But just for city driving 1.2 kappa would be sufficient I feel.
But if one has the cash and can buy a diesel for the sheer pleasure of driving rather than benefitting much on FE persepective then all this math just goes to trash. He mentioned the financial aspect of buying the car so I wanted to show some numbers if it does really work that way.

Saved me a thread! I20 petrol for my bro then. Thanks!

[SamtheLeo]

Though I agree that Petrol is certainly better in performance on road but i dont think nowadays diesel engine lack anywhere far behind .

@ Akshay : Yes you will inccur more servcing cost but on the other hand you save money with every Km you drive & nowadays diesel servicing is getting cheaper & not as frequent (some do it 15k -20 k kms)

So i belive (with my exp of 2 diesels) if you have an average running of 1000kms then you are even , you can choose any. the moment it runs above it you should seriously consider diesel.

[recshenoy]

The Polo is launched now! So you may TD the Polo and see if it suits your requirement! Delivery will start from 8th March

[darksoul]

I had the same question a few months ago, and loved the i20 diesel after a test drive. But the practical aspects of the purchase decision, like running costs, "break even" time, depreciation, everyday running distance etc helped me make my decision.

I went ahead and bought the i20 Asta 1.2 - after upgrading from a Santro, the 1.2 is more than sufficient. I've cruised at 140+ kmph on empty highways and endure stop-and-go rush hour traffic in Bangalore every day, and have no complaints at all.

The i20 Petrol Asta is a fantastic car, so whatever you choose, petrol or diesel, you can't go wrong.

[SCH]

With your type of running a Petrol Car suffices. Also the noise level on Diesel engines would be more compared to Petrol. Not every one gets used to the clatter of Diesel, and it increases more with passage of time.

[Simhi]

i20 petrol is underpowered unless you go for automatic gamma engine. i20 petrol manual has same kappa engine as i10 kappa. You wrote -"I do around 1000 km a month including some highway driving and weekend runabout in city." Therefore, on highway don't be surprised if you get overtaken by small hatchbacks like i10.

Otherwise for your running, I would recommend a petrol.

[quadra]

So what do you suggest for me ?

weekdays - 30km (to and fro) - going to office and back
Weekends - Alternate weekends ride from blore to chennai - 350km one way
+ going around in chennai = maybe 50 kms roaming in chennai
+ few rides to nearby places in chennai = cannot be calculated

30 * 20 working days = 600kms
700 (to and fro ) * 2 = 1400
Total = 2000kms
+ nearby places apporx = 500kms
NEW TOTAL = 2500

[ampere]

Originally Posted by quadra

So what do you suggest for me ?

weekdays - 30km (to and fro) - going to office and back
Weekends - Alternate weekends ride from blore to chennai - 350km one way
+ going around in chennai = maybe 50 kms roaming in chennai
+ few rides to nearby places in chennai = cannot be calculated

30 * 20 working days = 600kms
700 (to and fro ) * 2 = 1400
Total = 2000kms
+ nearby places apporx = 500kms
NEW TOTAL = 2500

Yes diesel is the way to go. If it was not for the bi-weekly highway travel, petrol would have served the purpose. I also do 30Km daily on weekdays.

[quadra]

Originally Posted by ampere

Yes diesel is the way to go. If it was not for the bi-weekly highway travel, petrol would have served the purpose. I also do 30Km daily on weekdays.

Thanks a lot ampere

[ampere]

Based on the other thread also , between i20 Diesel and Punto you should go for the Punto diesel. Even from VFM angle its better. 8L for diesel hatch does not make sense.

[karthik_rao]

I finally ended up ordering a Linea Diesel Emotion Pk. I like the looks, and the engine is in my opinion better than the i20 diesel. I also felt very sure with the handling the first time I drove the linea.
Am praying After Sales is not going to be a pain.