[krish82]

This thread discusses about buying diesel car because of increase in petrol price. I really dont think that the people who are very rich will be affected, or persons having 2 to 3 cars affected due to this. Its doesn't make sense to say get a petrol as well as diesel. But speaking seriously to beat the cost, i have some points to share.

1. At least try to take Office bus or other alternative for one month in a year to beat the price increase. You can save 7k easily so will easily overcome the price for the year.

2. I drive a preowned Optra for 3 lakhs + and do not repent, it gives me 11.5 kmpl in drive daily to office, where as a smallest Figo diesel would have costs me 5.5 lakhs with added EMI and Diesel and insurance cost. Also i enjoy the luxury of Optra, Its a clear head turner, some people who don't know about cars think it cost 10 lakhs and don't believe when i say 3 lakhs. But its not about optra, any clever 2nd hand buy may save you lot of money and you can easily feed your car of petrol for 3 more years.

3. Also i have heard petrol cars are more environment friendy, so why dont we go with it. When people can buy Toyota priyus or civic hybrid for environment, people choose drive petrol too .

4. Else decrease your spending on something else, like eat twice less in a food outlet.

[Screwdriva]

Don't sell CNG short! Over the course of 5 years of ownership, you'll save lacs of money AND pollute Mumbai's over-polluted air much less!

I'd HIGHLY recommend any of Maruti's' Green CNG cars!

[krish82]

Also my dreams to buy a preowned Accord now seems shattered, i was thinking i will save for next 2 to 3 years and get an Accord within 10 lakhs, which will be very hard task, as petrol prices may be 100 Rs then!

[cingsman]

Friends,

For a long time now, have I been reading pro-diesel comments on this forum. About a couple of months ago, I was on the road to buying an i20 (Asta - top end w/o Nav). Amid much ambivalence, I decided to check out the pure economics of it all - petrol or diesel. I had built a simple Expert System to give myself a crude idea of: having bought a diesel car by paying a premium, how much time does it take to break even vis-a-vis buying the petrol variant.

Attaching an Excel sheet for your convenience. Just fill in the details in the boxes with the Red font and you shall have your answers! The numbers in there are my numbers for the i20. So at a break-even time-frame of 5 years, I thought it'd be a better choice for me to buy the petrol variant.

I have included only the basic assumptions - so read the notes in the excel for a better idea. Enjoy the calculations - and let me know what you feel about it!!

Cheers,
Cingsman

[aniketi]

Originally Posted by SR-71

Correct me if I am wrong - What about engine life ? Isnt it true that a good diesel car would be worth its salt only till 1L Kms whereas a good petrol engine (in similar segment) would be happy to do another 50 to 60 K on the ODO. So wouldnt it make sense to buy a petrol if its long term ownership ?

Basically it depends on how you maintain your car. If you don't maintain petrol car, even it is not going to last for long. Same with diesel. I have seen many Tata Indica's run over 3-4 lacs kms, that also in taxi segment means not maintained so well & abused a lot. Now what will you say about that? So it all depends on how you maintain any vehicle. If you keep doing regular services including oil changes, even M800 will last for 2-3 lacs kms easily

[vina]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Basically it depends on how you maintain your car. If you don't maintain petrol car, even it is not going to last for long. Same with diesel. I have seen many Tata Indica's run over 3-4 lacs kms, that also in taxi segment means not maintained so well & abused a lot. Now what will you say about that? So it all depends on how you maintain any vehicle. If you keep doing regular services including oil changes, even M800 will last for 2-3 lacs kms easily

There is a big misconception that the Taxi guys don't maintain their cars well. In fact an average taxi guy maintains his car far better than an average personal car owner.

I have been using taxis very extensively and have talked to several Indica and Logan taxi guys (when I was researching on which car to buy), invariably they swore by servicing every 5000km and 10000km respectively, invariably the Indica guys went to the same mechanics every time, and sometimes went to the the TASS (when the mechanic told them it was a "software problem"), invairably they would change their oil, belts etc. on the suggested intervals.


Also, while many (most?) the call center drivers are maniacs, almost none of the Meru/Easycabs drivers and very few of the Dot Cabs (Hyderabad's own radio-Indica service - as large as Meru here) drivers are. Other taxi services are a different story.

Most of the abuse in their cars is superficial - the seat covers are dirty etc.



Several years ago I was working in Noida and the taxi operator for the company had almost 50 cars for us. I used to travel back home past midnight every night. Barring 3 or 4 of them every one of the drivers was very good, and some were extreme defensive guys (they could predict the behaviour of others on the road 100s of meters in advance) - in fact several of my colleagues were really bad drivers in comparison.

[Aroy]

I got my Alto K10 in August last year, till date I have clocked only 2,600 km, by the end of the year of ownership I may cross 3,500. I am extremely happy and do not think that a diesel car would have saved me any money. Still if I ever get an SUV I would get a diesel one, primarily as I would use it for pleasure travel in hills, so both the FE and Torque would be an added plus.

In Europe, diesel is more expensive compared to petrol, still a lot of diesel cars are sold there. There has to be an inherent advantage to owning diesels for people to go for them when both the capital cost as well as the fuel cost is more.

[shashank.nk]

Our diesel is due for upgradation in the next few months, and if the current trend continues we're sure to stick to a diesel as the difference between petrol and diesel is too much to ignore.
On another note, since we have a petrol and a diesel, i always use the diesel when i know i'm running more than 12kms as it works out cheaper. The petrol is only restricted to small runs because it costs Rs.75 for every 10 kms! Also the additional torque helps in city traffic

[k_ajay]

Originally Posted by ikoneer

Considering the number of times petrol rates has been revised in a year and considering my 8.8 kmpl mileage from i10, what choide have i got but to regret.

8.8kmpl from an i10 :O That is shocking. And I am complaining that my 1.4 petrol Fabia is only returning 11kmpl. Whatever be the case, considering the mileage the current crop of diesel engines achieve, my next car is definitely going to be a diesel.

Originally Posted by SR-71

Correct me if I am wrong - What about engine life ? Isnt it true that a good diesel car would be worth its salt only till 1L Kms whereas a good petrol engine (in similar segment) would be happy to do another 50 to 60 K on the ODO. So wouldnt it make sense to buy a petrol if its long term ownership ?

SR, do you think that car owners these days stick on to their vehicle until 1 lakh kms? If yes, how many of them do so? It's quite rare and likely where the car is a 1st, 2nd or 3rd one in the family or kept for sentimental/emotional value. As far as I know, most owners replace their cars within 3-5 yrs of ownership. So it's possible the above statement doesn't even come into consideration.

[ac 427]

interesting points are being made here.

my decision to buy a cng alto is purely because i want a commuter. i want a car before the rains hit mumbai, and turn the whole city into one big gutter.

and hence i am buying a cng powered vehicle, purely as my objective is a commuter vehicle. having said that i still have a std 350 - 1978 and cl 500 which GULP petrol in HUGE quantities. have i thought about selling those 2 - NOPES. Never.

But I do see companies investing in alternate fuels and that is the way for the auto industry.

cheers,
ac

[n:CorE]

Originally Posted by GTO

You can get away with enjoying a petrol car - and you really can't match the high-revving sensation of a petrol in anything else - as long as you have another diesel in the house for the high mileage running.

VW has given the Vento a great diesel, but the Polo's 1.2 L is poor. Too much lag and not that much power. I don't think VW has brought anything revolutionary to the sub 10 lakh segment. On the other hand, Hyundai was the first to bring crdi engines at a lower price point, while it's the Fiat MJD that really took common-rail turbos to the masses.

You do have a point, GTO.. But i don't know why .. but I have a feeling that VW is going to leave no stone unturned. The new Passat and the upcoming Jetta do seem very very promising.

As for the bringing diesels to the lower segments you are indeed correct. Hyundai with the CRDi and the common-rail turbo's aren't a disappoint at all.