[BulZire]

I have a mid segment diesel car[Dzire VDI] and it is one of the best in Fuel efficiency and very happy about that.
But it lags some of other things, IMO.

I use it only on weekends and long highway drive once or twice in a month, Maintenance is also less comparatively.
But still I am not satisfied with it whole heatedly. Nowadays my mind keeps on thinking about replacing it with a top end petrol car with all Gizmo's and security options. I need a performance car now rather than a fuel efficient one. That does not mean Dzire VDI is poor in performance, But still some thing is missing for me.
I am much concerned about a sporty look and well placed one, which i dont get in my current ride.

The petrol price hikes never hit me yet when i think about replacing current car to a petrol one.May be it is because i use my bikes for weekdays and my car usage had gradually decreased. Sometimes i don't touch my car for 2 weeks together. i am very happy and comfortable in using bike for week days and hope to use my bikes only for next few years as my office ride.
I have 2 bikes already and one more is on its way , deal negotiation in progress.

So still i think of moving to a top variant petrol sedan that completely satisfies me in all aspects whenever i drive it. Either it be a weekend or a highway drive or if i am taking it out after a gap of a month, I need a feeling like "aah!!! i love it". sometimes when i see a thread on used VRS's and CIVICS's , i am really tempted and starts to dream about buying one such car and do all the mods i wanted and live my motor life to the fullest.

Considering my car usage, i still think petrol car suits me !!
But then, petrol price hikes are too bad. my bikes run on petrol know

[noopster]

When the petrol-diesel difference was not too big..less than 10/- for example, it was not even an issue for me. A high-revving, smooth, clatter-free and refined petrol engine was the only thing that mattered.

When I bought the Vento, I chose to keep the Swift Vxi as second car. Now I am wondering if this is such a great idea. For all the big talk we hear about fuel price rationalisation, the present government is in enough crisis already without having the "anti-poor" lael being tagged on them! So for now, we need to reconcile ourselves to petrol prices that keep rising.

Thinking that a used Qualis or Sumo would make more sense than this. But the heart is still ruling over head: I aboslutely adore te Swift, and more than me, the missus dotes on it. It is such a perfect city car cum highway cruiser. But can't help think another of these 3-5 rupees hikes and I may well tip over to the other side!

[markmytravel]

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[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by jai-uno-t

about 70Rs for a litre of petrol?! i would LOVE to pay that!!! work out to about £0.90, whereas at the moment we are staring down the barrel of about £1.40 a litre, with yet more rises in the pipeline due to the chancellors duty escalator...

IMHO, it is best not to compare across countries by direct conversion. After all, the purchasing power of 90 pence there is different from the 70 bucks here.

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

If I was in the market for a new car (which I am for a hatch), diesel seems to be the way forward. I also use a 1.5 year old petrol sedan - so I am not exactly opposing petrol vehicles. Its the cost/km in petrol cars which is hurting like never before.

I agree; for new cars a diesel mill would be the obvious choice. However, the OP talks about retaining petrol cars or switching to diesel and in this case the costs/ scenarios would be different.

For example, if I try to sell off my petrol Jazz today the resale value would be pathetic (even if I keep the price reduction point separate). In this case, I would prefer to sell off the Nano and buy another workhorse for town, maybe a diesel or LPG Beat. But again, all petrol car sales would classify as distress sales.
We do live in difficult times, there are too many uncontrollables that affect us and ultimately if this is not tackled it can descend into a downward spiral leading to a recession.

[BusyBee]

Originally Posted by download2live

Manmohan has proved beyond doubt that Education does make a good PM.

It is said that bankers and finance guys should, like railway carriages, never put in front. They will surely take it to ruin.

They increase the prices when crude goes up, but forget to do the same when crude goes down. Who are they fooling.

C Northcote Parkinson once famously wrote The Law of Extravagance and reads: Expenditure rises to meet income - and tends to surpass it. Taxes once raised never get reduced. Very little remains for the citizen after the politicians and bureaucracy are through with their share of funds.

[Durango Dude]

My running is not that great and I drive a petrol sedan with an FE of 7-8 kmpl in the City. Upkeep wise I haven't spent more than 20k on this car in 5.5 years, besides fuel. It's very comfy and noiseless. I'll keep this car for many more years to come.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

My running is not that great and I drive a petrol sedan with an FE of 7-8 kmpl in the City. Upkeep wise I haven't spent more than 20k on this car in 5.5 years, besides fuel. It's very comfy and noiseless. I'll keep this car for many more years to come.

Geez!!
what car is this?
rather, what make is this?
cos i am really drawn by the upkeep cost, but also pushed away by the FE

[ASHISHPALLOD]

My car is alto , current running @1500 km/month, 18km average~rs4/km.

The gap between price of petrol and diesel is so wide that no fuel efficient petrol car justifies its economic superiority over diesel car.

I will buy a new diesel car and retain existing petrol car as secondary car.

[amtak]

My take on this:

Option 1: I have a Zen currently (zero loan), so techinically I just end up paying for fuel a month irrespective of the running

Option 2: Alternately, I plan to buy a Diesel car. But, then a thought crosses my mind as what it does in your mind too, does it make sense to pay for EMI's and also the fuel + maintenance? Heck NO!

Option 3: This is what I am doing now. Take the AC bus to work in the mornings, and take the local train in the evenings on weekdays. Use the car on weekends only (less than 200 kms a week). My reasoning for this combination - comofortable travel in the mornings and speedy ready (avoiding jams) in the evening.

I guess it is time to figure out what best suits us? A mix of public private transport is the need of the hour.

[honeybee]

I see some interesting questions posed by people who have recently bought petrol cars, whether to keep them or go for diesel ones.

I would strongly advise all of you to actually consider the financial impact of selling off your existing petrol cars and investing in a new diesel one.

[bblost]

I hope petrol prices cross a 100 sometime middle of next year.
Will cause a nice drop in the resale prices of petrol cars.

Maybe I will exchange my Wagon for a nice SX4/ Cedia or a TJet.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by noopster

Thinking that a used Qualis or Sumo would make more sense than this. But the heart is still ruling over head: I aboslutely adore te Swift, and more than me, the missus dotes on it. It is such a perfect city car cum highway cruiser. But can't help think another of these 3-5 rupees hikes and I may well tip over to the other side!

tell me about it noop; I guess it will take a few more knocks to see sense!
the problem for me as in your case is that I would not know which one to give up.

If you ever watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S, there is an episode where Phoebe's brother Frank wants to give up one of the triplets to her. When she asks which one he is unable to decide because he loves them all.

Perhaps a good business idea would be to buy a few used diesel cars and rent them out on a weekly basis to all these petrol car owners (I am one too, twice over!) for daily use!

Originally Posted by bblost

I hope petrol prices cross a 100 sometime middle of next year.
Will cause a nice drop in the resale prices of petrol cars.
Maybe I will exchange my Wagon for a nice SX4/ Cedia or a TJet.

If your WagonR isnt a Duo, you might as well sell it right away. No offence meant, but at that point the resale value for your WagonR would also fall away

Edit: just saw you said exchange, so perhaps you intended to say barter trade?

[Durango Dude]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Geez!!
what car is this?
rather, what make is this?
cos i am really drawn by the upkeep cost, but also pushed away by the FE

It's an Elantra GLS. Last I tanked up was 28/7/11(Rs.3100) and then I tanked her up last night(Rs. 3038.85); she'd run 317.8kms in between that.

[sgiitk]

I will rather pay up front than look for a 'so called' subsidy. For ever rupee of subsidy we probably end up shelling out four or five rupees in additional taxes.

[Mr_Bean]

My thoughts:

1.) No EMI means 5 years and beyond of ownership, the cost of ownership goes up. Problems may crop up, frequent visit means no mental peace & spending on spares.
I own a baleno which has clocked more than 60k kms, i foresee a fat bill on suspension overhaul but i am prolonging it with an alternate means of travel (see point 3).

2.) Sell the petrol car, pick an pre-owned diesel car like the hyundai crdis (accent, elantra). Disaster can strike you with a fat bill on engine overhaul.

3.) Buy a scooter, I brought one for my wife & she drops me at office in the morning. I save around 1.5 k rupees of petrol by avoiding the car, used that for weekend run to Mahabalipuram

4.) stick to current car, build up the money on down payment, for a 8 lakh + car, try to make down payment of at least 70% and remaining in loan which can be covered under 1.5-2 years of eMI.

==============================================

Most of the people who have brought diesel cars claim it is cheap to own because of lower fuel cost, they try to compare their diesel car with a petrol which is one segment below.

(e,g,) my colleague did not buy a wagon-R petrol owing to high fuel prices, but went ahead and brought a swift diesel just because diesel is cheap. He is clueless about the interest he pays for the loan.& hasn't taken in account the money he paid extra to procure the diesel car. companies offer 5 /7 years loan which brings down the emi, it does provide immediate benefit but at the end of the tenure, it is a loss.

Ofcourse things take a different turn when see diesel heart on alto, nano, santro.