Warning over diesel vehicles

Small diesel cars are not the bargain they appear to be, says the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide.

Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says: “Diesels often seem cheaper because the buyer is
hypnotised by the apparently low cost of fuel instead of looking at the entire cost of ownership. Once you add road taxes, increased servicing costs and the high cost of repairs, the average buyer would be far better off with a petrol car.”

“Diesel vehicles suit commercial operators such as courier drivers. They don’t suit the average car buyer. For the private motorist, a diesel vehicle won’t start to pay off until they’re doing really, really high mileages. In fact, by buying a small diesel vehicle, most private motorists are actually losing heavily on the deal.”

“A Citroën C3 1.6-litre petrol retails for around $30,000. The same vehicle powered by a 1.6-litre diesel engine retails for around $33,000. You’re going to have to be doing a lot of kilometres to get that extra $3000 back.”

“A private motorist driving 14,000km a year in a diesel car would save about $313 per year on fuel costs.1 However, due to the extra cost of the diesel engine, after three years the owner of a Citroën C3 diesel would be more than $2000 worse off than the person who had simply bought the petrol version.”

Matthew-Wilson says that private motorists often forget to add the extra cost of road user charges when they’re considering a diesel vehicle.

“The whole current Road User Charges system discriminates against the private motorist who drives a diesel vehicle. Road user charges are tax deductible for a commercial operator. They’re not tax-deductible for the private motorist.”

Matthew-Wilson is scathing about European diesel vehicles:

“Recently, car buyers have developed an unhealthy attraction to European diesels for fuel economy reasons. However, car buyers should be aware that European cars generally have a poor track record for reliability, and when they break, they often break your bank account as well.”

However, says Matthew-Wilson, the biggest losers when it comes to diesel vehicles are the ones who buy cheap old diesels that are out of guarantee.

“There’s no such thing as a cheap old diesel. Whatever you save in upfront money you’ll most likely end up paying, plus interest, at your local garage. A diesel engine can cost up to $30,000 to rebuild, and the second hand diesel motor at the local wrecking yard is likely to be just about as worn out as the engine you are replacing.”

“My advice to vehicle buyers is to avoid diesels altogether unless you’re a commercial operator and/or unless you’re going to be driving really, really high mileages. Otherwise you’re likely to lose more than you save.”


1 The AA recently calculated that a private motorist travelling 14,000km per year in a small diesel car would save approximately $313 in fuel costs over twelve months.
Here are the AA running costs calculations:

• A petrol vehicle using an average of 6.48 litres per 100km and travelling 14,000km per year.
Total litres used = 907
Petrol @ $1.59 per litre = $1442
Cents per km = 10.3

• A diesel vehicle using an average of 4.3 litres per 100km and travelling 14,000km per year.
Total litres used = 602
Diesel @ $1.02 per litre = $614
Add Road User Charges $514.56 (includes administration charges) = $1128.58
Cents per km = 8.1
The difference between the two fuels in relation to cents per km is 2.2 cents

Over 14,000km that equates to a saving of $313 over 12 months.