[Sprower]

Hi all,

For the last 10 years I've always stuck to Diesel for better fuel economy etc. I'm not particularly spooked by the current "anti-diesel" noise (and I don't commute into city centres so any additional charges there won't affect me) but it got me thinking.......

- I want some decent power and performance (I had planned to go for the 190 TDI) so will be going for the top-end engine, whichever fuel I choose
- The cost differential between the 180 TSI and the 190 TDI is an additional £1,465 for the Diesel
- Based on official manufacturers figures (which I never believe so have adjusted) and the couple of posts on a separate thread re consumption, I'm working on approx 33MPG for the petrol versus 43MPG for the diesel.
- I will be towing....but only a trailer on an occasional basis, nothing heavy.
- I've assumed a mileage of approx 12,000 per year.
- Same insurance group.

...and my very basic spreadsheet gives me.....

I'd welcome comments from both petrol and diesel owners.

Have I missed anything? (Excluding the big unknown regarding future resale values given the current diesel attack!)

If I switch my order to the Petrol 180 am I making a mistake?

 

[KodiaqPetrolHead]

Interesting analysis Sprower.

A bit "Accountant" thinking for my tastes.

Which engine would you LIKE? - and what's the value of that?

 

[Gizmo68]

Have you based your fuel price on the higher 98 RON petrol or the std 95 RON?

The 190 TDi will also use some adblue but this will be minimal at about £20 per 12K miles.

Very interesting figures though.

 

[Sprower]

Kodiaqpetrolhead......I agree, my list does look very Accountant-ish.

I've not had a chance to drive the petrol, I've driven the Diesel. I'd be very happy with either, but my heart is saying I will head to the dealers tomorrow and change my order to the petrol, for better / sportier performance and lower initial cost. Just want to sense-check that I'm not miles out with the MPG figures.

 

[bigboss]

Petrol engines are far more quiet and refined. Once you experience that, you won't go back to Diesel.

 

[Gizmo68]

Petrol engines are far more quiet and refined. Once you experience that, you won't go back to Diesel.

However on the flip side diesels have more low down power and torque, making them a better lazy engine (do not need 'working' to produce decent power)

We are in the same dilemma, but feel the TSi is not going 'to cut it' (used to a 200 BHP TDI)

 

[Zach]

Over here in NZ it was a no-brainer for me. Family of 3 (and not gonna change) never towing.

 

[romanv]

My wife is driving turbo petrol Captur (turbo petrol Clio before that) but I still prefer my diesel. In

Slovenia thanks to our economy people do calculate the expences for owning a car thoroughly and dieselgate didn't have any big impact here yet except talking about electric cars that are not feasable yet.

Kodiaq prices for Style here are:
D (diesel tdi 190 4x4 dsg): 35352 eur
P (petrol tsi 180 4x4 dsg): 33881 eur

But options for P are more expensive than for D!!!!
Examples:

• lava blue: D=505 eur and P=517 eur

• 18" Trintiy: D=78 eur and P=80 eur

• Canton: D=334 eur and P=342 eur

So if I add all wanted options the final prices are:
D=44408 eur
P=43081 eur

So the price difference falls from 1471 eur to 1327 eur!!!

The best offer here is to take 0% loan (specially offered by Skoda Slovenija) where you pay 28% up-front and 72 months x 1% of the value.

So you actually pay D=12434 eur / P=12062 eur immediatelly or 372 eur more in case of the diesel.

Gasoline pricing here are:
D=1,192 eur/L
P=1,308 eur/L

I make 2000 km per month so I would spend 160L of the diesel or 200 L of the petrol.

Monthly cost of gasoline :
D=190 eur
P=261 eur

Monthly cost (gasoline + loan):
D=634 eur
P=692 eur

So monthly the petrol would cost me 58 eur more.

The 7th month I would already economicaly benefit from the diesel.

AdBlue is cheap. Services expences are little bit higher for the diesel but.... it's no brainer.

 

[Zach]

Here the diesel is $4k more so 4000/~160 is 25 years to regain the difference.

 

[Colin Lambert]

It depends on your usage and performance requirements. You may have made a basic error in your fuel costs. As you know I have a 1.4 TSi DSG and it runs perfectly happily on 95 RON standard unleaded. I am not aware that the larger petrol engine needs Super Unleaded.
If it doesn't, the only comment I can make is that down here in deepest darkest Dorset Derv is at least 3ppl MORE expensive than 95RON petrol.....so at my local prices of £1.17per litre for petrol , your total 3 year petrol charge would be £5807.46 and derv at £1.20 per litre would be £4571 £1236.30 difference £264 not your £1500.63.
So using your other figures I reckon the petrol would cost £6587.46 & the oil burner would be £6816!!
No brainer, espeically with the potential poor residuals on derv vehicles after HMG screws you . +No DPF to worry about etc etc.

 

[Sprower]

Thanks all......and the fuel prices I used were a guess-timate based on 3 years........but Colin you are right in that diesel is more than petrol so that swings me more towards petrol.

Anyway, I've been into dealership this morning and amended my order to the 2.0 TSi petrol option.

For me this was never a purely financial decision, and a few hundred £ one way or the other over a few years wouldn't sway me one way or the other. This is the first new car I've ordered where there has been a viable petrol option (and due to job change I now do less mileage than in the past) so as much as anything it was breaking my mentality of the last 10+ years that "diesel is best due to the fuel economy".

Looking forward to taking delivery of my car with a decent level of performance as well as practicality 😀

 

[Colin Lambert]

Well done you!
I am very happy with my 1.4DSg so I am sure you will be delighted with the 2.0L.

 

[Lord Muck]

I've currently got a 2.0 TDI 4x4 but are thinking of changing to a 1.4 petrol the engine choice has always been a big thing for me I loved the low down torque of the Diesel but worry where the war on Diesel is going. There are also the dreaded DPF faults and the Adblue thing. Diesel use to be the reliable economical option it's now rapidly becoming unattractive.
I was impressed with the 1.4 petrol when I drove it...just need to have a think about it.

 

[bigboss]

I had originally booked the Diesel version, but changed to 1.4 Petrol couple of days later. I'm glad I made the choice. I don't need 4X4 (will never go off road, and winter tyres will be adequate in snow) and will never tow a caravan. Have included the towbar for bicycle rack. I'll probably do 10000 miles a year, and a lot of urban driving.

 

[Lord Muck]

I would be interested to know what real world MPG figures are. Carbuyer I think did a review and they were getting 28Mpg out of the petrol 1.4 on a standard run. Every review says the 2.0 diesel is the one to go for.

 

[bigboss]

Brand new engines are tight....the mileage improves significantly after 2000 miles or so. So you should see a steady improvement in mileage figures as the engines are run in.

 

[bigboss]

I would be interested to know what real world MPG figures are. Carbuyer I think did a review and they were getting 28Mpg out of the petrol 1.4 on a standard run. Every review says the 2.0 diesel is the one to go for.

You haven't read all reviews then!

Check Telegraph review for example. There are a couple more reviews which recommend the Petrol 1.4.

Diesel or Petrol depends on a number of factors:

If you tow heavy load regularly and want the extra torque or do more than 12000 - 15000 miles per year, then Diesel makes more sense. Otherwise Petrol is a better option. Also, Diesel needs regular motorway runs to keep its DPF healthy. Petrol engines are far more quiet and refined as compared to Diesel.

 

[Lord Muck]

I would be interested to know what real world MPG figures are. Carbuyer I think did a review and they were getting 28Mpg out of the petrol 1.4 on a standard run. Every review says the 2.0 diesel is the one to go for.

You haven't read all reviews then!

Check Telegraph review for example. There are a couple more reviews which recommend the Petrol 1.4.

Diesel or Petrol depends on a number of factors:

If you tow heavy load regularly and want the extra torque or do more than 12000 - 15000 miles per year, then Diesel makes more sense. Otherwise Petrol is a better option. Also, Diesel needs regular motorway runs to keep its DPF healthy. Petrol engines are far more quiet and refined as compared to Diesel.

Believe you me, I know about DPF issues, I owned a Zafira B that suffered from bad DPF problems!
I'm still undecided really liked the 1.4 petrol, it was so smooth and quite but loved the Torque and economy of the diesel...arggghhhhh bloody choices! Lol

 

[bigboss]

You need to balance Diesel's economy with the higher price of Diesel variant (almost £2000 more expensive). Also, Diesel is more expensive than Petrol. How many miles do you need to do, for it to be cheaper to run than petrol?

 

[bigboss]

Do you really need 4X4? It's about 80kg heavier.

Also, bear in mind that the 7-seat 2.0 litre Diesel 4X4 manual can never have a towbar, which can affect resale values.