When is diesel REALLY a cheaper option?

I'm not sure about Summer 2007 since I sold in June 2007 but I diesel *was* cheaper for some periods between January 2007 to June 2007 - and that was at at least 2 or 3 garages on my way to university.

I have emails from PetrolPrices from that time but they only show diesel prices, not unleaded.

Edit:
Not that I want to defend my comments too much because I know what I saw but:

http://www.theaa.com/onlinenews/allaboutcars/fuel/2007/June2007.doc

That's probably a good guide to how close they got in the West Midlands (0.3 ppl) so I think you'll agree it's entirely possible that diesel was cheaper in some areas.
 
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20k+ Then sit down and run the numbers for a diesel, decide if it's worth it for you. Less than that stick to a small petrol engine if you want economical.
 
What gets me is people who buy diesels for doing short trips, lunacy as the engine doesn't have time to warm up and get to full efficiency.

We got one as the wife does a long commute each day to work, we got it new for less than the base petrol model in the car we wanted and we sat down and did the sums (including some fairly out there projections like Diesel being 150% the price of petrol).
 
A 530d probably wasnt the most economic choice for me as I sometimes do 800 miles a week. Other weeks I do 30 miles.

The reason i purchased a diesel is because I like to go 700 miles without having to fill up and the fact it was almost impossible to get a 530i in the spec i wanted. BMW have sold very few 5 series petrol engines in comparison to the diesel range this year and last.
 
Lucero said:
The reason i purchased a diesel is because I like to go 700 miles without having to fill up and the fact it was almost impossible to get a 530i in the spec i wanted. BMW have sold very few 5 series petrol engines in comparison to the diesel range this year and last.
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This is unfortunately very true. The current 530i is an exceptional car offering high levels of performance, staggering economy, lower CO2 emissions even than the diesel - it's a perfect package.

Yet all the sheep buy the diesel meaning finding a used 530i M Sport is very difficult.
 
I find my diesel considerably cheaper to run than a similar petrol.

My ST TDCI Mondeo isn't great for economy either but gives me a consistent 45mpg and I boot it everywhere. The V6 mondeo I had previously which was quite a bit lighter but with similar performance usually came in around the 25mpg mark and when booted would drop considerably lower.

I find the diesel consumption to vary a lot less than the petrol, so quoting consumption figures from manufacturers as a comparison is in my opinion flawed. Also quoting stuff about servicing costs and turbo failures is flawed. My car has a warranty, I don't care about turbo failures.. and the servicing costs seem no more than the previous V6.

I do 800 miles a week every week and have done for about a year know, I shudder to think what the cost in the V6 would have been.
 
pinkaardvark said:
I do 800 miles a week every week and have done for about a year know, I shudder to think what the cost in the V6 would have been.
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Out of interest what do you do which requires 800 per week out of your own pocket? I do that much but my employer covers my costs, i cant begin to imagine funding it all myself.
 
Jez said:
Out of interest what do you do which requires 800 per week out of your own pocket? I do that much but my employer covers my costs, i cant begin to imagine funding it all myself.
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I'm a Software developer. I contract out through my own limited so I do get to claim 40p a mile back off my tax so not all bad. Currently work in cambridge and travel back at weekends to Manchester, and now I think on it that should have been 400 a week not 800 lol. But still wouldn't like to do it on my old V6 regardless of mileage. Technically my employer does pay it as I'm an employee of my own company.
If I can line up a decent contract in the NW I'll be getting my self a nice S5 and giving the mondeo to the missus :)
 
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Jonnycoupe said:
And eyewatering to anyone following said car :D
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What do you mean by that?

I drive a diesel because I perfer the way they drive (torque) and also because I have 2 young children that travel in the car a lot.

The flash point of Diesel means it will not ignite to a naked flame/spark if involved in a accident.

I am currently paying 89.9 for biodiesel.
 
I find it odd how somebody bright enough to know diesel is more difficult to ignite than petrol would then use this information to make a purchasing decision.
 
Atom said:
What do you mean by that?

I drive a diesel because I perfer the way they drive (torque) and also because I have 2 young children that travel in the car a lot.

The flash point of Diesel means it will not ignite to a naked flame/spark if involved in a accident..
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Dont be silly.

I meant because if a particulate filter doesnt work, I made a funny about particles of soot going into the people behinds eyes, and makes them water. I thought the comment tied in with Dogbreaths post well whilst being factual.

Are your children fat?
 
[TW]Fox;12966721 said:
How do you have time to do any software development if you spend your entire life on the road? 800 miles a week is huge!
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Eh? Its an 80 mile there 80 mile back trip 5 days a week. This takes me about an hour and 15 minutes each way. It can take longer than that to travel 8 miles across town in rush hour.
 
I drive a diesel car weaing diesel jeans and listening to diesel power by the prodigy.

I just like the way diesels drive it suits my style of driving. I don't like revy little 16v things. I like lots of raw power at low revs that you can only get with a remaped diesel. Unless you want to drive a 3l v6 petrol or something.
 
When it comes to more mundane stuff, I prefer some of the diesels, my old Zafira with 195BHP/450Nm was actually reasonably entertaining, and no matter how hard I tried, it never dipped below a 36 mpg average, and usually got 40+ even driving pretty hard at times, and I think I sold it at the right time, as residuals seem to have faired much better then 2.0+ petrol cars at the moment.

And we get plenty of petrol/diesel run of the mill hire cars, and often the diesel has notably more poke even if it's still a bit underpowered.

However, when you up the stakes, I'd always take the petrol, e.g. I'd take a 330Ci over a 330Cd any day of the week..

As long as costs arent magnitudes different, then I guess there is little reason to not just buy what you like!
 
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