Diesel Engine - Daily / more running required?

As a thumb rule, we have been talking about 1000Km /month as the criteria for the decision between petrol and diesel engine. But looking at the way the petrol prices are going up, I am getting a feeling that we need to relook at this figure.

As of today fuel cost differential between petrol and diesel per Km is Rs.2 to 2.5. But some predict (don’t know about the reliability of the prediction, though) that petrol price will touch or cross Rs. 100 within two years, with only marginal increase in diesel price. If that happens, then the price differential between diesel and petrol will be more than Rs.4 per Km.  

(This can be verified by taking Rs.55 per litre for diesel and Rs.100 per litre for petrol and an average mileage of 14 Km per litre for petrol and 18Km per litre for diesel. Things will be much worse for petrol for city traffic with 12 Km per litre for petrol and 16 Km per litre for diesel.)

Assuming minimum Rs.4 differential per Km, for 1000 Km monthly running, the annual savings for diesel will be minimum Rs.4x1000x12 = Rs.48000. We can easily recover the extra cost of diesel engine in less than two years time (after the increase in petrol price), and in any case with this price trend of petrol, diesel cars are likely to have better resale value also. Looking at the soaring petrol price, I personally feel that we can seriously look at diesel cars if the running is above 600 - 700Km per month, unless the smoothness of petrol engines is a major decision factor.

 

Tomy

I bought Ford Figo TdCi (Diesel) 8 months ago thinking various factors including surging petrol prices. My typical usage I estimated while deciding on a diesel car was around 400km of running every month. But I ended up with sometimes more than 700km.

You can close your eyes and go for a diesel no matter what is your running. Today's technology is so sophisticated that diesel and petrol behave the same. I am very happy when I fill my tank seeing the diesel prices.

If the difference between Petrol car and diesel car is your concern, then do not hesitate to zero in on a diesel. Diesel engines are more fuel efficient and long lasting.

Cabin noise is slightly high until the warmup period compared to the petrol engines. But after the warmup it does not make a big difference.

Yes! That is the same point I was also coming to. By the way, how much mileage are you getting for Figo diesel? Is it mostly city use or highway? Did you incur any unexpected maintenance cost (routine or otherwise)? I am sure Ford being an old timer in diesel segment will have good quality diesel products.

I primarily use it for city use and at least one in two months, make a long trip between Bangalore and Chennai. I get a mileage of close to 19kmpl on a highway @ around 2500-3000rpm. For city use, I get a mileage of close to 13kmpl

I have not incurred any unexpected maintenance cost. I have kept my car idel for more than 20 days and it started with a single crank without any hitch. No wonder Figo is VFM product.

It is advisable to go on a 40km drive one way at good speed (or for half hour high speed drives) to trigger the DPF regeneration at least once in a month. This way you keep the car in not building up the soot in the exhaust that is typically the issue with the crude nature of diesel.

I would also tell you that cabin noise is well insulated and almost noiseless in highways. However petrol sibling takes a huge advantage here. Otherwise I am happy with the performance of a diesel engine.

Ford's fortune turned north wards after selling Figos'

Thanks a lot, Karthikeyan for the detailed reply; that was very informative.