Nov 02, 2008 05:55 PM
31770 Views
(Updated Nov 04, 2008 03:47 PM)
This is a generic review on whether it's good to buy a petrol car or a diesel one. I shall tell you a very easy formula that you can use yourself to decide which option is good for you.
Check what this the actual mileage of the petrol car that you wish to buy.
Check current price of petrol.
Find out the price of fuel you pay per kilometer. If 1 litre petrol cost you Rs. 60 and your car gives a mileage of 12 km per litre then you spend 60/12=5 Rs per kilometer.
Similarly calculate how much do you spend on diesel for each kilometer. If diesel is 38 Rs per liter and your car gives 16 kilometer per liter then you spend 38/16=2.37 Rs per kilometer.
So now you know that you spend Rs 2.63 extra per kilometer for a petrol car. This difference amount will be different for your choice of cars.
Diesel cars are more expenssive than petrol cars. Lets assume that there is a difference of 1.25 Lakh between the diesel and the petrol car. So you need to travel 47528 kilometer(125000.00/2.63) before you start saving money on fuel.
Please recalculate again to find actual figure based on difference in price of petrol and the diesel car.
Wait, there is another aspect here. If you keep 150000 in post office MIS(monthly income scheme) you get rs 1000 per month. So you can buy a petrol car and keep 1.5 lakh in bank. This will allow you spend 1000 per month on petrol. Also, you still have the money with you which will become 155200 after six years as per the MIS scheme. Additionally petrol car has less vibration and maintenence cost is merginally less than diesel car.
Consider one more very important point. If you are taking a loan for buying a car then you pay nearly Rs 1.64 lakhs for this additional loan amount of 1.25 lakh in 5 years if rate of interest is 11.25%.
Last point that you need to consider is to check the depreciation factor. The rate of depreciation per lakh is not different for new age petrol and diesel cars. You may ignore this point. Otherwise add this amount for calculating when you actually start saving on your fuel bills.
Even now if you are not too sure which car to buy then use a thumb rule. If you drive 40 KM and above per day then buy Diesel car otherwise buy a petrol car.
If you are not bothered about your budget then please buy the car you love. Go with your heart please. Everytime you fill a petrol car you tend to believe that diesel car could have a better option. However, canculate once to find the facts.
Cheers
Amitava Mudi
