Pity that major repairs to a diesel engine, injector pumps (especially electronic ones) and problems with these still fragile and largely unproven common rail systems will often wipe these savings out in one swoop.The economics of diesel for average motorists are marginal at best unless you are doing very high kms and/or a lot of towing, in some cases its more.If you are a commercial user who buys or leases a new or newish vehicle, doing only minimal maintenance and will be flicking it off after a couple of years and making the expensive repairs the problem of the mug they are selling it to then diesel is an excellent choice.
franc123,
Jun 11, 6:34pm
Yes, its a driving style nicknamed "formula finesse", ie as smooth as possible.It can be harder than what you think to do properly, if you were to attach one of those shallow dog food bowls to the bonnet of your car and stick a golf ball in it see how fast you can drive without the ball coming outAcceleration, braking and cornering have to be very well planned.
yendor,
Jun 11, 6:51pm
Plan all your jobs so you are doing one longer drive with a hot engine instead of several shot trip with a cold engine. Imagine there is a marshmallow under your right foot & you don't want to squash it.
v8_mopar,
Jun 11, 7:45pm
drive everywhere as fast as you can and you will save because your car will not be running so long
elect70,
Jun 11, 7:57pm
drive in trucks slipstream dont have to punch hole in the air then .
mopeds,
Jun 11, 8:00pm
I'd have to agree, anyone who buys a diesel beyond its half life, or fails to maintain it will get burnt, petrol engines are more tolerant to abuse, and provide remarkable longevity when well maintained.
iman007,
Jun 11, 8:00pm
lol, or do what my daughter does, drop in and take 1 of my vehicles, and dont put gas in it.grrrrr
bmwnz,
Jun 11, 8:26pm
Sounds like a great little exercise. Could be fun, using an egg in the bowl and a laid out circuit. Challenge/time your friends. A smoother driving style has great benefits. I just love a nice long serpentine road and it feels so good when you can seemingly glide through all the bends at speed.
bmwnz,
Jun 11, 8:30pm
I have 5 friends with older diesel vans and every one of them has a speedo/odometer kill switch. I'd never buy one for that reason at least.
iman007,
Jun 11, 8:33pm
i back you up on that, i too know people that cheat on R.U.C
hutchk,
Jun 11, 10:08pm
Do not drive a 25 year old Jaguar.
hutchk,
Jun 11, 10:08pm
A 42 year old one is even worse.
berg,
Jun 11, 10:10pm
I do 5000kms a year with my own ute. Done the sums and my 3.6 Commodore is cheaper to run/maintain than my 2.8 Turbo Dsl Rodeo
purple666,
Jun 11, 11:25pm
Yes even on LPG these days
big.b-lil.c,
Jun 11, 11:50pm
car painters/windscreen installers love people that do this. trucks flick up a lot of stones.
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 12, 12:33am
Good reason to buy a proper diesel. a Fiat Diesel. The 1.9 common rail has been around for 15 years now and proved excellent for reliability all that time. Fiat/VW Common rail diesels can be an excellent solution for someone who does a lot of town running or wants power and economy. In those situations you don't need to be doing that many km's at all for them to make sense.
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