Thread: diesel vs petrol

In a predicament at the moment. Looking for a Ute for my everyday car. Would like 4x4 for hunting and on the farm but not entirely necessary, also must be able to tow race trailer. Have been advised by alot of people to stay away from diesels because of RUC, extra servicing and higher rego cost, but there just arnt as many petrol utes out there to chose from. Any advice would be appreciated, do you find it more expensive, hassle to run a diesel compared to a petrol? cheers Josh

Better torque at lower revs from the diesel may suit you more than a petrol.

Lower fuel consumption can offset RUC and rego costs. The modern diesel service interval may be 15000 km so spreads the cost out.

Try before you buy - find what suits your budget. Don't forget to look outside of the main brands.
SsangYong has a double cab in either diesel or petrol.

If you are doing high kms then a diesel works out much the same as a petrol cost wise. For towing- have always used petrol vehicles to tow our race car- (dragster in covered trailer).

Depends on what you are looking at, price range, etc. My vote would be for petrol.

Cheers @Hades @Cyclops.
Looking at utes in the $15000 range so 04 couriors and hiluxes basically. So not a new ute at this stage. Probably 20,000km a year

I have just changed from a diesel to a petrol, I found diesel more expensive with road user charges. I just drove to Christchurch a week ago in the new petrol wagon, from home to my destination it cost $20 more in fuel than the diesel would have, but no road user charges for the petrol.

From another forum that discussed this at great length, I seem to recall that unless you are doing 30 k plus per year, there is no difference in running costs. This was including service costs, ruc etc etc , and the numbers had been crunched by a guy who managed big national fleets.

I reckon my Territory Ghia petrol is cheaper to run than my 2000 Prado diesel, without the cost of ruc's and servicing

Originally Posted by Gapped axe

I reckon my Territory Ghia petrol is cheaper to run than my 2000 Prado diesel, without the cost of ruc's and servicing

I do find that odd. We sold our territory a few years ago as we couldn't afford to fuel it!
Half a tank to town and back ffs.

diesel

Diesel, better fuel consumption towing for sure.

I been cheating on the RUC............... I pull the speedo cable out and then using my GPS I worked out the correct RPM in 4th for 50kph (1750rpm) and 100kph in 5th (2750rpm)
Put the cable back in a fortnight before the warrants due

Originally Posted by Herne

I been cheating on the RUC............... I pull the speedo cable out and then using my GPS I worked out the correct RPM in 4th for 50kph (1750rpm) and 100kph in 5th (2750rpm)
Put the cable back in a fortnight before the warrants due

I hope you get caught

my mrs had a early 2000 falcon, open rd did 650 ks $100 petrol , put caravan on and you could see the fuel gauge move . Definitely Diesel for towing in my books.

Originally Posted by Herne

I been cheating on the RUC............... I pull the speedo cable out and then using my GPS I worked out the correct RPM in 4th for 50kph (1750rpm) and 100kph in 5th (2750rpm)
Put the cable back in a fortnight before the warrants due

What's your rego? Just a matter of interest!! Hahahahahahahahaha

Originally Posted by Maca49

What's your rego? Just a matter of interest!! Hahahahahahahahaha

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