johnpod

we are looking to order our new car before we come over to Oz and are looking at a SUV. Please can anyone advise re diesel over petrol in Austrlia. Prices at the pumps seem to be lower for petrol by aprox 10 cents and cost of car is perhaps $1000 more but fuel economy is 1/3rd better. Any thoughts/comments greatly recieved. There appears to be a greater trend to petrol there compared to drift to diesel here - is this right or are things changing?? Thanks in advance for any help

Ali

sunburn

Hi, be interested to know this too.

LPG seems more commonly used there but is it available for most models ?
...also from what I can remember if you get converted to LPG you lose lots of boot space ?!?

k76

I think things are changing, but you are right its all about petrol here. There were some issues with a lower standard for the diesel (less clean) that didn't work too great with modern efficient diesels, but I think that's in the past now. European models typically come with a choice of diesel these days, but are expensive compared to Oz/jap/korean petrol counterparts. I am interested to see where it all goes. I think the diesel trend in Europe is a lot about fashion. Yes they have lots of torque but they feel a bit like an asthmatic trying to sprint.


LPG is mostly an aftermarket option on the true blue aussie cars, Holden and Ford.

tyke

I'd go diesel - especially if it is the new common rail engine.

I changed from a petrol V6 3.4 liter Toyota Prado to a new diesel,turbo Prado.
Even though fuel is a little more expensive it's much cheaper to run.

It's quite fast for a diesel as well - I have to watch the speedo!

arkon

I went diesel and have regretted it ever since. The fuel is a lot dearer than petrol and although you do go a bit further on it this saving is more than lost due to the very low interval between services here, My Diesel is a service every 10k (km). Not all petrol stations have diesel and those that do don't always have a car friendly one (Big fast flow nozles! Dirty too)

Also I strongly recomend you don't buy before you get here. I did and paid far too much more than I would have done face to face and haggling.

Not what you are going to want to hear but I would also question getting a SUV or any other big car here, they all do I know, even I did but fuel prices here seem to rise at a far higher percentage than back home and I am now paying twice the cost for fuel than I did 3 years ago.

If I had to do it all over again I would go for a Prius or Audi A3 something that go's forever on a tank of fuel.

Amazulu

Diesel always. I will never buy a petrol car again - unless it's a sports car. I like the torque and economy of a diesel engine. My Golf has tons of power and I often smoke standard V6s. I get 800-900kms out of 55 litres - better than the Prius, and less emissions. In my Navara 4x4 I get 800kms out of 80 litres. Diesel does cost more but then you get better economy. The latest Common-rail diesels are superb. Most european cars are more expensive - apart from VWs (the most common diesel cars here), which are cheaper. Australia is slowly catching on to Diesel. This year we got/are getting diesel versions of the Mazda 6, Holden Astra, Ford Focus and Modeo, Skoda Octavia plus loads of other european models. Ford Falcon, Holden Commodore and Toyota Corolla will have diesel within a few years. Diesel car sales are more than doubling every year. In WA we can get Gull B20 bio-diesel, which is a bit cheaper than standard diesel - it's my fuel of choice.

Centurion

Whilst I guess its a matter of personal choice I have stayed with Petrol on the Landcruiser Prado. Its heaps smoother and having just test driven a diesel model I must say that I dont think I can be converted. I've had diesels in the past but just not impressed with the offerings down under.

Having said that we have a Mazda BT50 Pickup and thats diesel since we need the extra towing capacity on it. But I so much prefer driving the petrol Prado.

Ultimately if you look at the big picture I dont think there is much in it at all with pros and cons for both. Just depends on the individuals needs.