A few years ago when petrol was still at Rs 45 per liter, having a Diesel car was a great advantage. Diesel was way too cheaper at just over Rs 30 per liter and the mileage the cars gave was far superior to the petrol counterparts. However, considering the premium that one has to pay for a diesel engine, people still went for the gasoline variants and it was a wiser decision at that time.
The difference in the prices of petrol and diesel was not very big though the premium to buy a new diesel cars was pretty high. Considering that an average car owner drives 50km per day, he would have taken over 2 years to save the extra premium he spent on the diesel variant. A few days ago when the petrol rates went over 75 a liter, the diesel rates were still at the 40's mark which made for a great difference in the prices of diesel and petrol. This was when purchasing the diesel variants was profitable. Though the difference in the petrol vs diesel variants of the cars remained almost the same, there was a newer variety of diesel cars available to the audience and the premium money spent on the diesel variant could be saved in the fuel rates in just under a year and half.
However, the situation today has reached the initial stages. The price variation per liter in the fuels is not very significant now. Also there is a stipulated increase of Rs 10 in the diesel rates which might be implemented anytime soon. So that means further narrowing down of the price differences.
Consequently, the money you save by buying a diesel car on the fuel would be far little and hence it would take more time to gain advantage of the premium you are paying for the diesel variants.
Typically for a low end diesel car you will have to work about two years and above on saving money from fuel to reach the premium invested. On a high end diesel variant in a car like Maruti Swift you will have to drive 50km every day for 3 years or more to save the money invested in a diesel car. This essentially means that your idea of saving money on fuel is now obsolete.
It is hence better to go for a petrol variant of the car which also has other advantages over the diesel cars in the same league.
(AW- Anil)
