Jump to content

comparing running costs


rtbiscuit

Recommended Posts

i am; as my wife will tell you a bit geeky at times; and i do like my spread sheets, (its a bizzare offshoot i've gained from being a Teacher, and storing all my marking etc). Any way as many of you will realise i'm looking at changing cars so to help with the decision i built a formulated spread sheet to work out the yearly costs of just fuel alone for 1 year. i found it quiet interesting so thought i'd share it.

 

all of the car data was taken from parkers and the mpg does match up with my own figures the petrol prices are taken from petrol prices.com and are the national average and i set the mileage at 12,000 which is my yearly average.

 

the comparisons use several petrols an lpg version a diesel and my s2000 and old 350z

 

have also added a 15p increase option as well and how much of the cost goes to the government coffers

 

if people want to know what the zed costs are with different mileage etc its all on formulas etc so i can adjust easily for people if they are interested.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:blush: yes sorry am a bit geeky :blush:

 

 

but finding it very helpful in making up my mind, am going to try and work out total costs for the year inc insurance etc to see how much i'll save if i go diesel and if its worth it compared to the initial purchase cost etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:blush: yes sorry am a bit geeky :blush:

 

 

but finding it very helpful in making up my mind, am going to try and work out total costs for the year inc insurance etc to see how much i'll save if i go diesel and if its worth it compared to the initial purchase cost etc.

 

I know what you mean, I have had to use the Leon as the Zed is going to Abbey on Monday to have a couple of things sorted out and I don't want to use it till then....

 

I have seen that the Leon shows a minimum of 38mpg even on 3-4 mile trips... so if you only had a short commute you would still see a decent saving if you have a diesel.

 

Also if you do get a diesel it may be more expensive initially but will hold its value a bit better :thumbs:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

haven't added servicing, but worked out it would all be the same roughly on each car so made no real difference; but i have worked out the savings or not savings over different cars using it

 

- alfa diesel £1,643.78 saving over alfa v6

- diesel £1,255.47 saving over s2k

- lpg £952.14 saving over s2k

- golf £79.48 more than the s2k

- audi v6 £350.00 saving over s2k

- m3 £1,041.35 more than the s2k

- 350z £488.31 more than the s2k

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sorry, i refuse to read that, it lokoa like you're buying a car with your head not heart :rant:

 

:lol:

 

i'm more than happy for you to make up the difference in my salary and i'll buy the alfa V6 but i don't think anyone on here wants to give me a minimum of 400.00 a year extra so i can have a thirstier car.

 

and i'm not sure many would complain of an extra 1250.00 a year in their pocket and thats before costs go up. i'm married have a mortgage, hoping for kids in the near future and only earn a teachers salary. sometimes the head has to make the decisions as the heart cant do maths.

 

 

 

and stop nicking my sayings

 

 

 

 

 

and you said last night the diesel idea is awesome especially if i get it re mapped

 

 

 

 

 

and stop stirring crap up :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He kinda right though Rich. Get a shed for commuting if you must but don't try and justify a diesel as a fun car: It won't be, you've done that with the Civic and got bored and moved on. Hell, even something like a 330i E46 will be a decent car for fun but still give decent fuel consumption.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

husky is never right don't ever tell him that; he'll get the wrong idea and start telling people all kind of crap. the last diesel was because of the mental mileage i was doing and swapped out as soon as the job changed, but now its more the fact that i'm trying to be sensible with my money. i love my cars but when it starts to use nearly a quarter of your yearly income and my salary is actually getting less its possibly time for a reality check. diesel may not be my first choice, but having money to live on is.

 

if i win the lottery though all this logic goes out the window :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

diesels. hmm... good torque and fuel economy but it ends there. in my experience i find that VAG TSI, or even the older 1.8 20v turbo engines deliver around 40mpg if your just driving regularly. and the are also perform very well if you decide you want to drive back from the supermarket like you didnt pay for your shopping. also the power, torque and fuel economy increases a lot with a simple remap.

 

that would be my choice if i were to get a daily commuter and leave the Zed for weekends.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a shame that your conversion from litres to gallons is rounded. You'd be better off using the litre capacity and then multiplying by a fixed conversion factor to get gallons (around 4.55 - get a precise version of google). Also, you could simplify that calculation a lot by just dividing the mileage by mpg and then multiplying by price and the above conversion factor.

 

In your sheet, the Golf R32 should have identical fuel costs to the zed and the 3.2 Brera as they all use petrol and have equivalent MPG.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i really really really fancy an alfa for some strange unknown reason, i love the looks of them the interiors etc and i especially love the brera. i'd love the V6 4wd version, but i just think with all the costs i'll end up hating it for what it costs. but the 2.4 diesel offers the same package but a slightly different delivery.

 

i will have a look the bmw's though, i know the bmw engines are good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do think the LPG calcs are very flawed as it doesn't take into account running on petrol to warm up etc. This makes it a bit more exensive but savings will still be there.

 

Sometimes you have to buy a car that is more sensible for whatever reason. Running costs, number of seats, amount of finance, boot space.... so on so on.

 

It's life and it's part of what being a 'grown up' is all about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i really really really fancy an alfa for some strange unknown reason

A petrol Alfa is a world of fun with character, even with the bits that go wrong. A diesel Alfa is just a not very good car with an poor engine.

 

 

Sometimes you have to buy a car that is more sensible for whatever reason. Running costs, number of seats, amount of finance, boot space.... so on so on.

 

It's life and it's part of what being a 'grown up' is all about.

As soon as I get to that point, somebody shoot me! :scare::lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i had the 2.4 alfa 159 diesel as a courtesy car a couple of years ago and thought it was really good. same engine in the brera. 5 cylinder and turbo, doesnt sound too diesely and with a remap has 250bhp and 500nm of torque, not the quickest 0-60 but very posh inside.

 

will look at the bmw's tonight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...