rtbiscuit Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 I did find it quite interesting though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 yes sorry am a bit geeky 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 yes sorry am a bit geeky 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Nicely done Rich Do us a favour and either post up or send us the original Excel file, I'd love to put a couple of other cars in there and see what the costs come out like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 here is the original file Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walbertonio Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Aye, have to confess to using one I concocted as well which takes into account tax, insurance, servicing, etc - a smidge under £5k to run the Z per year at the moment, provided nothing breaks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 sorry, i refuse to read that, it lokoa like you're buying a car with your head not heart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 sorry, i refuse to read that, it lokoa like you're buying a car with your head not heart 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Buy the diesel alfa, you know you want to. I'm sure your just dragging this out as payback at me and yes, i am of course just winding you up, but its damn good fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrumbMC Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasha@lazytrips Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 i wanted some of the other infos in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasha@lazytrips Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 i wanted some of the other infos in there. Then at least fix your rounding error Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 i wanted some of the other infos in there. Then at least fix your rounding error meh! its close enough for me its not like the rounding error is going to make a v6 cheaper than a diesel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 If you're ever going to consider a diesel, then the only one I'd ever look at is the twin-turbo BMW one. Whether it's in the 1, 3 or 5 series, it's still the best diesel lump out there. 335d would be my choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 It'll handle like a bus. That's okay if you've got a lovely Alfa V6 up front, unacceptable if it's just another oil burner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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