Stick with diesel or move back to petrol to save on the tax ?

Fr Tod Umptious

Wondering if anyone can give me a bit of advice here.

I have a 12 yo 1.9L Diesel Peugeot with 166k miles on it.

It is due a NCT soon (which it should pass) and the tax is up.

I do about 12k a year in it.

I was wondering should I look at getting rid of it and getting a small petrol (1.1L, to 1.4L) instead cos the tax is a killer on it, €626 a year ?

At the moment it does approx 44 mpg, and diesel is about 9c cheaper than petrol.

I would go for a 2008+ car but that is out of my budget

Overall would I get better value with a smaller petrol engine over a big diesel ?

Atomic Pineapple

Depends on how much you plan on spending to change.

If the tax is a killer and the car will pass the NCT the frugal thing to do is to keep it. 44mpg over 12k miles a year is quite good.

At the moment you are using 1238 litres of diesel per annum, if you move to a petrol car that returns 44mpg the €0.09 extra per litre of petrol is €111/annum.

Of course, what may suit you is a 1.4 or 1.6 diesel if you are intent on changing cars.

Fr Tod Umptious

draffodx wrote: »

Depends on how much you plan on spending to change.

Ture, budget is tight, 2K max probably

I'd keep the Peugeot if your budget is €2000 tbh....

Tax Band Annual
0 - 1000 185
1001 - 1100 278
1101 - 1200 307
1201 - 1300 333
1301 - 1400 358
1401 - 1500 384

Anything over a 1l and your motor tax saving is at most €450/year, that's €9/week. If your car is sound and treating you well you might well regret changing.

Matt Simis

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Ture, budget is tight, 2K max probably

So then this only makes sense if you can pretty much directly swap the car or sell for more (thats unlikely) than the replacement costs. Imo while you may be 44mpg combined with your diesel, very few petrols will achieve this combined, outside of motorway. Its likely your combined mpg will be lower and the fuel more expensive, meaning the move will over a period actually cost you money.

Then there is the fear of the unknown, a single service or problem with the "new" car and your EUR400 of tax savings are wiped out. Its a question of maths and it doesnt add up.

Fr Tod Umptious

Thnaks for the info folks

As I though myself sticking with what I have may be the best option as the alternative offer no real savings.

Unless I see a good value small diesel out there I'll stick with what I have.