India, being a developing country, has huge population of vehicle owners and this figure is increasing rapidly. Though selection of most suitable car depends on various parameters like cost, average, size,design etc. but there is one thing that always bothers the buyer which is 'Diesel car or petrol car'. Though this is a never ending debate but still based on some parameters one can prefer a type. These parameters are- use for which car is required (i.e. domestic or commercial use), how frequently do you use the car or how much you are willing to pay etc. They are described below.
- Cost of the car : The diesel variant of cars cost more than the petrol variant. For cars which cost less than 10 Lakhs, the showroom price between diesel and petrol variants differs from 1 to 1.5 Lakhs. The difference in the on-road price of petrol and diesel car variants will be even more. This is because the cost of registration for the diesel car is more than that of the Petrol car; the difference is about 1 to 3% depending on the cost of the vehicle and the State where it is purchased.
- Average or mileage : The mileage of diesel engine is more than that of a Petrol engine. A diesel engine does not need a spark plug and thus has higher compression. This makes the diesel engine utilize more fuel as compared to a petrol engine. The better mileage of a diesel engine makes it easy to cover the extra cost of the car paid initially, but with increasing cost of cars, the time required to recover this cost has increased.
- Cost of fuel : At present, per liter cost of diesel is about Rs. 9 less than that of petrol. After the partial deregulation of diesel price in 2013, there has been a gradual fall in the difference from 21 rupees in 2013 to approx. 10 rupees in 2014. So there is no concrete base to say that there will be a price difference between the two in the forthcoming years as well.
- Smooth drive : Diesel engines are more powerful than petrol engines. They also have a higher torque and hence they give a smoother drive. On the other hand, the harshness, noise, and vibrations in diesel driven cars are way higher than that of a petrol-driven car.
- Maintenance : The maintenance cost of diesel cars is higher than petrol cars. This is because consumables like engine oil and spares used in diesel vehicles are more expensive. The resale value of a used diesel car is higher than that of a petrol car. However, the life of a petrol engine is more than a diesel engine. So now that you have the pros and cons of both these vehicles, hope you can choose the one that suits your requirements better.
