CARS that drink from the diesel pump often command a premium of £1,500 plus over their petrol equivalents despite higher servicing costs, expensive complexity and being entirely unsuited to urban conditions.
The canny buyer knows petrol cars more than offset their greater fuel costs by being so much cheaper to buy in the first place.
You need to be doing huge mileage for a diesel car to be cheaper to own.
Interestingly, if you couple this with the increased value of the more ‘popular’ types of car, you can see that diesel variants of the most in demand models are strongly over valued.
Conversely, unfashionable petrol powered cars, even those from ‘premium’ marques, are comparatively cheap.
Let’s look around average money, about £9,000. That’ll get you a bog standard, six year old S-MAX MPV, with Ford's 1.8 diesel engine and a highish 60,000 miles.
It’s a good car, yes, but to put that into perspective it’s incredible what opting for a nice big unfashionable petrol saloon will get you.
Here are three to consider.
Jaguar XJ
The XJ’s 'Midsommer Murders' styling didn’t really go down that well at launch. It’s aged rather well though and the car is splendidly appointed, nice to drive, very smooth and it looks expensive. It’s not though – it’s very cheap.
UsedCarExpert.co.uk Cars for sale: A six year old car, in a rather lovely light blue, with 60,000 miles on the clock, a proven 3.0 V6 petrol and a full service history can be had for £7,995.
Mercedes CLS
The CLS still looks fresh despite having been launched in 2004. Some might say it looks rather classier than the current car. The CLS is typically Mercedes refined and great to drive. Much, much cheaper than you think.
UsedCarExpert.co.uk Cars for sale: A really smart looking seven year old car, with a 3.5-litre V6, with 72,000 miles on the clock is available for £8,995.
Lexus IS
It really is remarkable what £9,000 buys you if you opt for a petrol saloon. The IS is a great example of this. It is very, very luxurious inside, still looks very fresh and is likely to be totally reliable.
UsedCarExpert.co.uk Cars for sale: A wonderful silver six year old car, with a creamy 2.5 V6 petrol engine and every extra you can imagine is going for £9,000. It’s a one owner car with under 50,000 on the clock.
Motors.co.uk value verdict:
