Hi,

I'm trying to buy a car in Switzerland and keep reading everywhere a diesel is only worth it if you drive over a certain amount (~>15k km).
However why do people say this? Neither the road taxes, insurance nor purchase price seem to be higher for Diesel (at least for the models I'm looking at) and the fuel is cheaper too.
Am I missing something? it seems Diesel is superior in every way.

Thanks!

I'm not an expert in any sense, but it seems the price difference between petrol and gasoline is very low these days, diesel cars are more expensive than the equivalent petrol ones, and moreover they are in the danger of having no future, as authorities have been discussing for years about banning or severely limiting them in the road in the short-/mid-term future, although it may or may not happen of course. The road taxes are also higher, at least in cantons such as VD.

A hybrid may also be an option if you care abiut the fuel prices.

Diesels tend to be a bit more pricey, but they also tend to use a bit less fuel.

Just do the math for the car you like and you'll know. But there for certain is no general 15K rule.

Thanks for the answers.

Okay, so you both say that in general diesel cars are a bit more expensive than petrol cars to purchase.

Just for the specific ones I checked the price difference wasn't really there. In fact I founds cheaper diesels of similar year and mileage than petrols and when I went to the manufacturers website to make sure, the Diesel was more expensive but only a few hundred franks so negligible on the catalog price.

Must be that the ones I checked are the exception then. Thanks for the input

For new ones, Diesel seems often a bit more expensive. For used cars, I do not see this anymore. I think the "Diesel scandal" of the German manufacturers might still have an impact on overall reputation, risk of bans in certain areas with high NOX pollution etc., and I think you see that in the declining market share of Diesel compared to the pre-scandal level.

Diesel is ca. 10 rp/l more expensive than petrol. So yes, whether Diesel is more economic is a function of how much you drive.

For me, a cultivated Diesel engine always wins.

I do love a good oxymoron

they will end up banning diesel in CH

6 in a row, my friend

And another day they'll ban gasoline cars, heck one day in far future they even might ban electrical cars.

... they ...

Diesel fuel is generally more expensive than petrol in CH, not less, although TBF most diesel cars use less of it. Cheaper if you're able to pop over to France or Germany for it, for sure. (Right now fuel in France is much cheaper anyway, even for petrol, for the first time in the twenty years we've been here).

Even modern diesels need bigger engines to produce the same power as a decent petrol engine, though, so road tax will tend to be higher to get the same performance level.

Even a modern 'refined' diesel still doesn;t give the same feeling of power and smoothness as a similarly refined petrol engine, so this is also a factor, particularly at the upper end of the market.

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Mmmmhh, not sure this computes. It's all about turbocharging and 'tune'. For example, The BMW X5 40i (petrol) is a 3 litre, 6 cyl producing 340hp. The X5 50d (Diesel) is a 3 litre, 6 cyl producing 400hp.


In addition the diesel produces 760nm of torque compared to 450 for the petrol.

Diesel as a fuel packs more energy than gasoline. Diesel engine parts are bigger, but also last longer, lubrication with diesel is better. A diesel engine in number of kilometers can easily last twice as much as a gasoline engine. Especially for used cars you can get a nice diesel car with 100K kilometer for a good price and expect it will last at least another 100-150 k.

The price to buy a diesel might be the same as a petrol car, but what when you want to sell ? Maybe in a few years you get nothing back for the diesel, but would still get a good offer for the petrol car ?


I for one would not be interested in a used diesel, as more cities (outside of CH) are closed for diesel cars...

A CNG hybrid is the best bet. Cheaper then gasoline and diesel in the long run.

I'm not a car expert by any stretch, but I thought that if one has a short commute, a petrol is probably better due to diesels needing time to warm up and something about particle filters? Maybe OP heard it in terms of total kms per year as opposed to how those kms are obtained?

We chose a petrol for this reason, as OH's commute it short. Actually right now it's even shorter with home office!

due to norms being increasingly strict, new diesels have more annoying things and their future resale value is doubtful.

Particulate filters need longer drives to reach the temperature to be cleaned out properly.
If you use a diesel just in the city, you risk damaging it.

I think longer highway commutes get better mileage with diesels. But with city driving that is negated, and petrol is less expensive per liter. Idk the science behind this exactly.

I had 3 diesel cars in a row, culminating in a 6cyl 3.0 BMW lump which was divine on the highway. I now have a T5 2.0 petrol Volvo with similar on paper figures to my beamer but it simply cannot compare. Sure its quieter around town and performance is a little smoother but I miss the extra torque and the effortless, low revving performance on the highway. There is also something to be said about being able to get 900 km on a full tank versus the 500 or so now.

Buyers remorse

This.

Neither. Go electric vehicle in the future. Good for environment.