Car servicing

…or manufacturers thinking we don’t have the market to bring in the full complement of their cars, possibly not helped by our sometimes spurious ADRs.

Anyway, using the Golf as an example, then, plenty of anecdotal evidence tells me you should reasonably expect a 2.0 TDI to get 150-200km more from its 55 litre tank in city traffic when compared to a 2.0 turbo petrol GTI (which is already a very efficient engine for its market segment and power). That’s quite a bit better than “marginal”.

Holden, what I said is spot on. Around town a modern diesel car is only marginally better on fuel than a petrol equivalent. On the open road the diesel shits on petrol cards. That is not a criticism of diesel technology, just a simple fact. And of course there are car models like the mini which have adopted other methods of saving fuel, though of course stop start doesn’t apply to diesels. The same can and does apply to petrol cars too.

Don’t get me wrong I am all for diesels, when I lived in the UK a few years back I used to hire cars about once a fortnight and often got a diesel. I really liked the the VW Golf and Ford Focus in particular, but also got cars such as Skoda’s and even Kia’s that were good on the juice too. It really surprised me that we in Australia don’t have as much choice as Europe. But you know I reckon that is down to our insurance companies equating turbo cars to high performance cars and whacking a premium on them, when for a diesel it is almost an essential thing.

JC, time you went and did some research on the efficieny of diesel cars. The MINI Diesel, for example, like an increasing number of cars now, uses stop-start technology to reduce the burden on wasting fuel while idling in city traffic.

Okay, if you’re talking a huge arse SUV then maybe you have a point. But, then, any engine lugging around close to (or over) 2 tonnes in city traffic is going to be working hard.

Diesel engines and the gunk they emit from their exhausts aren’t perfect, by any means (few cars are), but they are a damn sight better than they were 10 years ago. To the point that they are genuinely viable options for fuel conscious buyers.

The Prius and its brethren are a good start, but Honda’s Clarity and its ilk are more likely to be the saviour of the car as we know it.

JC said :

Hybrids on the open road are not going to be all that efficient, but in suburbia tend to be the most efficient of the lot, not by much though. Hence why I personally wouldn’t be in a rush to get one.

I thought the same JC, but my trips (every week) to and from Lake Macquarie (north of Gosford, south of Newcastle) and Canberra (586km return) has so far shown I can do about 1.75 trips on the one tank of fuel. That is, fill up in Lake Macquarie, I can drive to Canberra, and back to Lake Macquarie on that on tank of fuel, needing to fill up again near Goulburn on the return trip.

The fuel economy read out gives me 5.1 litres per 100km on that trip. For the statisticians out there, I’m sure you’ll note a hole or two in those figures so allow me to state that they are indicative.

I’ve had nothing but negative experiances with Canberra’s car dealers when it comes to after sales ‘serviceing’. I reccomend you call CWC Auto Services in Ainslie. They advertise on here, I personally use and reccomend them to my friends. Also, they’ll give you a free car to use for the day.

Even the car manufacturers know hybrids are an interim solution. Fuel cell cars are the future, but are some way off being released as mass production vehicles.

Now with hybrids one thing to remember, they work best in stop start traffic. So it is a tad unfair to compare fuel efficiency figures in the traditional way, especially to diesel vehicles as Holden Caufield did. Diesels are great on the open road for sure, around town they tend to be just a bit better than a conventional petrol car. Hybrids on the open road are not going to be all that efficient, but in suburbia tend to be the most efficient of the lot, not by much though. Hence why I personally wouldn’t be in a rush to get one.

It’s a good thing that manufacturers are developing hybrid vehicles, but I must admit I wouldn’t buy one.

troll-sniffer said :

Price difference between hybrid and ornery camry auto according to an online discount new cars site is $6812.00. Allowing for a generous 400 extra kms per tankful, a quick calculation on my humble $3 calculator indicates that at $1.35 per litre for fuel you just break even on the cost of fuel at around 150,000kms. If the difference is closer to 300kms per tank, which I think is more realistic, you’re up over 200,000kms before you break even.

Based on your fuel cost assumption and the ADR82 combined cycle fuel consumption ratings for the base auto Camry and the Camry Hybrid, I get a break even point at ~135,000km.

For a proper economic analysis (we’ve assumed above that the value of a dollar never changes), take your pick as to which of inflation or fuel prices are going to increase more quickly over the next ten years. And what interest rates are going to do if you have to finance. And which of the two you think will depreciate more quickly…

Price difference between hybrid and ornery camry auto according to an online discount new cars site is $6812.00. Allowing for a generous 400 extra kms per tankful, a quick calculation on my humble $3 calculator indicates that at $1.35 per litre for fuel you just break even on the cost of fuel at around 150,000kms. If the difference is closer to 300kms per tank, which I think is more realistic, you’re up over 200,000kms before you break even.

I’m not a toyota service agent so I don’t know how reliable the toyota hybrid system is, last I heard it’s not bad but can be rather expensive if you get a ‘not so good one’.

I’m not posting this as a judgement call on the merits of buying a hybrid, but prospective purchasers all starry-eyed about economy figures would do well to consider their usage and type of driving, and the length of time they intend to own the car, as well as potential maintenance further down the track, before settling on a hybrid choice.

My suggestion is you avoid the dealerships and get it serviced by a privately run garage.
I personally use CWC autoservices in ainslie (I also believe they are an advertiser on this site).

It won’t affect your warranty and IMHO they do a much better job than any of the dealers in Canberra.

Give Nat a call on (02) 6247 3601.