Fuel taxes!

[avgas]

As good as the new diesels are, they are being pushed harder and harder to develop more torque and power than ever before. I wonder what todays crop of diesels will be like in 20 years from now. I doubt they would age as well as the naturally aspirated diesels of yesteryear.
Still, I wouldn't say no to one of them new diesels.

Would you own a 1980's Toyota Surf/Prado Diesel?
If so then the new ones will be fine in 20 years. That was a "high power" turbo version.......most are still on the road now.

Problems with Diesels are usually attributed to poor servicing. Not many people realize they NEED servicing more often then petrols. A petrol will do 50-100K with no service. A diesel will start getting dodgey after 30K.

[Edbear]

Tell him to take it into a ford dealer for a "service".
I just did my 60k service, and my car came back to me with mysterious new little wastegate/blowoff valve thing. Under load, the dropping load makes a little noise like all the boy racer cars.
Not quite a pphhhhhish! but you can hear it.......

Magically most of my lag problems have gone. However that damn computer is going to be the bane of my life.......
But yeah what the hell is the deal with the Focus. For $35K I would expect full electric windows, not just the front seats?????

I'll let him know! Thanks for the tip! I do agree some features are questionable and agree manual rear windows are passe these days!

Would you own a 1980's Toyota Surf/Prado Diesel?
If so then the new ones will be fine in 20 years. That was a "high power" turbo version.......most are still on the road now.

Problems with Diesels are usually attributed to poor servicing. Not many people realize they NEED servicing more often then petrols. A petrol will do 50-100K with no service. A diesel will start getting dodgey after 30K.

Yup! Servicing is critical to diesels! Do it right and don't skimp on having the best oil. Also, try to ascertain if the vehicle has ben overheated at any point, that almost invariably leads to cracked heads down the track if not immediately. Just waht happened to my Estima, costing me $2500.00! After that is was magic! Great to drive long distances!

[Edbear]

Got a reply today! Here's the context!

Dear Ed

Thank you for your email to the Ministry of Transport regarding the relative cost of running equivalent petrol and diesel vehicles.

I understand you are concerned that the road user charges (RUC) associated with driving a diesel vehicle may discourage the uptake of these vehicles.

The RUC system is not designed to encourage a particular type of vehicle, it is designed to recover the costs of developing and maintaining New Zealand’s roads. Owners of petrol vehicles pay their share of this cost through fuel excise duty which is included in the price of petrol.

Generally, the RUC system disadvantages petrol vehicles relative to diesel vehicles. The average petrol vehicle consumes around 10 litres of petrol per 100 kilometres. At the current rate of fuel excise duty (48.5 cents a litre, plus GST) this translates to a charge for road use of $55.78 per 1,000 kilometres. This compares with RUC payable of $44.31 per 1,000 kilometres for vehicles up to two tonnes. However, if the petrol vehicle you buy is more fuel efficient, the charge for road use will be less.

Currently, the primary incentive to use any fuel efficient vehicle is the overall lower fuel costs that are paid at the pump.

Using your examples, the Hyundai i45 claims to average 7.9 litres per 100 kilometres. At the current fuel price of $2.219 per litre, this translates to a cost of $175.30 per 1000 kilometres.

For the Mondeo, at 5.6 litres per 100 kilometres, it will cost $91.78 at the pump to drive 1000 kilometres (given the current diesel price of $1.639 per litre). Adding the RUC cost of $44.31 (including GST) gives a total running cost of $136.09.

You can see the clear incentive to drive a fuel efficient diesel vehicle ($136.09 for 1000 kilometres of travel) compared to driving a petrol equivalent ($175.30 per 1000 kilometres), even though the tax charged for road use by the government does not provide any extra incentive.

Reductions in CO2 emissions are being addressed by the government through policies such as the Emissions Trading Scheme, which targets all fuel users and all sources of CO2 emissions.

Thank you for taking the time to email us.

Regards

Matthew Skinner
Adviser
Ministry of Transport – Te Manatū Waka

T: +64 4 439 9261 | www.transport.govt.nz

[avgas]

Yeah but if its that clear cut then why aren't RUC included in petrol price.......

(and before someone mentions generators etc be warned I work with that industry......so I might know a thing or 2).

[Scuba_Steve]

Yeah but if its that clear cut then why aren't RUC included in petrol price.......

(and before someone mentions generators etc be warned I work with that industry......so I might know a thing or 2).

My question would be why aren't all vehicles running RUC's? I believe that would be the best & fairest system as it allows for greater flexibility round pricing
Bring in RUC's for all vehicles I say

[NinjaNanna]

And there we have it:

Petrol i45 = $44.06 inc gst per 1000km in taxes (79l/1000kms * 48.5c + 15%gst)
Diesel Mondeo = $44.31 inc gst per 1000km in taxes

Government seems to have it right to me

[SMOKEU]

Would you own a 1980's Toyota Surf/Prado Diesel?
If so then the new ones will be fine in 20 years. That was a "high power" turbo version.......most are still on the road now.

Problems with Diesels are usually attributed to poor servicing. Not many people realize they NEED servicing more often then petrols. A petrol will do 50-100K with no service. A diesel will start getting dodgey after 30K.

I wouldn't buy a 2.4L turbo diesel model. Not only do they have a reputation for cracking heads, but a mate of mine has had a few of them and they all seem to chew through alternators.

Yeah but if its that clear cut then why aren't RUC included in petrol price.......

It's too easy to cheat the system. If RUCs were made compulsory on all vehicles used on public roads then there will be a huge increase in people winding back odometers and disconnecting their speedo cable. With the right computer to plug into your cars ECU, it only takes a matter of minutes to give the odometer even on very modern vehicles a severe case of amnesia.

[Edbear]

After my specialist Drs. visit where he cautioned me about both the driving position and getting stuff in and out of the boot, ie: no bending to lift, I was then restricted as to getting a sedan with a conventional boot. So I had to go back over my list and the only sedan type vehicle with a boot I could find acceptable was the Mondeo hatchback. So I started considering more SUV type vehicles. I found the Suzuki SX4 to be very comfortable but fuel consumption rated at 7.6l/100km, (37mpg). The Honda City, while a brilliant wee car, has a deep and long boot, so worse even than the Pulsar.

Then the lovely lady at Honda, , suggested I really take a good look at the Insight, a hybrid hatch with a fuel rating of 4.6l/100km, (61mpg). I was skeptical as it was a 1.3lt petrol with electric motor assist and wondered if it was worth it as we'd looked at the Prius a few years back and discounted it. Too dear to buy and not good enough economy wise to make up for the cost.

Well, I'm sold on the Insight. I took it for a long drive which included steep hills, overtaking, rough winding country roads and the motorway cruise. It goes much better than the 1.6lt Pulsar with performance about that of a 1.8-2lt. It gets up and goes very well with the only criticism being the engine noise when accelerating hard uphill. It works hard for a little 1.3 and sounds like it, but then the car is SO quiet it comes as a surprise to actually hear anything. It accelerated up the Albany hill, the old road, fast enough to overtake other vehicles with ease and once over the top and cruising it was almost silent apart from a wee bit of tyre noise.

Open road overtaking showed good acceleration on part throttle and it didn't feel wanting compared to the Pulsar at all. Auto shut off at the lights stops the engine dead and it was easy to adjust to the slight jump on start up when depressing the throttle to take off. It would be easy to get used to and was no inconveniece and was not intrusive, just noticeable. The seating position was adjustable and I could get high and comfortable and the hatch was capacious and high enough that it was easy to get anything out. With the back seats folded you could sleep two in there.

Usual extras, like cruise control, a very comprehensive trip computer climate air-con, electric everything, nothing much lacking but heated seats really. And the price of $35k, (not what we will wind up paying of course), makes it better value than all the diesels.

It's like the Odyssey's little brother and we really don't need the extra space of the Odyssey and being about $10k cheaper as well, makes much better sense. Especially that 60mpg figure!