diesel for rental car?

jill · Member

diesel for rental car?

Michele Erdvig · Host

Jill,

Diesel costs more than regular petrol. However, many diesel cars get better mileage. It is six of one and half a dozen of the other. I don't think it really matters. Did you do a price check with Kemwel on my Car Rental page?

Michele

GARYVOL · Veteran Member

Hi Jill,
They might be referring to overall miles per gallon. I'm also renting from
them and can't wait to get my hands on their Toyota Avensis next week. It comes in both gas and diesel. I think the diesel will do 60miles to the gallon. However, I'm not sure which one I'm getting weirdface

. Man, you can drive around Ireland 6 times with that kind of mileage. biggrin

-gary

Michele Erdvig · Host

A word of caution about filling up your tank. Many times the hoses for petrol and diesel are right next to each other but are a different color. It is possible to fill up with the wrong thing. I do not believe CDW will cover such a mistake. It is your responsibility. If you fill with the wrong one do not start or move your car. Call your car company to rectify the mistake.

Be very careful when getting petrol in Ireland.

Michele

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

According to www.aaroadwatch.ie the current AVERAGE price of fuel in Ireland is 1.249 Euro per litre for unleaded petrol and 1.324 Euro per litre of Diesel. They also claim that the average prices in June of 2007 were 1.173 (petrol) and 1.084 (diesel).

Without doing indepth calculations, that probably works out to about $9 per gallon, or so -- versus the $8 -8.50 that I figured during my EPIC, 2500 Kilometer, Grand Circum-Navigation of Ireland, last June.

We used a Manual transmission, diesel Passat for that trip and the fact that it WAS diesel was only noticable when it came time to purchase fuel. As Michele has said, be VERY careful about which type of fuel you purchase. To the best of MY knowledge, NO Insurance, either rental car company, Credit Card provided, nor aftermarket sold, covers either Wrong Fuel OR Lost Keys -- and those spiffy, 'Smart Chip' keys are VERY expensive (between $100-300) !!!! cry

European diesels (and petrol powered, as well) are MUCH more fuel efficient than US vehicles. Given the price of airfare, accommodations, eating out and the vehicle rental ITSELF, fuel costs are actually an almost negligable percentage of the trip.

If fuel costs ARE a concern, then the best method to minimize the expense is to also SIGNIFICANTLY slash the cost of the rental vehicle by renting the SMALLEST, most-fuel efficient vehicle available. And THAT would, by default, mean a manual shift, as well. hmm

We opted for the Passat, last trip, because we knew we were facing a LOT of seat time and reckoned it was WORTH IT, to be comfortable. For this year, with less ambitious plans, we're down-sizing to an intermediate. We probably SHOULD settle on a Micra, it just being the two of us, but I guess I'm getting a bit soft, as the years go by .... biggrin

Bob