Maruti Celerio diesel vs petrol vs CNG. Which variant?

Which is better for you? Are you looking at getting a Celerio, but not sure which variant to buy? The price difference between the petrol and diesel variants is about INR 80,000 on an average for each variant, while for CNG its about INR 70,000 and it is available only on V trim.

Which fuel type is better for you?

If you are looking at driving under 35 kilometres a day or 1000kms in a month, the petrol is a better deal as your investment is lesser by INR 80,000 atleast.

So, maybe you can upgrade to a higher model, if you aren’t buying ZXi (O). Today, petrol in Delhi costs around INR 66/litre, while the diesel is about INR 54/litre.

If your driving is more than 1000kms a month and it is in the city, pick the CNG. Else buy the AMT for the most effortless driving. The AMT (automated manual transmission) is available in L, V and Z variants now and comes with a difference of under INR 40,000.

Which variant?

It might be stretching your budget, but you don’t buy a car everyday. Our pick is the Z variant, as it has all the bells and whistles one needs in a car, and even if you buy V variant, you will look at adding your own music system.

So, it is the Z variant, unless you decide to buy the CNG.

Calculation:

Let us assume the Celerio petrol returns 14km/l, diesel returns 18km/l.

So, if you do about 1000kms in a month,

Petrol version will consume: 71 litres

Cost of 71 litres of petrol: INR 4686

Diesel version will consume: 55 litres

Cost of 55 litres of diesel: INR 2970

Savings on diesel: 4686-2970= INR 1716/month

So, it will take you 80,000/1,716= 46 months to break even if you haven’t taken any loan. 46 months equal something just under four years. This is if you drive for 1000 kms a month or 12,000 kms a year.

If you include loan interest cost then you pay atleast INR 8,000 extra for the diesel car. So, it will take you about five years to break even with a petrol car if you drive it for five years for 1000kms a month. The Celerio petrol is a better pick in that case than the Celerio diesel.