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Loustefjames
By Loustefjames | AA Member | 2 Posts | 1 September 2011 at 10:32pm

Hi,
I am thinking of purchasing a new car. I did think of going diesel but I heard that the gvt was fazing the import of diesels due to the fume / smoking of the engines..
Petrol does have some ups but my preference is diesel.

Can you give any advise

thanks
Lou

jbiddle
By jbiddle | Community Member | 1657 Posts | 9 September 2011 at 2:24pm

You say 'new' but that can mean an upgrade into a late model used car or 'brand' new so we will try to cover of a couple of points for both.

New cars have no issues as far as meeting the emission standards go however, because of their age there is a point where an older used vehicle cannot enter NZ because it fails to meet the required emission standards.

In January 2012 the emission standards change which will affect petrol used imports. The standards move from Euro 3 to Euro 4.

There are no changes for Diesels at this time as they are currently required to meet Euro 4.

All vehicles currently undergo a visual tailpipe emission check at the time of a WoF and this will continue unchanged.

Hope this helps clarify things for you.

Loustefjames
By Loustefjames | AA Member | 2 Posts | 9 September 2011 at 3:37pm

Great, this does help.
Now all I have to do is see if the final cost of RUC, diesel, and maintenance still comes out cheaper than the petrol..
We are currently looking at hopefully buying a new Santafe