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Looking at a new car. I like the look of Toyota Highlander but they only have petrol - hubby concerned running costs will be too high. Alternative could be diesel Ford Territory. Do cost savings stack up? Thoughts would be appreciated! :)

Both the Highlander and Territory are good vehicles. Unfortunately, the Highlander isn't available in diesel and large petrol SUV's are heavy on fuel.
While overall running costs are not too dissimilar between petrol and diesel, the convenience of not having to visit the gas station so ofter, plus the fact that large petrol SUV's tend to depreciate more than diesel ones the diesel Territory would be my preference.

You also have to weigh up the fact that rego on a diesel cost more, plus you have to pay road user charges. Plus servicing a Diesel generally cost more. So really you have to look at the amount of Km's you do annually to see if the cheaper cost of fuel out weighs the RUC and rego costs.

Absolutely right snubs05. Perhaps I should have elaborated when I said the running costs are not too dis-similar, I was talking about the direct lower cost of diesel fuel and the lower fuel consumption versus the higher servicing, RUC, rego etc. Ultimately, these are the factors that roughly balance the cost of running a diesel vehicle compared with petrol.
From an economic perspective, diesel starts to make more sense with higher mileage users.
It's still true though, that a large petrol SUV depreciates greater than its diesel equivalent and the torque of diesel makes it the preference for towing.