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Hi.
I am in the process of purchasing a new Ford Fiesta or demo.
I am trying decide between the Zetec 1.6 petrol (manual) and the LX 1.6 Turbo Diesel.

I asked the sale guy re what is more cost effective and he said the if plan on doing more than 20,000kms p\a that the petrol would be more cost effoctive
In my case i am based in Hamilton, so doesnt take long to get anywhere and mainly flat, but drive up auckland once a month and head away on nz holidays in north island twice a year.
Granted on the turbo diesel you need to pay RUC, and the cost of diesel tends to go up more than petrol it seems.
But on the diesel there is greater economy and they can be chipped to increase efficiency by 15% and power by 25%.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

If you take the manufacturers claimed fuel consumption for the 1.6 litre petrol of just under 6 litres per 100km, the difference between that and the Diesel engine in real world driving conditions may be marginal. Sure the Diesel fuel is cheaper, but you may find the car itself is more expensive, you pay more for your registration fees, pay Road User Charges and have possible higher long term service costs.

The small fuel savings running on Diesel may be all but wiped out with the additional costs.

I don’t disagree with the salesperson totally but it would depend on just how much over the 20K you would travel per year.

Forget about chipping the Diesel engine. Claims of up to 15% better fuel efficiency and 25% more power are quite ridiculous for a brand new vehicle of this engine size. Your new car warranty would go out the window as well.

If the Diesel engine in its current state of tune is not acceptable to you, then don’t bother and stick with the petrol.