Search Q&A
Diesel prices in Belgium and what to choose between Diesel or Petrol Vehicle
Hello Everyone,
I think most of you are aware in the changes in diesel prices recently in Belgium. I am using a diesel vehicle and in September and October 2017 the price of diesel was around 1.05€ to 1.10€ Now as the government decided to encourage petrol vehicles by making diesel and petrol prices the same, Current diesel price went up to 1.25€ to 1.3€ which means a strong increase in just a short period of time just 2-3 months. Don't you find a bit silly this increase as we the diesel users were not notified well in advance than the policies are changing? If would have been better if government announced two years ago that the diesel prices are going to be increased so we would think about to exchange our vehicles or not. I mean I have invested in a diesel vehicle and now after not a long time I have to think to get rid of it. Whether buy a petrol vehicle or just keep my diesel vehicle and pay on average 20% more for fuel and very high annual road tax. Don't you think that there should be also a unification in the road tax? As both diesel and petrol vehicle case the same damage to road infrastructure. What do you fellow forum members think? What to choose between diesel or Petrol as electric and hybrid vehicles are still far reachable due to very high prices?
I invite all of you to share your opinion for something which touches directly our pockets.
The fact is diesel is dirty in its exhaust funes and brussles is in contravention of air quality regulations hence this clamp down.
Why should the govetment need to tell people this before they look at their car usage? For intercity driving and long distances hybrid will become the way to go. Our toyota hybrid is silent when ypu start it which is a bonus for noise pollution also.
Yes, I agree that the knee jerk reaction to the sudden revelation that the Diesel engine may be worse than petrol engines is a slap in the face for the millions of diesel owners in Belgium. Typical political mismanagement. What’s even more distressing is what to do with these vehicles (we have two of them in our household) when it’s time to buy a new car. Their resale value has plummeted. Nobody wants to buy a used diesel car anymore. Overall we feel very badly treated by the government and the industry which for years told us how environmentally friendly these cars were, supported by government official policy of lower priced fuel. Should we start a new “me-too” movement to pressure a government rethink?
1. Whether you choose diesel or gasoline depends on how many km you drive and your driving habits. For highway driving, diesel is more economical, for urban driving, gasoline or even better, hybrid.
2. Price hikes in diesel are one of the results of the tax shift. You will get a little bit more in your net salary, but will pay more in other things. Typical tricks of politicians.
3. For years we've been told how bad CO2 is for the environment. In fact, diesel emits less CO2 than petrol, bu now the problem is the small particules. If Diesel cars were so bad and politicians were so worried about the environment, they would be the first to take the metro to work. Instead, they all have large Audi A8 limousines. I will believe in environment protection, climate change, etc when that affects the lifestyle of politicians.
4. I also have a Diesel car, equipped with a Particule filter (FAP). It is a tricky peace of equipment for the only purpose of limiting emissions. If it breaks down, it will cost me a fortune to fix it, so yes, I think Diesel is not the smartest choice at the moment. Hybrids are interesting, but they are also more expensive.
5. My next car will be a company car.
EDI - You've hit the nail on the head! This country is always inventing new taxes and that might be one of the reasons 38,000+ Belgians leave every year.
Perhaps car owners should sell their cars to African countries!
A new diesel car is cleaner than a new essence car in all the metrics that counted until the politicians smelt new taxes. For the majority of Belgians, who live outside of Brussels diesel cars were bought because they are cleaner. Hybrids are a joke in many cases because if you commute the electric motor will only be available for the 5-10 percent of the journey, so you are basically using a petrol car. Plugin EVs are still way too expensive and even in the future are likely to have lesser resale value (batteries are a large part of their cost).
In addition, where is the electricity coming from, Belgium will need to buy in much of its electricity this year, and that which is doesn't buy will come from fossil fuels (in fact any additional electricity demand comes form fossil fuels).
Therefore the claim that diesel is dirty is not helpful since the other options are also dirty.
