2018 Canadian Diesel Analysis identifies the most cost-effective diesel vehicles.

Vincentric has released the results of its 2018 Canadian Diesel Analysis, which took a close look at 856 vehicles, including trucks, vans, SUVs, crossovers and passenger cars.

The results show that buyers should be cautious when purchasing a diesel truck as only 60 of the 368 (16%) diesels were found to be cost effective. One of the factors causing diesel trucks to have the smallest percentage of cost-effective vehicles was their higher cost of maintenance. On average it costs $2,019 more for maintenance on diesel trucks compared to their gasoline counterparts. 

That said, truck buyers will have a better chance of finding cost-effective diesels looking at 1/2 ton and smaller pickups, with 26 of the 79 (33%) diesel trucks being cost effective. On the other hand, when it comes to heavy-duty (3/4 and 1 ton) pickups, only 34 of the 289 (12%) diesels being cost-effective.

By contrast, all 50 diesel SUVs/Crossovers analyzed were found to be cost effective, and most passenger cars were  cost effective with 8 of the 10 (80%) diesels having lower ownership costs than their gasoline counterparts. In addition, when it comes to maintenance, diesel passenger cars showed an average of $199 less for maintenance than their all-gasoline counterparts over the five-year timeframe.

The study assumed an ownership timeframe of five years with an annual driving distance of 25,000 kilometres.

“When a buyer sees the diesel price premium, it can often steer them away from purchasing a vehicle that could actually be cost-effective,” said Vincentric President David Wurster. “The study revealed that there are plenty of cost-effective diesels in the marketplace, but finding the ones that are cost-effective requires a full understanding of each vehicle’s ownership costs.”