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Running costs

IF I were to buy a mid-sized family car, would I be better off buying a petrol car and converting it to LPG or would a diesel be better for the fuel savings? Or should I just spend extra and buy the Toyota Prius. We do only 10,000km a year and we keep a car for about 10 years before we trade it in. Which is the best way to go?

THE only reason to buy a Prius is to protect the environment, not to cut your running costs. That's because of the purchase price. It would take some time at the mileage you do to recoup the extra money you would pay out to buy the Prius in savings at the fuel pump. Same with the diesel. As a rule of thumb, it generally takes about 70,000km to recoup the extra you pay to buy the diesel over a petrol-fuelled car. The LPG option is probably the best one, because you would recoup the cost of fitting the system within a couple of years.

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