By Paul Donovan
Diesel cars continue to be considerably dearer than petrol models, the latest figures from British Car Auctions (BCA) has revealed.
This is despite the fact that diesel cars are sold at a higher average mileage.
The price premium between diesel and petrol cars was as wide as it has ever been in January, at just over £1,600.
The premium has risen in recent months, after it had narrowed at the start of 2009.
Drivers who opt for a more expensive diesel car will likely also find their car insurance bills are higher.
Tony Gannon, BCA communications director, said: "There can be little argument that the average price of a diesel car always outperforms that of a similar average petrol model. Research from BCA's Pulse report on high volume ex-fleet and lease cars shows there is a clear and significant difference in average value at remarketing time - as much as £1,616 in January 2011 - equivalent to a 32.3% variance or nearly a third more on average."
"While diesel values are much higher, the BCA price trends always move in tandem and there are no instances of petrol values falling while diesel values are rising, for example. However, there are several instances where diesel values at BCA have climbed significantly more sharply than petrol values, as demonstrated in January of this year," he added.
January 2011 saw average values for petrol models climb from £4,712 to £5,208, a £316 or 6.7% rise. However, diesel models leapt from £5,883 to £6,654 in the same period, a £771 increase that was equivalent to 13.1% - nearly double the increase enjoyed by petrol cars in relative terms.
