There is a wide variety of car models available for buying. Deciding which one to buy is a major decision and a huge headache. Soaring petrol prices have also caused another decision to come to light, what type of fuel should my car use, petrol or diesel? Both have positive and negative attributes to consider.

My 92? Jeep explorer has seen better days. Rust has claimed most of the underside and the inside smells like a rain-soaked dog. I have been considering a new motor for months now and thanks to a new job [with a hefty salary increase] I can afford to buy one. After weeks of decision making, I narrowed my choices down to one option, a brand new Land Rover. It has the look and feel of a sports car, with all the style and trimmings of a luxury vehicle-in my mind at least. There were many optional extras I could include with my new purchase, such as an MP3 player with surround sound, and also leather seats. The one choice that kept me thinking for the longest was a petrol or diesel engine. Petrol prices have skyrocketed, making it almost unaffordable to even own a car! But my choice in which model of engine to use will hopefully save me money and maybe even improve performance.

If you don't mind the noise, diesel engines are far noisier then their petrol cousins. There have certainly been some great strides in diesel engine production, but petrol engines will always produce less noise. I'm not worried about the noise levels though, so I will have to go for diesel with this one. What if the engine needs service? Petrol engines can be serviced by almost any qualified mechanic, but even the best mechanics have a tough time understanding diesel engines due to their complicated parts. Luckily, Land Rovers service stations have mechanics fully trained in both diesel and petrol.

Never mind the technical aspects though, which one saves less fuel? That honour goes to diesel. Diesel engines were first designed for transport that needed to go long distances without filling up and petrol engines just couldn't cut it. Diesel engines are economical and have a fuel range that seems to be double that of normal petrol engines. Large petrol engines are thirsty, hungering for fuel. Their complex electrical systems and multiple valves demand litres of petrol to work constantly for it. However, Diesel fuel is also much pricier than petrol at the moment.

This was a hard decision for me to make, whichever way I looked at it. I chose the engine based on the fuel that would, in the end be in more of a ready supply. The winner was petrol. My pitch-black Land-Rover would be ready in six months for pickup-I have that to look forward too. In the meantime, I will just watch the fuel prices and hope that diesel does not become cheaper than petrol. You never know with today's fuel prices, anything can happen