Diesel ute running costs in 2025: the numbers have changed

RUC increases and the end of the Clean Car Discount have quietly shifted the real cost of owning a used diesel ute. We run the numbers on a 2021 Hilux against its petrol and hybrid rivals.

The 2021 Toyota Hilux SR5 double cab diesel sits at roughly $52,000 to $58,000 on Canterbury yards right now, depending on kilometres and whether it's been optioned up or used commercially. That's a lot of ute. It's also, frankly, a lot of ongoing cost that buyers aren't always pricing in before they sign.

A Hilux diesel SR5 in real-world Canterbury driving — mixed highway and gravel, occasional towing, cold starts — will use around 9.5 to 11 litres per 100 km. At $2.70 a litre for diesel, that's roughly $257 to $297 per 1,000 km in fuel alone. Add RUCs at $76 per 1,000 km and you're running at $333 to $373 per 1,000 km before insurance, servicing, or tyres enter the conversation. Over 25,000 km annually, that's between $8,300 and $9,300 just in fuel and road user charges.

What the petrol alternatives actually cost

A 2021 Ford Ranger XLT petrol double cab — the 2.3 EcoBoost — asks around $44,000 to $49,000 used, so you're starting $7,000 to $9,000 cheaper. Petrol consumption is higher, typically 12 to 13.5 litres per 100 km in mixed use, and at $2.80 a litre for 95 octane you're looking at $336 to $378 per 1,000 km in fuel. No RUCs. So the per-kilometre running cost lands in a similar range to the diesel Hilux, but the lower purchase price changes the total cost of ownership picture materially over three to five years.

The real objection to the Ranger petrol is that it doesn't tow or haul like the Hilux diesel, and that's fair. But a lot of Hilux buyers in Canterbury are not regularly towing 3,000 kg. They're commuting to a job site, doing school runs, and heading to the skifield in July. For those buyers, the towing capability premium is a cost they're paying for but not collecting.

Then there's the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, which occupies a different space entirely. It's a wagon, not a ute, but it's being bought by the same cohort of buyers who want all-wheel drive, a degree of utility, and Canterbury winter confidence. Used 2021 models are sitting around $38,000 to $44,000. In EV mode around town — which covers a lot of daily use — fuel costs drop dramatically. For someone doing 80 km a day on a mix of grid power and petrol, you're looking at perhaps $100 to $140 per 1,000 km all-in running costs. The PHEV still attracts no RUCs because it's not a pure diesel. That gap against the Hilux is roughly $200 per 1,000 km in your favour.

It's not a ute. Let's be honest about that. But here is what I think the market is underpricing: how many people actually need a ute-bed in their daily life versus how many people bought a diesel ute because it felt like the right tool and the RUC and fuel bill seemed manageable at 2020 prices.

The ownership gap over five years

Run the numbers over five years at 20,000 km per year and the diesel Hilux picture looks like this: purchase price $55,000, fuel and RUCs approximately $41,000 over five years at mid-range estimates, servicing on a Hilux diesel around $1,200 a year — call it $6,000. Total: roughly $102,000.

The petrol Ranger at $46,500 purchase, $36,000 in fuel over five years, $900 a year servicing: around $97,000. A five-year gap of about $5,000 in favour of the Ranger, for a ute that starts cheaper and isn't materially worse for most Canterbury buyers' actual use cases.

The Outlander PHEV at $41,000 purchase, $12,000 to $16,000 in energy costs depending on how often you charge, servicing around $700 a year: roughly $60,000 to $64,000 over five years. That's not a small difference.

What the diesel ute has going for it is real: towing, resale, robustness on rough roads, the 1GD-FTV engine's long-term reliability record, and the fact that it fits a set of fence posts without ceremony. If you genuinely use those features, the premium is real value. The Hilux is not overpriced for what it is.

But the assumption that diesel running costs are inherently lower than petrol or hybrid has not been true for a while now, and the RUC increase made it less true still. Canterbury buyers who bought diesel utes in 2019 and 2020 locked in cheaper RUCs and cheaper diesel at the pump. Buyers doing the same calculation in 2025 are working with different inputs.

The numbers no longer tell the same story. That's worth knowing before you sign.