As I write these words diesel costs R11.40/litre, 12 percent more than petrol (R10.20) and at R359 990 the Nissan X-Trail 2.0 dCi SE automatic I've been tooling around in for the past few days is R17 390 more expensive than its nearest petrol equivalent with the same level of trim (the 2.5 SE a/t at R342 600).
You're unlikely to save on the deal unless you do phenomenally long distances, most of it on the open road, so why buy a diesel?
Firstly, because it's fun. Today's diesels are a far cry from the sluggish clatterwagons we old fogeys remember. The X-Trail's 1995cc, turbocharged, common-rail, direct-injection engine runs so smoothly and quietly the only time you can hear it's a diesel is at idle.
Its 320Nm are accessible from only 2000rpm but it will happily rev way past the power peak at 4000rpm without running out of steam.
It cruises almost silently at 120km/h yet is happy to lug half the school's soccer team and their kit through Saturday morning traffic without the driver raising a sweat because its slick, six-speed, semi-auto transmission gives you the best of two-pedal driving with the option of holding a lower gear when you need it on the opposing team's muddy sports ground.
Once the game is over and you can get away for a weekend's down-and-dirty the combination of low-revving diesel grunt and conventional auto transmission is controllable and stress-free on rough gravel tracks and you won't give yourself any nasty surprises if you suddenly have to lift off the power.
Predictable, accurately modulated power delivery with no snatch or jerks makes the difference between leaping from bump to bump like a frightened rock rabbit and proceeding with majestic smoothness.
But it's also practical. The same diesel bottom-end and slick-shift transmission make it a very relaxed commuter while on longer trips you should get nearly 800km from a 65-litre tank.
Nissan says the two-litre X-Trail diesel should use no more than 8.1 litres/100km. I recorded 9.4, including performance testing, but would expect a significant improvement under less demanding conditions.
That may not translate to real-world savings in terms of running costs but long weekends and holiday trips are just that much more fun with almost a whole day's driving between fuel stops.
motoring.co.za covered the third-generation X-Trail in detail at its launch in April 2008 but a launch drive - no matter how intense - is always different from living with the car for a week, driving it under familiar conditions on roads you know.
Easy to park
Nissan's so-called "compact SUV" is long (4.63m) and tall (1.77m) but narrower than it looks at 1.785m so it's unexpectedly easy to park once you get used to how far the front bumper extends beyond the visible bonnet line. It also has a surprisingly tight turning circle.
The seats are supportive and comfortable, if not luxurious, and the high seating position not only lets you see over the econohatches in the morning/evening lemming run but also makes getting in and out for the umpteenth time after a Saturday morning of month-end shopping a lot less stressful on middle-aged bones.
And I don't need to tell any parent what a blessing 603 litres of packing space - without touching the seats! - can be on the last Saturday of the month.
The satellite controls on the steering wheel are outstandingly intuitive - after one glance you can operate them without looking away from the road - but the right-hand stalk that controls the wipers is both complicated and confusing.
Even stopped at the side of the road and with the aid of the owner's manual I never did get all the positions figured out and I still can't guarantee to stop them first try.
Rattling keys
If you count the little recesses in the door armrests there are more than two dozen places to lose things in the cabin of the X-Trail - all lined with hard plastic so no matter where I put my house keys they rattle annoyingly over every little bump.
After just one day the keys were back where they would be in the most stripped-out of sports cars - on the carpet in the passenger footwell.
But, as Nissan insists, the X-Trail is not a wussy crossover or an inner-city Tonka Toy. It's an SUV - which is why, in an era of flowing lines and dynamic designs, it still looks like a utility vehicle.
So I treated it like one. I went out in the country and took it over the bumpy test road I normally use for motorcycles, went swooping over the ride-and-handling track at speeds I'm not going to mention and slithered along what is normally quite a decent gravel road, made treacherous by heavy rain.
No problem
The suspension is firm but never harsh, soaking up the worst I could throw it at without the X-Trail ever losing traction, even in two-wheel drive, the pleasantly weighted power steering is rock steady even flat out in a straight line and that slithery, muddy gravel road was no problem with the All Mode all-wheel drive set in auto - I didn't even need to lock the centre differential.
The 110kW diesel X-Trail is no ball of fire. It accelerates briskly up to 140km/h but takes for ever to get up to its maximum of 188km/h (true), with 201 showing on the speedometer - an error of 6.9 percent.
It can sprint from 0-100km/h in 11.43sec and the standing kilometre requires 30.97sec. That lack of top-end punch, however, shows up even more in the overtaking tests. 80-120km/h is done and dusted in 10.31sec but 80-140km/h takes an agonising 17.37sec even in "shift lock" mode.
It will stop from a true 100km/h in an average 3.25sec with a fair amount of noise from tyres and anti-lock brakes but in a straight line.
Bottom line
You don't need all-wheel drive for driving around town and a mid-sized station wagon will do anything the X-Trail can do without arousing the ire of the bunny-huggers but if you have an adventurous family with an outdoor life-style the X-Trail dCi will take you there in comfort and safety, without breaking the bank along the way
The Nissan X-Trail comes with a three-year or 100 000km warranty, including roadside assistance, and a three-year or 90 000km service plan.