India, Sept. 23 -- Petrol has won the small car argument. Nobody disputes that. But step up to a used SUV in Bangalore, and the maths starts shifting back toward diesel in ways that catch first-time buyers off guard. The city's commute patterns, its topography, and Karnataka's registration rules all quietly favour a compression ignition engine - provided the buyer knows exactly what to inspect.

The Bangalore Commute Punishes Underpowered Petrol Cars

Anyone researching how to buy used car online quickly discovers that fuel type is one of the earliest decisions that shapes every filter that follows.

Any Whitefield to Electronic City regular will tell you the same thing. That stretch isn't stop-and-go in the Mumbai sense. It's long crawls...