HELP - Advice needed for most economical car for long journies

pnilan

Hi -

I am starting a new job in February which will involve a 120 mile round trip every day. Its on motor ways most of the route - so takes around 1hr 10 mins each way - not as bad as it sounds.

I will need to pay for the petrol out of my own pocket - so I'm keen to buy the most fuel efficient car - as the petrol costs will be a substantial part of the costs.

My budget is really 3-4000 pounds - reading this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1350045&highlight=most+economical+car

Ford Focus seemed to be the car of choice - but there wasn't much discussion on fuel economy.

The information on the internet on this contradicts each other in a few places - and also fails to take into account - reliability and up front cost.

I wonder if anyone on the forum has any thoughts on what in the round is the most economical second hand car for long journies.

Thanks for your help

pnilan

hewhoisnotintheknow

i run a 406 for stuff like this

i do 111 round trip to and from the office to home, then anything on top

usually over 1k a week

I had a xantia HDi (the hdi is the important bit) which was superb, it was a 110bhp so a nice drive

I then got a 90 bhp 406 HDi, this is superb and always returns around 60 mpg (i keep a book and calculate it)

I do drive very sensible though, but it certainly pays off

People slate citroen and peugeot, but it is the most reliable thing for me ever.

I think the focus would be a good choice, the new vw derv engines are meant to be good, but their reliability comes out below citroen!

You could pick a low mileage HDi or tdci ford up for decent money, in my opinion i your doing that sort of miles its not worth getting anything too nice.

I look for things like road noise, cruise control etc, rather than the usual things that other people think are important like image and stuff

harveybobbles

Megane 1.5 dci or Astra 1.7cdti seem to run on fresh air...

kiddy_guy

Volvo S40 diesel, Skoda Octavia/Superb or Seat Toledo (new shape). Economical and have either Volvo/VW reliability. All reasonable sized.

The only other thing you haven't added is your personal requirements. You'll get fantastic quality from a smaller car, but do you need 5 seats/5 doors/ load capacity? You'll probably want cruise control, so that rules smaller cars out - do you need aircon/heated seats etc...?

Some suggest PSA (Ren/Cit/Peu) cars - but you might as well have a "better" marque with historically better reliability. Perhaps with slightly more miles

If I had 4k I'd buy an 04 plate S40D - good space, reasonable extras and good reliabilty and economy.

hewhoisnotintheknow

kiddy_guy wrote: »

If I had 4k I'd buy an 04 plate S40D - good space, reasonable extras and good reliabilty and economy.

Is that the one with the renault engine?

harveybobbles

No, it's a Peugeot engine.

Which is probably just as bad lol.

For 4000 I'd find a nice S60 D5 for hammering the miles in. They love the motorways!

Contessa

My Peugeot 307Hdi gives me about 60mpg on motorways-I often do roundtrips of 620-630 miles on a tankful. It's also probably the most comfortable car I've had for motorway driving (including Volvo's which I held as the benchmark)

pnilan

Thanks for the advice -

There's lots of advice for diesel cars - why diesel ? Whats the most economical petrol car ?

N

Pssst

kiddy_guy wrote: »

Volvo S40 diesel, Skoda Octavia/Superb or Seat Toledo (new shape). Economical and have either Volvo/VW reliability. All reasonable sized.

The only other thing you haven't added is your personal requirements. You'll get fantastic quality from a smaller car, but do you need 5 seats/5 doors/ load capacity? You'll probably want cruise control, so that rules smaller cars out - do you need aircon/heated seats etc...?

Some suggest PSA (Ren/Cit/Peu) cars - but you might as well have a "better" marque with historically better reliability. Perhaps with slightly more miles

If I had 4k I'd buy an 04 plate S40D - good space, reasonable extras and good reliabilty and economy.

Do the newer volvos actually use volvo engines now? Im sure i read that they use other engines but what?

hewhoisnotintheknow

Pssst wrote: »

Do the newer volvos actually use volvo engines now? Im sure i read that they use other engines but what?

have a feeling its the same engine as a ford, which i have a feeling is the cit/pug/bmw jobbie?

Probably wrong though

harveybobbles

Volvo, Ford, Peugeot, Citroen and Mazda all share their engines. I think that the only Volvo with it's own Volvo engine is the larger 2.4 diesel 5 cylinder, which is lovely to drive!

The 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 are sharred by em all.

The 1.9 engine that Vauxhall call a CDTi is the same one that Saab call a TiD, which is the same unit that Fit and Alfa call a JTD...