Old cars are inefficient etc

anewman

All it really did was allow the manufacturer's to stick their prices up by around £2k, stop offering desperate discounts to try and sell, all while people came queueing round the block hoping to get £2k against a new car for their banger.

Inactive

anewman wrote: »

All it really did was allow the manufacturer's to stick their prices up by around £2k, stop offering desperate discounts to try and sell, all while people came queueing round the block hoping to get £2k against a new car for their banger.

Spot on, I agree 100%.

A new car that I guess many cannot truly afford, no doubt 95% on some kind of finance deal.

flyingscotno1

AdrianHi wrote: »

It's a sad fact that, especially with diesels, all the emmissions control measures slapped on cars undoes the any good progress made in making them more efficient. I've heard many people report the same with their VAG group TDi and BMW diesels - going backwards in fuel economy even though the car might get better at producing a better result in the hugely contrived official EU fuel consumption tests.

These "blue motion" and "efficient dynaimics" measures seem to be getting cars back to where they were in the generation that your 1997 TDi comes from.

Great progress at... standing still.

Petrol engines are gebnerally getting a lot better though.

Mixed bag IMHO, some petrols are doing the same in the EU tests and flunking when out in real conditions too- the EU tests seem impossible to match.

We have a few cars at work- Corsa (petrol) drinks fuel, don't know if it is generally underpowered but gets nowhere near it's claimed economy- I'd suggest inbetween the urban and combined on a long motorway journey.

Generally my 2008 diesel is getting the same fuel economy as my 2001 does- supposed to be 5mpg better however IIRC! What is noticable is pulling out the V5, and the emissions are noticably lower not just CO2, but all various nasties. Of course this over complicates things, but since I spend all but 4 miles of my 32mile daily commute at 50mph and above I'm yet to have any issues with the DPF- fingers crossed!

Mind you petrol engines too are getting complex as time progresses with EU emmission regs- Fiat's Multiair system sounds good but you can't help feel more to go wrong!

robredz

goldspanners wrote: »

this week im getting between 36-38 mpg out of my transit tdci. which is decent for a van at its weight limit.

The Daily in question is a 2001 pre common rail model, so I would expect to match your Transit's economy with a newer vehicle, the Transit I was using was an extra high roof LWB 115 ps model, loaded to gross on multi drop, over 200 miles, so would have expected 30 + on a long motorway run., and at 27 mpg was in line with my expectations due to the type of work being done, an old petrol 35 cwt transit would have been doing around 12 - 18 mpg under similar conditions. I tend to agree with rev_henry, about the issue of lifetime carbon impact and the real reasons for scrappage.

A good many viable economical vehicles have gone to the crusher, quite unnecessarily, including quite a few classics. It makes sense to maintain a durable vehicle, and keeping it running as long as possible.

Shoshannah

I own a 1993 car with pretty average fuel consumption for a car of its size. But it is lighter than more modern equivalents (fewer safety features!!!), gets recycled every year rather than scrapped for a new model, and has at least doubled in value since I bought it.

Unless I was a millionaire I would never choose to own a brand new car.