cheapest cars to run?

Morgan_Ree

I've got a 57 plate Ford Fiesta Zetec
I need to get rid of it before Sept when the MOTs due

No particular reason for this, i only keep them for a couple of years

Anyway i do a fair amount of miles each week and the fiesta is costing me an absolute fortune in petrol so my next car has to be cheaper to run

My budget is around £10,000 (preferably a bit under!!)
Car either new or around 6 months old and cheap(er) to run

Any ideas what sort of thing i should be looking at?

taffy056

If you are doing high mileage you got to go for a diesel or lpg, I got a passat diesel and its more fuel efficient than my wife's petrol focus, and its cheaper to tax

cyclonebri1

By far the best option if you want a cheaper car to run is to buy them at a year old and keep them longer, far better than buying new, (asumption on my part), and only keeping for 2 years, massive cost hit that way. ;)

So the cheapest car to run is the one you have at present

blue_haddock

Yep why worry about fuel costs when you are taking a massive hit on the depreciation?

Strider590

Why not buy a bigger engine car, a V6 or even a V8 for £5000 and then spend the £5000 saving on fuel and a nice holiday

Morgan_Ree

I just prefer newer cars
I like not having to pay out if anything goes wrong with it

Morgan_Ree

Strider590 wrote: »

Why not buy a bigger engine car, a V6 or even a V8 for £5000 and then spend the £5000 saving on fuel and a nice holiday

Ah plan B me thinks! :cool:

motorguy

blue_haddock wrote: »

Yep why worry about fuel costs when you are taking a massive hit on the depreciation?

Relative to the notion of buying new / nearly new costing more, my plan is to drive my current car for 10 years, thus offsetting any early depreciation over the longer term.

I gave £15600 for a brand new Passat Bluemotion TDI (list price of £20,500) as i found that as far as resale was concerned, depreciation was reasonably linear, ie, 3 year old cars with reasonable miles = £10K+, four year old £8K+, five year old £6K+.

This way i know exactly what i have and how its been treated, plus i've the benefit of three years warranty and the latest most efficient engine technology (averaging 65mpg over each tank compared to 50-55mpg on older models)

Hammyman

Morgan_Ree wrote: »

I just prefer newer cars
I like not having to pay out if anything goes wrong with it

So instead of maybe having to spend a couple of hundred quid on repairs (my 130,000 mile 04 plate Mondeo has only needed £200 worth in 3 years) you'd rather waste £1000's on depreciation?

Seems an odd way to keep motoring costs low.

wattywattwatt

I agree with the OP, total reliability is a must for me so I prefer to buy fairly new and hang on to it for three to four years then at least you know how it's been treated. Currently looking to buy a nearly new (59) Toyota Auris Diesel, reckon it will save me over £3000 over three years on fuel and road tax ( I am downsizing from a 1.8 Verso), not to mention a low interest deal which will reduce my payments by £100 a month.

Morgan_Ree

Hammyman wrote: »

So instead of maybe having to spend a couple of hundred quid on repairs (my 130,000 mile 04 plate Mondeo has only needed £200 worth in 3 years) you'd rather waste £1000's on depreciation?

Seems an odd way to keep motoring costs low.

I don't see it as wasting £1000s. Yes i'm paying out money every month but I see it as having a brand new or almost new car parked on my drive that i never having to worrying about forking out for should anything go wrong with it, plus i can change it every 2-3 years