Estimated petrol cost for this...?

NewLifeAhead_2

photome wrote: »

Wow thats a reply, would have been good to have put some of those facts in to the Op and then you wouldnt have got some of the questions.

Is the car worth £1200, doesnt seem your boss is being that kind

None of those facts were relevant to my original post. The title, and body of my OP was asking if anyone knew the estimated fuel cost of this car. I didnt ask if anyone thought i could afford a car, if id be better going by bike, or if my boss was right or wrong in what he had offered me. My last post was put to fill in the people who seemed to think they knew enough about my life from this 1 question I had asked to make assumptions on what I can or cannot afford.
So, as I said before, my question has been answered, everything else is irrelevant.
Thanks.

custardy

SailorSam wrote: »

Once you start to take the price of insurance and road tax into consideration on top of buying the car, maybe with such a low mileage if you don't fancy a bike even a taxi can start to look an attractive alternative.

yup. my car hits me for about £800 in insurance,tax,MOT just to sit at the door
then you have repairs/maintenance/fuel . admittedly not much as i do such low miles
the bike on the other hand costs little but it does have running costs
2 new tyres last week were £50
I do my own servicing (as with the car) but its costs are minute vs the car and it does more miles than the car

supermanjo

NewLifeAhead wrote: »

Supermanjo thank you so much for your breakdown, really helpful
So i think ive had my post answered so thanks everyone who had some useful advice!
edit; would also like to add that i didnt spend in the region of £500 learning to drive to end up on a bike or a taxi!

Just to add to that. I just checked up prices for Mondeo's on Autotrader. You can pick up mint 2003/4 models for around £1,000-1,300 which includes a recent service, M.O.T and tax. I would be very wary of your kind boss trying to shift an older car for more without any of the above included.

Tell him you'll take it for £1,200 if it includes a new service, and tax. That way it would be worth it for that kinda cash. Slap on an M.O.T for around £40 and call it a day. (best if you do this before you buy the car, that way you'll know if it passes or not.)

Insurance is not so bad on the 1.8 Mondeo's. I think they are in insurance group 8 or 9. Being a woman an all, should be fairly cheap for you.

One last thing. CHECK WHEN THE CAMBELT WAS LAST CHANGED! We used to own an 1996 1.8 Mondeo, the cambelt snapped, ate the engine to bits, and spat it out the side. If he claims there's life left in it WALK AWAY! Otherwise you will pay dearly. Make sure there are recipts of it being done. I think for Ford they tend to be every 60-70,000 miles.

Hope this helps.

NewLifeAhead_2

Thanks again supermanjo.
It is a 2003, and the £1200 i was happy with as i dont mind if hes wants to make a bit off it as im not technically paying interest - it also does have a brand new MOT and 12 months tax. He does this with all his cars as he also has the bodyshop/MOT centre.
I will ask about the cambelt though.
Im thinking now its the best option for me as i do need a car this size to fit 3 kids in the back, and where as i thought it would be more on insurance because of the engine size, i put a quote through on a 51 plate clio 1.4 and that was more! Obviously i know there are lots of factors ie age, "boy racer" image etc, but still, it wouldnt have occured to me before he suggested this car for me.
Thanks for all your help,

supermanjo

NewLifeAhead wrote: »

Thanks again supermanjo.
It is a 2003, and the £1200 i was happy with as i dont mind if hes wants to make a bit off it as im not technically paying interest - it also does have a brand new MOT and 12 months tax. He does this with all his cars as he also has the bodyshop/MOT centre.
I will ask about the cambelt though.
Im thinking now its the best option for me as i do need a car this size to fit 3 kids in the back, and where as i thought it would be more on insurance because of the engine size, i put a quote through on a 51 plate clio 1.4 and that was more! Obviously i know there are lots of factors ie age, "boy racer" image etc, but still, it wouldnt have occured to me before he suggested this car for me.
Thanks for all your help.

Mondeo's tend to be very easy fixes, so premiums are low. (at least old ones anyway.) Another thing is, boy racers never buy them! I used to drive a 1999 1.6 Golf and the insurance was twice what I'm paying for my 200bhp 2.0 Turbo car. (oh, and the catch is... It's a Volvo!! )

A 2003 Mondeo for £1,200 with 12m M.O.T and 12m TAX is definitely a bargain. Plus, the car is local so saves you £150+ on train/fuel/insurance costs to go buy one in good condition from a far.

But again, check that cambelt. It would be nice to call up a local ford dealership and ask when the cambelt is due on a 2003 Mondeo. If they say every 60-70,000 miles, and there are receipts to prove the cambelt was done lets say... 40,000 miles ago, then you're good for another 20,000 miles at least! (and seen as your only doing 50 miles a week tops, that should last another 10 years!)

Grab that car before someone else does

NewLifeAhead_2

Thanks again for all your great advice. Definately will check this cambelt out and will hopefully be on the road end of the week. Cheers!:beer:

supermanjo

To clear up something I should have looked into before giving the advice...

Mk3 Mondeo's came in both Duratec and Zetec engines. The key difference between Duratec and Zetec engines are; Duratec is chain-driven whilst Zetec is belt-driven.

So you may be buying the one that is chain-driven, if it is, you have nothing to worry about.

NewLifeAhead_2

Sorry to bump but just wanted to update. I decided to have the car, and not only do i love it, for a number of reasons, it looks like its gona be fine on fuel. Today i took it to visit family 25 miles away and back on a fiver :j
I went to fill up before we left and decided to see how much a fiver would fill it as it was on the red this morning, thinking id need to refill half way there. but got there, and 5 miles short of home before filling up (didnt want to risk it lol).
Now I know fuel consumption is a lot less on motorway/dual driving than around town but i still find this impressive compared to what I thought it would be like.
So yes, one happy bunny here :j

rodenal

Don't get too excited op - 50 miles on a fiver would be roughly 63mpg, sounds like you were using fuel that was already in there. The car will be fine on fuel though - I'd expect that journey to cost in the region of £8ish (fuel only) so hardly bank breaking

supermanjo

NewLifeAhead wrote: »

Sorry to bump but just wanted to update. I decided to have the car, and not only do i love it, for a number of reasons, it looks like its gona be fine on fuel. Today i took it to visit family 25 miles away and back on a fiver :j
I went to fill up before we left and decided to see how much a fiver would fill it as it was on the red this morning, thinking id need to refill half way there. but got there, and 5 miles short of home before filling up (didnt want to risk it lol).
Now I know fuel consumption is a lot less on motorway/dual driving than around town but i still find this impressive compared to what I thought it would be like.
So yes, one happy bunny here :j

Redline does not really mean empty. (sshh, don't tell anyone! lol!) Once you've gone below redline, you usually have another 4-5 litres in a "reserve" just in case, so don't worry that you've touched redline as you've got plenty to take you to the next petrol station and beyond!

In my Volvo S40, when the needle goes below the last red bar, the trip computer will say "0 miles left" but I secretly know that there's another 7 litres in reserve which means I can go another 30 miles, or 60 miles on the motorway! (every car has a different reserve, Ford is usually 4-5 litres.)

But for good practice, it's always good to chuck in £20 before you hit redline. (or when ever you fuel light comes on.) Saves the fuel filter from having to filter through all the gunk that builds up at the bottom of the tank.

Edit: Were you ever able to find out when the cambelt was last changed? (or if your engine is a duratec?)