Your Bangernomics successes

Rolandtheroadie

Just checked my own fuel economy there, 39.2 MPG.

To be honest, thats not too bad. It's been left ticking over a couple of times and I've occasionally been a bit enthusiastic on the throttle.

I'll try to behave myself this time, do another 250 miles and check again.

worried_jim

There is a thread floating about regarding a person with a Ford Focus who has mentioned poor fuel economy in their car, I wonder how much they paid for it- Is it better to buy a banger that may use a bit more fuel but cost pennies to buy, or spend £1k's on a car that will crack 50mpg?

[Deleted User]

worried_jim wrote: »

There is a thread floating about regarding a person with a Ford Focus who has mentioned poor fuel economy in their car, I wonder how much they paid for it- Is it better to buy a banger that may use a bit more fuel but cost pennies to buy, or spend £1k's on a car that will crack 50mpg?

Buying a banger for pennies will still be worth pennies in 2 years time. Buying a car for £1000s will be worth less in 2 years time.

Paradigm

Not sure if this is "bangernomics" but just bought a 03 plate Seat Leon, 90,000 miles with fully stamped history up to 86,000.

A few small dings here & there but no rust & the interior is immaculate.

One or two problems It failed it's mot on a wishbone bush, seller knocked £100 off to cover this & the stereo was locked out.
The good news though is that the guy who did the mot has quoted £30 (ish) + vat to fix the bush & I sorted the stereo after a trawl on the net.

It drives like a dream & fingers crossed there's no "hidden" faults but that's the gamble.

Cost £1450 + mot repair.

worried_jim

Are you intending to keep it until it's final days? If you are I think we can squeeze you into the banger club on an honourable membership for 18 months and then convert you to full membership once it's value drops below £1k. A quick trawl on autotrader has shown me that a Leon can be had for under a grand.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201216464565015/sort/default/usedcars/model/leon/make/seat/quicksearch/true/radius/100/page/1/postcode/le29hd?logcode=p

Paradigm

worried_jim wrote: »

Are you intending to keep it until it's final days? If you are I think we can squeeze you into the banger club on an honourable membership for 18 months and then convert you to full membership once it's value drops below £1k. A quick trawl on autotrader has shown me that a Leon can be had for under a grand.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201216464565015/sort/default/usedcars/model/leon/make/seat/quicksearch/true/radius/100/page/1/postcode/le29hd?logcode=p

It'll run till it dies!

I've been looking now for 3 weeks & there seems to be a lack of decent sub £1000 cars in my area & I've looked at more than a few.
The Leon you linked to is just the job but it's a fair way from the North Mids to Lincs to find out it's a dog.... photo's can be really misleading, as I know to my cost.

worried_jim

Just had another fuel fill up this morning, last tank did me 289 miles (filled up on 28 March) @ 25.9 mpg which is all urban driving. This is only the second fill up since I purchased the Rover 620 in February, on the first tank full I drove as economically as possible and got 26.3 mpg and this time I've just driven it normally with a few bootfulls of power thrown in occasionally and it has made -0.4 to the mpg.
So I am getting 5-6 weeks between fill ups and 26mpg, so far buying a larger engined car is working for me, if I had bought a small econ box it would have cost me twice as much to buy and wouldn't have had the luxury and refinements of the Rover but would probably be achieving another 15mpg over the Rover.

alastairq

hi............a really good example of the different ways of viewing the costs of driving?

Whilst someone buying new, and thoughtfully, may be looking at 'pence-per-mile', the folk on this thread probably don't worry too much about 'finance costs' or depreciation, or residuals [thought they were what you found in a radiator?]....but concern themselves with how many miles they can reliably squeeze out of a litre of fuel??

On the other hand, there is the school of thought that thinks....they have X-amount of income put aside for motoring costs.....which may bear little regard for actual mileage covered. For this train of thought, a comfy, reliable, large car, [which are very cheap to buy], with a less frugal thirst, is perfectly acceptable.

Not ideal if one as to cover many hundreds of miles a week....[although the comfort may be nice?}...perhaps?

At what point, mileage-and- running-costs-wise, do folk move towards the frugal type?

Personally, I am on the cusp... probably doing a personal mileage of around 300-350 a week, depending.

Financially I could tolerate a Volvo 740 2.0 litre, which consistently managed just over 30 mpg's ...my present heap returning approx 15mpg's better...but is a bit of a smaller car...[as in, stately home versus Barratts box?}

If fuel costs had gone up more significantly than they have done recently, 30 mpg's may have broken camel's back, I feel....

Matt1977

In April 2010 having written off my previous car and in the mire financially, I bought this 1994 Escort as a stop gap car:



The Escort was in fact an ex-police car. Bought from a drinking companion of my dad, he had recently been given a newer car. It had been sitting in the garage for 4 months as the chap was unable to drive due to a medical complaint. However, it was MOT'd and put back in the garage, so no wear and tear. After charging the battery up and firing up the beast I decided to buy it.

150k+ miles on the clock and looking a bit rough, I coughed up £250. Had to get 6 months tax, which was another £112.50. It had half a tank of diesel too which was a bonus. :cool: I spent the first day driving about in it, removing the damaged plastic wheel trims and then giving it a damn good clean. Although the car was well maintained by the previous owner, he didn't seem to enjoy cleaning it. The rough white paintwork now had a nice shine to it after a polish. I removed the front seat covers, revealing a lot of dust and vacuumed the inside of it. There is something satisfying about cleaning up a newly acquired car from a private buyer.

The car was sooo slow being a normally aspirated diesel. It was almost like piloting a boat! But on the plus side, it was cheap to insure and very economical. It was quite a comfortable car to sit in too. The front seats were nice to sit on.

The Escort served me well for 6 months, getting me (slowly) to the supermarket and temp workplaces with no breakdowns. The driver's door lock failed after a couple of weeks and it was a pain having to unlock that door from the passenger side, or even climbing over from the passenger side.

The cavernous boot was letting in water. The spare wheel well filled up with water, and allowed for the spare to go rusty in the stagnant water. Even a mushroom started growing in the damp carpet!

With some cash now safely in the bank after selling a property, and with the road tax running out on the Escort, I traded it in for a 2003 Nissan Almera 2.2 dCi (136bhp).

Despite it's foibles, the Escort has won a special place in my heart. A surprisingly good car for £250. Apart from shelling out for the road tax, insurance and refuelling, I didn't have to spend anymore on the car. I even got my £250 back when the trading it in. :cool:

worried_jim

I have now been running the Rover for 4 months and still think that I have made a good choice.

Issues that I have had with the car are the front electric windows both have come off their runners and failed to close properly- the first time this happened it was pouring down with rain!
Investing in a Haynes manual and some silicone spray has allowed me to fix and repair them both myself. The drivers side works perfectly and the passengers side, well, lets just say that it is closed.
Glad the windows open now, as I still haven't had the chance to get the a/c re-gassed- I was going to do it at kwik fit for £29 but then they put the price up to £49. I am thinking about buying one of those kits and doing it myself- it will cost about £55 but there should be enough to do two complete fills.
The gas is -

EZ Chill Auto Air Conditioning Recharge

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_812353_langId_-1_categoryId_165632

And I also have to get the gauge-
EZ Chill Auto Air Con Reusable Trigger Dispenser & Gauge

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_812363_categoryId_165632_langId_-1?cm_sp=Intelligent_Offer-_-Product_Details_Zone_1-_-Blank&iozone=PDPz1

You do get £10 refunded when you return the empty canister. I’ve tried to get it from the U.S. as the canister and gauge all comes as one for about $29 but Amazon won’t ship it to the UK so I’ve got to pay UK rip off prices. There are lots of videos on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_XkaAHvgM0
showing you how to do it and it looks a doddle.

The retractable electric aerial is a bit temperamental, a bit of a fiddle and it works for a few times and then just stays stuck in the up position but it does mean that if I want to I can take it through a car wash.

Averaging 26mpg but I only do 7 miles a day and a £70 tank full last me over 6 weeks so am happy with the running cost.

The remote fob seems to eat batteries and I have replaced them twice now since getting the car. I have sorted out the poor radio reception by taking the stereo out and pushing the aerial lead properly. Everything is fine and it hasn’t missed a beat and is still lovely to drive, I am very happy.