Thinking of getting a more effecient car

arcon5

I do alot of city driving in my 2003 Mondeo 1.8l hatchback. Love the car but thinking of selling it and downgrading to something more economical and cheaper to run, as i'm only getting 20-25mpg, 25-30mpg outer city driving and tax costing about £240/yr.

Just wondering what others thought would be more suitable for city driving..

Some smaller cars I was thinking off...

Peugeot 207, 307 or 407
VW Golf
Citreon C1

Any thoughts?

whatmichaelsays

I'd recommend the Seat Ibiza - fantastic value for the money.

Look out for the 1.2TSI engine - £30 a year to tax, good on fuel and very nippy. I downsized from a 180bhp Astra Sporthatch and it's a fantastic little car.

no_more_cards_for_me

Why do you need a car for city driving ?

Bus, Tram, Tube, rail, taxi, cycle - plenty of other options.

Why not rent a car when you need one ? Streetcar etc should be a good bet for a city dweller.

arcon5

no_more_cards_for_me wrote: »

Why do you need a car for city driving ?

Bus, Tram, Tube, rail, taxi, cycle - plenty of other options.

Why not rent a car when you need one ? Streetcar etc should be a good bet for a city dweller.

For work.

I have to be back and forth across the town/city i'm in throughout the duration of the day. I also have to be able to travel to different areas of the county as part of my job.

A typical day I can travel between 20-60 miles. Alot of which is inner city driving.

Idiophreak

We're just in the process of getting an Aygo from Toyota. Lovely little car, great to drive, very small (easy to park/squeeze through gaps), 65mpg, £0 road tax and exempt from the congestion charge, too.

rodenal

I like the C1/Aygo/107 trio. The issue for me is that you'll be spending a significant sum of money over what you'll get for the mondeo to get even an early example of one of these. Even if it manages 45mpg around town (no idea if they do or not, but it seems achievable) it would take an awfully long time to recoup your losses, plus despite them being great little city cars the mondeo will certainly be a more comfortable place to be.

You could also consider smaller and smaller engined cars at around the same value you'll get back for the mondeo. Depends on whether you're hoping to pick up a newer car at the same time I guess - the great thing about buying mondeos is you can pick up a great car for less than a grand, not so great when selling! Something like a little 1.25 zetec fiesta comes to mind - though you'd need to put a bit of cash in to get the 2003ish onwards one.

no_more_cards_for_me

arcon5 wrote: »

For work.

I have to be back and forth across the town/city i'm in throughout the duration of the day. I also have to be able to travel to different areas of the county as part of my job.

A typical day I can travel between 20-60 miles. Alot of which is inner city driving.

Ok, so if your travelling for work I assume that you can expense all travel. Hence one of the other modes of transport plus taxi if required when in the city.

With the cost of fuel only going up then I'd look at the other options. If you need to travel can you use a train or hire as above when longer distances are to be travelled. The saving you make no having the car means more available to hire the car of your choice when needed. As a city driver I would of thought that a better solution ?

:beer:

arcon5

no_more_cards_for_me wrote: »

Ok, so if your travelling for work I assume that you can expense all travel. Hence one of the other modes of transport plus taxi if required when in the city.

With the cost of fuel only going up then I'd look at the other options. If you need to travel can you use a train or hire as above when longer distances are to be travelled. The saving you make no having the car means more available to hire the car of your choice when needed. As a city driver I would of thought that a better solution ?

:beer:

Part of the contract is that I have my own transport and they pay mileage to me (only just covering petrol on some days). They wont pay for taxis and buses, it would be too costly for them and particularly when they phone jobs through to me and require me to be there within 1h 30m, wouldn't work.

avantra

So you do roughly 10k per year which is reasonable but will not justify a diesel so this is off the table to start with.

How much do you put on comfort? I personally put a big fat 0 on any how comfortable a car is, for me it is just an appliance to get from a to b in a dry state.

What's your budget? £3k can get you a small petrol from 2006-2008.

Loads of motors at this budget, my 2p will be to buy with your head a cheap petrol between 1.1 to 1.4, most will do at list 35-45 mpg which is better than the old Mondi.

Buy the newest your cash allow you and avoid French if possible. to start you off here is one I found earlier.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201212458546690/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-age/up_to_4_years_old/price-to/3000/price-from/2000/postcode/bs353uw/page/3/radius/1501?logcode=p

arcon5

Thanks all, my budget is rather low if i'm honest. £1-£2k region after selling my motor. Was thinking about getting a newer car on HP, although not sure my credit rating would support that!

I'm doing circa 14k miles/yr.
Style & comfort is somewhat important to me, I want to buy a smart looking car. For the price, my Mondeo looks excellent (it's my baby, just wish it was more efficient as i'm spending a small fortunate to run it.).

This car is much smaller and I imagine more efficient?

Someone did though recommend a Peugeot 407 also, which is a little smaller and suits me perfectly . But for inner city driving, would it be suitable? Thats where alot of the petrol is being used.

no_more_cards_for_me

arcon5 wrote: »

Thanks all, my budget is rather low if i'm honest. £1-£2k region after selling my motor. Was thinking about getting a newer car on HP, although not sure my credit rating would support that!

I'm doing circa 14k miles/yr.
Style & comfort is somewhat important to me, I want to buy a smart looking car. For the price, my Mondeo looks excellent (it's my baby, just wish it was more efficient as i'm spending a small fortunate to run it.).

This car is much smaller and I imagine more efficient?

Someone did though recommend a Peugeot 407 also, which is a little smaller and suits me perfectly . But for inner city driving, would it be suitable? Thats where alot of the petrol is being used.

So how much petrol does £1k to £2k buy ? If you want to change cars then fine but it won't save you any money will it ??

Trading petrol cost for finance cost seems rather pointless, you will not be saving any costs.

New car on HP, so you might get 10mpg further but how much a month to finance ? Again not saving and a false economy.

If you like the mondeo keep it, but sorry to sound harsh but buying a new car isnt going to save money.

And a 407 would not be a "good town car"