I want a smaller, greener car

PabloNeruda

Something preferably still with 5 doors (although not essential, but I have 2 daughters), but a smaller engine so that I pay the minimum Road Tax and emits less CO2. I'm assuming a smaller engine will also give me more miles per gallon? My budget is probably around £2000 and it will generally be used for short trips around town, with the odd fortnightly trip into London (around 25 miles each way). Any ideas for somebody who knows nothing about cars?

EDIT: My current car is a Volvo 440 (N reg) 2.0 and it makes me feel very guilty about what I am doing to the planet. Any advice appreciated.

crox

Such a tough question, is there anything wrong with the Volvo or do you fancy a change?
What age range are your daughters? Could you change from a 2.0 to a 1.0?
Can you do without the short trips? - they're car killers

wifeforlife

Toyota Aygo is a great car but prob too small for you, and still a bit expensive as it's relatively new. I find it hard to beat though

Cath

little_miss_thrifty

I had a little Audi A2 a few years ago but became too small when i had DS (needed space for pushchairs, bags etc). The tax was cheapest and the tank lasted ages. Not too sure about the price, it may be slightly over your £2000 mark, but i would really recommend one. I am thinking of looking for another once the children are bigger.

PabloNeruda

crox wrote:

Such a tough question, is there anything wrong with the Volvo or do you fancy a change?
What age range are your daughters? Could you change from a 2.0 to a 1.0?
Can you do without the short trips? - they're car killers

Hiya. No it's totally reliable and will probably run and run forever. I'd just like to cut down the engine size and hopefully save money on fuel and tax at the same time as emitting less CO2.
My daughters are 12 and 8.
I'm trying to cut out as many short journeys as possible. For example I'm trying to organise a "walking bus" to school each day with other parents.
However I still need a car for other bits and pieces, unfortunately.

roswell

what about a corsa 1.3 diesel cdti ?

tr3mor

PabloNeruda wrote:

Hiya. No it's totally reliable and will probably run and run forever. I'd just like to cut down the engine size and hopefully save money on fuel and tax at the same time as emitting less CO2.
My daughters are 12 and 8.
I'm trying to cut out as many short journeys as possible. For example I'm trying to organise a "walking bus" to school each day with other parents.
However I still need a car for other bits and pieces, unfortunately.

If it's completely reliable get it converted to LPG. You'll emit less CO2 and it'll cost you half the price to run.

PabloNeruda

cathy2702 wrote:

Toyota Aygo is a great car but prob too small for you, and still a bit expensive as it's relatively new. I find it hard to beat though

Cath

I've had a look online at this car, which I'd never heard of before, and I have to say it looks exactly the kind of thing I'm after - eco-friendly and also cheap to run. The only downside is it is quite a new model by the looks of it, and therefore the second-hand market is somewhat limited at the moment. Having said that they are very cheap cars to begin with. I think this may well be what I go for. I guess I'll just have to keep a close eye on Auto Trader etc over the next few weeks to see what the market for them is like. If anyone has any advice about where to buy or not buy I'd be very grateful. In the meantime Many thanks.

beautifulgorgeous_2

The renault modus is too new to be that price but on our diesel we get 500 miles to a tank and 50 quid tax a year!

morganb

Any feedback on the Citroen C3??

ailuro2

An N reg car will likely die of rust, so I'd hold off on any conversions.

If it is reliable, why not keep the money for when Aygos are cheaper and spend a bit of it offsetting the extra CO2 your Volvo is producing?

If you sell the Volvo on, then someone else will be using it to pollute, maybe higher mileage than you do.

Hard decision.