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I want a smaller, greener car

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  • katiep_2
    katiep_2 Posts: 120 Forumite
    gromituk wrote: »
    Assuming you mean bicycle, how about a scooter? Far less pollution and congestion than a car. As you already ride, you don't have the irrational fear of two wheels suffered by many car drivers.

    It's about 16 miles, on main A roads - won't that take me forever on a scooter? The other option we're looking at is to get a small motorbike for hubby, and I'll take the car that we already have
  • ailuro2
    ailuro2 Posts: 7,540 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    scooters these days can easily do 40mph+ so it works out at 24 minutes if you were doing 40mph all the way.Even at 30mph it is 32 minutes.

    http://www.vectrixusa.com/default.aspx?portal=3&page=1 is something I'd like if I could afford it-an electric scooter with a top speed of 62mph.

    It all depends on the road really, would it really be much quicker in a car?
    Is it quite a safe road,any other scooters/bikes/motorbikes using it regularly?
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  • katiep_2
    katiep_2 Posts: 120 Forumite
    ailuro2 wrote: »
    scooters these days can easily do 40mph+ so it works out at 24 minutes if you were doing 40mph all the way.Even at 30mph it is 32 minutes.

    http://www.vectrixusa.com/default.aspx?portal=3&page=1 is something I'd like if I could afford it-an electric scooter with a top speed of 62mph.

    It all depends on the road really, would it really be much quicker in a car?
    Is it quite a safe road,any other scooters/bikes/motorbikes using it regularly?

    Not at all! :( It has a very high accident rate (it's one of those red routes with the signs up saying how many deaths on the road this month, and the same month the previous year - it's nearly always in double figures!) There are a few powerful motorbikes on it, as it's the road to skeg - there tend to be a lot at the weekend. There are also A LOT of HGVs! Not the ideal road as far as I'm concerned! On the other hand, hubby's route is shorter and safer, so could well be an option still.
  • kitchpoo
    kitchpoo Posts: 1,255 Forumite
    When the old Volvo does reach the end of its life, I would consider buying a car already converted to LPG in that price bracket, I've looked at the electric cars - too expensive still, and some of the most economical diesels (Lupo by VW) are still at a premium. The only downside to a pre-converted car is that someone has paid that premium to have it converted (or initially by the manufacturer), and will recoup that cost through mileage, so most are 'leggy' in miles. I did find an Vauxhall Astra on autotrader that fitted the bill and looked reasonable at under £2000.

    The next option is to go as small as possible in both cc and size, so Smart car, Daewoo / Chevrolet Matiz 800cc, Fiat Seicento 900cc - all of which are comfortably in the £200 range.

    If the Volvo was sold as usable hasnt this prevented a new car being built and saved emissions, the new purchaser may then be utilising a 2.0 engine for long journeys and not short commutes, where a 2.0 is more economical. Sorry to throw spanners in the works!!
    Praying at the church of MSE should be compulsory!

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  • susank
    susank Posts: 809 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    I have downsized to a Toyota Yaris 1.4 diesel - £50 per year to tax and 61 mpg which is amazing - its 5 door and its an 03 plate just had it for 4 months and love it so much as its also easy to drive and has plenty go in it.
    Saving in my terramundi pot £2, £1 and 50p just for me! :j
  • gromituk
    gromituk Posts: 3,087 Forumite
    Ailuro2 is right: scooters these days are powerful and indeed can easily do 70mph. If you drive carefully, not trying to overtake all these HGVs, then I don't see why it should be unsafe.

    Alternatively, once you settle into your new job, perhaps you could find someone to lift share with? People always baulk at the idea because of a perceived loss of convenience, but even if you only lift shared twice a week you'd do much more benefit to the environment than buying a more fuel-efficient car.
    Time is an illusion - lunch time doubly so.
  • redux
    redux Posts: 22,976 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    One possibility ...

    Find a secondhand VW Lupo or Audi A2 3 litre TDI - you probably need to look around quite a bit, including abroad, as for some daft reason they were never converted to RHD and officially imported here.

    The 3 litre is not the engine capacity, but refers to the continental method of stating fuel consumption, in this case 3l/100km, equal to 94 mpg. When test driven in Sweden on its launch, it actually achieved even better than that in the hands of most journalists, and Greenpeace wanted it kept secret that they themselves averaged 113 mpg, as they have a propaganda blind-spot about diesel.

    Then maybe run it on biodiesel, which you could convert yourself from new or used vegetable oil, at a cost of 30 to 40 pence a litre including duty. Effectively, biodiesel causes little net carbon emissions, as the crop photosynthesised CO2 out of the atmosphere while it was growing.

    That means your fuel costs are under two pence a mile, or about four if you use commercially sold fuel.
  • PabloNeruda
    PabloNeruda Posts: 1,264 Forumite
    Does anybody know any other cars besides the Toyota Aygo which have CO2 emissions of 101-120g/km - ie. the ones that fall into the £40 per annum road tax bracket?

    I'd like to find out if there are any out there with 5 doors. I quite like the Panda but I think that is in the 121-150g/km (£100 per annum). But I really want to get one in the lower emissions bracket.

    Any information on this would be appreciated.
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  • tr3mor
    tr3mor Posts: 2,325 Forumite
    Does anybody know any other cars besides the Toyota Aygo which have CO2 emissions of 101-120g/km - ie. the ones that fall into the £40 per annum road tax bracket?

    I'd like to find out if there are any out there with 5 doors. I quite like the Panda but I think that is in the 121-150g/km (£100 per annum). But I really want to get one in the lower emissions bracket.

    Any information on this would be appreciated.

    You can get five door Aygos.

    I know the Peugeot 206 and 307 with the 1.4HDi engine fall into band B road tax, so do Citroens with the same engine.

    The Corsa 1.3CDTi is also band B.

    The Panda diesel is too!

    Basically, most small diesels should fall into this band.
  • bj-sailaway
    bj-sailaway Posts: 972 Forumite
    Does anybody know any other cars besides the Toyota Aygo which have CO2 emissions of 101-120g/km - ie. the ones that fall into the £40 per annum road tax bracket?

    I'd like to find out if there are any out there with 5 doors. I quite like the Panda but I think that is in the 121-150g/km (£100 per annum). But I really want to get one in the lower emissions bracket.

    Any information on this would be appreciated.


    If you loook here:- http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/search/vedSearch.asp
    you'll find all the info you are looking for. Very useful. Then go to Parkers guie site, and search for group 1 insurance groups. The Aygo falls into that category, means you could add an under 21 inexperienced driver for under £400! Beat that!

    Hope it's useful.
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