Economical mid sized car

soupdragon10

Recommendations for the above please....
I am looking for a secondhand (up to £3,000) car which is as economical as possible with reasonable repair costs, tax and insurance (I'm nearly 60 with good no claims btw).

I currently have a 1.9 ford focus turbo diesel, but don't need that amount of internal space for my commute. The car does need to have good front passenger room as my husband is over 6ft and has a disability making it difficult for him to get in and out and come in a 5 door model.

I've looked at the 1.6 diesel Focus, but mpg reports vary widlly, and also the Fiesta 1.4 petrol. Have considered the Citroen Berlingo for the space and access, but have been told the mpg again is not too good.

Would appreciate some feedback from people who have ideas for cars that I maybe haven't thought of, as I'm going round in circles at the moment.

bryanb

Skoda Roomster, but not sure if it's mid size. Berlingo economy depends which engine. I use Honest john to help select cars.

worried_jim

The most economical thing to do is simply keep the car you have. £3000 saved straight away.
Just keep it until it runs no more. The 1.9d engine you have is very good and the Focus is very reliable.

soupdragon10

I am passing my Focus on to my daughter who needs an estate as she regularly has trips away and I can still use the car if needed. As I have the cash I decided to buy another car, and wanted to see what suggestions might come up ideally slightly shorter than the estate to make parking easier (I'm not getting any more flexible as I get older).

forgotmyname

MPG varies wildly because peoples driving habits and traffic conditions vary wildly.

How about a Mondeo estate that does over 55MPG+? Sounds good?

But thats on a run. On my ussual very short stop start heavy traffic journey's i have had less than 30mpg from it.

And thats worked out properly from a full tank to full tank.

Want something cheap to fix then avoid modern cars. Common rails injectors at £500 each and Flywheels that cost £1000 to replace.

Buying used cars is a risky business.

mikey72

Citroen C3.
Height adjustable front seat, fairly high car, 65mpg.

buscape

Citroen C3 1.4 HDi
Fiat Idea
Honda Civic
Hyundai Getz
Mazda 2
Peugeot 206
Vauxhall Corsa
VW Polo
Skoda Fabia
Seat Ibiza
Mercedes A Class
Mitsubishi Colt
Renault Modus

fatbelly

The old generation Honda Civic is solid value for money now and that 1.7 diesel linked to above seems seriously good.

You need to be clear whether you are looking for a 'small family car' or a supermini as you ask for a 'mid-size' car that's shorter than a Focus

getmore4less

if you still have access to the focus estate then realy think about you use cases.

How many miles are you doing a year(how many need use of the bigger car)

Do you need 5 door and luggage space when more than 2 people in the car.

Journey mix short, long,

look at on the dive costs as well as mpg, tax, insurance, might be more critical than mpg in keeping total cost down.

What about spending less for a runabout, you have a back up for the longer trips.

If front access is an issue something with a bit of hight might be worth trying.

wba31

Honda Jazz?

I have the old school civic (2004) and the diesel gets 45-50mpg around town and 60mpg+ on a run. it's massive inside, so massive that my wife is angry im considering getting a new shape accord tourer as there is less room for adults in the back in the accord than there is in our current civic... the jazz is also pretty roomy for a small car

Notmyrealname

soupdragon10 wrote: »

I've looked at the 1.6 diesel Focus, but mpg reports vary widlly

That is because of the driver. I have a 2L Ford Mondeo TDCi. I regularly without trying get 55MPG out of it. Yet some on the TotalFord forums get no more than 40MPG.

If you have a diesel you need to drive it like one. Rev it like a petrol as my wife does when she drives mine and you see far worse MPG.