Which reliable and economical small car?

bargainsneeded

im a kia picanto 1.1 ace car for me

mikey72

Our 1.4 diesel C3 returns 60mpg urban, no dpf, no dmf.

londonTiger

there's only one word in fuel economy and that is tdi.

skivenov

Unless it's the 1.4, I'd expect 35mpg, lil over 40mpg on the motorway from a petrol Focus. I've had a few Escorts and Focii, and that's generally the number I see.

Weird_Nev

27 mpg is terrible, you should be approaching/exceeding 40mpg on a motorway run.
After you've re-checked your numbers...
First things first, check your tyre pressures and any uneven wear. Then make sure the car is recently serviced with fresh filters and oil. There may well be some simple fault like a failed lambda sensor or some other issue causing the car to overfuel.

The cost of changing cars is high, it'll buy you a lot of fuel. However, my suggestion if you can afford one and do a lot of miles is a 2006ish vintage Skoda Fabia 1.4 Tdi. It's a modern 3 cylinder diesel engine and I had one for 4 years and 50,000 miles. It was completely reliable (but we did have it from new) and returned around 65 mpg. It was an excellent car and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone wanting cheap pleasant motoring.

Notmyrealname

Hostage wrote: »

Hi

I bought my first car last year (a Focus Zetec), casting a blind eye towards the economy. I've recently calculated that it only managed 27 mpg on a recent motorway trip at a pretty steady 70mph.

You need to investigate why. Even the 2L petrol should give 40MPG.

kathleenryd

mikey72 wrote: »

Our 1.4 diesel C3 returns 60mpg urban, no dpf, no dmf.

I have just bought an '09 citroen c3 HDI. What is dpf -dmf please.

mikey72

diesel particulate filter
dual-mass flywheel

Both can be a problem with modern diesels.

The 1.4 C3 doesn't have them.

C_Mababejive

27mpg out of a zetec..? Wow..i know someone who has a Merc SLK200 and when i drive it for economy I am pretty sure i can eek about 38mpg out of it or certainly not much less and this a car with a quoted top speed of 133mph and a supercharger bolted to it.

jase1

Looks like the car is faulty to me.

I get 39mpg at a steady 70mph from a Mondeo 2l -- a heavier car with a relatively thirsty engine. This increases to 50-55mpg at 56mph.

Slightly more from a 1.6 Mitsubishi Space Star.