Economical Automatic suggestions

l555chris

Hello,
My wife is about to start a new job where her mileage is going to jump significantly and the fuel economy of her current 9 year old VW auto isn't going to cut the mustard. So I'm after ideas for a replacement.
Her duty cycle will be about 25 mile journeys each way, 90% extra urban at 60mph with an inevitable 10 minute start/stop traffic jam in the middle every day.
She is adamant that it must be an auto, but all the true autos I've seen are pretty poor for economy. I'm hoping for high 50s, low 60s MPG out of the new car with a budget of £5-7k, maybe stretch to £10k.

The only options I've come up with so far are Smart CDi (but I'm a bit concerned about safety) or something Toyota Hybrid-ish (probably a Prius at that budget).

I did wonder about a 2nd hand Renault Fluence, but think it might be a stretch for the battery in winter.

Any other suggestions?

Many thanks!

knightstyle

We had a Smart 4two and it was fairly economical till you went over 60mph then it was poor.
We now have an Auris with the much maligned auto gearbox but we find it fine. It is an 07 1.4 diesel and we get over 50 mpg with mostly town driving.
I have also hired a Yaris a few times and as it was petrol it wasn't so economical.
So look at the updated Auris or Yaris, 08 on and go for a long test drive.

patman99

A lot of modern auto cars are more economical to run than manual versions these days.

Btw, if your wife's 9 year old VW is well looked after, there is no reason why a 25 mile journey will e an issue.
My nieghour runs an 11 year old VW & uses it to travel 35 miles to work & 35 miles back again without any issues.

Her previous car was a 1993 VW & that did the same journey for over 6 years.

forgotmyname

Dont forget your unlikely to get the manufacturers figures in everyday traffic.

You may only get 5 mpg better in the newer car. So it may never pay for itself when you take in the depreciation on the newer car.

If the older car is reliable then i would stick with it.

bigjl

With that usage pattern and budget it has to be a Prius.

They are used by the London Private Hire Trade in droves. Some ex Lewis Day company cars (private plates like L9LDT or P99LDT) are still being used in London now and they were registered in 08/09 and all had over 100k in the first three years some 150k.

10k gets you a nice one at Cargiant

l555chris

Thanks, reliability is less of a concern (although it did breakdown for the first time in 3 years last week with an EGR fault), it is just that the fuel economy is so bad on her 1.4 auto Lupo that the gap to a new car will be 20-25mpg improvement, I reckon the annual fuel saving will be around £850 per year, plus £220 a year in road tax.
So yeah, it is a fair point against the depreciation of a new car. The Lupo is probably loosing £300-500 per year vs. £1000-£1500 for a 3 year old Prius.

Ultrasonic

patman99 wrote: »

A lot of modern auto cars are more economical to run than manual versions these days.

Really? Can you give some examples? I'm struggling with why this would be the case, given the extra weight of the automatic gearbox.

vikingaero

It's a pretty tall order to get an automatic with MPG in the 50s/60s. You might manage that in a manual car....

But Prius or the less sexy Auris Hybrid seem to be the way to go. Check out the even less sexier Honda Civic Hybrid or Insight.

Ultrasonic

Scrootum wrote: »

Toyota IQ is like a more sophisticated Smart but had NCAP 5 star rating and (sort of) 4 seats. also very comfy in the front.

While the IQ may be safer than a Smart, it will not of course be as safe as a larger car with a 5* rating (since the ratings are by vehicle class/size).

As this hasn't been said yet, don't just focus on mpg for financial reasons, for true money saving you want to consider the full cost per mile. Paying £1000 more to buy a petrol car that does 50 mpg vs 45 mpg will take about 76,000 miles before the more economical car becomes the cheaper option on mpg alone (VED differences will make this happen rather sooner of course).

Obviously for environmental reasons the more economical car is always better though.

Edit: I realise that my calculation above doesn't take into account the likely higher resale value of the more economical car, which is also part of the full picture.

Stooby2

I'd be sticking with what you've got and just run it until it dies or becomes too expensive to maintain. Will it cost you £5-7k in fuel difference in the next 10 years? Not very likely.

It might be worth getting the VW fully serviced with a gearbox oil change so you're getting the best out of it, but that would be as far as I'd go.

vickssinex

As someone who has an 80 mile commute, mainly on motorway, in a small automatic (Corsa, and now Fiesta) I find that the best I can get is the mid-40s mpg, and that is only by keeping a cruising speed at 60.