Trading in car for smaller more economical car...thoughts?

Kate.Trotter

Wh05apk wrote: »

Are you really going to save enough in fuel to make it worthwhile changing?


It sounds like you are only getting about 30 mpg, so I am guessing it is mainly traffic use? even if you got 45mpg (I doubt if you would get a 50% improvement in similar use?) you would only save about £30pm/£360 per year, is it worth sacrificing the space/comfort/reliability of your current car for an unknown car, which may need expensive repairs or if you are buying new will depreciate by far more.

This is the argument I'm having with myself.. there is the additional cost of the tax, maybe another £140 a year to add onto the £360, also it's at the age where things are beginning to go wrong so I'm a bit worried about that and any repairs are likely to be more expensive. Tbh i'm not sure what direction is best to go with this, and your comment has indeed brought me back to my original thoughts

motorguy

Kate.Trotter wrote: »

I am considering trading mine in for a little 1 Litre run around

I've had a look and for the same amount as we could get for my car (around £4k) or even less

You wont get £4K for your car if you trade it in. Dealers are selling cars the same as yours from £3,500 upwards, so i'd say trade price is probably £2300-2500.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201309188838179/sort/default/usedcars/model/swift/make/suzuki/engine-size-cars/1-4l_to_1-6l/transmission/manual/maximum-age/up_to_6_years_old/page/1/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/postcode/bt622hb/radius/1500/keywords/2008%201.5%20glx?logcode=p

On the basis that dealers are asking £3500 for ones like yours, i'd say if you were to sell yours privately you'll get around £3000.

iolanthe07

The new Hyundai i10, available from January 1st, is slightly bigger than the old one and comes with a lot of kit for the price and a 5 year warranty. The press reports I have read are all very positive.

Andyt1981

forgotmyname wrote: »

Fiat 500 owners have complained about the poor fuel consumption. You wont get anywhere near the quoted figures.

This car has 3 engine types, a 0.9 Twinair, 1.2 and 1.3 Multijet diesel.

The Twinair is the engine that's hard to get near the official figures (as it's too fun to drive sensibly). The other two engines offer great economy.

Always best to test drive websites like Parker's have reviews from people who have actually owned the cars they review.

forgotmyname

61 litre tank. will cost £80 - £90 to fill it.

melbury

iolanthe07 wrote: »

The new Hyundai i10, available from January 1st, is slightly bigger than the old one and comes with a lot of kit for the price and a 5 year warranty. The press reports I have read are all very positive.

Do you think there will be a lot of the old models being sold off at bargain prices?

I wonder how many miles per gallon these really do, as you never seem to get the advertised figure:(

motorguy

melbury wrote: »

Do you think there will be a lot of the old models being sold off at bargain prices?

I wonder how many miles per gallon these really do, as you never seem to get the advertised figure:(

It really takes you to do a lot of long steady runs to get the mpg figure or greater.

My golf has a combined figure of 62mpg and i'm averaging between 64 and 69mpg brim to brim, but i've a 88 mile return commute each day at a steady 50-60mph.

melbury

motorguy wrote: »

It really takes you to do a lot of long steady runs to get the mpg figure or greater.

My golf has a combined figure of 62mpg and i'm averaging between 64 and 69mpg brim to brim, but i've a 88 mile return commute each day at a steady 50-60mph.

I only do short runs to work and back - about 7 miles each way.

I have been reading up on a lot of small cars trying to find one that actually delivers the mpg and they all pretty much fall short of the advertised figures. One of the best seems to be the Skoda Citigo.

Kate.Trotter

forgotmyname wrote: »

61 litre tank. will cost £80 - £90 to fill it.

Sorry, I forgot that you fill the tank up for me every month? I can assure you the most we have ever put into it is £80, and this was running it right right down to the mileage counter only stating a few miles left!! Not an experience I want to have again in all honesty anyway, makes me nervous!! Don't forget the red light will come on with maybe 5-6 Litres still in the tank, you are working out as if you are filling it up from 0! But to be quite honest, this is completely irrelevant to my post as we are talking about the Swift!

Thanks for all your comments, I wouldn't be buying the car from new, would be a few years old. Will take a look at the i10, I've also just been looking at the Toyota IQ - which although really small have an extremely high safety rating and I think look pretty smart, which is ideally what we want!

Webuyany.com have offered me £3.2k for the swift, and a few months ago was offered a straight swap for a £4k car that we decided we didn't want.. I'm hoping maybe around £3.5k might be achievable? Still undecided in all honesty though!

motorguy

Kate.Trotter wrote: »

Webuyany.com have offered me £3.2k for the swift, and a few months ago was offered a straight swap for a £4k car that we decided we didn't want.. I'm hoping maybe around £3.5k might be achievable? Still undecided in all honesty though!

I stand corrected then!

Thats good going for your car. Thats relatively speaking a lot for a 6 year old Suzuki.