Most economical car to run and possible finance options?

suestipestalker

I'm sure I'm not the 1st person to be asking this question but I'm back to commuting 100 miles most week days and my 6 year old Twingo is beginning to show signs of strain. I'm looking for a small car with 5 seats (3 doors is fine) that will give me good mpg. Much of the journey is motorway but I am also doing urban travel. There seems a lot of choice and I'm getting a bit baffled. I'm told VW are good choice but pricey. I'm also noticing the Corsa, Clio and fiat Punto are getting pretty good write ups. Any thoughts? In terms of financing I was going to go for a straight loan but have been told about something called pcp which is some sort of a rental deal. I've never heard of it before but colleagues swear by it. Again, has anyone heard of it and if so can you explain how it works?

Grateful for any help. Twingo has started becoming costly and probably needs a rest!

GoldenShadow

Polo blue motion got almost 75mpg when Which tried it. I do like VW (have a Seat which has done incredibly well over four years including two crashes..!).

Not sure re PCP but it's incredibly common where I live for people to lease cars.

Ultrasonic

This explains PCP:

http://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/car-finance-pcp-explained/

When you say 5 seats do you mean a car large enough to sensibly fit 5 people in the back, or is something the size of a Twingo still fine?

Re. VW, bear in mind that Skoda and Seat cars are fundamentaly identical underneath (i.e. all the important mechanical bits) but cost less. If you're thinking of VW from a reliability point of view, get a Honda Jazz instead.

motorguy

suestipestalker wrote: »

I'm sure I'm not the 1st person to be asking this question but I'm back to commuting 100 miles most week days and my 6 year old Twingo is beginning to show signs of strain. I'm looking for a small car with 5 seats (3 doors is fine) that will give me good mpg. Much of the journey is motorway but I am also doing urban travel. There seems a lot of choice and I'm getting a bit baffled. I'm told VW are good choice but pricey. I'm also noticing the Corsa, Clio and fiat Punto are getting pretty good right ups. Any thoughts? In terms of financing I was going to go for a straight loan but have been told about something called pcp which is some sort of a rental deal. I've never heard of it before but colleagues swear by it. Again, has anyone heard of it and if so can you explain how it works?

Grateful for any help. Twingo has started becoming costly and probably needs a rest!

Ok,

Am i right in thinking you will be doing approx 25K miles a year?
have you a strong preference to buy new?
Do you intend to keep the car for a long time - say 5+ years, or do you want to change your car every 3 years?

Gaz83

Consider a Peugeot 206 SW. It's like a mini estate car. It comes in a 1.4 Diesel option. I've got it and it's pretty nifty.

suestipestalker

Ultrasonic wrote: »

This explains PCP:

When you say 5 seats do you mean a car large enough to sensibly fit 5 people in the back, or is something the size of a Twingo still fine?

Re. VW, bear in mind that Skoda and Seat cars are fundamentaly identical underneath (i.e. all the important mechanical bits) but cost less. If you're thinking of VW from a reliability point of view, get a Honda Jazz instead.

Thanks so much on the PCP, I'd already searched and none of the other sites were anywhere near as helpful. Yes I do mean being able to get 5 people in. My Twingo is only a 4 seater and lovely as it is, isn't really big enough. Reliability is a big consideration, access to public transport isn't great where I live.

suestipestalker

motorguy wrote: »

Ok,

Am i right in thinking you will be doing approx 25K miles a year?
have you a strong preference to buy new?
Do you intend to keep the car for a long time - say 5+ years, or do you want to change your car every 3 years?

Thanks for the reply! The only preference I have for new is based on the lack of mot and less expensive maintenance costs overall. Probably going to be doing about 20 - 25 k miles per year but as it's a new job I've got I'm not totally sure. I do usually keep cars for years but I'm not sure it's really cost effective, Twingo has already cost me around £400 this year and due for a timing belt plus MOT due soonish so I'm thinking 5 years is probably the right amount of time before considering changing it.

Probably totally inappropriate but the Citroen DS3 Cabrio has caught my eye this morning. But hey, when you practically live in your car it's OK to want a bit of fun too isn't it?

Carfal

Look at the Hyundai i10 or i20.

Good value, low costs, nice high driving position, unlike some other small cars. Have had 3 children on booster seats in the back of my i10 with ease, but it wouldn't fit 3 adults.

jimjames

suestipestalker wrote: »

Thanks for the reply! The only preference I have for new is based on the lack of mot and less expensive maintenance costs overall. Probably going to be doing about 20 - 25 k miles per year but as it's a new job I've got I'm not totally sure. I do usually keep cars for years but I'm not sure it's really cost effective, Twingo has already cost me around £400 this year and due for a timing belt plus MOT due soonish so I'm thinking 5 years is probably the right amount of time before considering changing it.

Probably totally inappropriate but the Citroen DS3 Cabrio has caught my eye this morning. But hey, when you practically live in your car it's OK to want a bit of fun too isn't it?

Bear in mind that your Twingo may have cost you £400 in repairs but is probably down to minimal depreciation now. A new car may depreciate several thousand per year which really puts the cost of repairs on an old car into context.

If you're spending a lot of time in the car then fun is definitely worth considering - but also practicality. Would you be happy with a leaky roof in winter and problems with noise on long journeys?

suestipestalker

jimjames wrote: »

Bear in mind that your Twingo may have cost you £400 in repairs but is probably down to minimal depreciation now. A new car may depreciate several thousand per year which really puts the cost of repairs on an old car into context.

If you're spending a lot of time in the car then fun is definitely worth considering - but also practicality. Would you be happy with a leaky roof in winter and problems with noise on long journeys?

Someone else has just mentioned the noise issue too! That's why these forums are very useful. I'll move away from the soft top idea.....

iolanthe07

I have read that the Mitsubishi Mirage has the best fuel consumption of any non electric or hybrid car. I looked at one, but didn't care for its handling characteristics, and it is significantly more expensive than the Hyundai i10 mentioned above. Mitsubishi are offering 0% finance though, which could be a deal breaker.