Highish mileage - old cars vs newer cost

jay213

Where's the best car auctions? I'm in North London but don't mind traveling.

bigjl

scaredofdebt wrote: »

Thanks - I've assumed MPG figures 10% worse than those claimed by Kia, I would probably get one for a long test drive if possible before making a decision.

10% is likely not enough, Kia claim over 80mpg, expect closer to mid 50's on the 1.4diesel and maybe 60mpg on the 1.1.

Going by Honest John real life economy you are looking at 80%.

Modern fuel economy figures for diesels especially are way off unless your hypermile.

I have experience recently of 6yrs with a Clio 1.5DCi, importantly a non DPF entry level 68bhp one.

Towards the end it was used mostly round town, it was returning just over 60mpg on the fuel computer. When it was younger it would get 62mpg. One point to mention is for a year or so it averaged 58mpg when the usage became more town biased.
The final 60mpg figure was after a full set of Dunlop BluRepsonse tyres were fitted, now I actually didn't expect any improvement over the Hankook tyres it had already, they were also a energy saving type tyre.

The Clio was replaced by a 116D, sitting on decent Michelin Energy rubber all round, the fuel economy of the 116D should have been better than the Clio according to some figures I had read.

In the same running conditions it was slightly worse. Low to mid 50s

Actually having a quick look on Honest John lots of Mk3 Clios obtained fuel consumption not too distant to that claimed.

In the case of the Clio Dci (68bhp) the average figure was 95% accurate.

Personally I blame the test they use and likely the day to day effects of the DPF.

scaredofdebt

Thanks for the info, I plan getting one to test drive for at least 24 hours so I can do a commute in it and monitor the economy myself. I realise the trip computer will not be very accurate for the economy figures.

I usually exceed the manufacturers figures - I've currently got a Cmax 1.6 TDCi and have averaged 67 MPG over the 20k miles I've owned it. Manufacturer claims 58 MPG. I record the figures on a spreadsheet so I know it's accurate.

The main saving for a new vs old car will be repairs, I have to budget for around £100 a month running a ten year old car over 30k annually, I expect a newer car with warranty etc to be significantly cheaper.

The fuel savings are just a bonus really.

Edit - looking at the Honest John real life figures, the Rio would be about 10% more efficient than the current car so saving around 0.8p per mile or £20 a month in fuel.

bigjl

How do you arrive at those figures?

Where did it say people were getting 70mpg+ with a Rio?

If you are doing 67mpg in your C Max how can less be more?

You are also not factoring in the costs of main dealer servicing. Which will be needed to keep the warranty intact after first 3yrs.

If you buy a Rio for £10k and put 30k miles on it the residual value will not be far of £5/6000 after a year or so.

After 3yrs the residual value will probably be around £2k

And I have never spent £100 a month on repairs on any car, ever.

I have run 3yr old high mile fleet motors for similar mileage a to that which you expect and only done basic servicing over three years.

I have also bought brand new cars and lost a fortune in depreciation.

As an example I bought a 2005 MK3 Mondeo TDCI with just over 80k on it back in 08. From memory it was £2350 plus auctions fees of under £150.

That car new was closer to £16/17k

I bought a 2008 V50 2.0D with 101k on it for around £5000 (forget the exact price now TBH) in 2011.

Put a rake of miles on it and sold for just under £3000 to WBAC after 3yrs, that car was I think about £22k when it was sold new.

So that is another car that has lost around the £16/17k mark in three years.

Note how the depreciation curve levels off as the car ages though.

The only viable option with a new car doing big miles is to lease and fix your costs or keep it for the longer haul. Though don't forget that if you finance you will likely be in negative equity for most of the agreement.

Don't forget to let us know which dealer granted a 24hour test drive.

I tried to secure a test drive when the Rio first came out as we were considering changing the Clio for one, they didn't even offer one for some reason.

Not sure if the Salesman was new or stupid but there you go.

scaredofdebt

I was comparing the average real life MPG on the HJ website for my current car compared to the Rio.

I can get a 2-3 year old Rio with 40k on it for £6k and the resale value for a 5 year old car with 120k on the clock is around £2k, based on Autotrader prices - I would keep the car for 3 years minimum.

I used to own a Mk3 Mondeo myself and that cost around £3k in repairs over the 3 years I owned it, so just under £100 a month. DMF, injectors, all expensive repairs. To be honest I should have got rid of it at 170k as that's when the repair bills began to mount up but that's hindsight for you.

I've got a spreadsheet full of figures which I am happy are accurate but good point and main dealer servicing costs, I will add those in.

Thanks.

bigjl

At the end of the day if you want a new car and the payments are not going to be a stretch then go for it.

Life is too short.

FreddieFrugal

scaredofdebt wrote: »

I usually exceed the manufacturers figures - I've currently got a Cmax 1.6 TDCi and have averaged 67 MPG over the 20k miles I've owned it. Manufacturer claims 58 MPG. I record the figures on a spreadsheet so I know it's accurate.

when you say you record them, do you mean that you're measuring the mpg yourself based on miles and fuel used, or just going by trip computer?

Computer in my Focus overestimates MPG by about 5%

You're doing well if you're actually managing 67, do you drive with the rear seats removed? Stick to 60 on motorway?

scaredofdebt

60 on the motorway yes, a bit of lift and coast when the conditions allow, just looking ahead and judging speed based on conditions.

I simply record every fill up on a spreadsheet, so the exact amount of fuel added and then the mileage used. Over 20k miles this will be very accurate.

I also have a website that I have built so I can enter the details and it works everything out for me, this includes repairs, tax, insurance etc etc.

So, to date I've used a total of 290.82 gallons of fuel and completed 19,573 miles giving MPG of 67.3.

FreddieFrugal

scaredofdebt wrote: »

60 on the motorway yes, a bit of lift and coast when the conditions allow, just looking ahead and judging speed based on conditions.


So, to date I've used a total of 290.82 gallons of fuel and completed 19,573 miles giving MPG of 67.3.

Cool, yes I was thinking that you'd never get that going at 70.

Like you I try to drive efficiently. I always have current mpg on the trip computer so I can check that I've got the lightest touch possible on pedal whilst maintaining speed. I don't stare at it! But check it regularly.

I've lost some of my more efficient driving habits, I used to get high 60s mpg, but that was travelling at 55 everywhere (in reality probably 50 with inaccurate speedo)

obviously feel more of a rush to get places these days! I average probably 60mpg. Same engine as yours but Focus rather than C-Max. My hilly commute probably doesn't help!

dktreesea

jay213 wrote: »

Where's the best car auctions? I'm in North London but don't mind traveling.

British Car Auctions is worth a look. The pace is pretty fast at car auctions.
This is BCA in Enfield:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGq4oR2FYdo


Manheims is good too. This is Manheims in Leeds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y36mLDrnDtw