Cheapest Car to run (fuel/tax wise) that costs a £1000

AnotherJoe

scaredofdebt wrote: »

I bought a 54 plate Ford Cmax 1.6 diesel for £1,300 a couple of years back, you can probably get one private for a grand.

It had 125k on it, I ran it for 2 and a half years putting another 65k on it before I got rid as it needed expensive repairs. No major bills up to that point.

Averaged over 60 MPG and tax was about £12 a month.

This might not be any good if you do less than about 15k miles or a lot of short journeys.

People say that engine is a ticking time bomb but it was fine in my experience.

And might the buyer of that car when you sold it be another person like the OP looking to save costs !?

GunJack

scaredofdebt wrote: »

This might not be any good if you do less than about 15k miles or a lot of short journeys.

short journeys can be a pain, but you don't have to do that much mileage to make a good saving - I do around 9k a year, and am reducing the fuel bill by £480-odd a year over what I had before....

System

GQM wrote: »

Exactly pretty much how ive been looking at it.

Daft way to go about things and it usually bites people in the backside ending up costing them more in repairs than they save in fuel/tax. At that price the seller is selling it for a reason, usually because they know there's a big bill on the horizon or it has faults. Most people get to find out the reason it was for sale the first time they go on a long run or at the MOT.

Stoke

jimjames wrote: »

I'd suggest Golf/Bora PD TDI. Bulletproof engine if looked after so service history main criteria. You'll get 60mpg from it and within the price range.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcT3KtTuSNA

Don't forget though, the Golf and Bora's are more expensive to tax. More expensive to service (oil and filter). Usually have bigger wheels so pricier tyres etc.

The Lupo TDI is also a bulletproof engine. It's a 1.4TDi and that is under mapped performance wise, as such the turbos last forever and engines last forever.

Oh and don't get me started on the SDI...... those engines aren't just bulletproof, they're !!!!ing missile proof. In the event of a nuclear fallout, the only thing left on the planet would be termites, AK47's, Peavey amplifiers and VW SDI engines from VW Lupo's. You will struggle to find many engines in history, that can take the kind of abuse those SDI engines are designed to take, but ultimately, they're dog slow and agricultural.

So, weigh up the benefits...

sevenhills

Stoke wrote: »

Don't forget though, the Golf and Bora's are more expensive to tax. More expensive to service (oil and filter). Usually have bigger wheels so pricier tyres etc.

The Lupo TDI is also a bulletproof engine. It's a 1.4TDi and that is under mapped performance wise, as such the turbos last forever and engines last forever.

I popular car like a Golf will always be more expensive to buy, the OP needs to buy an unpopular car if he wants to save money.

stator

sevenhills wrote: »

I popular car like a Golf will always be more expensive to buy, the OP needs to buy an unpopular car if he wants to save money.

Don't think the Lupo is a popular car, hardly anyone has heard of it

AdrianC

stator wrote: »

Don't think the Lupo is a popular car, hardly anyone has heard of it

Lupos are definitely quite "in" among the VW boys, so there's a surprising amount of scene tax on them.

If you want a VAG car smaller than a Golf, then how about a Polo...?

Stoke

AdrianC wrote: »

Lupos are definitely quite "in" among the VW boys, so there's a surprising amount of scene tax on them.

If you want a VAG car smaller than a Golf, then how about a Polo...?

Don't get me started on 'dubberz'. Utter goons.

A good point though, the Polo 6N2 has the same engine as the Lupo, so is also £30 tax. Very similar interior. Slightly bigger of course, slightly less MPG on paper and performance (naturally, weighs more). Not as pretty as the Lupo though, bit dated looking in comparison.

The only negative I can think about the 6N2, is I'm pretty sure they're vacuum pump central locking rather than electric-solenoid. Not overly a big deal, however it's an absolute nightmare to fix if it goes wrong, compared to the modern solenoid version.

To be honest, if I had a vacuum pump CL go wrong on any car I owned these days, I'd just retrofit an aftermarket electric solenoid version. Cheaper and more reliable.

AdrianC

Stoke wrote: »

The only negative I can think about the 6N2, is I'm pretty sure they're vacuum pump central locking rather than electric-solenoid. Not overly a big deal, however it's an absolute nightmare to fix if it goes wrong, compared to the modern solenoid version.

To be honest, if I had a vacuum pump CL go wrong on any car I owned these days, I'd just retrofit an aftermarket electric solenoid version. Cheaper and more reliable.

Or you could just... <gasp> unlock the doors manually...

scaredofdebt

AnotherJoe wrote: »

And might the buyer of that car when you sold it be another person like the OP looking to save costs !?

I advertised the car for sale on Ebay and was 100% honest about its condition, suspected turbo fault, the car was lacking power (even more than normal!).

The guy who came to view the car was a trader, who fixed up cars and sold them on, he had a diagnostic tool that flagged up possible injector and DPF issue.

He paid ~£200 for the car which I was happy with and the car is now back on the road, so everyone is happy. I wouldn't be willing to pay for those repairs myself but if you have the knowledge and tools to DIY them it was probably worth it for him. I expect he got around a £750 for it.