Best fuel efficient family car???

nearlythere38

Complete car dummy here so please no judging 🤣

We currently have a 12 plate Nissan Juke which has been really good and fuel efficient. Then last year we bought an 18 reg Ford Kuga to use as the main car. It is a 1.5 litre engine. We paid £17,500 and still owe £12,000 on finance. 

We are just finding that the Kuga is guzzling petrol and it doesn’t seem to be lasting long at all. Plus the finance at £241 a month. I’m going on maternity leave so want to try and reduce outgoings. 

The garage said we bought at the right time as we wouldn’t make a loss (or very small loss), they’d buy it back for a similar amount. 

Can anyone recommend a reliable family car that is more fuel efficient? And perhaps power on insurance/tax? We would need a decent size boot to fit a pram in. We don’t do much motor way mileage.

thank you  

mysteryUser

Do you know what the advertised MPG is for your current and old car, out of interest? Knowing what spec engines each has can help us find that information out. 

Do you park your car on a driveway while it's at home? If so, the option of a plug-in hybrid is one you could consider. 

A google brought up this for me: https://www.buyacar.co.uk/cars/economical-cars/best-mpg-cars/338/most-economical-cars-best-mpg-cars#ioniq

The Hyundai Ioniq showing as a good option for efficiency - not sure if it's big enough for you though, it is a bit smaller than a Kuga. This car is available as simply a petrol / a non-plug in hybrid and a plug-in hybrid, so lots of options depending on requirements. 

Herzlos

How many miles are you actually doing? You're not doing motorway so it's all short trips around town? What kind of mpg figure are you getting from it?

daveyjp

If you are doing lots of local trips a Toyota hybrid.

iwb100

What MPG are you getting? Are you mainly bothered about fuel efficiency or saving money on the monthly finance payment? Or preserving the size of your car and boot. 

Because with your driving needs you’d absolutely limit your fuel consumption with a plug in hybrid or EV but of course doing so whilst maximising space in the boot and car would not reduce the cost in finance payments. 

If you want something that can get close to or even above 50MPG then the 1.0L engines in crossovers can do it whilst maintaining close to the boot space you have. Say a second hand Skoda Kamiq. 

laidbackgjr

Do you need the high up SUV style or would a more aerodynamic and fuel efficient hatchback or estate work better. I've a Mondeo with the 1.5 engine and it gets better fuel economy than the Kuga with the same engine.

forgotmyname

I can get 58mpg from a 1.6ton large estate car...  Kugs probably weighs a similar amount or maybe a bit more but its shaped
like a brick.

Lots of traffic or city work a small car with a small engine if it spends most of its time at low revs/speed.  For longer higher speed
journeys a larger engine maybe more efficient.

Norman_Castle

nearlythere38 said:

We currently have a 12 plate Nissan Juke which has been really good and fuel efficient. Then last year we bought an 18 reg Ford Kuga to use as the main car.

Can't you use the Nissan Juke as the main car?

Flight3287462

Real MPG (Honest John) is just over 30mpg for a petrol 1.5 and just under 50mpg in a diesel.  Which do you have?

And as said above how many miles do you do?

Petriix

Get an MG5. Zero tax, 1.5p per mile in fuel. 

Korkyb

Garage is correct in that used car prices have gone up so you will get a good price for your current car.

Unfortunately the flip side of that though is that whichever car you replace it with will also be selling for a higher price.