Thinking for car change

vikt1

I'm looking for a better economy, if possible. My current car is 2012 Ford Fiesta Zetec petrol 1.25/80BHP and for the last year I did 7500 miles with combined 48.3 MPG. I need to mention I'm trying to be economical as possible (driving with 60 mph on the motorway, changing gears at 2000 rpm) Using the car mainly for commuting (80 miles per week, 50 of them on motorway). My budget is around £5000, but if the investment would be beneficial for me in terms of saving from fuel costs, I'm willing to spend more. I can sell my current car for around £5000 (according to websites, it has 52000 miles). I can get £4000 from "webuyanycar" and I think would get 4500 with part exchange.

Petriix

Have you considered an EV?
If you've got off street parking and don't often drive over 200 miles in a day then you might save significantly vs petrol.

vikt1

I never thought about it because of the higher investment involved at the beginning. Is it worth it in the long term and what budged I would need?

Petriix

vikt1 said:

I never thought about it because of the higher investment involved at the beginning. Is it worth it in the long term and what budged I would need?

Depending on your circumstances, that initial investment may be returned quite quickly by way of savings. The most significant factor is the length of your longest regular journey - this dictates your minimum battery size.

My calculations showed an estimated saving of around £10k over 7 years vs buying an equivalent diesel. I bought a new MG5 in 2020 and I have actually saved around £2k in 16 months/14k miles.

If you can charge at home then it could also save you money on your home electricity bill as you can get on Octopus Go with its 7.5p per kWh overnight rate (in which you can run your washing machine etc.). 

vikt1

If I go for MG, it would cost me around £25 000 to buy, without to mention the interest because of the finance I would need. I would safe £1136 from petrol each year (if price stay 1.60). I would need to drive 27 years to recoup the £30 000 price of the MG. For these years the car will be 200 000 miles driven. And I'm not counting the cost for charging battery at home.

Flight3287462

vikt1 said:

If I go for MG, it would cost me around £25 000 to buy, without to mention the interest because of the finance I would need. I would safe £1136 from petrol each year (if price stay 1.60). I would need to drive 27 years to recoup the £30 000 price of the MG. For these years the car will be 200 000 miles driven. And I'm not counting the cost for charging battery at home.

Is your current car still going to be running in 27 years time?  At some point you will need a new car.  You need to get a spreadsheet up and running starting with your current car and the running a few options, new car, pre-reg, used, EV, (new and used).  Once you have done that then you can decide what option suits you best.

sk2402005

the MPG you have been getting out of the fiesta is actually quite good.

Diesel being quite a bit dearer then petrol (will it be in the future who knows?) means swapping to a diesel doing 55MPG+ wont save you anything.

the only way to meaningfully reduce general running costs really is going EV, but you dont do enough miles to take advantage of the cheaper running cost, and as you say thay are expensive in the first place, unless you go with one a few years old?

If your fiesta is running ok, and in reasonable condition, your chepest option is to keep it.

400ixl

Unless the car needs replacing due to foreseen repairs or it is the wrong size car for you then I am not seeing you gaining much.

Can understand if it is going to be an issue in compliance with clean air zone charges for example, but otherwise why change it? As mentioned if you are really getting a calculated 48.3mpg then there aren't going to be too many cars in the £5k price range that will beat it financially (especially if you have to go diesel and the extra cost).

Car prices at the moment are inflated, whilst that helps with the selling price of yours, it also means the buying price and markups are more.

vikt1

400ixl said:

 there aren't going to be too many cars in the £5k price range that will beat it financially (especially if you have to go diesel and the extra cost).

What budget I would need? And if I go with diesel, would it be a good choice In my circumstances?

Thrugelmir

With only 52k on the clock. Run the car for a little longer. Plenty of life left in it yet. 

Ditzy_Mitzy

Thrugelmir said:

With only 52k on the clock. Run the car for a little longer. Plenty of life left in it yet. 

Agreed.  The 1.25 Zetec is a decent engine, although changing up at 2,000 revs won't do it any favours.  Don't thrash it, by all means, but it's a good idea to wind modern engines up to maximum revs now and again just to keep everything limber.  Changing the car at this stage is pointless, financially speaking.