Student looking for cheap car to run?

epz_2

if my 4.4 liter v8 can get better than 25mpg combined (on a good day) i would say there is something up with the car.

that said if its a runner i would be tempted to keep it vs buying at that price range, any savings could be dwarfed by a big repair bills.

Hintza

oimi wrote: »

Like I have said so many times, I have done this.

I filled the car, used up the amount I filled up with, counted how far I had gone and then worked out how many MPG I managed (25MPG).

You can't fill it up and use a specific amount.

Fill it up and note mileage. Drive around until nearly empty and fill it up again, note mileage and do the maths.

Mileage at fill up 2 - Mileage at fill up 1 = total miles covered

Take the number of litres you have bought at fill up 2 and divide by 4.546 to get the number of gallons used.

Total miles covered divided by gallons at fill up 2 = MPG.

Ensure you are reading your dash in miles not kilometers.

LandyAndy

Hintza wrote: »

You can't fill it up and use a specific amount.

Fill it up and note mileage. Drive around until nearly empty and fill it up again, note mileage and do the maths.

Mileage at fill up 2 - Mileage at fill up 1 = total miles covered

Take the number of litres you have bought at fill up 2 and divide by 4.546 to get the number of gallons used.

Total miles covered divided by gallons at fill up 2 = MPG.

Ensure you are reading your dash in miles not kilometers.

You can if you are as pig headed and unhelpful as this OP.:rolleyes:

LandyAndy

You obviously have no interest in accurately measuring your mpg.

So.

You do 10,000 miles a year.

At 50 mpg that is about £1,000. (£20 per week)

At 25 mpg that is about £2,000. (£40 per week)

Which feels more like your experience?

JimmyTheWig

oimi wrote: »

Basically I have decided that I am going to buy a car with my Girlfriend and we have a budget of around £1,500. We would like a Peugeot 206/7 with preferably a 1.4 litre engine.

What I want to know is whether it would be cheaper to choose a diesel, petrol or other fuel source?

Ok, it sounds from everything that has been said you know about as much about cars as I do. And I'll give you a clue - that's very little.

In which case I'll give you some advice. Don't buy a car for this sort of money from someone you don't know, unless it's from a reputable dealer with a decent warranty. (And I'm not sure you'll get anything from a reputable dealer with a decent warranty for this sort of money.)
How are you going to know if what you are buying is any good or not.


The problem with your MPG _isn't_ that a Corsa has low MPG and a Peugeot 206/7 has a high MPG. That's not the case.

The problem is either
1. You are somehow calculating the MPG wrong, in which case you don't have a problem
2. There is something wrong with your Corsa, in which case it might be worth getting it checked out at a garage - should cost you less than £1500
3. Something about the way you drive (e.g. types of road, driving style, etc), in which case changing cars isn't going to help.


If you are bored with your car and fancy a change, then by all means go ahead. But don't do it on the basis of saving money. The best way to save money is to keep your existing car.

LandyAndy

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Ok, it sounds from everything that has been said you know about as much about cars as I do. And I'll give you a clue - that's very little.

In which case I'll give you some advice. Don't buy a car for this sort of money from someone you don't know, unless it's from a reputable dealer with a decent warranty. (And I'm not sure you'll get anything from a reputable dealer with a decent warranty for this sort of money.)
How are you going to know if what you are buying is any good or not.


The problem with your MPG _isn't_ that a Corsa has low MPG and a Peugeot 206/7 has a high MPG. That's not the case.

The problem is either
1. You are somehow calculating the MPG wrong, in which case you don't have a problem
2. There is something wrong with your Corsa, in which case it might be worth getting it checked out at a garage - should cost you less than £1500
3. Something about the way you drive (e.g. types of road, driving style, etc), in which case changing cars isn't going to help.


If you are bored with your car and fancy a change, then by all means go ahead. But don't do it on the basis of saving money. The best way to save money is to keep your existing car.

And lo, some of the seed fell on stony ground.

MX5huggy

oimi wrote: »

Don't ask me Titeascramp, the overall distance covered is in miles although the other counter which you can reset is in kilometres.

No its not, both numbers will be in miles (99.9% sure) I have looked at used Corsa Speedos on eBay to confirm, you are confused because it says miles above the big number 52000 and under the small one you can reset it says kmph but under that it will say mph this is referring to the inner and outer rings of numbers (that tell your speed) http://i23.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/f4/c6/81ce_1.JPG

Do the maths again without converting to miles from kms, you may be pleasantly surprised!
I use this site http://www.robinwhite.fsnet.co.uk/conv/mpg.htm

Idiophreak

I have to say, I'm no car expert, but I'm fairly sure the chances of having on odometer in km and one in miles has to be about zero, surely?

OP - are you saying that for every 8 you notch up on the "resettable" counter, the "master" only increases by 5!?

rrockettman

Hi Oimi.
If you've been working it out as 25mpg, but calculated using kilometers, the 25 mpg would then translate ( by multiplying by 1.6 kilometers to the mile) as 40mpg which sounds more like it.
I hope I've just saved you buying another, less economical car!

TheJay

MX5huggy wrote: »

No its not, both numbers will be in miles (99.9% sure) I have looked at used Corsa Speedos on eBay to confirm, you are confused because it says miles above the big number 52000 and under the small one you can reset it says kmph but under that it will say mph this is referring to the inner and outer rings of numbers (that tell your speed) http://i23.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/f4/c6/81ce_1.JPG

Do the maths again without converting to miles from kms, you may be pleasantly surprised!
I use this site http://www.robinwhite.fsnet.co.uk/conv/mpg.htm

Yes, you are correct! Thank you for researching this for me.

So yeah, the car manages about 55MPG.

Still, what would be the best and cheapest option if I were to buy a Peugeot 206; Petrol, Diesel, LPG, Other?

Where could I get a good second hand Peugeot 206 for a reasonable amount?