BMW 118D or Citreon DS3

umboma

umboma

umboma

Soldato
Joined
10 Jan 2011
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Hello all,

I've got 7K for a new ish car, I'm looking for low road tax and good miles, I've nailed it down to the BMW 118D / 120 or the DS3, both seem to give good miles 60+ and both seem to be good for road tax around £30 a year.

So I'm after peoples preferences what do you lot think about both cars? or maybe you might be able to suggest a car I have not thought of.

Many Thanks
 
Question:

You are buying a second hand car, potentially a fairly old second hand car if you pick the BMW. Why are you only looking for 'good miles' and 'low road tax' as if there are no other costs involved in motoring?

As a car ages, the road tax tends to be fairly irrelevant against a backdrop of increasing repair costs.

Who gives a stuff that a 118d costs 30 quid to tax instead of 130 quid if it's going to do you for a grand if it needs a new DMF or whatever?

All that matters is your total ownership cost - which is a product of all the costs involved in motoring. It's pointless buying a car with 'low road tax' and 'good miles' if it ends up costing you more money than a more reliable but less efficient alternative.
 
TheVoice said:
Rather than us suggesting every other hatch out there, what is it that's led you to these two choices?
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Well tbh, just the MPG and TAX costs, It'll be used daily for work and school / shop runs.

I've looked and a few cars in all honestly a Lexus 220d, BMW 320d / 118d, the ds3, Honda civic among others but I keep getting drawn back in the MPG, as the less I can spend on fuel the better, tax isn't a problem as such as that can be done monthly now but I thought it was just a little bonus it being cheap on certain cars.
 
How many miles do you drive per year?

Worrying about the cost of tax to the point where it suddenly stops being an issue as long as it can be 'done monthly' makes me think a used BMW or Lexus is a stupid idea and you should stick with something newer and more reliable. If you have to spread your road monthly what do you do when your old 1 Series needs a turbo?

The first gen 1 Series isn't amazing inside anyway so you are not really missing much by going with something newer and less 'prestige' instead.
 
[TW]Fox;28879208 said:
Question:

You are buying a second hand car, potentially a fairly old second hand car if you pick the BMW. Why are you only looking for 'good miles' and 'low road tax' as if there are no other costs involved in motoring?

As a car ages, the road tax tends to be fairly irrelevant against a backdrop of increasing repair costs.

Who gives a stuff that a 118d costs 30 quid to tax instead of 130 quid if it's going to do you for a grand if it needs a new DMF or whatever?

All that matters is your total ownership cost - which is a product of all the costs involved in motoring. It's pointless buying a car with 'low road tax' and 'good miles' if it ends up costing you more money than a more reliable but less efficient alternative.
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I see what your saying, but MPG is important to me, tax isn't a huge problem but even a more reliable car can have problems so it's almost impossible to predict what issues a car might have in the future, all I can really go on is whats best for the money I have, I've narrowed it down to two cars purely based on the MPG first and tax second.but if you know of any cars I might have overlooked I'd appreciate a little knowledge as i don't know an awful lot about cars.
 
[TW]Fox;28879272 said:
How many miles do you drive per year?

Worrying about the cost of tax to the point where it suddenly stops being an issue as long as it can be 'done monthly' makes me think a used BMW or Lexus is a stupid idea and you should stick with something newer and more reliable. If you have to spread your road monthly what do you do when your old 1 Series needs a turbo?

The first gen 1 Series isn't amazing inside anyway so you are not really missing much by going with something newer and less 'prestige' instead.
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my mileage per year is about 5k to 6k miles.
 
ok, so the consensus seems to be newer the better.. the cars I've been looking at are around the 2010 2011 modles and about 50k 'DS3' miles to the bmw being about 90k miles.
 
5-6k and you're worried about MPG?

At 5k a year, even if the difference is 10mpg then you'd save £60 per year. Is it really worth worrying about that, when cars have potential other issues/servicing that can cost more compared to others?

You need to look at the costs for the whole ownership, not just one aspect.
 
Begbie said:
5-6k and you're worried about MPG?

At 5k a year, even if the difference is 10mpg then you'd save £60 per year. Is it really worth worrying about that, when cars have potential other issues/servicing that can cost more compared to others?

You need to look at the costs for the whole ownership, not just one aspect.
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so how do I work out the total ownership?? is it something like the cost of the car + insurance + fuel + tax or am i missing something?
 
umboma said:
my mileage per year is about 5k to 6k miles.
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lol

MPG needs to stop being important to you. Your mileage is incredibly low and fuel is unlikely to be your biggest motoring expense.

Plus unless those 5k a year are a few very long trips you are NOT going to get 60mpg from ANY of these cars.

A 2010/11 1 Series for £7k is going to be a ropey, abused example that you would do well to stay clear of. It is much more likely to give you trouble than a newer Ford or similar. At an annual mileage as low as yours you run the risk of causing problems with the particular filter on diesel models and these are VERY expensive to fix.

Ignore the mpg, buy a small capacity petrol engined car. Something like a Fiesta 1.25 or Focus 1.6 would be ideal.
 
[TW]Fox;28879322 said:
lol

MPG needs to stop being important to you. Your mileage is incredibly low and fuel is unlikely to be your biggest motoring expense.

Plus unless those 5k a year are a few very long trips you are NOT going to get 60mpg from ANY of these cars.

A 2010/11 1 Series for £7k is going to be a ropey, abused example that you would do well to stay clear of. It is much more likely to give you trouble than a newer Ford or similar.
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not many long trips, work is about 6 miles from me, days out with the kids on holidays is the most miles It'll do in a single sitting.
 
I struggle to get 60+ MPG out of my 1.6 TDI A3 on a dual carriageway drive. On a short 6 mile drive you'll be lucky to get 45/50 unless you drive extremely carefully.
 
A Focus/Mondeo, with 7k to spend you are going to get a newer, lower mileage example that will be likely to give you less hassle than a 7k BMW 1 Series
 
Antony101 said:
I struggle to get 60+ MPG out of my 1.6 TDI A3 on a dual carriageway drive. On a short 6 mile drive you'll be lucky to get 45/50 unless you drive extremely carefully.
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It does make a lot of sense, my current car I use about £20/£30 per week on fuel. I was just thinking that I could make that same amount of money or fuel last over a two week period with a better MPG car, I guess I have that wrong. i'll look for newer cars then the 2011, tho I do like the insides of the civic..
 
umboma said:
It does make a lot of sense, my current car I use about £20/£30 per week on fuel. I was just thinking that I could make that same amount of money or fuel other a two week period with a better MPG car, I guess I have that wrong. i'll look for newer cars then the 2011, tho I do like the insides of the civic..
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Everyone else thinks the same though, so the price of used diesels is at a high. Everyone wants rid of their petrol cars so you get more for your money.

[TW]Fox;28879433 said:
I get 23ish out of my diesel on a short trip from cold :D
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I'd give up the extra MPG to not have a 1.6 TDI. Not that it's a terrible engine but I don't do the miles anymore to need a diesel and wouldn't mind something faster.
 
umboma said:
It does make a lot of sense, my current car I use about £20/£30 per week on fuel. I was just thinking that I could make that same amount of money or fuel last over a two week period with a better MPG car, I guess I have that wrong. i'll look for newer cars then the 2011, tho I do like the insides of the civic..
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How?! I spend that much doing twice the daily commute you do in a 300bhp saloon!
 
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201511038371992

Better car than the ds3, better imo than a mk3 focus, diseasel so omg mpg and low ved which you seem to want but you should (I believe, obviously look into thosy) be able to get the balance of the 7 year warranty meaning your mileage shouldn't really matter as it'll be someone else's problem.

umboma said:
It does make a lot of sense, my current car I use about £20/£30 per week on fuel. I was just thinking that I could make that same amount of money or fuel last over a two week period with a better MPG car, I guess I have that wrong. i'll look for newer cars then the 2011, tho I do like the insides of the civic..
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Sounds a wee bit broken unless you send most of your time in traffic, at which point diesel isn't really going to help. As a reference point I go through circa £40 of super a week at around £1.24 doing 200-220ish miles in a civic type R

The civic 1.8 is a good car that is unlikely to want anything doing to it over your ownership. The flip side is Honda are pretty expensive for dealer servicing considering it's a mundane, mainstream car
 
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