Most economical cars under £2k

dude7691

dude7691

dude7691

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2 Oct 2019
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19
Hi all :)

I'm looking for some advice for buying a car under £2,000 that will get over 60mpg (basically as high as possible) and will be reliable. I currently own a 2009 Kia with 102,000 miles on the clock and that gets around 44mpg when I drive efficiently and it can get around 46mpg on the motorway. I drive around 10,000 miles a year. It's been very reliable so far but I've had a half decent offer on it so I'm looking to get something else. I'm open to buying a diesel providing it's cheap to tax. Basically I'm looking for something that will be reliable (possibly japanese) that will actually get 60mpg not just claiming it and then I end up with something that only does the same as my current car at the cost of a tonne of unknowns when you buy a used car. Using honestjohn's realmpg site I've seen manufacturers claiming 70mpg and people getting 45, it's kind of scary.

Thanks in advance look forward to hearing your suggestions :)
 
First thing to realise is that manufacturers figures are almost always ********.
Like really really massive ********.

My Mx5 gets 40mpg while giving it large all the time, on a nice open (nut not slow) run i can see 50. But its not 2 grand lol.
 
Most manufacturer claims are BS (especially when it's VW :D)

On "eco" cars I find the figures are even more innacurate. On sporty cars where people don't care as much they seem much closer to reality.
 
Why the focus on such high MPG? At your mileage, it's going to make £17 per month difference between a theoretical 55mpg and 70mpg... other factors will wipe that out in a heartbeat.

:Edit: Re-read your post, even with 45mpg vs 60mpg, it's only £300 or so over the course of the year. Certainly not worth basing a car buying decision over.
 
Yep its really not a good idea to focus on just mpg as you will never get close to it.
10Mpg when your doing 40-50Mpg is hear nor there anyway.

whats more important is what your wanting to use it for.
Do you need the space for kids? (people carrier) or load lugging (estate)
Do you want a fun car (rwd/2 door/2 seat) or will regularly carry folk in the rear (4 door)

Do you just want to get from A to B or do you actual like driving and want to be an active part in it?
 
The main reason is just that I'm a very frugal person and in my mind if I can sell the current car for say £800, get another for £2,000 if you factor in the fact insurance will be less (most models about 100 quid cheaper than the Rio), tax on my car is £145 a year vs potentially nothing on another car and then the £350-400 fuel saving, you're talking a reduction of £650 a year in running costs so it will pay itself back in 2 years and I end up with a better car at the end of it that's worth more than my current one would be.
 
Just to make it clear I'm not a boring person who views cars just as figures, I love having fun and driving is one of my favourite things. I'm extremely frugal because I know in the long run that will enable me to get and be able to afford something a little bit more fun in the future but for now yes, my main concerns are just MPG and running costs as I'm not lugging kids around, just myself and back to work and the odd scenic drive when I feel like it :)
 
I'm not sure just how realistic you are being on your potential savings here. But yes, I too would like to be in a better car than a Kia Rio.
 
10k miles not worth changing, specially if the actual car isn't giving you any trouble. You may end up with a diesel which claims to do 60+ mpg and end up with a lemon.
There's few small cars with 1.4 diesel engines that would offer that, but not sure at your budget. Peugeot 208, Corsa, Rio.
 
Haha well I'm only 20 so I'm not feeling like I've got a bad deal at all my first car was a Perodua Kelisa 1.0 :D So I actually kind of appreciate my Rio for example, not rattling when I do over 65mph xD
 
I'm not even a massive car person but I've caught wind of the 1.5 DCI engine having a bad reputation. A single big bill from that will have you wishing you had the old faithful Rio back. MPG is absolutely not something should be focusing on IMO unless you're doing 20K+ per year.
 
I am aware diesels have a horrible reputation for being yes more reliable than petrol but when they do go wrong it can cost an arm and a leg to get it fixed because they work at such high compression compared to petrol :( I do hear what you're saying about my mileage, and I won't be changing it until April at the earliest, so if it's still running well then I might just keep the Rio until it dies.
 
Thing is on that realmpg site I mentioned most owners of my car report getting just 37mpg yet I can get 45+ if I'm being super careful. I'm thinking maybe it's just a little bit pessimistic and people just don't drive as well as they say? In my old little 1.0 car I used to get 65mpg until it started going wrong mechanically and I had to scrap it, but the official figure was only 55mpg combined, so it just seems like a throw of the dice.
 
Got to agree with whats been said, your not going to see anything by changing.
Especially to something awful like a Renault diesel and while the Fabia is a decent car its for those who dont really want to be driving.
 
I've done some more reading about that 1.5 Renault and I agree it sounds like **** on the maintenance front once they get a bit older. Also yeah reading about the Fabia it returns around 57mpg if you're driving OK and using the AC, so I reckon I could get maybe 65-70 out of it (I never use AC it's never hot enough). I'm just gonna see how times change over the next 6 months and if the Kia keeps doing its thing I guess I'll be keeping it.
 
need to get over to the usa ultramiling forum - the secret to mpg on motorways is slipstreaming lorries.
... but the audi a2 1.2tdi would be a classic to own.
 
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