Cheap workhorse with decent MPG

[sovietspybob]

You need to remember the way MPG works is not linear. The actual pounds and pence difference between 30 and 40mpg is very different from 40 to 50 and after 50ish it's getting kind of pointless as the savings are so little when you work the numbers out unless you're doing mega mega miles.

In my old Yaris i could get 55 if i floored it everywhere or 70 if i hypermiled it everywhere but it hardly made a difference to your wallet at that stage.

 

[Nasher]

Every 1mpg added on is a smaller and smaller percentage. There are diminishing returns.

 

[SkodaMart]

You need to remember the way MPG works is not linear. The actual pounds and pence difference between 30 and 40mpg is very different from 40 to 50 and after 50ish it's getting kind of pointless as the savings are so little when you work the numbers out unless you're doing mega mega miles.

In my old Yaris i could get 55 if i floored it everywhere or 70 if i hypermiled it everywhere but it hardly made a difference to your wallet at that stage.

55mpg if you ‘floored it’
From a petrol engine?

Never in a million years, especially city driving.

Our 60mpg capable Honda 1.0 returns less than 30mpg in the city. Pretty much the same as every petrol car I’ve owned.

(please excuse me if yours is a hybrid or something).

 

[Nasher]

An old Twingo I had for a while was like that though. Sub ton car with small power. A tank lasted ages and you could actually floor that everywhere

The Abarth 500 seems to get 37mpg no matter how you drive it.

 

[sovietspybob]

55mpg if you ‘floored it’
From a petrol engine?

Never in a million years, especially city driving.

Our 60mpg capable Honda 1.0 returns less than 30mpg in the city. Pretty much the same as every petrol car I’ve owned.

(please excuse me if yours is a hybrid or something).

nope not petrol engine a 1.4 diesel, it was fantastically efficient.

 

[SkodaMart]

nope not petrol engine a 1.4 diesel, it was fantastically efficient.

Fair enough.
I can get 46mpg from my 1.6hdi in the city.

 

[sovietspybob]

Fair enough.
I can get 46mpg from my 1.6hdi in the city.

Yeah city driving is irrelevant to me, it's 60+ miles to the nearest one

 

[Jonnycoupe]

55mpg if you ‘floored it’
From a petrol engine?

Never in a million years, especially city driving.

Our 60mpg capable Honda 1.0 returns less than 30mpg in the city. Pretty much the same as every petrol car I’ve owned.

(please excuse me if yours is a hybrid or something).

<cough>

 

[Avalon]

The 1.4 D4D was capable of some amazing mpg figures in Yaris guise, even the petrol wasn’t that bad in economy terms (50.44mpg lifetime average on the one I had).

The issue tends to be people mistake mpg for actual running costs, generally one isn’t representative of the other. If you want cheap miles, then a small petrol NA chain driven engine usually wins over time, the possible exception being something like the old SDi found in some of the Skoda/VW range - it takes a hell of a lot of slightly cheaper miles to offset a turbo or clutch/DMF failure, let alone the timing belt/pump change, or the joys of EGR/DPF issues.

In general terms, the RAV4 I had sucked in mpg/VED terms vs everything else I had run, in reality it cost less on repairs and that balanced things out vs running my previous Octavia/Golf TDI’s.

 

[SkodaMart]

<cough>

Something in your throat?
Not covid is it?

 

[Scania]

How much did you pay for yours, if you don't mind me asking? Private or Dealer?

£1850 from a Volvo specialist in Shrewsbury.

Relatively strong money for an old car with 167k on the clock and it was certainly a lot more expensive than a few I looked at privately, but, a year and 11k trouble free miles tells me I was wise to go with the more expensive option.

You will find one easily around a grand but at that money I’d certainly budget for a cam belt (the one major weakness on the D5 engine if ignored) assuming it’s got no proof of a relatively recent change, the belt change interval is 10years or 100k miles iirc so as I say so long as you’ve got evidence of a belt change then not so much of a worry.

 

[sovietspybob]

The 1.4 D4D was capable of some amazing mpg figures in Yaris guise, even the petrol wasn’t that bad in economy terms (50.44mpg lifetime average on the one I had).

The issue tends to be people mistake mpg for actual running costs, generally one isn’t representative of the other. If you want cheap miles, then a small petrol NA chain driven engine usually wins over time, the possible exception being something like the old SDi found in some of the Skoda/VW range - it takes a hell of a lot of slightly cheaper miles to offset a turbo or clutch/DMF failure, let alone the timing belt/pump change, or the joys of EGR/DPF issues.

In general terms, the RAV4 I had sucked in mpg/VED terms vs everything else I had run, in reality it cost less on repairs and that balanced things out vs running my previous Octavia/Golf TDI’s.

Yeah that's very true, i ran the gauntlet buying my Yaris for £2k when it was 10 years old. it was more of a risk than buying a petrol one for sure but i took the gamble and it paid off for me as i put about 60k on it over a couple of years with only 1 set of front disks and pads, 1 set of tyres and 1 injector clip averaging about 66mpg. But it could have come un done if something big did break.

If you do your research and are willing to take a bit of a risk it can pay off especially if you can offset it by DIY fixes or DIY preventative maintenance but it is a gamble. Like i took off the EGR valve periodically on the Yaris to clean it all out as that's a known point for gunking up and causing other issues.

 

[phil675]

Avensis is great for this sort of thing, petrol gets 40mpg no problem, diesel more.

 

[IC3]

You need to remember the way MPG works is not linear. The actual pounds and pence difference between 30 and 40mpg is very different from 40 to 50 and after 50ish it's getting kind of pointless as the savings are so little when you work the numbers out unless you're doing mega mega miles.

In my old Yaris i could get 55 if i floored it everywhere or 70 if i hypermiled it everywhere but it hardly made a difference to your wallet at that stage.

Which gen and what engine?

Avensis is great for this sort of thing, petrol gets 40mpg no problem, diesel more.

The 1.8? I heard too many horror stories about the Diesel, Japanese Diesel engines are usually best avoided.

 

[watercooledman]

saab 9-3

 

[sovietspybob]

Which gen and what engine?


The 1.8? I heard too many horror stories about the Diesel, Japanese Diesel engines are usually best avoided.

Mine was a 2002 so first gen with the 1.4D4D engine

As it happens i've also got a 2010 Avensis 1.8 petrol estate, i deliberately avoided the diesel as you say they seem to have their share of issues.

I could get around 44mpg average from the Avensis when i drove it to work each day, so the savings from the diesel engine just weren't worth it imo.

 

[phil675]

The 1.8? I heard too many horror stories about the Diesel, Japanese Diesel engines are usually best avoided.

I haven't experienced the Diesels but I thought they were meant to be ok? Lots of them about. The 1.8 petrol I got 40mpg easy on mixed roads, long 50mph stretches would see 47mpg! Never had anything wrong with it in 5 years/50k miles and all I did was change the oil once a year.

 

[Nasher]

Same with the Subaru boxer diesels. They came and went.

There is more to go wrong with a diesel. Diesel was never used much in Japan so it was always a bit half arsed.

 

[sovietspybob]

Same with the Subaru boxer diesels. They came and went.

There is more to go wrong with a diesel. Diesel was never used much in Japan so it was always a bit half arsed.

Yeah those in particular were a real shame as i'd have loved a Legacy diesel about 10 years ago, crankshafts snapping between 60 and 100k writing off the engine with replacements being the best part of 5 grand for a short block from Subaru

 

[IC3]

Thinking of those ATM, I won't do more than 6-7k a year. Its mostly short trip and from time to time longer journey for parts for my project cars.

- Honda Civic MK8 1.8i
- Mazda3 2nd Gen 2.0 Petrol