need to think about a new car.

Camalot

Camalot

Camalot

Soldato
Joined
7 Mar 2005
Posts
6,920
Location
Wolverhampton
With a new job 25miles and driving a lot my old puma is just costing too much in petrol. I will be doing around 18k a year mainly m6 / m54 type driving.

Want something cheap to run/fix. Would be willing to budget around 4k

Always owned fords so quite like them!
 
Even the 1.7 is pretty decent if you have a bit of restraint with the throttle, it's a fairly lively rev happy engine though, so you just need to drive it conservativley, adjust driving style and conciously restrain from putting your foot down, change gear at lower revs etc.

Pumas are not worth much, so asssuming you take a 3 grand hit on PX, you need to calculate how quick you can offset that 3k in fuel/road duty/general servicing savings by swapping.

If it's running well with no issues I would seriously cosider just driving it like an old lady on the M-way, as if it were a lorry ~60mph on your commute, and drive it how you want in personal time.
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
I genuinely think that people need to move closer to their place of work these days.
To be honest a 1.7 Puma won't be that bad on fuel if you take it easy.



37mpg is pretty good for an old engine of that size.
Click to expand...

I've already moved to be close to work once but then i was single with no ties. I now live with my partner so its not as easy as just pack up and go. If i do that then my g.f would have to quit her job so the money i would save on fuel would be going on what my g/f can't contribute to!

37 is good and i am by no means a boy racer but surely swapping to a diesel is the best option here to cut down outgoings?
 
From what I gather a diesel might not be as reliable and remember, the price of diesel has gone up now too. Not to mention that a diesel will probably cost more to purchase than the petrol equivalent so you might end up with an older car?
 
A 50mpg diesel car will save you about £700 a year compared to your Puma, in fuel costs. Easy to wipe that out with a repair bill or two, either way. Average 40mpg with it and you'll only save about £100 :D
 
Lashout is right, while £700/year does sound like a fair saving if you sell the puma for £1500 (if its in decent shape) and spend £4k on another car then thats 3.5 years until you see any improvement in your pocket.

In your shoes I'd spend the money for a car on training/qualifications or use it to start my own business, likely to work out better in the long run than a few more mpgs on a car
 
Managed to get some good high mpg out of it last week by driving at 60mph and easy on the throttle. I put 20quid in at 138p and managed 150miles.

Still on the lookout for another car as the puma has nearly had it. Nearly 15advisories on last mot and some serious knocking/banging coming from engine.
Pretty much stalls if i turn slow on full lock everytime now to!
 
Sounds to me like with a service the Puma would be a car you know the history of and have no faults and a better MPG... knocks and bangs must be doing the MPG the world of good.

Decent alignment, correctly inflated decent quality tyres, and a well serviced engine will help your mpg. As you have found 60mph will save a decent amount in fuel also. Over 25 miles I'd imagine the drop to 60 on the routes that allow will be at most 5-6 minutes difference in journey time.

Or... you could splash 4k on a different car of an unknown quantity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom