Spec me an economical car.. please..

Nitrojan · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:01

With the expected increase in fuel prices I am seriously considering switching to a diesel alternative!

What sort of cars would you recommend for a 19 year old with 1 year NCB, as I am looking to purchase in October time for in or around £3.5-4k? Something stylish and spacious, with reasonable acceleration (I know due to my age I am limited in this respect, and also the fact that I am choosing diesel) and decent mpg.

I know having good mpg and good acceleration is somewhat of a contradiction, however we can be optimistic can't we lol

I absolutely love VW Golf's however their price tag seems very high (I know it's German) and it's harder to find one with a low-ish mileage.

What can you recommend?

Confused · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:03

What car do you currently have?

Peerzy · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:04

How many miles do you do a year?

Just stop and have a think for a second, hardly any 19 year olds have decent £4k cars.

Spend £2k on a nice good example of a car and you've saved £2k straight away. Consider that a car doing 50mpg compared with 40mpg would have to do hundreds of thousands of miles before you've got that extra £2k back.

Get a nice small 1.2/1.4 hatchback for £2k and save the rest till you can insure something decent.

Zid_ · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:05

Not much more to say on this thread, Peerzy's reply covers it.

Nitrojan · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:06

Confused said:
What car do you currently have?

BMW 523i SE - yes, it's now getting too much to run..

Nitrojan · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:07

Peerzy said:
Get a nice small 1.2/1.4 hatchback for £2k and save the rest till you can insure something decent.

Seems sensible.. Any recommendations? I was looking at 1.5 dci Clios 100bhp - 60mpg and 10.3s acceleration.. seem quite rare though and not sure if I could pick one up for £2k.

MikeHunt79 · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:10

Do you normally do shorter journeys around town or longer motorway runs?

GravyMonster · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:12

Unless you're doing ~18k miles a year or more, step away from the diesels.

Nitrojan · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:12

Mainly shorter journeys.. I hardly do motorway runs, and at the moment I am averaging 26-30mpg (this is on long journeys too.. not just the odd mile or two across town), on motorways I get around 30-31mpg which isn't good considering my wage lol

Nitrojan · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:12

Spunkey said:
Unless you're doing ~18k miles a year or more, step away from the diesels.

Why do you say this? :confused:

Peerzy · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:13

Nitrojan said:
Seems sensible.. Any recommendations? I was looking at 1.5 dci Clios 100bhp - 60mpg and 10.3s acceleration.. seem quite rare though and not sure if I could pick one up for £2k.

I'd stay away from diesels. They add turbochargers and other expensive parts to engines, they fail and your stuck with a £1k bill and instantly all your fuel saving is useless.

Really doubt you would see 60mpg out of it, maybe on a long motorway run but then why would you want to spend hours in a small diesel Clio just to save a few pennys with the added rick of the turbo going?

1.25 Fiesta or similiar.

I use to get 50mpg out of my 1.2 Punto easily. Small petrol engine in a small hatchback that has been well serviced and looked after.

Job done.

Nitrojan said:
Why do you say this?

Diesel costs more, the parts cost more, the servicing cost more and the added risk of expensive components breaking means unless you do 18k-20k it's usually not worth getting a diesel.

If you do say 5k a year I'd imagine it would actually cost you to run a diesel.

[TW]Fox · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:14

30mpg from a 523i on shorter runs is nothing short of amazing

Did you not notice diesel is also expensive, its not just petrol prices which have gone up.

GravyMonster · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:14

Nitrojan said:
Why do you say this?

Because the savings in better MPG is offest by higher fuel price, increased purchase cost and (arguably depending on who you listen to on this forum) higher maintenance.

Unless you're doing that kind of mileage, the saving won't cover that extra cost.

Nitrojan · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:15

I'm suprised by the amount of people telling me not to go down the diesel route! I always thought this was the best way to go

[TW]Fox · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:15

To be fair I cannot see many small diesels having higher maintenance costs than his 523i.

Nathan · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:16

buy a 1k 306 hdi. 45 mpg around town, 60 on a run.

save 3k for good times

Hilly · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:16

Nitrojan said:
Why do you say this?

You generally have to pay more for a diesel, over their petrol variant. You then have buy diesel (which costs more than petrol).

The difference in MPG and potential savings are only earnt upon doing many many miles.

If you check Parkers there is a good diesel v petrol comparison and how many miles you'd need to break even.

How many miles do you do a year?

Peerzy · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:16

It just won't save you much money unless you do high mileage.

Diesels cost more to buy.
They cost more to run (servicing).
They cost more when they go wrong.
They have more to go wrong.
The fuel costs more.

The only plus side is you get a slightly better MPG but this is often only really seen on long journeys as it takes them a fair while to warm up and get efficient.

GravyMonster · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:18

[TW]Fox;18674493 said:
To be fair I cannot see many small diesels having higher maintenance costs than his 523i.

True, but the point stands that a supermini diesel would cost more to run than the equivalent petrol engined car.

*edit*
Just noticed this was my 5000th post! Cake all around. Hurrah!

Nitrojan · 15 Mar 2011 at 14:18

hilly said:
You generally have to pay more for a diesel, over their petrol variant. You then have buy diesel (which costs more than petrol).

The difference in MPG and potential savings are only earnt upon doing many many miles.

If you check Parkers there is a good diesel v petrol comparison and how many miles you'd need to break even.

How many miles do you do a year?

I'm insured up to 10,000 at the moment. And thanks for the Parkers info, I shall check that out later