Time for change, MPG help please

ACE01

ACE01

ACE01

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Joined
8 Nov 2006
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191
Location
North East England
Hi all,

First post in here so forgive me if I've missed something here with similar info (though I've had a browse through and couldn't really find anything relevant).

I currently drive a 2005 Merc C220d, with 133k on the clock (approx 25-30k miles per year), but as a commuter (on top of travel for meetings) I'm finding the 35ish MPG i get out of it to be crippling at present. I realise to get much better mpg and still have a fairly new car I'll have to downsize/downspec to a smaller hatchback, and this is fine, but I can't seem to find the right motor.

The concept (if possible) is to have the fuel saving (currently spending £500 per month @35mpg) pay for the new car, so if i can get something around 70mpg, I could spend £250 a month for example.

I've read that the extra-urban test carried out by manufacturers (most of my driving is A-road and motorway, average speed across a trip is 60+mph) is at an average speed of 39mph (75mph top speed) so this doesn't seem the best indication of MPG for me. I worry some of the smaller diesels will struggle to sit at motorway speeds and still return high mpg.

Does anyone have any practical advice or could point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance.
 
I simply used 70mpg as a double and half figure, obviously the more you save in fuel, the less I can afford on a car.

Ie 52.5mpg (50% extra mpg) would leave me £167 (a third off my fuel bill).

Thanks for the feedback though, this is exactly why I was keen to get real feedback, rather thanthe 70mpg+ claims I see advertised on brand new cars.


@Peerzy - I've had my car values a number of times for part ex (Glass's) at 5-5.2k. Would a similar car be available for much less than that?
 
[TW]Fox;18389537 said:
I think there is a different problem here.

If you are only getting 35mpg from a 4 cylinder diesel C Class then its likely there is something about your commute that hampers fuel economy. Your car has a combined mpg figure of 41-44mpg depending on transmission.

You wont be getting 70mpg on the same drive unless the reason for your cars poor economy is that its broken, in which case.. fix it?

Im suprised nobody else has spotted this and continues to suggest you'd get 50mpg from a Mondeo..
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Mine's an automatic, and has done 133k, so that may explain the difference. The car had previously done 40ish. It's had full new brakes (discs, pads & callipers) and rear shocks this year and is becoming a bit of a money-sink, another reason I'm looking to change it. It's currently still having brake issues (judders when the breaks are pressed), which again may explain the MPG difference (having brakes looked at again on Weds).

I'm just loathed to invest further cash into a car which ultimately is only going to get more expensive at lower worth.

So I assume the 1.6 & 2l diesels in say the ibiza/polo sized cars are way off their 60-70mpg figures?
 
[TW]Fox;18389700 said:
Would you really want to do 30k a year in an Ibiza? You wouldnt stay in a tent instead of a hotel when travelling, so why do high mileage in a car designed for learners and going shopping in?
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To be honest, I'd prefer something the size of a golf/focus/leon etc if I have to downsize. If I can avoid going that small, then of course I'd like to, but £££ is the driving factor I suppose.

Was quoted £235/month (3yr 0%) on a brand new focus 1.6 Zetec S, but wasn't sure how this would stack up vs quoted figures due to only being a 1.6. It's more than I wanted to pay, but does something like this seem a better option?
 
[TW]Fox;18389790 said:
No, you were not. If that was the case you'd be getting the car for £8460 when in reality it costs double that to buy!

I suspect it's some sort of lease deal - which of course will have a mileage limit you'll smash and be heavily charged for - or there is a baloon to pay at the end.
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I have the paperwork sat in front of me.

£5600 deposit (£5200 trade-in for my merc), 3 years IFC £235. Ford Focus Zetec Sport 1.6.

I could take the same car over 2 years on Ford's Options scheme (PCP) at £184 with a 6057 GFV.
 
Morba said:
You really need to stop making statements like that :P

I agree with what you are saying though, he needs to look at his car or his journey to at least get near the proper figures.


As for buying a new car to save money, again that makes no sense especially when considering a 1.6 for so many miles!
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So the 1.6 will be flat then I take it? My current is rated 10.3 or 10.5 to 60 I think, and this was 10.9 so I assumed with it being a smaller car, it would be roughly comparable.

Hence why I need the help!

If what I'm looking for isn't viable or achievable, I'm perfectly happy to be told that, just throwing it out there looking for some real-world advice rather than sales-person advice.

Thanks for all your comments so far, I didn't expect such a response so soon.
 
PMKeates said:
Ok let's do some simple numbers. Your Merc is doing ~35 MPG with an official combined of ~41 MPG. Assuming your car isn't broken (cars don't generally drop 5 MPG with age, it'll have something that's faulty or not) and that it's your roads/driving style causing the economy, you are returning 87.5% of the quoted figure.

The combined for the Focus is 64.2 MPG, and so when adjusted I'd expect ~56 MPG on your commute. At 30,000 miles per year and diesel @ £1.339 per litre, the fuel cost is £3,260.94. Your Merc costs £5,217.51, or £1,956.57 more per year (£163.05 per month).

So, in order to save £163.05 per month on fuel, you are going to pay £400 above your Merc's trade-in value in deposit, and then £235/month for 3 years?

You are going to see little difference in TCO with the Focus vs. the Mercedes.
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So based on 3 years by those numbers as you say, seems the saving would come from Tax, Insurance, and lack of unexpected repairs (warranty). So it breaks even after 3 years.

I'd get a new car and known car costs for 3 years, but my monthly outgoings would increase approx £75pcm.

Food for thought, very helpful, thanks. Not sure why I didn't apply the business logic myself. Just didn't think to.
 
I was originally looking for a used car around £10-11k. But it does seem like for this, you end up with something that's 3+ years old with ~80k on the clock, and the older diesels (from the quoted figures at least) don't seem to return the same mpg.

That's the only reason I looked at new tbh.

Perhaps I can find a slightly older hotter diesel which will cost in.

Thanks for all the help so far.
 
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