Thinking of going "green" - advice

[chriswood_7]

Hey everyone,

Some of you guys might remember last year, I bought myself a Renaultsport Megane 225, which I absolutely love! However, and there is a big however, I have been trying to sell it since March. Im hoping to get something much much cheaper to run. I want to get myself on the house market once everything is stable, but im not in a position to do that at the moment.

There is no other option but to get rid of the car once I get a mortgage, as some of you lot know running a hot hatch is expensive (in fuel, tax and insurance aswell as maintenance/servicing etc). I think the petrol prices seem to be putting people off buying these type of car, aswell as the recent rise in road tax.

So that plan: I want to get myself something in band B or C (£35/year or £120/year), that returns at least 55mpg and is cheap to insure. So all of the fingers point towards a diesel. Now I have had a look around at a few cars and all of me seems to be pointing towards the new Corsa 1.3CDTi. It feels decent inside, and is in band B and the combined "quoted" is 61.9mpg (in real life prolly more like 57mpg, 27mpg in the Meg). I have also looked at the equivalent Clio 1.5Dci, but the interior has a lot cheaper feel and the Corsa drives is much cleaner and I prefer the slightly stiffer suspension (soft compared to the 225).

All of this could potentially save me around £90-£95 per month which all goes in the house fund pot. The only thing stopping me is the "unhappy" factor. Going from driving a high performance, powerful and well handling hot hatch, to something with as much power as my aircon unit in the 225 saps is surely going to leave a big void in my life. Apart from having a bit more cash.

Can anyone offer some advice? Have you recently gone from a powerful petrol pincher, to a leaner greener machine. Whats it like?

Cheers,

[Howard]

As long as you aware all of these cars will be absolutely rubbish in comparison with your Megane, then fair enough. How about downgrading, but by not quite as much?

[chriswood_7]

Yeah ive looked into stuff like the Megane GT 175bhp 1.9Dci, the Seat Leon 2.0Tdi and the Astra sport hatch 1.9CDTi. The extra cost of the car offset with the extra cost for diesel and the fuel figures (all between 45 and 50mpg) mean that its only saving me a few quid a month.

The only thing stopping me is that most cars in comparison are rubbish compared to what I have now. And thats the burning issue

[Howard]

How much is your 225 worth?

[chriswood_7]

Next to nothing to be honest. If I sell privately I think its worth about £9k at a push (no one seems to want them), for part-ex around £8k. I bought the car last year after it lost most of its value for quite a decent price, brand new these things were a few quid short of £20k.

Still would stand to lose a few thousand pound, but ive already lost that if you follow. The car will never be worth much, and stands to be worth even less once the petrol prices increase further

[Howard]

Autotrader - BMW 3 SERIES 320d ES 4dr 1-OWNER ?

[chriswood_7]

I do like that tbh but id rather drive the 225. Id only downgrade if there was a big saving to be made and with the BMW the servicing is quite expensive (prolly the same as the 225). I think im going to keep browsing

[Zak33]

Corsa CDTi is a great car. great engine too.

And you could get a shock absorber kit later on to sort it out for handling. They are quite capable.

[chriswood_7]

Well after a lovely walk up and down the coast ive been around today to have a look. Ive sat in Golfs, Passats, Vectras, Focii and a 118D (which to be fair I hated).

If I do downgrade, it has to be to save significant money rather than just a few quid. I love my car, and after a blast around today I realised how hard it will be to change. And I think thats why it would have to be for something that will save me a lot of cash.

[sjbuck]

My advice would be to get a very cheap second hand diesel in the 2-3k range. You won't enjoy owning the car in the slightest after what you are used to, so you may as well go the whole hog and buy something that will REALLY save you some money. If you're buying something you don't really want then make it as cheap as possible

[chriswood_7]

I agree. That was my original plan, but then Id need someone to buy my car. This is my problem as no one seems to want to buy them at this moment in time Id have to really reduce the price and lose far more money than Id save. Arrrrgghhh cars!

[dave87]

Autotrader - BMW 3 SERIES 320d ES 4dr 1-OWNER ?

Oh dear, nooo...

The ES is less well spec'd than the average Vauxhall

[piggeh]

The fact you're saying the extra economy wont save you much money suggests that maybe you dont do many miles? If so then maybe it's worth reassessing how important a nice car is when compared to getting on the housing market/paying mortgage off earlier/having that bit extra.

That aside:

VAG TDI Remapped? Or buy a normal one and get it remapped for £400 or whatever it costs (I'd imagine the best idea would be to buy one already modded). A Fabia VRS remapped to 190bhp would probably cost £6-7k and would give you 55mpg or so, and given its slightly smaller overall (still decent leg room though) the loss of 30bhp or so shouldnt really be felt. I think its group 9 insurance or so fwiw.

BMW 330d is a fantastic drive by the way (the model before new versions). Feels quite raw and is a nice drive. Although like you say, not much of a saving.. not as impressed with the 320

[Guy]

The fact you're saying the extra economy wont save you much money suggests that maybe you dont do many miles? If so then maybe it's worth reassessing how important a nice car is when compared to getting on the housing market/paying mortgage off earlier/having that bit extra.

That aside:

VAG TDI Remapped? Or buy a normal one and get it remapped for £400 or whatever it costs (I'd imagine the best idea would be to buy one already modded). A Fabia VRS remapped to 190bhp would probably cost £6-7k and would give you 55mpg or so, and given its slightly smaller overall (still decent leg room though) the loss of 30bhp or so shouldnt really be felt. I think its group 9 insurance or so fwiw.

BMW 330d is a fantastic drive by the way (the model before new versions). Feels quite raw and is a nice drive. Although like you say, not much of a saving.. not as impressed with the 320

Most of those cars listed, wouldnt offer much of a saving at all, I think the OP if he's gonna downsize wants to get the most amount of money back for a nice shiny set of house keys, so that really rules out, most VAG diesels, the Furby VRS, and def a BMW.

[sjbuck]

If you need the cash there's no option really......take the hit on the megane (it will sell at the 'right' price) and buy the cheapest car you can get away with. A small petrol may be better than a diesel given the cost difference between the two fuels at the moment. You can always get another nice car once your finances have settled down in your nice new house

[Howard]

Oh dear, nooo...

The ES is less well spec'd than the average Vauxhall

Sorry, your heiness. It was just an example.

I doubt most average vauxhalls have climate control and heated seats, though