Downsizing, can anyone explain of advantages, if any!

[Vini]

I'm toying with the idea of chopping in my 2000 W - 1.8 Petrol Focus, for something like a 2004 - 1.4 Diesel/Petrol Fiesta...

But... I'm unsure of the advantages if any...

I do about 10 city miles a day, and because of this my Focus is quite thirsty. I used to get 350 miles to the 50l tank when I was travelling motorways and doing 30 miles round trip, but now I do about 225-275.

What with all the tax increases, petrol increases and general age of my car (72k miles) I'm wondering if there's any advantage in moving to something a little smaller, such as a 2004 Fiesta, ideally something thats great at city runs and offers a better mpg than im currently hitting!

I'm not sure what mines worth, but I'd hope it'd be around £1500 as a part ex. With Fiesta's being close to £5000.

Thoughts?

[joshwa]

I've been thinking about selling my Passat Estate 130 TDI (~50mpg on motorways, £145 tax) which is worth around £4000 ish (roughly)...

And changing to a Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi which should get ~60mpg on motoways, cost £120 tax and can be bought for around £5k for a 05 model...

I'd also save money by going from insurance group 13 to insurance group 6 !

I'm a diesel fan, which is why I'd want to stick to diesel, but you've got to work out how much you'd actually save depending on your driving style, and mileage for petrol / diesel... some of these small petrol cars can get impressive mpg. Especially now that diesel is more expensive than petrol.

How may miles do you do per year?
How much would you save on insurance / road tax?

And would it be worth spending more for a newer car when you are trying to save money?

[piggeh]

If you're worried about space, there's plenty of bigger hatchbacks which would do the trick.

Also I'd be more tempted with an 04 fabia vrs if you do get something smaller as it would hold its value more and would be more economical to boot.

Not sure how economical diesels are for short city (stop/start) trips though.

[chriswood_7]

I recently bought a Fiesta and I couldnt live with it, so ive gone back to petrol. Yes it costs more to run, I know, but I couldnt live with such a small car and Im not a diesel fan im afraid (im sure a more powerful 1.9TDi would be more suited to me though)

So for now, based on the miles I do im sticking with petrol. Its only worth downsizing if your saving lots of money, which it sounds like you would in running costs. But if your happy with your car then the money you will save by not buying a new car will run that car for years. Could you live with driving a smaller car?

[Vini]

This is what I reckon...



It's close to £50 a month saving. Of course I'd be getting a smaller car, albeit newer, and I'd be signing upto another 3 years @ £155 p/m...

Really, theres no need to ditch my Focus for a £50 saving each month...

[TiG]

Its not a £50 a month saving, Its another heap of investment at £155 per month for 3 years...

Paying money to save money is blinkered thinking in my opinion. It would take you 9 years to recoup your investment.

There are better ways to save £50 a month without the 9 year recovery period.

TiG

[Ben_]

10 city miles?

Get on a pushbike, save much more that way and get fit. And save time, as 10 miles on a bike through a town is probably quicker than a car.

[Butcher]

Don't forget diesels are worse than petrols for short journeys in terms of MPG - you need to get a diesel warmed up before you get close to the manufacturers numbers.

[Merlin4458]

its going to cost you 4 grand to downsize to save money? does that balence with the saving of petrol?

[Vini]

It's not just a downsize, and moneys not just the issue.

You can get bored of cars etc... Mine's pushing 10 years now, so to avoid running into problems with it breaking down etc, I've got to time it right as to when to palm it off.

I actually like the Fiesta. Size is a not an issue.

I have to decide whether signing up to 3 more years on a loan is what I want, and right now I've decided that I'd prefer to keep the Focus, pay off my loan.

My Focus is MOT'd until the loan expires. So I should be pretty sound there....

As for getting on a bike... I actually work 1.5m from home as the crow flies. It takes half an hour to walk, 5 minutes to drive... I'd sooner have 20 minutes extra in bed, nice sounding music and the undercover advantage of a car. If we had showers at work I might be tempted to bike or even skate to work but only on decent days. Balancing the cost of a bike, to being able to use it on the 3 decent days a year that we get, would cost me more than a car.

[kalniel]

I think getting a car just for 5 miles each way is a bit overkill, especially if it's even shorter by walking.

If you have to get a car then I can't recommend diesel for such short distances - they need to warm up to get very efficient - you won't get anywhere near stated mpg. On the other hand a very small petrol engine will achieve stated milage, and will probably end up more efficient overall than the diesel. Look for the Citreon C1/107/aygo and other similar cars.

[Ben_]

It's not just a downsize, and moneys not just the issue.

You can get bored of cars etc... Mine's pushing 10 years now, so to avoid running into problems with it breaking down etc, I've got to time it right as to when to palm it off.

I actually like the Fiesta. Size is a not an issue.

I have to decide whether signing up to 3 more years on a loan is what I want, and right now I've decided that I'd prefer to keep the Focus, pay off my loan.

My Focus is MOT'd until the loan expires. So I should be pretty sound there....

As for getting on a bike... I actually work 1.5m from home as the crow flies. It takes half an hour to walk, 5 minutes to drive... I'd sooner have 20 minutes extra in bed, nice sounding music and the undercover advantage of a car. If we had showers at work I might be tempted to bike or even skate to work but only on decent days. Balancing the cost of a bike, to being able to use it on the 3 decent days a year that we get, would cost me more than a car.

Bloody hell, lazy sod arent you.

1.5 miles on a push bike would take probably 5-10 minutes. And unless you live in the highlands then your not going to be sweaty after that, the cost of a bike? £300 for one that will last.

It rains? wear a coat. This is the issue with cars in this country people are so god damn lazy that they buy cars for the stupidist journey.

1.5 miles really gets my goat that does.

[joshwa]

If you can find a more economical car that costs the same as your Focus is worth, then that may be worth doing... but getting a loan on a car in my opinion is not a good investment at all. (paying interest on a car that's loosing value) Much better to save up instead then you're making interest while the money's in your bank

[99Flake]

... but getting a loan on a car in my opinion is not a good investment at all. (paying interest on a car that's loosing value) Much better to save up instead then you're making interest while the money's in your bank

Thing is that a lot of people can't afford to pay for a car outright and saving would take to long, therefore they buy a car using a loan.

A car isn't an investment in any way whatsoever (unless you buy a Ferrari/Porshce/BMW/Merc that is in demand).

A loan is often the only way people can get the car that they want, after a house a car is 'normally' a person's second biggest purchase.

[Ben_]

In this case your spending money to save money.

Worked out how many months of driving it will take for you to then start saving, factoring in the loan,the cost difference ect?

You do 3600 miles a year assuming you work every day of the year, this does not factor in other trips of course, but lets say it was 6 thousand.

Thats half the national average, hate to say it but your hardly piling the miles on, and that does not warrant imo spending money to save money.

You should either sell your focus and get something around a similar price, with money that you have.

Or just run the focus, and realise you are the minority that are doing half the average miles and its not costing you that much.

If I only had to do ten miles a day I would go and buy the largest most nuts engined car I coudl afford as in the real world you cant really do any less miles a day in a car.

Fuel is going to keep going up anyway I shoudl think, so suddenly that saving you THINK your making will be cancelled by £2.00 per ltr fuel.

Then maybe you will get on a bus or ride a bike for 1.5 miles (still in shock at that)

[Nemeliza]

If you want to save money, walk or ride a bike. For 10min ride a day you don't need a hardcore bike. Get yourseld a nice umbrellea and a good winter coat for you morning strolls & if it's still raining after work, ponse a lift home from someone.

Now if you want a new car, well that's another matter. As mentioned diesel doesnt become economical unless you do medium/high mileage. You do mostly short driving which isnt very good for any engine so you may as well get something older that's more fun to drive. If it breaks down, just walk the rest of the way