Cheap-to-own car recommendations?

[Marcos]

I've been educated recently on doing better calculations about the cost of car ownership.

I didn't factor in just how much the car tax, fuel efficiency and insurance group impacted my total cost of ownership.

So factoring in:

Total cost of (used) car
Insurance group
Car Tax
MPG


Any recommendations for cars for around £1000 to £3000? I've been looking at 1.4L Diesel Fiestas ~2003.



Would like other suggestions too.

For reference, I'm currently running a 2001 1.8L Petrol Focus that pays £220 tax & only gets 27MPG urban :-(

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

[Smudger]

Be careful with newer diesels. If you're not doing the miles the DPFs (Diesel Particulate Filter) get clogged up, and they are expensive to replace...

[Biscuit]

I think Which? do a pretty good database of genuine total cost of ownership, owner satisfaction, reliability etc etc. My mum is subscribed to them and used it when i was looking for my car, all i remember is that Honda did pretty good across the board!

I dont think its free, but its fairly comprehensive!

[Bagnaj97]

Skoda Fabia might be worth a look. Decent MPG, reliable and plenty to choose from within your budget. 1.9SDI if you're worried about the turbo going, 1.9TDI if you want more power - neither have a DPF to worry about. I know nothing about the 1.4TDI or the petrols. The mk2 version came out in 2007 but is slightly outside your budget.

I drive a Skoda Roomster 1.9TDI, which is identical to a Fabia MK2 from the B pillars forwards and so far no complaints. 60mpg is pretty easy but a Fabia should be even better due to being more aerodynamic and lighter.

[Marcos]

Be careful with newer diesels. If you're not doing the miles the DPFs (Diesel Particulate Filter) get clogged up, and they are expensive to replace...

When you say newer, what year are you thinking?

[Marcos]

Skoda Fabia might be worth a look. Decent MPG, reliable and plenty to choose from within your budget. 1.9SDI if you're worried about the turbo going, 1.9TDI if you want more power - neither have a DPF to worry about. I know nothing about the 1.4TDI or the petrols. The mk2 version came out in 2007 but is slightly outside your budget.

I drive a Skoda Roomster 1.9TDI, which is identical to a Fabia MK2 from the B pillars forwards and so far no complaints. 60mpg is pretty easy but a Fabia should be even better due to being more aerodynamic and lighter.

I like the look of the hatchback Fabias, in black especially, but £125 car tax hurts it, really trying to get into the next bracket down, £30/year

[dave87]

Nissan Micra - pretty good value, cheap to insure and run - and don't see to go wrong that often.

Alternatively Polo/Fabia SDI or TDI?

[kalniel]

What mileage do you do a year? Type of driving?

[PowerPie5000]

Get a small cheap car if you don't do motorway driving (although some are ok for the occasional short trip on the motorway). I'm contemplating on retiring my old 2001 1.6 Focus and getting a small cheap car, and i'm not too fussed what i get either (probably an old Fiesta, Punto, Micra or something along those lines). I never spend much on buying a car as people have a habit of knocking into mine when it's parked .

[Smudger]

When you say newer, what year are you thinking?

Not sure exactly, probably mid-2000s. It explains a bit here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_particulate_filter

You just need to drive above 40mph for a sustained time to 'clear out' the DPF.

If you're not doing massive miles, a petrol mid-sized car might be better. They hold their value less (at £1-3000, resale probably isn't an issue) so you can pick up a decent one, cheaper. For £3k, you could just about get a MkII Focus on a 54/05 plate. There's loads around. Might be worth checking out places that deal with returned lease/financed cars...

[kalniel]

I'd go further and say that unless you are fairly regularly travelling 20 miles or so in a journey then petrol is going to be the more economical choice, both in terms of what you get for your initial outlay and cheaper maintenance.

[b0redom]

Nissan Micra - pretty good value, cheap to insure and run - and don't see to go wrong that often.

Alternatively Polo/Fabia SDI or TDI?

The Mrs has a Polo SDI. Not sure of the costs of the TDI over it, but it's not exactly pokey. I'd choose the TDI next time - my folks had one before.

[rover214]

I have a Fiesta 2006 1.4 tdci, does about 55-60 mpg depending on wether I am a bit late for work,

I do a 70 mile round trip and car-share with two others so, my car sits at home 2 weeks out of 3 but, does get driven 2-3 times a week, locally,

Full tank is around £52, that gets me 470ish all-round miles and the tax is £30 per year

[FatalSaviour]

I know a few people have mentioned it already, but thought I'd second/third the Nissan Micra suggestion - definitely a car worth looking into, and the 1.2L engine has more low-down grunt than you'd expect.

[Champman99]

The Fabia SDI is horrible, properly slow and no more economical than the TDI. I had a Fabia 1.4 16V as my first car and always achieved 40mpg + which was not bad for an aging petrol (allegedly 100bhp, when new, too)

I learnt to drive (driving instructor car) in a 1.4 fiesta TDCI and it was fine too.

I just want to echo the comments on DPF. If you are doing few enough miles that the £100 difference in tax is significant compared to fuel costs, then I'd watch out with a modern diesel. I think most manufacturers had to fit a DPF post Euro IV (2005?) but some started fitting before that. Diesels with a DPF are not suited to trundling around town (which is why in my opinion cars like the 1.1D Kia Rio with its amazing fuel economy figures are pretty pointless)

For balance, I drive a diesel, but I think the extra you pay for a diesel compared to a similar spec/ age petrol, the extra few pence diesel costs at the pump, as well as DPF etc considerations means they aren't always attractive as they seem, especially for low mileage. A minor consideration as well is that at supermini sized cars the extra weight of the diesel engine can be significant as well, which is why petrol is still more popular for small cars (I think!)

If you are set on a diesel I think you might be able to pick up a 1.4 TDI VAG group car, just checked Autotrader and there was an Ibiza with that engine, within your price range 65mpg claimed.

My Volvo C30 gets 60MPG in real world use and is a fairly heavy car for its size. Uses the 1.6D engine that ford developed with PSA. I think in Peugeots and Citroens its called 1.6 HDI and in fords its a 1.6 TDCI and Volvos its now the D2. French cars tend to get a pretty bad rep but know quite a few people who are very happy with their peugeot/citroens/renaults