Best fuel economy - cheapest car to run

thejuggler · 28-05-2008 9:14am #1

My wife is looking for a new car - she has a yaris at the moment but rising fuel costs are starting to bite so for a replacement. So what is the cheapest car to run? She does mostly city driving and is looking for a small car so I imagine its down to the toyota aygo/peugeot 107//Citroen C3. Or is there something else out there.
I think VW have a new polo coming out thats fairly fuel efficient too.

Is there any site out there which lists the cheapest cars to run based on actual tests not manufacturers stats?

S.I.R · 28-05-2008 10:16am

diahatsu charade can do from 70 to near 80 mpg... looks arent great but if you want a bullet proof ( mechanically ) then buy this...

if you need a little ripper to blast around town in i reccomend getting her a cheqachento

vectra · 28-05-2008 10:39am

if a Yaris is getting too expensive to run you should just get rid of it and buy her a bicycle

niceirishfella · 28-05-2008 10:42am

E92 · 28-05-2008 10:48am

MINI Cooper D. Most economical car on sale, with an average fuel consumption of 74.3 mpg.

Alternatively, the Aygo/C1/107 does 61.4 mpg. Cheapest of all would be to keep the yaris. The Yaris is a complete miser on the petrol really.

The efficient Bluemotion polo won't be here till next year, owing to a supply boo bah by VW. Though when Fifth Gear tested it they ionly managed 47.5 mpg from a car claimed to do 74.3 mpg.

NinjaTruncs · 28-05-2008 11:42am

You'll spend far more changing to a newer more economical car, that staying with what she currently has. is the cost of motoring the only reason she want's to change or is she changing anyway and wants to get something economical?

Soarer · 28-05-2008 11:48am

If it's mostly city driving, wouldn't a Prius be the most fuel efficient as it doesn't use the petrol engine below 30mph?

E92 · 28-05-2008 11:53am

Good point. Hybrids are particularly efficient at low speeds. Cars like the MINI Cooper D have auto start stop which makes it very efficient if the car is spending a lot of time in traffic.

Alternatively they reckon on a conventional car that idling for more than 20 seconds is less efficient than turning off the car and starting up again.

thejuggler · 28-05-2008 2:28pm

Shes changing anyway but may as well get something economical with fuel prices on the rise at ever increasing rates

Marcus.Aurelius · 28-05-2008 3:49pm

thejuggler wrote: »

Shes changing anyway but may as well get something economical with fuel prices on the rise at ever increasing rates

It has to be brand new? Why not buy a year old car for 2/3 the money???

Then it doesn't matter if its thirsty, you just saved 5 or 6 grand.

Am I missing something? :rolleyes:

bbam · 28-05-2008 3:57pm

If you work out the total cost of motoring cost it would be more accurate..
Take payments, tax, insurance, servicing etc all in and the sums will look different..
As previous posters have mentioned, the cost of upgrade will blow any potential savings as you are already driving an efficient car...
Cheers

jimogr · 28-05-2008 4:22pm

Fiat 500 1.3 Diesel - lowest CO2 band for tax (and will see a price drop in July) 68 mpg combined. And it's a bit different.

E92 · 28-05-2008 4:26pm

jimogr wrote: »

Fiat 500 1.3 Diesel ... will see a price drop in July

It won't. It was launched at "July prices" back in January (yeah right but either way it won't be reducing in price from July)

Darwin · 28-05-2008 4:33pm

E92 wrote: »

...The Yaris is a complete miser on the petrol really.

Have to disagree here, wife has a 1.0L new Yaris and it's only slightly better on fuel consumption than her old 1.6 206cc (daily journey is 70 mile round trip on national roads). But I concur with the others here in that the amount of money you lose on your trade-in is the most significant cost in owning a car.

jimogr · 28-05-2008 4:36pm

E92 wrote: »

It won't. It was launched at "July prices" back in January (yeah right but either way it won't be reducing in price from July)

My mistake

TheDriver · 28-05-2008 4:46pm

I was looking at mini cooper d and the petrol is still 1200 cheaper in july and not a massive difference in economy and most likely better resale after

NedKelly · 28-05-2008 5:26pm

My dad had a Diesel Yaris that did 60 mpg in the city and more on long runs

JHMEG · 28-05-2008 5:44pm

Soarer wrote: »

If it's mostly city driving, wouldn't a Prius be the most fuel efficient as it doesn't use the petrol engine below 30mph?

Prius does a very good 56mpg urban which, euro for euro, is a bit better than the brand new Cooper D. Prius also has the edge on practicality, as it has a boot. Still tho, the MINI looks all cutesy (even if it smells bad).

unkel · 28-05-2008 11:32pm

Soarer wrote: »

If it's mostly city driving, wouldn't a Prius be the most fuel efficient as it doesn't use the petrol engine below 30mph?

Keep it below 30mph and you'll never have to put petrol in

Capital Slow · 28-05-2008 11:42pm

E92 wrote: »

MINI Cooper D. Most economical car on sale, with an average fuel consumption of 74.3 mpg.

Alternatively, the Aygo/C1/107 does 61.4 mpg. Cheapest of all would be to keep the yaris. The Yaris is a complete miser on the petrol really.

The efficient Bluemotion polo won't be here till next year, owing to a supply boo bah by VW. Though when Fifth Gear tested it they ionly managed 47.5 mpg from a car claimed to do 74.3 mpg.

Just past the Texaco near Cabinteely, the diesel was 141.9:D.

Balfa · 29-05-2008 1:04am

Juggler, you're going at it the wrong way. You can't just say you're shopping for fuel economy because good fuel economy means lower cost of ownership. That's an assumption that doesn't always follow. It's the same as saying you want fuel economy because good fuel economy means environmentally friendly.

Just ask for recommendations based on what you really want. If you want low cost of ownership, stick with your Yaris. There's no way getting a new car will come close to matching it, regardless of its fuel economy.

Check out Edmunds True Cost to Own.
http://www.edmunds.com/new/2008/toyota/yaris/100919847/cto.html?setzip=75067&vdp=off
These figures are for the US, where fuel is cheaper, so keep that in mind. But who's to say depreciation isn't cheaper as well? And besides, you say the missus only uses it for puttering about town, and probably comes nowhere near the annual 15k miles that Edmunds based their numbers on.

Say you own a three year yaris, and you swap it for a new car that's similar in running costs except it has 20% better fuel economy. For the next three years, your fuel costs will be $4278, while the person who bought your Yaris will pay $5446, so you've saved $1168.
But since you also paid $5922 in depreciation, and the owner of your old car paid $2854, you made a net opportunity loss of 1900 over sticking with the Yaris.

Remember, there's an awful lot more to the price of a car than its sticker price, or indeed its miles per gallon.

Soarer · 29-05-2008 10:59am

Balfa wrote: »

Juggler, you're going at it the wrong way. You can't just say you're shopping for fuel economy because good fuel economy means lower cost of ownership. That's an assumption that doesn't always follow. It's the same as saying you want fuel economy because good fuel economy means environmentally friendly.

Just ask for recommendations based on what you really want. If you want low cost of ownership, stick with your Yaris. There's no way getting a new car will come close to matching it, regardless of its fuel economy.

Check out Edmunds True Cost to Own.
http://www.edmunds.com/new/2008/toyota/yaris/100919847/cto.html?setzip=75067&vdp=off
These figures are for the US, where fuel is cheaper, so keep that in mind. But who's to say depreciation isn't cheaper as well? And besides, you say the missus only uses it for puttering about town, and probably comes nowhere near the annual 15k miles that Edmunds based their numbers on.

Say you own a three year yaris, and you swap it for a new car that's similar in running costs except it has 20% better fuel economy. For the next three years, your fuel costs will be $4278, while the person who bought your Yaris will pay $5446, so you've saved $1168.
But since you also paid $5922 in depreciation, and the owner of your old car paid $2854, you made a net opportunity loss of 1900 over sticking with the Yaris.

Remember, there's an awful lot more to the price of a car than its sticker price, or indeed its miles per gallon.

I hate these sensible posts and logical arguments!

Best fuel economy - cheapest car to run

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