Please help me choose a car.

paddy_1352

My current car is a Honda Accord 2000, 1.8L. The car is great to drive, my only problem is it is too hungry for petrol. It does about 28-29 MPG, sometimes 31 MPG at the most.

I am planning to change it and looking at Japanese imports.

My choices are: Honda Fit 2005 1.4L Petrol, Honda Civic 2005 1.4L Petrol, Nissan Tiida 2004 1.5L Petrol, Toyota Corolla 2003 (not sure about the engine size) Petrol. Which of these would be more fuel efficient.

Thank you.

Paddy

Anan1

Unless you're doing big mileage the fuel savings will be outweighed by the cost to change.:)

paddy_1352

Thanks Anan.

But I am really planning to change as I am spending 60-80 euros a week on petrol.

Anan1

It's your money and your choice, but consider this. If you're spending say €70/week mow and getting 30mpg then changing to a car which will get 45mpg (which I think any of the cars you mentioned would struggle to do) will save you perhaps €25/week. Changing will probably cost you €1000 in slippage, which pretty much puts paid to your first years savings. You will make a small saving on tax & ins, but one small problem on the new car that you wouldn't have had with the Accord and you're back in the red. I suppose my point is that mpg is only part of the cost of car ownership - it tends to be overvalued because it's so visible, but other factors have to be considered too. If the Accord's problematic then by all means change it, but if it's going well then I think the financially best plan is to keep it.

However, if you're still stuck on the idea then i'm sure people here will be along with their own mpg experiences of the cars you mentioned. In the meantime have a look at www.parkers.co.uk. The figures there are only indicative - ie they're good for comparing one car to another, but don't expect to get the actual figure yourself.

paddy_1352

Anan1 wrote: »

It's your money and your choice, but consider this. If you're spending say €70/week mow and getting 30mpg then changing to a car which will get 45mpg (which I think any of the cars you mentioned would struggle to do) will save you perhaps €25/week. Changing will probably cost you €1000 in slippage, which pretty much puts paid to your first years savings. You will make a small saving on tax & ins, but one small problem on the new car that you wouldn't have had with the Accord and you're back in the red. I suppose my point is that mpg is only part of the cost of car ownership - it tends to be overvalued because it's so visible, but other factors have to be considered too. If the Accord's problematic then by all means change it, but if it's going well then I think the financially best plan is to keep it.

However, if you're still stuck on the idea then i'm sure people here will be along with their own mpg experiences of the cars you mentioned. In the meantime have a look at www.parkers.co.uk. The figures there are only indicative - ie they're good for comparing one car to another, but don't expect to get the actual figure yourself.

Thanks again, Anan.

I will consider the points you've posted. I will also check the link you've posted.