Thinking of changing car. Advice needed

Dr.Rieux

Hi all,

I am currently living and working in Athlone midweek and in Dublin at the weekends. I am getting ahead of myself but from June until at least September I will likely to be living in Dublin and commuting daily to Athlone at a distance of 80-85 miles each way. So over the 3 months I would be doing approx 10k miles.

I am currently driving an 07 Passat 1.6 FSI which is averaging around 37 mpg per tank. Assuming I could consistently get 50 mpg I could save approx. 500 over the 3 months. But this commute could continue long after September.

I would sell the Passat and put the money got for it towards something different. As to what I would get for it, it's an 07 Comfortline with around 120,000km on it at the minute, fully stamped service book (and all receipts from my ownership of nearly 2 years) and nct'd until Jan 15. I would be hoping for around €5k, would that be realistic?

So my questions are would it be worth changing the Passat for something that could get those mpg figures? And what would you get for that commute?

Atlantic Dawn

Depends really what you pay for the new car. Factor in that it will be worth less than half of what you pay for it in 3 years, this depreciation cost may be much more than the savings in fuel, depreciation and motor tax that you would make if you held on to your current car.

RandomAccess

Maybe do the maths on an LPG conversion, if you're not aching to change for sake of a change.

Dr.Rieux

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Depends really what you pay for the new car. Factor in that it will be worth less than half of what you pay for it in 3 years, this depreciation cost may be much more than the savings in fuel, depreciation and motor tax that you would make if you held on to your current car.

If I change I would hope to be able to buy and tax from the money gotten from the Passat.

RandomAccess wrote: »

Maybe do the maths on an LPG conversion, if you're not aching to change for sake of a change.

From what I have read before, admittedly a long time ago, it wasn't possible to LPG the fsi engines. But that could easily have changed. The only problems I have with the Passat would be the potential petrol costs for driving 800+ miles a week and something with more power wouldn't go amiss. I love the comfort of it which would make the mileage more bearable.

Sobanek

For 40k miles I see sense in a Diesel car.

George Dalton

Dr.Rieux wrote: »

If I change I would hope to be able to buy and tax from the money gotten from the Passat.

The problem I see with that approach is that the majority of €5000 diesel cars for sale in this country are likely to need pretty major repair work in the short to medium term. All you need is one major component failure to wipe out your potential savings and then some.

We see people every week coming to us with cars like this, that they have just bought and that turn out to be money pits. Only this week I gave a guy an estimate for the best part of €2000 to put a 2006 Passat right. Another lad was in with us last month and spent a grand on bits and pieces for a 2005 Passat TDI and it needs a turbo and a clutch and flywheel before it will be fully sorted. Now those two examples are Passats but they could just as easily have been a Mondeo, 320D, Insignia, etc etc.

Your Passat may be only doing 37mpg but at least you know it is unlikely to land you with any nasty surprises in terms of repair bills

Idbatterim

I would agree that at that price point you are better off sticking with the devil you know, its not like your driving a 2L plus petrol, where you could also save a good few quid on motor tax. Best thing you could do to cut the cost, is give yourself an extra few mins each way and cut speed on motorway, also the toll is another charge, unless you bypass it...

Dr.Rieux

Thanks all. I kind of expected I'd be better with the Passat at that money. Tax insurance and a service due shortly so it's just keeping it fuelled until the next service for the foreseeable future.

Bigus

Only 13 mpg difference between 37 and 50,

pump up your tyres maybe slightly over inflate,and consider changing to an Eco Michelin when they're next due a change. This along with a service might bump you up to early 40's mpg.

Check out ecomodder.com for improving mpg tips. Moon hubcaps on a passat.:eek: