Need to replace the car budget 9K - due to running costs

Morpheus

Hi all

currently driving a 2008 1.6 petrol mondeo

commute daily from balbriggan to tallaght via m1 and m50

petrol costs around 80 a week at min
toll costs about 90 a month
add in other car loan costs per month (over 5 years) and im now up to almost 570 a month not inluding taxes and insurance

I have about 9K inlcuding my own car in trade in (i dont expect to get THAT much for it though - it has about 100,000 miles on the clock)

Any advice on what I should look towards? I dont mind moving to a smaller hatchback , the mondeo was a knee jerk reaction to a nissan almera dying just when i changed to a new job and needed to stay mobile to get to work. looking for the newest small - mid sized fuel efficient car i can get.

have looked at toyota auris, yaris, ford focus, seat leon, etc, dont mind if its petrol or diesel, If i cant at least save a few quid on the commute after the changeover that will keep me happy.

Its this or a motorbike

thanks in advance

bazz26

Kia Ceed:
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/KIA/Ceed/1.6-CRDI/200914422477073320/

Hyundai i30:
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Hyundai/i30/1.6-CRDI/201114412756203970/

Willfarman

Diesel focus.

ozt9vdujny3srf

Looking at your 9k Budget:

Going by donedeal, you might get 4-5k for your car by private sale:
https://www.donedeal.ie/search/?section=cars&adType=forsale&source=private&sort=relevance%20desc&max=30&start=0&words=mondeo&price_from=&price_to=&year_from=2008&year_to=2008&mileageType=Miles&mileage_from=90000&mileage_to=110000&engine_from=1.6&engine_to=1.6

Assuming you spend 80 a week on fuel 52 weeks of the year, you're annual fuel expenditure is 4160.

Should you get a car that is twice as fuel efficient (if that's even possible...), it will take you 2+ years to break even. Also, a higher value car will cost more in depreciation. As you'll be covering over 25000km a year with your commute, the car will be pretty high mileage when it comes to moving it on.

It does seem to make sense to go for something cheaper to run, with such high mileage.

Maybe a current generation Fiesta? https://www.donedeal.ie/search/?section=cars&adType=forsale&area=Ireland&words=fiesta&source=&sort=price%20asc&max=30&start=0&fuelType=Diesel&year_from=2009&price_from=5000&price_to=9000&year_to=2012

You should be able to get a nice one will a bit of room to spare in your budget.

Atlantic Dawn

Never spend nearly 10 thousand to save hundreds. A 1.6 Mondeo and a "fuel efficient" diesel might be a difference of €500 a year, the depreciation on what you buy will be multiples of that. Go on a motorbike if you want to save money.

Del2005

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Go on a motorbike if you want to save money.

Along with a fairly significant time saving if doing the run during rush hour.

Morpheus

motorbike it is so lol


yeah ill look at downsizing for similiar cash, probably the best bet, love the comfort and mod cons of the mondeo, but running costs are a tad high

maybe picking up a bike and keeping the mondeo could work though, the bike thing is something ive wanted to do for a while anyway.

Idbatterim

toll costs about 90 a month
add in other car loan costs per month (over 5 years) and im now up to almost 570 a month not inluding taxes and insurance

other posters beat me to it. Its madness to spend thousands to save pocket change. If you were coming from some 3L german car etc, I would say yes, but the tax on a 1.6 isnt crazy, toll charge will be the same if driving a car, the real costs with cars is depreciation and loan interest... fuel savings from a 1.6 would be fairly negligible, easiest way to save fuel is to slow down, have tyres properly inflated, dont carry unnecessary weight etc...

H.E. Pennypacker

Are you saying that you've cash and an outstanding car loan? Why not get a settlement figure on the loan and save some cash that way? Buying a diesel might save you 25% of your petrol bill but that's about it. If you borrow more to fund the new car then your interest charges will eat into that 20 odd euro that you'll save per week.

Using the R132 instead of the M50 would save you your toll charges.