Anyone think I am a lunatic for even considering this?

LostTazMan

Hi, I suspect that my sanity has left the building,but I'd like to see what other people think.
I have a 02 1.6 Alfa 146, great fun to drive but a bit thirsty for commuting as it's mostly motorway driving with the revs well up. I've been thinking of changing to something bigger that could take my style of driving a bit more economically.
I saw a 02 Mazda 626, and started drooling. I had one like it 10 years ago, and regretted selling it ever since.
The question is should I swap a car I know is in decent shape and has 4 months of NCT on it for an unknown car with no NCT? It's for small money really given the age of the cars, but I don't have spare cash at the moment.
If the dealer was open I'd be half way there already, closely followed by my wife trying to make me think logically! :-)
LTM.

colm_mcm

surely a 6 would nake more sense. that's be around the same money ish


wouldn't have thought a 626 would be much more economical

LostTazMan

It would make a lot more sense, and that's the way I was headed, but when I saw the 626 it brought back so many good memories that the heart started to rule the head.

If I was being smart I wouldn't do anything for three months or so, get an NCT for the 147 and sell it so I can be a cash buyer. I would also probably go for a diesel.

If I get a car that can do 120kph at 2000-2500rpm I recon that I should see a big difference in fuel consumption.

I think I can resist the temptation, and wait until I'm in better shape to make a move, but....

166man

With that 1.6 @ 75mph you're close to 3500rpm and really the economy begins to tumble at this stage. You should see a good improvement for economy sticking to 100-110km/h, even if it were to mean leaving earlier in the morning!

You're probably not getting much more than 30mpg at those speeds. A larger engine might get closer to 40mpg but with higher tax etc.

Special Circumstances

The 626 had a well matched gearbox and engine, the previous model was well able for 40mpg. But I never did much motorway in one.
5speed 2.0 1999.

LostTazMan

Thanks!

It's on my way home in the evening that I'm more inclined to push it. I'd see 3750rpm often enough, and as you say economy is out of the question when the car is pushed that hard.

I tried the smaller engine cars to save on tax,but it hasn't worked for me. I burn more than enough fuel to make up for the difference, and the last few cars I had have needed extra servicing and repairs because of how I pushed them.

I was spoiled learning to drive in big cars,and I never really got to grips with how to drive a small car well. Thankfully my wife is much better at it!

I'll be keeping my eyes open for something big for tiny money, and let you know how I get on.

LostTazMan

Double post.

JohnBoy26

That model 626 is a good car. If it's rust free I'd say go for it.

Special Circumstances

I cleared a nice bit of beach sand outta the boot of mine when I got it, no major rust problems though - wrecked valve stem seals finished it in the end. Twas toxic on startup towards the end. I'd like to see anyone one of them starting from properly cold before I'd buy it.

bear1

How many KM do you do per year?

bmwguy

I never thought of it that way as the rpm affecting fuel economy but I had a motorway run today in my 525i and I checked my rpm at 120 kmph and it was just a touch over 2000. Mpg when I do a decent motorway run is usually about 35/36. I do sometimes exceed 120 slightly on empty stretches with a dry road. If I am relaxed and in no rush never exceeding 120 I can see close to 40 but never quite hit that figure at the end of a run, 38 or so was my best. That's a 2.5 petrol engine so you will probably have be looking at something that size at least for 2000 and maybe a 2.0 to stay below 2500. Anything over 2.0 brings its own tax bills as you know so it's a case of doing your sums. I do like the fact big engines are reasonably economical at motorway speeds. Would you achieve that figure in your 147? I had a 156 1.6 a few years back and I think it was every bit as thirsty on average as the 2.5 bmw

JohnBoy26

Special Circumstances wrote: »

I cleared a nice bit of beach sand outta the boot of mine when I got it, no major rust problems though - wrecked valve stem seals finished it in the end. Twas toxic on startup towards the end. I'd like to see anyone one of them starting from properly cold before I'd buy it.

That was a problem they had, or at least on the 2 liter engine anyway. The were smokey until the warmed up a bit. It didn't seem to impact on reliability though.

Idbatterim

the brothers E39 530 is a fair bit better on fuel than my E46 325ci at motorway speeds... we were doing 110kph in the 530 auto the other day and it was just over 2,000 rpm...

Idbatterim

op you cn book the car in for the nct 3 months early I believe. So can get it done as early as next month... how many motorway miles a week are you doing and how much are you spending on juice?

LostTazMan

Hi Bear1, I do about 11k miles per annum.

BMWguy, I get about 20-25mpg when commuting. It gets a lot better when I'm on holiday and tipping along at about 100kph (2500rpm) tops I'm looking at 35-40mpg.

I didn't realise just how bad it is until you prompted me to compare fuel consumption with distance travelled. I might as well be driving a wrc!

LostTazMan

Idbatterim, my commute is 40 miles round trip per day, 30 miles of it on motorway. With a bit of extra spinning around I spend €40-50 per week on petrol.

bear1

LostTazMan wrote: »

Idbatterim, my commute is 40 miles round trip per day, 30 miles of it on motorway. With a bit of extra spinning around I spend €40-50 per week on petrol.

You need to calculate it properly. You change car to save on fuel but you will spend extra on tax so it could end up cancelling out all possible savings.
If it were me id stick to the Alfa as you know the car already and just reduce the speed you travel at.
Is lpg an option for you?

LostTazMan

I didn't realise you could fit a petrol car to run on lpg. I'll have to look into that.

bear1

LostTazMan wrote: »

I didn't realise you could fit a petrol car to run on lpg. I'll have to look into that.

You can but its not the cheapest option and it would take some time to pay itself back but if you enjoy driving the car, has no issues and the only thing is not great economy then id just lpg it and save some money on the fuel costs.

bmwguy

LostTazMan wrote: »

Hi Bear1, I do about 11k miles per annum.

BMWguy, I get about 20-25mpg when commuting. It gets a lot better when I'm on holiday and tipping along at about 100kph (2500rpm) tops I'm looking at 35-40mpg.

I didn't realise just how bad it is until you prompted me to compare fuel consumption with distance travelled. I might as well be driving a wrc!

You are only getting 20-25 from a mainly motorway commute? Is there any stop/start or do you brake and accelerate a lot? What percentage of commute is motorway?

On a motorway run you should be getting a lot better than that.

However, you are in luck. Big engined petrols are plentiful and cheap to buy but expensive to tax and not much different on fuel than your 1.6, heavier around town probably.

As a cost saving exercise I think you are looking in the wrong direction here however. If you would like a bigger relaxed cruiser by all means go for it but it won't save you money.

Special Circumstances

LostTazMan wrote: »

Idbatterim, my commute is 40 miles round trip per day, 30 miles of it on motorway. With a bit of extra spinning around I spend €40-50 per week on petrol.

Hmmmm, I do still have fond memories of my 626 myself, and probably did a similar commute at the time but...

bear1 wrote: »

You can but its not the cheapest option and it would take some time to pay itself back but if you enjoy driving the car, has no issues and the only thing is not great economy then id just lpg it and save some money on the fuel costs.

... LPGing a 626 is going too far IMHO.

Availability of LPG, crucifying cost of insuring older cars, 3 times the tax of a new Beemer. Any one of those disadvantages could be lived with - all 3 takes it from "a bit of a grá" for the Mazda to being an unhealthy fetish in my book!

I think you just have to realise that the government want you to send your money to germany so you use less fuel and contribute less in tax in this country, and the greens want you to crush a car that's running perfectly and buy a new one with a higher environmental footprint during manufacture.

millington

Pretty sure it's illegal for a dealer to sell a car with no NCT? Anyway I wouldn't buy it with no NCT either way. Other than that I don;t see why you shouldn't do it!

bear1

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Hmmmm, I do still have fond memories of my 626 myself, and probably did a similar commute at the time but...

... LPGing a 626 is going too far IMHO.

Availability of LPG, crucifying cost of insuring older cars, 3 times the tax of a new Beemer. Any one of those disadvantages could be lived with - all 3 takes it from "a bit of a grá" for the Mazda to being an unhealthy fetish in my book!

I think you just have to realise that the government want you to send your money to germany so you use less fuel and contribute less in tax in this country, and the greens want you to crush a car that's running perfectly and buy a new one with a higher environmental footprint during manufacture.

I was talking about the Alfa.

LostTazMan

OK, seems I'm not insane yet!

If I buy right now I'm looking at sub-bangernomics cars, which is a risky place to be. Makes sticking with my Alfa the wiser option for now.

The poor fuel economy is down to driving a car designed to be responsive on back roads at a constant 3750rpm for 20 minute stretches twice a day. If I put the foot down to pass something quickly I will be up to 5000rpm without a bother. I figure that if I can get a 2l car (pre 08) and save €5 per week on petrol I will have covered the extra tax. This is what I plan to do later in the year, if all goes to plan.

bear1

This seems like a lot of effort in order to save 5e a week no?

LostTazMan

Sorry Bear1, I meant if I save €5 per week on petrol I will cover the extra tax on a 2l. I'd want to be fairly sure I can improve on that before I go to the effort of changing.

bmwguy

LostTazMan wrote: »

Sorry Bear1, I meant if I save €5 per week on petrol I will cover the extra tax on a 2l. I'd want to be fairly sure I can improve on that before I go to the effort of changing.

I think you just want a 2 litre car, and nothing wrong with that. I also think you have a thing for the Mazda which you enjoyed before, nothing wrong with that either. A lot of people feel the need to financially justify changing their car in their own minds. Come on, a fiver a week? Which will be used to pay motor tax?
This is so easily upset by the need to change a tyre, do an oil change, earlier nct, an unexpected increase in short trips. All the more unquantifiable in bangernomics territory. By all means change if you want it but your margin of error is so tight it's impossible to guarantee it saving on running costs. But best of luck, it's nice looking forward to changing a car no matter what it is

deathtocaptcha

bear1 wrote: »

This seems like a lot of effort in order to save 5e a week no?

It's the Irish mentality... if you can fill a tank for €5 cheaper in the north but it costs €6 to get there and back, the average Irish person will do it anyway just so they can boast about what a great deal they got...

LostTazMan

I think BMWguy is probably right that I'm looking for a way to justify changing cars to myself when I know I shouldn't...

LostTazMan

In an ideal world I'd keep the alfa for fun stuff and weekend use and have another car for hauling my lazy carcass to and from work!

bmwguy

LostTazMan wrote: »

I think BMWguy is probably right that I'm looking for a way to justify changing cars to myself when I know I shouldn't...

Go for it if you like the bigger car, it's not going to really cost you much and it won't Dave you much. The only thing I would be worried about at that age is if you have a car you know well and is serving you well there is no guarantee another will do the same. In fact it's the only thing stopping me from moving from a e39 2004 to a newer car, I know my car, I know it's been looked after and its serving me well no guarantee even a 2010/2011 will do the same.

LostTazMan

I know the feeling. I've bought a few lemons over the years, but it hasn't stopped me annoying her who must be obeyed by letting my heart rule my head!