Buying for more efficiency

thestar

I have a 00 1.3 petrol corolla which I paid very small money for. I do a long trip every couple of weeks. The main reason why I would change is to improve efficiency. The car at the moment does around 400 miles per tank which would be 70 euro to fill. Is this good or bad? I was think of saving up and paying around 3k for a passat or some diesel car to save money on fuel and have a bit of comfort. Would it even save me that much?

drunkmonkey

You'd be a long time making the saving in fuel to cover 3k. Tax and running costs will be higher.
Get what you saying about comfort, maybe buy on that criteria alone, it doesn't sound like you do much milage so depending on how much car tax your willing to pay a year you've a lot of choice of cars, not necessarily a diesel.
400 miles for €70 is ok.

bmwguy

70 euro is 50 litres I would say. 400 miles for 50 litres is about 35mpg.

Don't throw money at something to save money. Waste of time. But if you want a new car then go for it. It's about the third or 4th time I have written this in last few days.

Do your sums. Come back with something you think you might buy and we can advise.

Atlantic Dawn

Your better off holding on to what you have until a major part goes or the insurers will no longer cover you, then at that stage look at efficiency as a factor in your next choice of car.

denismc

How long does your tank of fuel last? If it lasts a fortnight that wouldn't be too bad. if you are filling up evey week or twice a week then it might be worth upgrading

Bigus

Consider a Prius for comfort ,economy ,reliability and it's a Toyota .

grogi

denismc wrote: »

How long does your tank of fuel last? If it lasts a fortnight that wouldn't be too bad. if you are filling up evey week or twice a week then it might be worth upgrading

Very precise TCO calculation

denismc

grogi wrote: »

Very precise TCO calculation

Well the op said he gets 400 per tank, he didn't say if the tank lasts for a week or a month, so I was responding in kind .

biko

Start by calculating your MPG properly OP, this way you will have better numbers and won't need to estimate.
http://www.calculate-mpg.co.uk/index.php?intro=known

35mpg should be achievable.



Changing cars means you will lose 3000 euro you could have spent on fuel.

_Brian

One long trip every couple of weeks doesn't sound like it warrants a diesel car.
Educate yourself on the problems of diesels doing low mileage, DPF egr, these are substantial problems with hefty price tags to repair.

DaveyDave

I get about 400 miles to a tank in an automatic i30 diesel, doing short trips. I get around 37mpg. I've seen a lot of people suggesting not to buy a new car for higher economy and I agree. For the cost of the car you'd have no problem filling a tank even at 35mpg for quite some time.

If you're banking on the savings to make up for the car it will be a long time. However if you're in the market for a new car anyway then you should stop "wasting" money on high fuel costs and put it into a new car.

I get about 695km to a tank, 53l @ 1.25 = €66.25. The Golf I'm getting should do 885km to a tank, 50l @ 50MPG. The Golf would take just under 40 liters to do 695km, which is €52.95

There's a fair difference and running costs are definitely something to consider for someone's next car (i.e, lower costs mean you could drive more spirited or use the savings for a nicer spec car, extras etc or even down the pub) but you don't save the money if you're spending out to get the car
in the first place. I hope that makes sense

Also, a long trip every now and then doesn't warrant a diesel. If you're driving an hour to work each way then sure. I drive 20 minutes each way and the engine is only barely warmed up by the time I get to work, hence the low MPG.

You'll still get good MPG on long trips with a petrol, it's just not quite as good as a diesel.

corks finest

Bigus wrote: »

Consider a Prius for comfort ,economy ,reliability and it's a Toyota .

Honda insight,u get more for your money

thestar

Thanks a lot for all the responses. I have been looking at passats and some of them seem very good value. A couple of highline ones there for only 1200. good extras like cruise control and a years test. Insurance may be an issue however