theheff Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 My girlfriend is looking to get a new car. It's 99% of the time used for commuting. She lives in clacton due to her parents but works in London and is a lazy hit so always drives to work. It's an 80 mile journey each way. She currently has a 1.8 petrol modeo estate which I think is doing no more than 35mpg. Which is costing a fair bit to run and is getting to a stage where it's going to start costing money. We've worked out that we have a budget to get a loan up to £12k if the car does 60mpg plus. Based on that we will break even each month. Obviously the smaller the loan the better but mileage of the car etc comes into it. Preferably it will be an estate and comfortable and a nice place to be in for motorway driving. Other than that We've tested a Volvo v50 redesign 2.0 diesel with 32k on it. That was top end of the budget. But that was a nice comfortable drive. Any suggestions, and opinions please guys Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Diesel Mondeo estate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Ford Focus Ecoboost... or what ever they call it I know someone with one and he regularly gets 55mpg + out of it. May not be quite as comfortable as the Volvo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gudzy Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 I've been tasked with a similar brief from my brother for an estate around £10k with less than 40k on the clock. I suggested the Subaru legacy estate (you'd probably be looking at the diesel for better fuel consumption) and he seemed to like the Audi a4/a6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 I suggested the Subaru legacy estate (you'd probably be looking at the diesel for better fuel consumption) The Diesels struggle to get much more than 30mpg in the real world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squee Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Passat TDi? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I'm pretty sure most diesel estates will be pretty comfy, I recon there are loads of Mondeo estates about so you would get a far better spec and trim for your money but then maybe she would like a change.... My brother-in-law has a Mazda6 estate and I have to say it is one of the few Estates I like the look of and having had a standard 6 I know they are a lovely car to drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theheff Posted September 4, 2012 Author Share Posted September 4, 2012 Cheers for replays so far She's looking to change from the mondeo to be honest. Unless its one of the st diesels of that model but that's not going to help on costs! But might balance out cost depending on the price of the car. Passat we hadn't thought of Subaru is one of those cars isn't it, if your into cars and you buy one and it's not an impreza sti i think you would feel cheated. Mazda 6 is an option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Im pretty sure diesel mondeos have some expensive problems like DMF, injectors and a few others but then which diesel doesnt. Also I think your kidding your self on getting a 60mpg estate. Estate means more weight and drag less mpg. I think with most salons you will lucky to hit 40ish mpg. I'd personally go for something German like a c220-c270cdi or a 320d touring. I find German cars eat miles comfortably and fairly frugally. Good luck though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Said it before but Diesel Pugs are pretty difficult to beat if you dont want to go fast. If you are only looking for economy then sack off anything bigger than a Mandingo, Focus and smaller sized cars are fine on motorways these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squee Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I know that the Passat doesn't sound very thrilling but don't forget it's A4 underneath and with the twin turbo diesel its quite fun to drive S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovie Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Honda Accord 2.2 ctdi Ideally exec because of nice alloys. Comfy, reliable and go well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Anything with the VAG 1.9 TDI or the later 2.0 tdi engines are great for fuel economy and surprisingly quick My 1.9tdi golf gets hammered everyday back and forth to work (110 mile round trip) and averages at around 45-50 mpg. I have been able to achieve 55 mpg before. The newer golfs, bluemotion get over 60 mpg easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff-r Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Anything with the VAG 1.9 TDI or the later 2.0 tdi engines are great for fuel economy and surprisingly quick I agree I have a 1.9 A3 with the PD130 engine in it, returns good MPG, would probably be better MPG if it wasn't a Quattro but it's good fun and keeps me amused on the commute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Anything with the VAG 1.9 TDI or the later 2.0 tdi engines are great for fuel economy and surprisingly quick I agree I have a 1.9 A3 with the PD130 engine in it, returns good MPG, would probably be better MPG if it wasn't a Quattro but it's good fun and keeps me amused on the commute. +1 the 1.9 stuggles a bit in heavier cars like a Passat and the PD engines are decent on mpg but are extremely powerful. My Leon has the PD170 which is mapped to over 200bhp and still gives 50+mpg on a decent run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 This is a tricky one, but it's worth looking at how much she'd actually save by getting a diesel. I read somewhere the other day that as a rule of thumb you need to be doing at least 10K miles a year to justify buying a diesel over a petrol. Your lady would be able to get a much nicer (spec and engine) petrol car for less money than an oil burner, so the cash saved can be used to pay for fuel in the long run. Admittedly the short term costs (filling with petrol as opposed to diesel and getting less mpg) are heavier on the wallet and if she's borrowing the cash in the first place to buy the car this might not help. I'd be tempted to buy a cheaper petrol, say £9K as opposed to the expected £12K and get the loan paid off quicker. The VAG 1.4 FSI might be worth a look, i haven't tried one so others might be able to advise on this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.