What economy car for a 19 year old?

What economy car for a 19 year old?

Author
Discussion

Denno B

962 posts

204 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Peugeot 107, slow...but cheap to buy, 50mpg +, £20 a year to tax, group 1 insurance, cheap to maintain, reliable, cheap to service, about as cheap as you can get to running a car IMO.

HereBeMonsters

14,180 posts

181 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Denno B said:
Peugeot 107, slow...but cheap to buy, 50mpg +, £20 a year to tax, group 1 insurance, cheap to maintain, reliable, cheap to service, about as cheap as you can get to running a car IMO.
Not great for a motorway commute.

Mr SFJ

4,076 posts

121 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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I know it's probably not what you want to hear OP but I would slow down a little bit (say to 70/60) leave 10 minutes earlier, and wait and save to get a car when insurance isn't such a worry or you have more NCB.

Jonjo91

1,833 posts

157 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Petrolhead95 said:
Corsa C 1.2 Active
You should be getting more than 35mpg out of that. Girlfriend has one, 140 mile commute twice a week, will quite easily see high 40s maybe even 50s on a motorway run.

Maybe you need to think about your style of driving?
Has the car been serviced recently including spark plugs?

Edit - just to add, car shouldn't be doing 4500rpm at 70mph, more like 3500/3750. I think you should have a look for any existing problems first.

Edited by Jonjo91 on Wednesday 17th September 16:14

Bluehawk

494 posts

165 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Just my 2 pence worth:

I'd say you have 1 of 2 problems:

1) Something wrong with your car
2) You need to adjust your driving style

Petrolhead95

Original Poster:

7,043 posts

153 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
I can't drive at 70 MPH on the motorway, I get seriously bored. I tried it while on the way home from Silverstone and lasted 15 miles before going back to my normal cruising speed.

M3DGE

1,979 posts

163 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Do you like your Corsa? New one out at the end of the year, cracking deals on the old model. 0% finance if you can qualify, and more important for you, £99 insurance. It'll be higher than your budget, but when you add in insurance costs it may come close...

Defcon5

6,161 posts

190 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Petrolhead95 said:
I can't drive at 70 MPH on the motorway, I get seriously bored. I tried it while on the way home from Silverstone and lasted 15 miles before going back to my normal cruising speed.
Well your lack of economy is your own fault then

That car will do 50mpg driven gently, and being 'seriously bored' isn't an excuse for not achieving that if you need to cut costs

Debaser

5,665 posts

260 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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If you're not prepared to drive economically it doesn't matter what car you're in.

It would be like buying a Veyron and complaining it's not fast enough because you drive it slowly everywhere.

Snollygoster

1,538 posts

138 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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At 19, I bought a Fiesta Zetec S 1.6TDI.

Quick enough for me, good on fuel, cheap to buy. Insurance was cheap too. Very good little car.

Riknos

4,700 posts

203 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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OP - Two options really, either keep the car and slow down a bit to make it more economical on the motorway - or get a mk3 MR2.

MR2 will be just as expensive to run, but more fun!

There's no point in you spending £5k on a car that will depreciate / cost money to fix / cost more on insurance, to save £300 a year or so on fuel, not worth it, unless you keep the car 10 years. Which you wont. From 17-21 I changed car 6 times...

HereBeMonsters

14,180 posts

181 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Petrolhead95 said:
I can't drive at 70 MPH on the motorway, I get seriously bored. I tried it while on the way home from Silverstone and lasted 15 miles before going back to my normal cruising speed.
You utter tool.

A whole thread with helpful suggestions, and it's entirely your fault in the first place. Do you really not see the correlation between your speed and lack of economy?

That's the last time I try to help someone on here, I tell you. Definitely.

Petrolhead95

Original Poster:

7,043 posts

153 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
HereBeMonsters said:
You utter tool.

A whole thread with helpful suggestions, and it's entirely your fault in the first place. Do you really not see the correlation between your speed and lack of economy?

That's the last time I try to help someone on here, I tell you. Definitely.
A tad harsh.

I don't drive fast in any manner. When on the motorway I normally sit at 80 MPH which is hardly fast speeds. When on single roads I'm always changing gear early, flicking it into neutral and coasting downhills. I don't expect 90 MPG, but better than I currently do.

otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Coasting in neutral can often be counter-productive. A relatively small decrease in motorway speed can make a massive difference to fuel economy. Planning ahead to avoid needing to brake makes a big difference.

Qwert1e

545 posts

117 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Petrolhead95 said:
When on the motorway I normally sit at 80 MPH which is hardly fast speeds.
Remember that aerodynamic drag increases with the SQUARE of speed. A car uses a lot more fuel at 80 than at 70.

Petrolhead95 said:
flicking it into neutral and coasting downhills.
Most fuel injected engines shut off the fuel completely when coasting or downhill in gear. If you put the car in neutral the engine has to burn fuel to keep itself turning. In other words, you will use MORE fuel in neutral than in gear.

Fastpedeller

3,848 posts

145 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Putting into neutral and coasting is illegal - and to think that when you said you got bored sitting at 70 I thought you meant you slowed down!. Go slower - use less fuel!

otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Whether coasting uses more or less fuel depends on how much faster the car is allowed to arrive at the bottom of the hill than it would with engine braking - and whether you can use that momentum or have to throw it away with the brakes. I'd be more concerned about the lack of control, though.

Petrolhead95

Original Poster:

7,043 posts

153 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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Qwert1e said:
Most fuel injected engines shut off the fuel completely when coasting or downhill in gear. If you put the car in neutral the engine has to burn fuel to keep itself turning. In other words, you will use MORE fuel in neutral than in gear.
I'm no mechanic but my Corsa is a Twinport which IIRC has something to do with this.


I have a 350 mile round trip on Saturday, I'll brim my car up completely and drive economically as possible and see how far I get. As I said, I'm no mechanic and didn't realise I'd use that much more fuel than at 70.

JonnyxM

185 posts

132 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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Zetec S TDCi.. 1.6 tdci, 50+mpg, £30 tax. (I may or may not be selling mine hint hint)

Rovinghawk

13,300 posts

157 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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Petrolhead95 said:
I have no idea about economy
Petrolhead95 said:
I'm no mechanic .
What do you know about?