What economy car for a 19 year old?

[Petrolhead95]

Due to the fairly high mileage I do, my little Corsa needs to be swapped in for something a bit more economical but I have no idea about economy. Being only 19 this could be interesting, especially without a years NCB yet. Boxes it needs to tick:

- Economical
- Cheap to buy
- Cheap to insure
- Cheap to run
- Not too slow, I'd like something fairly sporty
- Something hatchback size

Budget for the car is probably £5,000 at a push. I was looking at an '09 plate Fiesta 1.6 TDCI which ticks all those boxes.

Cheers.

Edited by Petrolhead95 on Tuesday 16th September 15:19

[tomsugden]

Fabia VRS?

[Petrolhead95]

Insurance would be a problem there.

[Petrol Only]

What's fairly high mileage?

Then we can answer.

It only just pays for my missus to drive a derv and she does 25k a year

Edited by Petrol Only on Tuesday 16th September 15:07

[Dr Interceptor]

Fiesta is a good car - I had an 11 plate 1.6 diesel Titanium I ran as a company car for three years. Wasn't all that economical though, I think it averaged around 45mpg.

To be honest now I'd buy a small petrol engined car... less emissions controls to worry about, and cheaper to fix. Especially when buying one that is a few years old.

I'd pick a 1400cc VW Fox... Or a Fiesta 1.25...

[djgritt]

Fiesta Zetec-S would be a good shout.

[JB!]

Petrolhead95 said:

Insurance would be a problem there.

I had one at 21 and it was fine to insure.

Still only a diesel hatchback at the end of the day...

[paulshears]

£5000 buys you a lot of fuel for your current car (sorry, not the answer your looking for)

[0llie]

Ibiza TDi FR? They look quite smart, and I'm sure they're ok to drive (happy to be told otherwise by those with experience!)

[kiethton]

That little 1.0tdi 3 cylinder Lupo they did in Europe, otherwise a 1.4tdi Lupo/Arosa/Polo/Fabia/Fiesta etc

1.0 petrol aygo?

My Astra sporthatch 1.7cdti SRi cost me £555 at 19 with 1 year NCB but with points and non fault accident so they aren't too bad either?

Off the always shout - 1.9tdi Volvo S40 or newer 1.6tdi version?

[Petrolhead95]

Hard to say annual mileage over a year as I haven't been driving for a year yet, but in the 4 and a half months I've had my Corsa I've covered 7,000 miles in it.

[Petrolhead95]

JB! said:

I had one at 21 and it was fine to insure.

Still only a diesel hatchback at the end of the day...

Quotes for the VRS with 1 years NCB come back at £2,200 a year.

[Geekman]

More economical than a Corsa?

[ManOpener]

You don't really need a diesel for 20k per year IMO. I'd probably get the tidiest 1.8 Zetec Mk1 Focus I'd find and keep the rest.

[vtecyo]

Petrolhead95 said:

Quotes for the VRS with 1 years NCB come back at £2,200 a year.

Where do you live?? That seems excessively high. I paid (slightly) less than that for a modded MR2 turbo at 19!

[Rovinghawk]

Petrolhead95 said:

my little Corsa needs to be swapped in for something a bit more economical but I have no idea about economy.

You'll find very little more economical, especially when you think about costs involved in changing vehicles.

Keep the corsa.

[hotchy]

The guys most likely a student etc / skint at that age getting paid weekly (how they get 5k ill never know lol). Sure over 3-4 years it may not make sense for diesel with repairs etc, but i look at weekly costs, not initial costs. how much am i left with to go out on saturday.. £10-£20 exta fuel is the difference at that age from watching xfactor at the weekend or pulling the next beyonce (until you wake up and find out shes more of a he)

[Qwert1e]

paulshears said:

£5000 buys you a lot of fuel for your current car (sorry, not the answer your looking for)

Totally agree. It's broadly impossible to save money by buying a new car. And anything remotely sporty will surely be a big increase in insurance cost.

[james_gt3rs]

doogz said:

Spend between £2k and £3k on a Mk3 MR2. Enjoy 40+mpg when you need it, and some of the finest handling around.

Spend the rest on fuel.

Sorry if this is completely unhelpful.

Warning. They are so fun to drive that you will never get 40mpg though!

[Petrolhead95]

Rovinghawk said:

You'll find very little more economical, especially when you think about costs involved in changing vehicles.

Keep the corsa.

My car is in no way economical. £50 won't see me 300 miles.