Going from an FN2 CTR to a ZOE! someone shoot me quick.

[stargazer30]

I feel I must face the judgement of the PH massive on this one, leave my PH Pass at the door and be ridiculed.

Perfectly good low mileage, mint FN2, rare Saphire blue and am going to a Renault Zoe (Electric)
My PH brain says
Its a renault it will break/melt/blow up/fall apart
It can't pull the skin off a rice pudding
where as my FN2...
Is a joy to drive
Has supercar performance in comparison
Is 100% reliable

But the real overiding reason
I need to save money - big mortgage
and what I pay per month in fuel alone on the FN2 will pay for the Zoe PCP deal, battery hire, Eletric costs. Servicing all included. So man maths, I make a big saving which will go into the mortgage instead.

As for driving the Zoe
Its suprisingly good. Its quite quick off the mark, up until 30 then it tails off noticably. Max speed 84, but 50 to 84 takes days.
Range worst case 50 mile sper charge - not an issue for me though. I do lots of short trips and rarely over 50 miles per day.
Its comfy, it has suspension, something I'm not used to after driving the FN2
Really weird not having gears or a clutch though, I kept trying to change gear and feeling like it would stall comming to a stop lol.
It revs to 11,000 RPM!!!
Makes a weird sound almost like a supercharger whine.

My wife says I'll hate it. Best mate says I bought a milk float

Okay PH - do your worst......

[stargazer30]

scarble said:

In the long run, you'll be able to afford nicer cars.. in the short term, sucks to be you
Are you keeping the CTR for ocassional use?

Nope - I have a loan which was for the CTR, plus some house fix ups from the move. So the CTR will go and pay off the majority of that debt too. The plan is to try and sell privately at a low price, if not the dealer will buy it at an already agreed trade in value.

When I checked auto trader, theres only 3 of my car for sale in the UK (rare colour) Dealers asking 12K, Private 10K. All higher mileage than mine. So I recon if I put it up for £9,500 it might sell quick.

[stargazer30]

Well, started the transfer for my private plate from the CTR to the new leccy car

[stargazer30]

MuZiZZle said:

How are you finding "Torque" ?

Sorry

Off the lights it'll beat any..... cyclist. Even those lyrca clad road bikes, they're pretty quick you know

Jokes aside the torque is backwards vs a ICE car. High torque from zero RPM and no gear change so off the mark its actually quite nippy. Unlike a regular ICE car as the RPMs rise the torque drops off though. Probably why its marketed as a city car. It will do motorway speed but you would not want to do a 90 mile run on one.

[stargazer30]

CAPP0 said:

OP, why the Zoe and not the Leaf? Genuine question, I don't know much about either. Big price difference?

Money is the basic answer. There are cracking deals on at the moment on the ZOE, cheaper by a few £1000 on what I'd have to pay to buy a pov spec leaf. The deal is on the top trim level ZOE too so its a nicer place to sit and has the usual automatic everything, reverse camera, etc.. toys. Handling on the ZOE is a bit better, the car is about 50kg lighter than the new Leaf (which is lighter than the mk1 Leaf by 100kg ish already). The Leaf is bigger and noticeably faster. Those things go 0-60 in 8ish secs!

The early post about cost. The deal I have is 3 years @ £195 month plus the cost of the electric (if I charge from home) is about £25 per month. That's for 10,000 miles PA and includes the battery lease cost. All costs covered, servicing, zero tax. My CTR was £200 a month just on fuel at that mileage with petrol cheap at 1.20/L. Insurance on both cars about the same as my insurance is dirt cheap these days anyway, ZOE was about £40 a year less.

The other key difference with the ZOE vs LEAF is buy the battery vs lease it. Buy it means better resale value a few years later down the line, assuming its still in good order. If its not then massive resale value hit. Lease it means peace of mind if it falls below 75% it gets replaced free, and a massive saving on the initial purchase cost. But if you try to sell it on, the new owner must pick up the lease. In my case its PCP so I can just hand the car back if I want.

[stargazer30]

Traded in / handed my Civic Type R FN2 over today
the milk float (Zoe) arrives Friday.

Thankfully my lovely wife has took pity on me knowing I am doing this to save money and really really didn't want to. She recons since we will most likely car share now anyway (Zoe is for the local short, start stop stuff, like school runs etc..) we could look at trading her Qashqai in for something more fun to drive.

Rules,
Needs to do at least 30mpg mostly urban some motorway.
Needs to swallow 3 kids, 2 adults and a boot full or luggage for hols
Needs to be drivable by her in bad weather.
Cost max 9K

Hmmmmm the hunt begins...
Civic Type S, Focus 1.6 ecoboost (might be > 9K?) what do you guys recon....

And no, an MX5 with a trailer is not an option.

[stargazer30]

scarble said:

stargazer30 said:

Rules,
Needs to do at least 30mpg mostly urban some motorway.
Needs to swallow 3 kids, 2 adults and a boot full or luggage for hols
Needs to be drivable by her in bad weather.
Cost max 9K

Have you considered an FN2 CTR?
Sounds like the Mrs fancied a Zoe to replace the Gashqai and has scammed you into giving up your car to pay for it?

Edited by scarble on Wednesday 17th December 20:41

Lol. Oh I wish. The CTR is 4 seats, we can't use it legally for holiday :-( I did look in great detail about adding the fifth rear belt or selling my eldest on ebay but both are a bit of a legal mine field. 30mpg - erm no. Maybe 26 on a good day.

[stargazer30]

billy939 said:

This has got Golf Gti written all over it. Will probably be a bit of a disappointment after the Type R though. A Focus St would be a good choice except for the economy, if you were struggling for 30mpg in an FN2 then good luck getting 25mpg in an ST.

erm maybe I should have said I've had 3 x 2.5T Focus STs in the past. I got 19 to 21mpg max in all three. One was a company car with a fuel card and free fuel! Ah happy memories, until the tax man caught up with me! The newer ST fairs better but its too much ££££.

Bit out of the park but I'm thinking Octavia VRS 2.0 Petrol Turbo. Very roomy, quick and I think it might just blag 30mpg out of it.