Cheap diesel to buy / run! Which one?? Advice?
Discussion
I'd quite happily keep the car, I really quite like it despite being not too fond of anything french..
Apprentice minimum wage isn't exactly a lot and most of it being taken up with motoring costs doesn't leave much room for tools and equipment as well as going out or buying a brand used watch.
Apprentice minimum wage isn't exactly a lot and most of it being taken up with motoring costs doesn't leave much room for tools and equipment as well as going out or buying a brand used watch.
Honestly, keep the Clio and put up with how it revs on the motorway. It'll work out cheaper and easier. I'd bet on that.
If you're worried about the cost, a car you know is the safer bet. I had a similar position and a Corsa 1.2 when I was 18. I'm glad I took the advice and kept it because I think it saved me a lot of money and trouble doing that (although it was boring!)
Look at getting something nicer when your insurance goes down.
If you're worried about the cost, a car you know is the safer bet. I had a similar position and a Corsa 1.2 when I was 18. I'm glad I took the advice and kept it because I think it saved me a lot of money and trouble doing that (although it was boring!)
Look at getting something nicer when your insurance goes down.
I have owned a couple of French hatchbacks, trust me, the answer to this is 306HDi.
Far more comfortable to drive long distances than the Clio, quite a bit more space inside the car too. Insurance friendly, and the HDi engine is well known for being highly reliable, it's in the sweet spot between diesels being crap, and becoming complicated/expensive to repair. As far as I remember (it's been a while since I had one), no DPF or DMF, 45mpg regardless of how you drive it. (very) Decent handling.
Far more comfortable to drive long distances than the Clio, quite a bit more space inside the car too. Insurance friendly, and the HDi engine is well known for being highly reliable, it's in the sweet spot between diesels being crap, and becoming complicated/expensive to repair. As far as I remember (it's been a while since I had one), no DPF or DMF, 45mpg regardless of how you drive it. (very) Decent handling.
aspirated said:
Find a sorted PD130 with a recent cam belt/waterpump/clutch change, mileage is mainly irrelevant
Not really, I was given that advice and ended up with turbo failure and diesel runaway on a FSH 130000 mile PD130. It wiped out any cost savings on fuel over the petrol Focus I had before it, and then some.Keep the petrol Clio, especially with all the work it's had done to it. I presume it'll be doing about 4000rpm at 80mph which can't be that bad surely?
Some of the suggestions here are a bit ridiculous IMO.... anything with a "sport" (or similar) model name isn't going to be cheap to insure for an 18 year old.
I think you should keep the Clio because by the time you have faced the cost to change and fixed the almost inevitable niggles with the new car you will not save much money at all. I mean there can not really be many cheaper cars to run than a 1.2 Clio.... don't kid yourself that you are going to buy a £1500 diesel and suddenly start getting 65 mpg trouble free.
I think you should keep the Clio because by the time you have faced the cost to change and fixed the almost inevitable niggles with the new car you will not save much money at all. I mean there can not really be many cheaper cars to run than a 1.2 Clio.... don't kid yourself that you are going to buy a £1500 diesel and suddenly start getting 65 mpg trouble free.
AVV EM said:
I'd quite happily keep the car, I really quite like it despite being not too fond of anything french..
Apprentice minimum wage isn't exactly a lot and most of it being taken up with motoring costs doesn't leave much room for tools and equipment as well as going out or buying a brand used watch.
Have you thought about talking to your employer and see if there's anything they could do to support. Just explain that the fuel costs are more than you expected and starting to be an issue. I don't know practically what they can do, but seems worth starting the conversation. Apprentice minimum wage isn't exactly a lot and most of it being taken up with motoring costs doesn't leave much room for tools and equipment as well as going out or buying a brand used watch.
Personally I'd keep the Clio if funds are as tight as you say. It's already a very economical car. Let's say you get a diesel which somehow manages to give you another 10mpg. That's unlikely if you spend so much time in stop start traffic, but for the sake of the discussion let's go with it.
Assuming you can achieve 50mpg that will save you the grand total of £500 in fuel over the whole year, and you run the risk of it being swallowed up by other costs because you've bought another car which could well need work.
The real problem is your commute, there is no way of doing that sort of mileage cheaply. After a couple of decades of trying to knock off that sort of commuting mileage you can trust me on that! The only way to significantly cut your costs from where you are now is to car share.
Now, if you just want a change then that's fair enough, but it doesn't sound like you can really afford it.
Assuming you can achieve 50mpg that will save you the grand total of £500 in fuel over the whole year, and you run the risk of it being swallowed up by other costs because you've bought another car which could well need work.
The real problem is your commute, there is no way of doing that sort of mileage cheaply. After a couple of decades of trying to knock off that sort of commuting mileage you can trust me on that! The only way to significantly cut your costs from where you are now is to car share.
Now, if you just want a change then that's fair enough, but it doesn't sound like you can really afford it.
Mitsubishi colt cz3. 1.5 3 pot merc diesel with chain cam. It's an excellent engine, -'d I get 53mpg on my rural commute. On a long run on motorways it's 57ish at 70,
Also the inside of the car is a nice place to be. The back seats are bench seats and slide forwards and backwards. They also flip up to make a flat loading area in the back, big enough for a washing machine.
Mine's been faultless over the two years I've owned it!
The smart for four diesel is exactly the same car, but is a bit more plush inside apparently!
Plus it's got a 9.9 second 0-60 time (ok, not lightning but more than sufficient to overtake stuff safely) and is quite a lot of fu to drive. Honestly!
Also the inside of the car is a nice place to be. The back seats are bench seats and slide forwards and backwards. They also flip up to make a flat loading area in the back, big enough for a washing machine.
Mine's been faultless over the two years I've owned it!
The smart for four diesel is exactly the same car, but is a bit more plush inside apparently!
Plus it's got a 9.9 second 0-60 time (ok, not lightning but more than sufficient to overtake stuff safely) and is quite a lot of fu to drive. Honestly!
Edited by nadger on Friday 14th October 06:54
Surely in the long term the Clio has to be cheaper to run than an older diesel? Fuel costs may be lower but then you have to factor in the multitude of things that can go wrong with recent dervs (DMF/Clutch, Injectors, EGR valves, Manifolds (on the 16V Fiat derived 1.9 units). So much less to go wrong with their petrol cousins!
Driving a few MPH slower will gain better MPG, and i doubt anything else is going to be much cheaper to insure.
Driving a few MPH slower will gain better MPG, and i doubt anything else is going to be much cheaper to insure.
Saw your post saying you were keeping the Clio, when you take another look keep the Fiat Grande Punto in mind the 1.9tdi engine goes on forever & in Sporting form they look decent too.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
ZX10R NIN said:
Saw your post saying you were keeping the Clio, when you take another look keep the Fiat Grande Punto in mind the 1.9tdi engine goes on forever & in Sporting form they look decent too.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
I was looking at a grande punto at first rather than a clio but in general they really are quite shagged. Steering wheels peel too, don't think anything 'sporty' would be too favourable by insurance companies. Do quite like them in blue. Min quote for that red car you linked was 2.3k without black box.http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
I think a lot of the guys posting "Fabia vRS" or "Saab" are maybe not appreciating just how painful insurance is for youngster these days.
I'm a little confused that you say you are in stop-start traffic but you also say it is screaming its nuts off on the motorway? Is the screaming in-between the stop-start traffic?
Anyway realistically I think there are few cars cheaper than the one you have to insure, at your age I suspect the risk is less about the car anyway and more about the probability of you hitting someone else and costing the insurers money that way. So ways to reduce the insurance cost is likely to make more of a dent than the diesel saving.
If you are an apprentice, do you have to put "student" as your occupation? Surely an apprentice is, by definition, employed. Or are you putting "student" as a second occupation? It's worth reviewing exactly how you fill in the form and considering if you are doing yourself a disservice anywhere.
You might also find that putting your Mum/Dad/Older Brother on the insurance as a named driver assists in reducing the premium - they wouldn't need to drive very often, however, the mere fact that they can do so will help to spread the risk around (or something, don't ask me how insurance companies work, I reckon it's a magic 8-ball).
Black Box insurance doesn't help I take it? It doesn't seem to for the young lads I know - by the time they have paid all the admin fees and stuff it seems to be just as expensive.
If you are working sensible hours, it may be worth seeing if any brokers can find someone to provide cover which excludes driving the car between, e.g. 2300 and 0600. That would reduce the risk profile. Similarly, maybe you can find a policy which only covers you solo, with passengers not permitted - again to reduce the risk profile. I guess both of those are a bit bespoke, but it's possible an insurer has spotted the niche, considering the number of accidents involving young drivers who have been on a night out with their friends ...
One other thing a few people have found is weirdness with the cars, because most young drivers have stuff like Ford Fiestas or Vauxhall Corsas there is a big set of statistics showing they get crashed. Whereas old mans cars (I dunno, Volvos and Peugeot 405s) are crashed less often by young drivers as they are driven less often too - and the sort of young driver who wants to show off (and comes a cropper doing so) is not going to be doing it in a Volvo. Maybe find an old car from those ranges - one young lad at work managed to run a 405 diesel dirt cheap.
I'm a little confused that you say you are in stop-start traffic but you also say it is screaming its nuts off on the motorway? Is the screaming in-between the stop-start traffic?
Anyway realistically I think there are few cars cheaper than the one you have to insure, at your age I suspect the risk is less about the car anyway and more about the probability of you hitting someone else and costing the insurers money that way. So ways to reduce the insurance cost is likely to make more of a dent than the diesel saving.
If you are an apprentice, do you have to put "student" as your occupation? Surely an apprentice is, by definition, employed. Or are you putting "student" as a second occupation? It's worth reviewing exactly how you fill in the form and considering if you are doing yourself a disservice anywhere.
You might also find that putting your Mum/Dad/Older Brother on the insurance as a named driver assists in reducing the premium - they wouldn't need to drive very often, however, the mere fact that they can do so will help to spread the risk around (or something, don't ask me how insurance companies work, I reckon it's a magic 8-ball).
Black Box insurance doesn't help I take it? It doesn't seem to for the young lads I know - by the time they have paid all the admin fees and stuff it seems to be just as expensive.
If you are working sensible hours, it may be worth seeing if any brokers can find someone to provide cover which excludes driving the car between, e.g. 2300 and 0600. That would reduce the risk profile. Similarly, maybe you can find a policy which only covers you solo, with passengers not permitted - again to reduce the risk profile. I guess both of those are a bit bespoke, but it's possible an insurer has spotted the niche, considering the number of accidents involving young drivers who have been on a night out with their friends ...
One other thing a few people have found is weirdness with the cars, because most young drivers have stuff like Ford Fiestas or Vauxhall Corsas there is a big set of statistics showing they get crashed. Whereas old mans cars (I dunno, Volvos and Peugeot 405s) are crashed less often by young drivers as they are driven less often too - and the sort of young driver who wants to show off (and comes a cropper doing so) is not going to be doing it in a Volvo. Maybe find an old car from those ranges - one young lad at work managed to run a 405 diesel dirt cheap.
Vauxhall Vectra 1.9 CDTI - Like this one :
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
I think they look bad ass and good styling is available for them
Pretty quick too 0-60 in 8.8s (quicker than a 320D).
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
I think they look bad ass and good styling is available for them
Pretty quick too 0-60 in 8.8s (quicker than a 320D).Flooble said:
I think a lot of the guys posting "Fabia vRS" or "Saab" are maybe not appreciating just how painful insurance is for youngster these days.
I'm a little confused that you say you are in stop-start traffic but you also say it is screaming its nuts off on the motorway? Is the screaming in-between the stop-start traffic?
Anyway realistically I think there are few cars cheaper than the one you have to insure, at your age I suspect the risk is less about the car anyway and more about the probability of you hitting someone else and costing the insurers money that way. So ways to reduce the insurance cost is likely to make more of a dent than the diesel saving.
If you are an apprentice, do you have to put "student" as your occupation? Surely an apprentice is, by definition, employed. Or are you putting "student" as a second occupation? It's worth reviewing exactly how you fill in the form and considering if you are doing yourself a disservice anywhere.
You might also find that putting your Mum/Dad/Older Brother on the insurance as a named driver assists in reducing the premium - they wouldn't need to drive very often, however, the mere fact that they can do so will help to spread the risk around (or something, don't ask me how insurance companies work, I reckon it's a magic 8-ball).
Black Box insurance doesn't help I take it? It doesn't seem to for the young lads I know - by the time they have paid all the admin fees and stuff it seems to be just as expensive.
If you are working sensible hours, it may be worth seeing if any brokers can find someone to provide cover which excludes driving the car between, e.g. 2300 and 0600. That would reduce the risk profile. Similarly, maybe you can find a policy which only covers you solo, with passengers not permitted - again to reduce the risk profile. I guess both of those are a bit bespoke, but it's possible an insurer has spotted the niche, considering the number of accidents involving young drivers who have been on a night out with their friends ...
One other thing a few people have found is weirdness with the cars, because most young drivers have stuff like Ford Fiestas or Vauxhall Corsas there is a big set of statistics showing they get crashed. Whereas old mans cars (I dunno, Volvos and Peugeot 405s) are crashed less often by young drivers as they are driven less often too - and the sort of young driver who wants to show off (and comes a cropper doing so) is not going to be doing it in a Volvo. Maybe find an old car from those ranges - one young lad at work managed to run a 405 diesel dirt cheap.
half my journey is stop start at various points, between them its screaming its nuts off, and on the way home.I'm a little confused that you say you are in stop-start traffic but you also say it is screaming its nuts off on the motorway? Is the screaming in-between the stop-start traffic?
Anyway realistically I think there are few cars cheaper than the one you have to insure, at your age I suspect the risk is less about the car anyway and more about the probability of you hitting someone else and costing the insurers money that way. So ways to reduce the insurance cost is likely to make more of a dent than the diesel saving.
If you are an apprentice, do you have to put "student" as your occupation? Surely an apprentice is, by definition, employed. Or are you putting "student" as a second occupation? It's worth reviewing exactly how you fill in the form and considering if you are doing yourself a disservice anywhere.
You might also find that putting your Mum/Dad/Older Brother on the insurance as a named driver assists in reducing the premium - they wouldn't need to drive very often, however, the mere fact that they can do so will help to spread the risk around (or something, don't ask me how insurance companies work, I reckon it's a magic 8-ball).
Black Box insurance doesn't help I take it? It doesn't seem to for the young lads I know - by the time they have paid all the admin fees and stuff it seems to be just as expensive.
If you are working sensible hours, it may be worth seeing if any brokers can find someone to provide cover which excludes driving the car between, e.g. 2300 and 0600. That would reduce the risk profile. Similarly, maybe you can find a policy which only covers you solo, with passengers not permitted - again to reduce the risk profile. I guess both of those are a bit bespoke, but it's possible an insurer has spotted the niche, considering the number of accidents involving young drivers who have been on a night out with their friends ...
One other thing a few people have found is weirdness with the cars, because most young drivers have stuff like Ford Fiestas or Vauxhall Corsas there is a big set of statistics showing they get crashed. Whereas old mans cars (I dunno, Volvos and Peugeot 405s) are crashed less often by young drivers as they are driven less often too - and the sort of young driver who wants to show off (and comes a cropper doing so) is not going to be doing it in a Volvo. Maybe find an old car from those ranges - one young lad at work managed to run a 405 diesel dirt cheap.
when i called the insurance company some had a dedicated occupation for apprentice and then added student as a secondary occupation, i assume they take the quote from the highest risk, ie apprentice as student itself is a lot cheaper??!
looked into black box insurance, big no from me!
ive looked at volvos but the larger (1.9 or 2l) engine size really puts up the premium!
I'm being cornered here by insurance companies as I NEED a car and they know that, the premiums are absolutely disgusting.
ZX10R NIN said:
Adding your mum or dad onto your policy as a second driver for some reason seems to take a couple of hundred off.
It varies from insurer to insurer, my current one increases the price, im going to have to get a lot of quotes and change a lot of variables but in the end im going to have to suck it up and pay.Did i mention i got an auto renewal quote in? they valued my 1 year no claims bonus at £20.
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