£5K max - reliable and economical car?

[thenortherner]

I'm wanting something for daily use that'll ideally cover the following bases:

50+ MPG achieavable without too much trouble
I don't mind a diesel
Won't have intergalactic miles - maybe under 60K ideally
Reliable and cheap to maintain, it'll be covering 15K miles a year

It doesn't have to be a big car, a supermini or small hatch is fine,

I'm thinking potentially a Honda Jazz or Yaris D4D...

Any recommendations?

[Roger Irrelevant]

We get about 50mpg from our 1.3 petrol Yaris (bit more in summer, bit less in winter), and that has averaged around 14k a year since we bought it new almost ten years ago. If it died tomorrow - which seems very unlikely as it never goes wrong - we'd probably just get another exactly the same with as low miles as possible. Brilliant cars IMO.

[peterperkins]

Honda Insight Mk1 Manual UK post March 2001 regd.

It will do a minimum of 50 mpg under any conditions..
Free road tax.

Learn to drive it properly and you'll get 70/80/90mpg+

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C976410

[ZX10R NIN]

I've got to be honest when spending 15k a year in a car comfort & an auto box are key, if you can live with 45-49mpg then the world becomes your oyster.

Go for one of these they're pretty much bulletproof servicing costs are no more than a Ford etc some parts are expensive (alternator) you need to make sure the gearbox filters & fluids have been changed if not knock £200 off to get this done, the 270 is smoother & quicker than the 220 but also returns the same fuel numbers.

I ran my 270 from 60-170k the only none serviceable/perishable thing that went wrong in that time was an Injector & Alternator obviously I replaced the suspension in that time the same as you would on any car, they do need to be mapped to average between 45-49 this costs £250.00.

An added bonus if you go for the Sport models are that you get the Orthopedic Seats as standard.

CLK270 Avantgarde

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

CLK220 Avantgarde

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Sport (a bit far away but use that to haggle the price down)

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

C220 Avantgarde SE

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

New Shape C220 SE

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

With no clutches/cambelts to worry about & generally being a nicer place to be I'd take the above every time the above will also counter punch with lower depreciation.

But if you want a mix of the two then I'd go for a Focus sized car as you'll balance between (do not buy a 1.6d Mazda/Peugeot/Ford/Citroen as it's the same engine & it's a dog as is the N47 BMW 2.0d engine) economy & comfort.

Kia Pro C'eed 3/Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Astra Elite

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Focus Titanium

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...