Recommendations for a super cheap high mpg commuter

[lewilkinson49]

Hi all, I'm in desperate need of finding a car to commute in, im currently using a Volvo v70 d5 auto however it's costing me a horrendous amount on fuel despite averaging around 45mpg

I'm looking at getting something small and cheap like a vw lupo/arosa citroen c2 or any other French motor with the 1.4 hdi

Any recommendations or cars to avoid I'm only looking at spending 1000 and not bothered about cosmetics aslong as I can do 80 miles of A and B roads cheaply

[ZOLLAR]

lewilkinson49 said:

Hi all, I'm in desperate need of finding a car to commute in, im currently using a Volvo v70 d5 auto however it's costing me a horrendous amount on fuel despite averaging around 45mpg

I'm looking at getting something small and cheap like a vw lupo/arosa citroen c2 or any other French motor with the 1.4 hdi

Any recommendations or cars to avoid I'm only looking at spending 1000 and not bothered about cosmetics aslong as I can do 80 miles of A and B roads cheaply

According to the stats this will do just over 60mpg combined

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

whether it will is another story.

[PTF]

lewilkinson49 said:

Hi all, I'm in desperate need of finding a car to commute in, im currently using a Volvo v70 d5 auto however it's costing me a horrendous amount on fuel despite averaging around 45mpg

I'm looking at getting something small and cheap like a vw lupo/arosa citroen c2 or any other French motor with the 1.4 hdi

Any recommendations or cars to avoid I'm only looking at spending 1000 and not bothered about cosmetics aslong as I can do 80 miles of A and B roads cheaply

Avoid the complexity of a diesel motor and go for an economical petrol, especially at that price-point. The Lupo 1.4TDI is relatively highly stressed too so not sure on having a high mileage one.

e.g. a C1/Aygo/107 1.0 petrol will do 60-65 mpg and is very reliable and simple.

Or if you must have a diesel i'd suggest looking for a 115 or 130 bhp 1.9 PD engine'd car such as a Golf, Octavia or SEAT Leon or Ibiza. Specifically those power outputs mated to the 6spd gearbox. They have a terrifically long 6th gear (40mph/1000rpm) and will happily chug along at 55mpg. I had a Golf with that engine and would regularly see 60mpg.

[Benbay001]

The difference between 45mpg youre currently getting and 55mpg you will likely get by swapping into a tiny 1.0l city car is negligible unless youre doing 40000 miles per year.

Its a saving that could quite easily be wiped out by buying a lemon.

[Limpet]

PTF said:

Or if you must have a diesel i'd suggest looking for a 115 or 130 bhp 1.9 PD engine'd car such as a Golf, Octavia or SEAT Leon or Ibiza. Specifically those power outputs mated to the 6spd gearbox. They have a terrifically long 6th gear (40mph/1000rpm) and will happily chug along at 55mpg. I had a Golf with that engine and would regularly see 60mpg.

This.

I could easily get a genuine 60 mpg from my PD130 mk4 Golf on a run. If it was a motorway and I stuck to the speed limits, I could edge it up towards 70.

[Reffro]

If it is genuine much cheapness required, I would recommend a Citroen C3.

Either the 8v or 16v 1.4 Hdi is going to run at 65mpg average all day, regardless of type of roads used.

Many years ago (15) I had a C3 Hdi 8v for communting in London, I averaged 57mpg on a 5 mile journey solely in town over 18 months. My sister later had a Hdi 16v and was averaging 67mpg rolling around Lincolnshire.

In the greater scheme of things though, you will find better cars to drive, but they are cheap as chips to buy and maintain.

[skyrover]

the cheapest car is the one you already have

[GreatGranny]

If you are doing lots of miles then don't go for a small car.

Its ok for the first 30-40 miles but 100 day in day out? No thanks.

The £1000 you spend on your new car buys a lot of diesel.
The V70 is also a superb mile muncher.
Don't underestimate the cost of comfort.

[MrAverage]

How many miles are you doing?

I do a fair few miles (1400 claimable miles this month). I get 35mpg and more would definitely be welcomed, an auto V70 D5 would be perfect.

If it city driving then a small petrol may be better, such as the 107/Aygo as already suggested.

If its motorway work and big miles I'd steer away from a small car and stick with your current car.

[feef]

..or drive slower.

I do a 200 mile round trip to Tunbridge Wells once a week, M11, M25, A21

My 159 Sport Wagon (1.9 jtdm) will average 48mpg on the Motorway when making my usual "reasonable progress", but last week I returned to the car to find I had a puncture so drove the 100 miles home on the space saver spare at 55ish whereby I averaged 60mpg and got home only about 15-20 later than normal.

Yesterday I trundled home at just over 60 and found it pretty effortless and less stressful than sitting in the outside lane waiting for folk to get out the way and again, got home only about 15 minutes later than normal but with MPG in the high 50s

[strath44]

A mk4 Golf is probably the way to go, I picked one up as a temporary measure for my wife during bad weather as an alternative to her MX5 over the winter a couple of years ago.
2 Years later it was getting used daily - 1.9 TDi (ALH) diesel if I remember right. It did high 50s easy and 60 mpg if you drove very economically. Was cheap to run, cheap on tyres etc and appeared bullet proof! If you look at the mileages on some for sale its fairly easy to say they are reliable IMO. Also the SE Golf has just enough toys to make it liveable, it handles well and is comfy enough.
I had an C1 a few weeks ago as a courtesy car and got very bored of my 70 mile round commute very quickly, what it had in economy it lost in having to work the engine to get it up to speed!

Couple of random examples! -

https://www.gumtree.com/p/volkswagen/2002-vw-golf-...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Golf-GT-TDI/28307631...

[Pica-Pica]

skyrover said:

the cheapest car is the one you already have

Oh! That’s my mantra (and very true).

[PTF]

Limpet said:

PTF said:

Or if you must have a diesel i'd suggest looking for a 115 or 130 bhp 1.9 PD engine'd car such as a Golf, Octavia or SEAT Leon or Ibiza. Specifically those power outputs mated to the 6spd gearbox. They have a terrifically long 6th gear (40mph/1000rpm) and will happily chug along at 55mpg. I had a Golf with that engine and would regularly see 60mpg.

This.

I could easily get a genuine 60 mpg from my PD130 mk4 Golf on a run. If it was a motorway and I stuck to the speed limits, I could edge it up towards 70.

Off topic, but your M140i sounds terrific. Pretty much my ideal spec

[lewilkinson49]

My current Volvo I picked up cheap as a fixer upper, I'm hoping to move it on and make a very small profit but profit non the less and I have a 940 turbo for the weekends.

How do you guys feel about the 1.7 sdi engine? No turbo or intercooler to worry about ? Supposed to be work horses and surely in a light car like a lupo it wouldn't be too slow

[PTF]

lewilkinson49 said:

My current Volvo I picked up cheap as a fixer upper, I'm hoping to move it on and make a very small profit but profit non the less and I have a 940 turbo for the weekends.

How do you guys feel about the 1.7 sdi engine? No turbo or intercooler to worry about ? Supposed to be work horses and surely in a light car like a lupo it wouldn't be too slow

Aren't they about 17 secs to 60?

If you're going down the NA diesel route take a look at the 2.0 SDi cars. We ran an ibiza 2.0 SDi for a year and although slow and basic it did feel like it'd go on forever. 55-60 mpg