Real World 60 - 70 MPG+ | Under £2000

[InsanityPotion01]

Hi Guys,

(yes this is another what car thread)

As per title, I'm looking for a car that will do 60 - 70 MPG + around / under £2000.

Reliability / maintenance is also a massive factor

I'm going to most be doing motorway journeys at around 60 - 70 MPH

Not too bothered about performance as I have a VX220 for that

Bonus points if it's not an eyesore

Thanks!

[mike9009]

InsanityPotion01 said:

Hi Guys,

(yes this is another what car thread)

As per title, I'm looking for a car that will do 60 - 70 MPG + around / under £2000.

Reliability / maintenance is also a massive factor

I'm going to most be doing motorway journeys at around 60 - 70 MPH

Not too bothered about performance as I have a VX220 for that

Bonus points if it's not an eyesore

Thanks!

Nissan Note 1.5DCi. Wife's does 64mpg on mixed driving. No bonus points though.......

Jealous of the VX220 - used to own one 14 years ago.....

Mike

[Jazoli]

Its going to have to be an older small diesel for that sort of money so reliability may not be as good as you think, MK5 fiesta 1.4tdci, Clio diesel, Citroen C3 Diesel, Yaris Diesel, Hyundai I20 diesel, I'd be inclined to buy a small petrol such as a 1.3 yaris, easy 50mpg and no worries about dmf's, dpf's, injectors, turbos etc etc.

[anonymous-user]

It doesn’t look good but it fits the main criteria. My father does long journeys in a 2009 Corsa 1.3 CDTI and returns a genuine, calculated, 70 MPG. He’s not had a great deal wrong since going from 80k miles to 140k miles. I service it for him every 10k.

[AJB88]

The old VAG 1.9 PD130 lump in Fabia VRS, Ibiza FR, Polo GT can be very good especially if maintained well and driven well.

[bearman68]

A few cars spring to mind.

An old 1.4 Hdi pug 206. (Sorry no eyesore bonus points here). Even the 2.0 HDI will do loads to the gallon,and an ecomap will improve it without a performance problem. The 2.0 would be my choice as it's bloody brilliant. Don't be tempted by the 1.6 hdi
Same 1.4 engine in a Festia etc, I suppose will do similar.
A later than 07 plate Clio will be good on juice - prob the 80 horse variant will be most suitable. (pre 07 had some issues with the Delphi injectors).
An early Golf 1.9 Tdi 110 horse (PDI engine) will achieve close,and not be a pain to drive. Map it for economy, and it won't be far away,and should be fairly decent. Should get 60 ish on a steady drive. I regularly had 58 or so out of my old Passat on a 75 mph cruise (V reg) with no map.
Had no expereince with the 1.4 Yaris so can't comment, though a customer had one,and 175k with no issue at all.
The 1.2 diesel Panda might be fairly close to your requirements as well. And they are pretty bombproof.

A mate of mine has a 308 1.6 on a 12 / 13 plate, and long commute, gets > 70 at granny speeds, but is over budget at about 3k.

[SCEtoAUX]

My Aygo does 60MPG and costs nothing to run. Plenty of good ones to be had for £1,500.

Edit to add that's it's happier at 65MPH on the motorway and perhaps would drop to around 55mpg then, but with tax at £20, insurance stupid low, parts and servicing as cheap as chips, I doubt the 5mpg matters.

Edited by SCEtoAUX on Saturday 14th October 16:26

[T-J-C]

Audi A2 TDI.

Mine usually does 70+ mpg (tank to tank calculation). Also only £30 a year tax. Had it for over 3 years and only had minor issues. They're made from aluminium too making them lighter than other similar cars and no rust issues.

[imperium]

CIvic 2.2 Cdti. Nice engine, should be reliable being a Honda, well equipped and cam chain which is bonus. Clutch’s fairly week but driving sensibly not a problem.

Will just scrape 60mpg.

[AJB88]

T-J-C said:

Audi A2 TDI.

Mine usually does 70+ mpg (tank to tank calculation). Also only £30 a year tax. Had it for over 3 years and only had minor issues. They're made from aluminium too making them lighter than other similar cars and no rust issues.

Little 1.4TDI?

I had that lump in my Ibiza, had it mapped it was good on fuel.

[lost in espace]

Off the wall suggestion if you don't need massive range, PCP a Nissan Leaf about £200 a month small deposit. Don't need to buy tyres, no mot, and its got a warranty. And the fuel savings will be significant, £50-100 a month depending on how far you go.

[kieranblenk]

Suzuki Splash or Swift diesel would be my shout; although my mother in law has the Splash 1.0 petrol and it sips fuel, not sure about 60mpg but I bet it's not far off.

[ZX10R NIN]

If you're doing mainly motorway you're probably better off with a bigger engine as it means you get a 6 speed gearbox that's more suited for that type of driving most 1.6 & below will be 5 speed & geared more towards city driving.

Grande Punto Sporting Real world 55-62 depending on your driving.

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

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

The Bravo is the better bet & will be closer to mid 60's

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

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 1.7

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

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

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

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

[Willy Nilly]

This is likely to be diesel car territory. The issue for me would be that a £2000 diesel car may well chuck up a bill that would wipe out most, if not all of your savings and possibly a bit more on top.

[ZX10R NIN]

The same could be said for a petrol with that budget, OP look for receipts & judge the car on condition.

[Willy Nilly]

ZX10R NIN said:

The same could be said for a petrol with that budget, OP look for receipts & judge the car on condition.

Very true, but the diesel bills will likely be larger. Turbo, inectors, DMF, EGR, DPF and all of that good stuff that petrols don't have.

[tonyb1968]

bearman68 said:

A few cars spring to mind.

An old 1.4 Hdi pug 206. (Sorry no eyesore bonus points here). Even the 2.0 HDI will do loads to the gallon,and an ecomap will improve it without a performance problem. The 2.0 would be my choice as it's bloody brilliant. Don't be tempted by the 1.6 hdi
Same 1.4 engine in a Festia etc, I suppose will do similar.
A later than 07 plate Clio will be good on juice - prob the 80 horse variant will be most suitable. (pre 07 had some issues with the Delphi injectors).
An early Golf 1.9 Tdi 110 horse (PDI engine) will achieve close,and not be a pain to drive. Map it for economy, and it won't be far away,and should be fairly decent. Should get 60 ish on a steady drive. I regularly had 58 or so out of my old Passat on a 75 mph cruise (V reg) with no map.
Had no expereince with the 1.4 Yaris so can't comment, though a customer had one,and 175k with no issue at all.
The 1.2 diesel Panda might be fairly close to your requirements as well. And they are pretty bombproof.

A mate of mine has a 308 1.6 on a 12 / 13 plate, and long commute, gets > 70 at granny speeds, but is over budget at about 3k.

Oh no, the 1.6 hdi is far better than the 1.4hdi which is a bit of a nightmare engine even when serviced properly.
2ltr HDI is a good pick but a well looked after 1.6hdi is worth picking up, only bad maintenance and the fact that the injectors "may" be problematic (a guy at work replaced his at 205,000 miles on his Focus 1.6TDCi), otherwise the 1.6 can be a decent runner if serviced on time and the correct oil has been used.

[UberMeister]

Renault Modus 1.5dci would do around 60mpg.

Hideously ugly/boring but quite spacious inside for the size of the car. I drove one for a while which had a full panoramic roof so was genuinely quite a nice place to be. Generalisation but most owners are/were elderly so some quite good low mileage examples around for not a lot of ££££.

They're also very safe if that's a consideration - there's a video on YouTube where 5th gear did a head on collision test with an old Volvo estate. The Modus comes out very favourably.

[vexed]

I've been pairing my vx220 with a 1.9 tdi pd golf for a 100 mile a day commute. MPG of just over 60 and I've done 40k miles with very little spent: just an alternator and a wheel bearing. Mine was easily under your budget with a year MOT and a short warranty from an independent dealer. Pretty uninspiring drive, but felt luxurious, compared to the VX (no banging over bumps and had a heater!)

[bearman68]

tonyb1968 said:

Oh no, the 1.6 hdi is far better than the 1.4hdi which is a bit of a nightmare engine even when serviced properly.
2ltr HDI is a good pick but a well looked after 1.6hdi is worth picking up, only bad maintenance and the fact that the injectors "may" be problematic (a guy at work replaced his at 205,000 miles on his Focus 1.6TDCi), otherwise the 1.6 can be a decent runner if serviced on time and the correct oil has been used.

LOL, 'ain't it good that we are all different. The later 1.6 engines are OK (> 2011 ish), but the earlier ones are a pile of dog turd that are an embarrassment to the good name of Peugeot diesel engines, and should have remained stillborn. (Just my view of course, but if you are bored, go and google DV6 engine issues). - Injector leakage causes oil carbonisation,causing oilway blockage, causing turbo failure