£17k daily driver, 60mpg

[twentyvalveturbo33]

Morning all,
Looking for some advice on a new car purchase, I seem to be going round in circles trying to decide.

The car needs needs to be big enough for young family duties, pushchair etc, I do about 25k-30k miles a year so 60 mpg would be good, comfortable, reliable, auto, and a max budget of £17,000.
Cars I've been looking at so far are;
Volvo V70 D4
BMW 320d and 520d in SE spec
Mercedes E Class E220 Bluetec

Am I being naive that any of these will be averaging around 60mpg? My commute is mainly motorway and I'm happy to sit at 70mph.

For all the cars I've been looking at approved used from dealers so at least 1 years warranty with each of them.

Negative points of the BMW and Merc is if I go for the estates they have the air rear suspension, which looking on some forums can be problematic, I only looked into this as this week I've seen both parked up with the rear end on the deck. I could go for the saloon but estates just seem more useful.

I'll be looking to keep the car for 5 years, so needs to be able to handle high mileage.

Any others cars I should be looking at, or if you owned any of the cars above, any input or advice would be great.

Thanks

[A900ss]

From my experience, the 5 series won’t do 60mpg at 70. Perhaps nearer 55MPG so close enough.

I haven’t had an E but did have a C220d. That would do 65MPG at 70MPH but was manual (I didn’t spec it!!!). It was amazingly economical (proper brim to brim not fuel computer).

Don’t forget, when you get off the motorway, you won’t be getting those MPG’s.

I averaged about 58MPG over 20k miles in the Merc on all roads.

My current Passat estate is averaging about 53MPG but will do 60MPG at 70MPH.

Good luck either way.

Edited by A900ss on Monday 22 April 11:09

[A900ss]

PS - my 5 series estate blew rear air belows at an alarmingly high rate. Another of my friends also had issues with his 5 series estate rear suspension.

[twentyvalveturbo33]

Thanks for the reply. I discarded the C220d as its more expensive used compared to the E220d, but I'll have another look I think.
Thanks

[cologne2792]

My dad has an older c220 cdi estate with six speed manual that regularly tops 60 mpg - though it did only cost him £500

[anonymous-user]

Have you had a look at boot space in 3 Series and C Class? If not, you might be surprised how little room their actually is. The 3 Series Touring is certainly less than 500litres and the C Class isn’t significantly different from what I remember. Even an Octavia hatch smashes them on boot space.

[Benbay001]

Im a huge fan of Toyota (and by extention, Lexus) Hybrids.

Have you considered something like a Lexus

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

Lexus IS300H

[Benbay001]

cologne2792 said:

My dad has an older c220 cdi estate with six speed manual that regularly tops 60 mpg - though it did only cost him £500

I highly doubt it http://www.fuelly.com/car/mercedes-benz/c220

ETA - And by posting that ive just invalidated my own suggestion above http://www.fuelly.com/car/lexus/is300h

OP - I suggest you use fuelly. It gives you genuine real life MPG figures.

Edited by Benbay001 on Monday 22 April 12:28

http://www.fuelly.com/car/bmw/520d
http://www.fuelly.com/car/volvo/v70?engineconfig_i...

Edited by Benbay001 on Monday 22 April 12:34

[ZX10R NIN]

60mpg is a tough ask but I think a real world 50-55mpg average should be achievable over 20k, but if 60mpg is a must then here are a few cars that will achieve this number:

V60 D5 Twin Engine Plug in Diesel Hybrid

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

E300 Estate Diesel Hybrid these had a few niggly issues at first but they got sorted & these make a very viable alternative to the E220

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

DS5 very good car (I averaged a real world 72mpg on a run back from Aberdeen in one of these & I wasn't driving conservatively) & a nice family car,

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

Saloon

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

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

More mainstream options:

E250 AMG Line

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

220 Estate/Saloon

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

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

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


Q70 Sport these use the same 220 drive train as the Mercedes above, but are saloon only.

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

Q50 Sport

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

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

[Mo28]

Skoda Superb estate has ample of space and is a great cruiser

[Hub]

You haven't specified performance or fun factor so something like a SEAT Leon 1.6 TDI dsg estate would meet the requirements - spacious and very economical, and you could probably get a new or at least very nearly new one for the budget. It's just whether it would be too dull!

I don't know what the Golf GTD estate is capable of mpg-wise.

Default answer is otherwise the 320d, or even 318d, as they are very good and plenty of choice.

Edited by Hub on Monday 22 April 12:55

[ninjag]

XF Sportbrake Portfolio worth a look.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2019...

[Jag_NE]

With your mileage you are looking at putting up to 150k miles on what will already be a used car at 17k budget. Id take an e220d in SE taxi spec as it will be both durable and reasonably economical. Cheaper tyres etc vs AMG lines.

2.0d’s can do 60mpg on the motorway if you are toddling at 60mph but won’t average it over the tank, in my experience, probably more like 50mpg.

The saloon is more than adequate for family duties, the boot is massive. Unless you have a dog

[Evanivitch]

Would a Plug-In hybrid with 20-40 miles range suit your range?

A Vauxhall Ampera can be a bargain commuter if you can stay within EV range on a normal commute. About 40-45 MPG once you're running in petrol.

Alternative flavours are BMW 330e, Mercedes 350e and Kia Optima PHEV. Again, useful if your commute is within the EV range.

(I do a 70 miles round trip commute in my Ampera, but I have charging at work too)

[A900ss]

Benbay001 said:

cologne2792 said:

My dad has an older c220 cdi estate with six speed manual that regularly tops 60 mpg - though it did only cost him £500

I highly doubt it http://www.fuelly.com/car/mercedes-benz/c220

ETA - And by posting that ive just invalidated my own suggestion above http://www.fuelly.com/car/lexus/is300h

OP - I suggest you use fuelly. It gives you genuine real life MPG figures.

Edited by Benbay001 on Monday 22 April 12:28

http://www.fuelly.com/car/bmw/520d
http://www.fuelly.com/car/volvo/v70?engineconfig_i...

Edited by Benbay001 on Monday 22 April 12:34

I agree that an older c220d will struggle to get 60mpg but this is my average from my C220d. Note that at the start of recording I was company fuelled so didn’t drive with economy in mind.

These were average fills so 60mpg at 70MPh was a breeze. Like I said, i reckon it did 65MPG at 70MPH

https://www.spritmonitor.de/en/detail/849046.html

[twentyvalveturbo33]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I'll admit that I was disappointed in the boot size of the 3 series touring, but to be fair it's big enough for all the baby stuff to fit in, well sort of.

The Lexus is different but the economy just isn't good enough.

The V60 diesel hybrid is something to look into, I never knew they existed! I could probably even plug it in at work. Seem really rare for my budget though.

I've had quite a few VAG cars over the years, with one being a Leon 1.6 TDI, a manual hatch though, I never liked that engine, being 5 speed gearbox didn't help the economy I don't think, a few years before a had a 2.0tdi Leon manual, and achieved the same mpg in both, 57-62mpg.

I like the XF, never driven one, but looks comfortable, and if brought from a Jag dealer gets 2 years unlimited mileage warranty, only thing that puts me off is there's not a dealer local and I'm unsure of there reliability?

The E220 SE is what I'm looking at, as you say the tyres are cheaper and tax is lower compared to the night edition spec cars, the saloons don't come with folding rear seats as standard though, I've found some that have but seems rare.

My commute is probably 120 mile round trip, so I don't think I'd get the benefit of something like the ampera, and I know people with 530e as company cars, and they aren't impressed with the economy.

Edited by twentyvalveturbo33 on Monday 22 April 15:44

[ZX10R NIN]

twentyvalveturbo33 said:

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I'll admit that I was disappointed in the boot size of the 3 series touring, but to be fair it's big enough for all the baby stuff to fit in, well sort of.

The Lexus is different but the economy just isn't good enough.

The V60 diesel hybrid is something to look into, I never knew they existed! I could probably even plug it in at work. Seem really rare for my budget though.

I've had quite a few VAG cars over the years, with one being a Leon 1.6 TDI, a manual hatch though, I never liked that engine, being 5 speed gearbox didn't help the economy I don't think, a few years before a had a 2.0tdi Leon manual, and achieved the same mpg in both, 57-62mpg.

I like the XF, never driven one, but looks comfortable, and if brought from a Jag dealer gets 2 years unlimited mileage warranty, only thing that puts me off is there's not a dealer local and I'm unsure of there reliability?

The E220 SE is what I'm looking at, as you say the tyres are cheaper and tax is lower compared to the night edition spec cars, the saloons don't come with folding rear seats as standard though, I've found some that have but seems rare.

If you like the E220 then have a good look a the E300/Q70 the Q70's have the same drive train with more spec& a slightly newer car compared to the E220.

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

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

I still think the E300 SE works best for your needs & you'll see or be very close to your 60mpg

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

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

[Evanivitch]

twentyvalveturbo33 said:

My commute is probably 120 mile round trip, so I don't think I'd get the benefit of something like the ampera, and I know people with 530e as company cars, and they aren't impressed with the economy.
[/footnote]

That's i3 REx or full BEV territory. Neither would really suit your needs.

[ninjag]

twentyvalveturbo33 said:

I like the XF, never driven one, but looks comfortable, and if brought from a Jag dealer gets 2 years unlimited mileage warranty, only thing that puts me off is there's not a dealer local and I'm unsure of there reliability?

That generation of Sportbrake is reliable and I wouldn't worry about local dealership as a good indy would be better anyway. Great handling with 50:50 weight distribution and they come very well kitted out at standard. I'd prefer to sacrifice a little mpg and get the 3 litre v6 but then I don't do huge mileage. Very quiet inside.

Edited by ninjag on Monday 22 April 22:19

[colin79666]

If economy and reliability rate more to you than the badge then at least look at the Prius. The current gen 2nd hand should be available in budget (examples at Toyota dealers start around £17k before haggling) and the boot is fairly big. Auto and no worries about what might around the corner for diesel tax wise. The previous gen have done 500k miles as mini cabs with little more maintenance than servicing, this gen will likely be no different.

Edited by colin79666 on Monday 22 April 22:18