Small Economical Car - shoebpatel31

Hi guys its time to change my car, I commute 80 miles a day, I need a very economical car, i want a petrol car after all the diesel opinions. size wise i dont mind as it would be just me. Ideally budget would be 4k possibly 5k. I was considering a suzuki celerio with the excellent economy but the power on motorway is offputting.

any advice would be useful i would need about 50mpg, for the budget other options maybe polo, fabia. dacia sandero

Thanks

Small Economical Car - SLO76
The Celerio is a decent enough little city car but it's ungainly styling will kill used values and high mileage use like this will only steepen that curve. Yes you'll get a Yong low mileage car for the money but it's not very refined at motorway speeds and cheaply built. It's not my first choice.

For your usage I'd shortlist the following, mostly from the superminis class above.

Mazda 2 1.3 petrol.. bombproof chain driven engines and great fun to drive.
Suzuki Swift 1.2 petrol.. as above but road noise is a bit high at speed.
Hyundai i20 1.2 petrol (Facelift cars getting down to near £4-£4.5k now) quite refined and ok to drive. Good value.
Toyota Yaris 1.33... excellent reliability record and easy to sell on.


If you must go for a city car then

Skoda Citigo.. great value, well made and a bit more refined than other city cars. Slow but you'll get there.
Hyundai i10 1.2.. great value, very reliable and surprisingly decent to drive.
Kia Picanto.. as above but a bit funkier looking.

All things equal I'd favour the Mazda 2 but the Swift, Yaris and Citigo wouldn't be far behind.


Edited by SLO76 on 10/08/2017 at 00:10

Small Economical Car - Avant

Eight months ago you were after a larger car. RobJP noticed that this wasn't the first....

"You've created quite a few threads over the last 2 years or so about car buying.

Here are a few : wanting to buy a diesel coupe, up to £23/24 k.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=105139

Wanting to buy a Ford / Mazda (diesel, 1.6 or smaller), under £4k.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=108464

Wanting to buy any smaller-engined diesel hatchback, under £4k

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=108508

Here's another :

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=108613

and another :

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=115386

and another :

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=116554

All of which have had lots of replies."

I'm curious as to why your needs keep changing. But assuming you really do want a small car, SLO's recommendations as ever make excellent sense.

Small Economical Car - SLO76
Thanks Avant. Saves us all time answering any further...
Small Economical Car - Nobby Clark

I know this is a pointless reply to the OP but i thought I'd reply just incase it helps out someone looking for a similar car!!

I've got a Suzuki Celerio which I've had from new and its done nearly 1500 miles now!

It's a fantastic little/big car as although it's small on the outside, it's like a tardis on the inside.

I've driven a lot of cars over the years and the Celerio is a fantastic car which I'm over the moon with.

It's nippy around town, handles well with sharp steering and on the motorway it sits at 70 mph easily at just under 3000rpm without struggling.

The mpg is rising and is currently at 59.5 for which the vast majority of my daily driving is round the town.

The looks aren't to everyone's taste but i love them and i like having something different to everything else on the road!!

Edited by Nobby Clark on 10/08/2017 at 01:04

Small Economical Car - oldroverboy.

."

I'm curious as to why your needs keep changing. But assuming you really do want a small car, SLO's recommendations as ever make excellent sense.

Maybe, just maybe the OP is asking for friends, and we are indeed all different.

I usually tend to post after the event.. sometimes friends/people i know listen. the friends with the recent venga are very happy now that she has got used to a venga against a 1995 corolla... (except for the labrador having a large liquid accident on the rear seat!)

And as for those who don't listen... welll....

Small Economical Car - badbusdriver

Speaking as someone who's family car for 3 years was a daihatsu sirion 1.0 (68bhp), I'd like to address a point often brought up in response to posts like this. The perceived lack of performance, particularly at motorway speeds. I took our daihatsu from N E Scotland to visit relatives in Wigan, then on to Coventry. There was only one point in the journey where the power wasn't enough to maintain the speed I wanted to go at, and that was coming North over the Beattock summit, which is very steep (also, I had been doing 80mph). So I'd have no qualms about the celerio, or C1/108/aygo in 1.0 forms as they all have the same 68bhp and don't weigh very much. The up/mii/citigo are a slightly different kettle of fish as the basic version has less power (60bhp) and more weight to carry. So I'd want a test drive on main roads before deciding.

If you do decide you need more power, the C1 and 108 are available with an 81bhp 1.2, and the higher spec versions of the up/mii/citigo are available with a 75bhp version of the 1.0 engine.