Which used car has the best mpg?

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Wed 1 Mar 2017 23:23
Which used car has the best mpg? - motorer

Hello! I am doing 400 miles per week, which reasonably priced (max 3k?) used can would give me the best mpg? It is mostly motorway miles, 40mph and above. Would a Yaris D-4D would be the best bet? Thanks!

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 00:57
Which used car has the best mpg? - SLO76
If you can find one without a DPF and a full service history it should make a decent enough wee commuter but I'd personally stick to petrol on that £3k budget. There's less to go wrong and your money will go further. The £300- £400 a year you'll save over a 1.0 petrol Yaris could get eaten up quickly with any mechanical issues.

If you must have diesel, and I'd understand why as a turbo diesel will keep up with fast moving traffic far better than a small capacity normally aspirated petrol. Then avoid anything with a DPF fitted.

Don't focus on one particular model at this price, shop on condition and history above all else. Other worthy options are

Kia Rio 1.5 CRDi no DPF fitted till 2011 Bit rubbish to drive but £3k will buy a low mileage minter.

Kia Cee'd 1.6 CRDi no DPF fitted till 2010 though some non compliant cars were registered in 2011. Nice to drive, 55mpg and a bit of poke plus chain driven so no t/belt change to worry about.

Mazda 2 1.4 diesel not sure when they fitted a DPF if at all to the older PSA 1.4 but these are a hoot to drive and will do 60mpg. The 1.3 petrol will do 50mpg and give no trouble though.

Cars to avoid include anything with PSA's diesel of doom 1.6 as used in the Fiesta, Citroen C3, Mazda 2 and many other mostly larger cars same goes for anything running Fiat's 1250 diesel as used in the Panda, Punto, Corsa and Suzuki Swift again this is used in many other larger models too.

Personally I'd stick with a petrol Mazda 2 1.3, Yaris 1.0/1.3 or Suzuki Swift all of which will be more reliable and cost less for repairs and maintenance than the equivalent diesels.



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Thu 2 Mar 2017 09:16
Which used car has the best mpg? - Steveieb
Audi A4 1.9 Tdi PD or VW Passat or any VAG car of the 2001 to 2004 model years with the AWX engine . 130 bhp and fuel consumption in the 50s is a hard combination to beat.
Low speed torque is phenomenal and the balance from the North South configuration with equal length drive shafts is another benefit.
Or another engineers car is the Peugeot 406 2.0 hid which will match the VAG entrant , has a better ride but French electrics. Even HJ himself was impressed but couldn't help the taxi driver who was looking for another one as his had covered 450k miles
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Thu 2 Mar 2017 10:46
Which used car has the best mpg? - S40 Man

Surely a DPF will be fine at 400 miles a week?

That's easy 16000 miles a year. I'd go diesel every time.

A diesel repmobile could be perfect for that sort of trip. It's what they were built for.

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 12:43
Which used car has the best mpg? - Gibbo_Wirral

+1 to the diesel Ceed. 6 speed box too.

I'm 6 foot 4 and its a comfortable drive.

Edited by Gibbo_Wirral on 02/03/2017 at 12:43

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 21:11
Which used car has the best mpg? - Big John

Surely a DPF will be fine at 400 miles a week?

That's easy 16000 miles a year. I'd go diesel every time.

A diesel repmobile could be perfect for that sort of trip. It's what they were built for.

Difficult one,

Some cars with DPF may be fine but:-

>Some early DPF implementations were poor eg add on further down the exhaust (too cool & sensors prone to damage by the elements).

>At £3k - they could be due some expensive work such as DPF replacement (they fill up with ash eventually anyway)

>As DPF cars age DPF issues amplify - bore wear causes diesel bore wash followed by more wear (and this adds diesel to the sump oil which doesnt evaporate or act as a good lubricant). In addition as the engine wears and burns oil this creates more stress/ash on DPF

DPF/sensor repairs can cost £1000's

Until recently I was running a 2003 Superb I 1.9pd100 (50+mpg) doing 15k / year.(until 165k) Mechanically a brilliant car. It's now done 190k and owned by a friend. Generally the VAG 1.9pd is good to drive (very tourquey) mega reliable and makes a great mile muncher and usually doesn't come with a DPF (but check as some did - such as Superb greenline!).

As others have mentioned KIA diesels didn't usualy get fitted with DPF's until after 2010 and are good value. Avoid cars that have had "DPF removals" - they are illegal to drive and although they usually pass an MOTas DPF case is usually still in place - you can be assured that a suitable test will be introduced at some point.

Don't ignore petrol cars though depending on your commute , but on a steadyish run the MPG figures converge somewhat. My 2003 Superb I 1.9 diesel did about 50 mpg on my commute and my 2014 Superb II 1.4 tsi petrol does 46mpg on the same journey and the my previous 2001 Octavia 1.416v (not tsi) did about 44mpg (still does if I use it as I still own it).

Diesel cars could be targetted by the goverment in some way in the near future as they have to do something redical re City centre polution

Edited by Big John on 02/03/2017 at 21:27

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 21:44
Which used car has the best mpg? - SLO76
"Surely a DPF will be fine at 400 miles a week?

That's easy 16000 miles a year. I'd go diesel every time."

If we were talking about a new or nearly new car I'd agree, in fact I have two DPF equipped diesels myself, one covers similar mileage to what's suggested here however we are discussing buying on a very limited £3k budget and any early DPF will be almost guaranteed to cause trouble at the tail end of its life.

As I always say to people who are shopping on a budget. Keep it simple. Forget anything complex and go for a simple petrol engined car that will be far more reliable in the longterm. Cheap diesels routinely turn into money pits as they age. They're more complex and more often than not they're neglected by scrimping owners as they were bought to save money and complex turbo diesels motors don't take kindly to neglect.
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Fri 3 Mar 2017 11:02
Which used car has the best mpg? - Steveieb
The 1.9 Tdi PD comes from the golden age of diesels and all claims that the newer engines are cleaner has been debunked by New Scientist magazine . This engine along with the early Peugeot Xud is such a hard act to follow it sets the benchmark in my opinion. Fabulous economy and a pill which. Is missing from modern diesels which leave you reaching for the starter when the engine stalls at low revs!
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Fri 3 Mar 2017 12:04
Which used car has the best mpg? - skidpan

We had a 1996 Golf TDi, the one that VW said would do 72 mpg (yes, VW said it based on distance travelled on a full tank). Well believe it or not it didn't. Over our almost 7 years of ownership it averaged in the mid 40's but on a run it would manage the high 50's.

Move on 14 years and we bought a Kia Ceed SW CRDi complete with DPF. It had 15 more PS, 40 more torques and the Ceed SW was way bigger (and heavier) than the Golf. In the same usage as the Golf the Ceed averaged just over 50 mpg and on a run would manage the high 50's.

Both figures are calculated (not form the dash display) and the odometers corrected to Sat Nav distances.

The Ceed was lovely and quiet, the Golf sounded like a tractor.

So lets not pretend that things were better years ago, they were not. Its called progress.

Edited by skidpan on 03/03/2017 at 12:17

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Fri 3 Mar 2017 14:35
Which used car has the best mpg? - Stumblebum

I had a 2000-2004 generation Petrol Honda Civic (1600 VTEC) which would do 43 mpg on a motorway cruise.

I now have a 2007 Petrol Honda Civic (1800 VTEC) which will do about 45-46 mpg. I now have a job requires a regular 170 mile commute.

The later car has a 6 speed box which makes it a bit more refined. Truth is, these are not the most refined moto way cars cars, but at £3K my instinct is a petrol Japanese car.

I also had a 2 litre Petrol Accord Estate, but that stuggled to do better than 33 mpg.

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Fri 3 Mar 2017 14:44
Which used car has the best mpg? - carl233

I would not discount a Kia Rio 1.5DCi from the model range 2005-2011. 110bhp with lots of torque. Would likely deliver around 55mpg give or take and is under your budget. They also have a chain and no timing belt to spend money on, front seats are supportive as well.

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Real MPG enables you to register the fuel economy you are actually getting against your make and model of car, its engine and type of transmission.

Every time you enter an average consumption figure against your car, the overall average automatically adjusts to reflect it.

Real MPG