Small economical hatchback

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Wed 26 Mar 2014 08:51
Small economical hatchback - voteforpedro

My wife is looking for a used car to replace her '54 Polo 1.4 16V. The main reason for selling it is because she does 50 miles daily. It's reached 100k now and is terrible on fuel. We want to reduce fuel costs but not necessarily a diesel...

Her budget is around £3,000.

We are a two car family. I have a larger car (Mazda 3 2.0 petrol) which we use for the long hauls. It's not great on fuel but my commute is 10 miles daily so I'm not too bothered.

She wants something of similar size to the Polo. She does over 10k miles daily but we are worried about the reliability of diesels. I know it's worth it when you compare the daily fuel consumption vs petrol for her, but I've had terrible experiences with diesels in the past which has put her off. It needs to be a good comfortable ride due to the amount of time she spends on the motorway.

Ideally she'd want an economical petrol. The Polo has terrible MPG for her - I think I worked it out at something like 38 MPG once she got off a tank. That's not brilliant for a slow 1.4. I can get that from my Mazda on a run...

Any advice? :)

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Wed 26 Mar 2014 09:53
Small economical hatchback - catsdad
"10k" daily, you need an Apollo rocket ;-) .Seriously how about a 107/C1/Aygo?
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Wed 26 Mar 2014 10:03
Small economical hatchback - voteforpedro

Edit - 10k miles yearly ;)

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Wed 26 Mar 2014 10:21
Small economical hatchback - madf

You will be lucky to average more than 45mpg for a £3k petrol car... And if you do some short journeys, 40mpg may be tops overall.

Forget the guoted mpg - lab conditions with a warm car only.

My 2012 Jazz averages 42mpg - mainly semi rural - 53 on motorways.. But earlier one were 10% less..

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Wed 26 Mar 2014 13:05
Small economical hatchback - unthrottled

My 2012 Jazz averages 42mpg - mainly semi rural - 53 on motorways..

I thought you were averaging late forties madf.

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Wed 26 Mar 2014 14:45
Small economical hatchback - madf

My 2012 Jazz averages 42mpg - mainly semi rural - 53 on motorways..

I thought you were averaging late forties madf.

Only on long runs. I think I quoted Fuelly somewhere...here it is:

.Jazz 1.4ES CVT

Basic Stats
  • 41.7(+0.2)

    avg UK MPG

  • 45.7(+4.5)

    last UK MPG

  • 59.5(11/01/13)

    best UK MPG

Edited by madf on 26/03/2014 at 14:46

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Wed 26 Mar 2014 11:59
Small economical hatchback - P3t3r

I have a Citroen C1 (same as 107 and Aygo) and they get 50-60mpg (real world). I currently get around 55mpg with mixed driving. Cruising on on the motorway at 70mph you can expect just under 60mpg, stick to 60mph and it do a little over 60mpg. Performance is relatively good for these 1.0l engines. Acceleration isn't so good at 60+mph, but it's perfectly adequate in my opinion.

The 1.2 Fiat Panda is also another option, but probably not as efficient as the C1.

I just had a look to see what's available. You may struggle to find a good C1 for £3000. However, with the Panda you can get a well speced one for that price. I saw one with pretty much everything (air con etc.) for less than £3000.

Edited by P3t3r on 26/03/2014 at 12:08

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Wed 26 Mar 2014 12:53
Small economical hatchback - artill

My experience of a 107 (driven on Yorkshire hills) was getting 49 mpg. Driven the same way a 1.3 first generation Yaris got 46 mpg. I would suggest you look for a late first gen 1.3 Yaris, which is quicker than the 107/C1, more at home on the motorway, and uses only slightly more fuel, and from the sounds of it, quite a lot less than the current Polo. And although the reliability of the 107/C1/Aygo is very good, i think the Yaris is probably better still. Only real down side to the Yaris is its handling, its quite a pudding, and the 107s etc are a lot more fun. probably not an issue to your wife though.

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