davidjwest

Thanks again guys, all useful info. A bit more info for those interested. I've been doing high miles for the past 4 years or so, from 25k - 50k, the house move will put me around the 25-30k mark. Previously owned a Mondeo 2.0 TDCi that I was averaging 54 MPG with using accurate calculations, OBC reckoned it was nearer 60 MPG so about 10% optimistic. The Mondeo was a solid car, I paid £1,500 for an '04 plate in 2009 and it was a CAT D so another £1,500 to get it on the road. It failed me in May when the fuel pump went with 203k on the clock, mechanic reckoned the injectors might have been damaged as the pump disintegrated and there were bits of metal in the fuel so rather than spend up to £2k fixing a car of that age and mileage I got rid of it. I was strapped for cash so I have been running a P Reg (1996) plate Pug 306 TD for almost four months, paid £500 for it, now done 6k in it averaging 54 MPG which is quite surprising. I've paid £124 so far for new front pads and to replace a worn fuel overflow pipe. So I am pretty good at getting decent MPG from what I drive, I don't mind sticking at 60 MPH on the motorway as I know the mileage I do is going to cost a fortune in fuel so every bit saved is to the good. The wife has a Renault Grand Scenic that's a 7 seater, bought before she knew me or I would have warned against it. We need the 7 seats as we've 5 kids but it only returns 30-33 MPG when she drives it although I can get 40-45 MPG out of it, partly as my commute is more motorway and less traffic. Anyway, any more suggestions are welcome thanks.

Great, thanks for the info guys! If you don't mind another question, how accurate do you think the on board MPG figure is compared to real life? I've heard people say it's around 3% too high. others it's up to 20%, or does it vary from car to car?

Hi, I'm new to the forums and wanted some advice. We're moving house soon and will be doubling our commute to work (the wife and I) and this will mean we spend around £700 a month in fuel! We are therefore looking to get a car that has good MPG figures as if we could average 70 MPG for example it would save around £200 a month. We can only afford one new (or nearly new) car at the moment so would share it, whoever does most miles in that day would take the new car. I've got a shortlist of a few cars and have test driven the Fabia today and was impressed, it was the 1.6 TDi version with the 90 PS engine, an SE. According to the on board computer I average 85 MPG over the 20 mile test, mainly dual carriageway, undulating, with some town driving. However, I know these computers are not very accurate and a 20 mile test isn't really much of a clue to what can be achieved if you actually own the car. The salesman also told me that the Greenline version wouldn't be any better in terms of MPG for the type of driving I do, ie mainly motorway and it was more suited to town driving. So, question is what type of Fabia do you own and what MPG are you getting? Is this figure from the on board computer or is it calculated by the old fashioned method? Which Fabia would be best for MPG and my driving, as I say, 80% motorway. I tend to stick to around 60 MPH to save fuel as spending as much as I do on it even a 10% saving is well worth the extra 2 or 3 minutes it takes to get to my destination. Any advice is welcome, the other cars I am considering are the Kia Rio, Hyundai i20 (achieved 77 MPG in the same test as for the Fabia) the Suzuki Swift and possibly the Audi A2 if I decide to go for something older. The Fabia is favourite at the moment but I want to make as informed a decision as I can, so thanks for any input. Plan getting the car in Oct/Nov. Thanks, sorry for the long first post!