I like my fabia but the fuel cost is crippling me. I topped up 2 weeks ago, today I got low fuel light at 359 miles. I've been doing mainly stop/start driving and cold morning starts which does not help. I have no choice because of the rush hour traffic on all the roads and I start work by 9am.

My budget is £2000 on top of whatever I can get for my 2008 reg 33k mile fabia hatch 1.2htp level 1 trim with loads of extras which I know will not get my money back (air con, mettalic paint, genuine alloys, etc.)

I can't think of a single car?

My requirment is simple: can do everything my fabia can do but more economical

I don't think you'll get a more economical car in rush hour/stop start traffic mate. Mine gets 280 - 310 in town/heavy traffic.

Once on the open road 400 is easy.

New citigo eco thingy maybe?

Fabia Greenline?

Edited 19 April, 201214 yr by Ad Lav

You must have a reasonably long commute, perhaps one of the 1.4TDI's would be in reach and would save cash in the long run. It's either that or the Citigo IMHO.

But if you have £2k to spend already, that'll buy you more than a years petrol surely, so it's only worth changing if you can almost swap your car for a TDI.

Well with lot's of unavoidable costs within the next few months (will need new tyres soon, MOT, servicing) I could put towards a 'new' car.

I also intend to keep the car for anumber of years so the earlier I change the earlier I can start saving on fuel cost.

I'll have a good think and do the maths...it's scary how much I've spent in fuel cost alone..

Can see the logic in that. If my commute was triple what it is (6 miles each way), I'd have leaned towards a diesel, but that short a run is death to a DPF.

the 1.4TDIs are exceedingly economical it has to be said, particularly the 80bhp one.

looking at parker's price guide, i've lost a lot of money

citogo is a bit small, greenline....not too sure on the short trips..the thing is my car is mechanically fault-free, it's lovingy kept clean and maintained.

May notbe of much help, but there is a new ford fiesta 1.6tdi Eco something or other, 95bhp, and in adverts for it, extra urban was 91mpg, and combined cycle was around 85mpg or so, with town driving quoted at the high 70s. I know companies tend to exadurate a bit sometimes, but either way, still pretty good

Looking at a seat leon 2.0tdi for £5k. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201216465173362/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/7000/seller-type/trade_adverts/maximum-age/up_to_2_years_old/transmission/manual/maximum-mileage/up_to_20000_miles/make/seat/radius/60/postcode/ws112yt/page/1?logcode=p

looks too good to be true?

yep..my instint tells me to avoid because same seller has an 11reg audi a1 for £5k

yep..my gut instinct tells me to avoid because the same seller has advertising an 11reg audi a1 for 35k

Thinking out the box here:

You like the car so in an ideal world you would keep it - we all know it costs thousands to change. What about buy a decent hybrid bike and either drive/bus/train part way of your journey and cycle the rest. Reduce fuel bills and keep fit at the same time.

Appreciate this is not practical for everyone, I have a 1.8 Polo GTI and is effectively a weekend car because I get the train/cycle or walk to my work. If I used my car every day to work then the fill up would no doubt cripple me also but at the moment a tank of petrol can last me one month. You dont need to be a Tour de France cyclist - I cycle at a consistent 12mph which allows me good progress. I take the train to work, get off a couple of stops earlier and cycle 9 miles in 45 mins.

When cycling in rush hour traffic I make faster progress than the cars.

Just an idea.

PS If you do go down this route buy a decent bike (mine was £350 and through the cycle to work scheme so cost me about £280) and not a supermarket one! You get what you pay for - buy cheap buy twice.

Edited 20 April, 201214 yr by BA Baracus

Sound advice - if it gets more expensive I will buy a bike. I only do 5000 - 6000 miles a year so fuel isn't too bad atm. V-Power is expensive though

Nothing is very economical in traffic, diesels especially as modern ones take an age to warm up - until they do they're not very efficient at all. I had a diesel Civic before the Fabia and that could easily dip into low 30s mpg over a tank if I was doing mostly London journeys.

Prius can work well if your journeys are a mix of traffic and free-flowing routes. Batteries get charged up, then the crawl along in traffic (under 30mph) you're doing with the engine off, not using any fuel. It just starts up if you go faster, accelerate hard or the batteries run out of juice. Plenty of older-shape ones about in budget, they don't meet the new rules for congestion charge exemption so people in the capital are trading in for newer ones. Batteries and the hybrid tech seems to last very well too - lots have been used as taxis with 300k+ miles on the clock.

Ultimately though you need to be realistic about the sort of improvement in economy you're going to get. Published figures have been getting further and further from reality so a brand new "eco" car claiming 70+mpg may not be that much better for the journeys you do. If you get 30mpg in your current car with your journeys, and a new one gets 40mpg, that's only saving you £540 a year, assuming both are petrol. If you switch to diesel to get that, the savings are even less because the fuel is more expensive. Is it worth sinking £2k into if you're otherwise happy with what you've got?

As others have mentioned (not trying to be smart/cheeky here) if you are finding the normal day to day costs too much ie petrol/MOT/tyres/servicing then the answer wont be found in buying a new motor. This may initially have cheaper monthly costs but over the lifetime you will pay more.

You've still got a relatively young car which you like - best value for money would be keeping it until its ready for the scrap heap.

Often hear stories about teenagers complaining about how much their insurance costs (at 17 we all wanted to tear about in a GTI but reality was could only afford a 1.1L Fiesta) - it is very high but is part of the motoring bill and the cost of running a car does not start/stop at the purchase price.

PS Have you thought about car sharing?

So long as you do some longer runs fairly regularly a Greenline should not have DPF or other issues with your twice daily 6mile trips.

If you can find one with good tyres, full service done and long MOT for 2K plus your car the bigger consideration is overall how much will your fuel cost reduce and in say 4 years time after allowing for the difference in residual values will you be better or worse off.

If day-to-day these latest Ford petrol engines turn out to be a quantum leap in economy particularly on stop/start journeys keeping your car with a view swapping to one in say 3 years time when your car needs tyres etc. again is something to consider too.

I already have a bicycle. I've thought about it but a bit dangerous withno footpaths, have to cross a motorway junction, dual carraigeways and dont fancy riding in the wet getting soaked and sweating when i arrive at work. cyclug part of the journey is a possibility but I don't feel comfortable leaving my pride and joy somewhere for the day. Some of the area'sa bit dodgy..chavs around.

Might have to keep the car..I'll need to do the sums... I've dont 11k miles past 12 months..so fuel saving over say 5 years if I get a 1.4tdi..?

car sharing..I know none of my neighbours work anywhere near me..i don't know anyone who works near me.

edit: I'll also save on tax too. At current rates, I think it's at least £70-£80 per year..over 5 years = £70 to £80x5

edit 2: I'll need to pay an admin fee to change the car on the insurance

Edited 20 April, 201214 yr by fabia55

after seeing the white estates in the other thread, I'm quite tempted to look for a white 1.4tdi estate..hmmm

Good idea...

http://www.skoda.net.r66.co.uk/Results.aspx

They have a white scout! Smart...

Edited 21 April, 201214 yr by Ad Lav

The 1.2 12V is great around town and warms up quicker than the PD Tdi's so for short runs on cold mornings I don't think you will notice that much in it, certainly not enough to warrant the cost of changing vehicle. We've had both a 1.2 12V and 1.9TDi.

If you usually stretch the Fabia's legs a bit then have a look at a 1.4Tdi or 1.9Tdi, Both are better suited to urban driving than the newer CR TDi's as they are easier to get good economy, have more bottom end torque and lower gearing.

If motorway work is involved the 1.2 12V's economy dies at motorway speed, At 75mph my Passat is 10mpg more economical than our 1.2 12V

Cheers

Lee

May notbe of much help, but there is a new ford fiesta 1.6tdi Eco something or other, 95bhp, and in adverts for it, extra urban was 91mpg, and combined cycle was around 85mpg or so, with town driving quoted at the high 70s. I know companies tend to exadurate a bit sometimes, but either way, still pretty good

Companies now build and tune cars to give unbelievable figures in the laboratory simulated economy tests, that's what sell cars now, mpg and tax bands. That's why we get E Class Mercs and 5 series BMW's with around 200bhp and 150mph with economy approaching 60mpg. In reality mid 30's to 40mpg is more realistic unless you are sat at a 60mph cruise control motorway run.

It's thankfully going to change but not for another 5 years.

I drive the exact same route every day and the standard Passat 2.0CR does 55mpg in summer and 50mpg winter. The latest models all have fancy stop/start, regenerative gismos, remapped engines, taller gearing etc. etc and post economy figures 12mpg better than last years model.

On two occassions I've driven the new model and there's not 1mpg difference between the two models.

You need to look at what type of mileage your doing and what sort of car would suit them best. A Fabia Greenline has figures 24mpg better than my Passat but on my commute I'd bet my Passat would be more economical. On slower speed B roads the Fabia Greeline should be way better. Around town the most economical car I've got is the 1.2 12V htp.

Horses for courses, just depends on what type of driving you do most.

Cheers

Lee

Edited 21 April, 201214 yr by logiclee

Lee got to agree with you. I actually had a Greenline courtesy car last week and it matched my old 2.0 Tdi passat on mpg over my usual commute. Mpg figure are very misleading and certainly not reliable enough to feed into any calculations to justify buying a new car.