Advice needed from UK drivers...

[SymphonicX]

Dunno how many of you drive here, but I am taking my driving test (finally) in July and am going to buy a car straight away. The thing is my family have never driven so I've no one to really bounce information off except friends and colleagues, and have a pretty good idea of what I want to go for - but wanted to see what you all drive.
The bottom line is, with today's fuel prices and taxes etc, I am basically going to get a girly car like an 800cc Daewoo/Chevrolet Matiz....sad I know, but it's in a cheap insurance and tax bracket and apparently gets about 55mpg, although a colleague of mine recently drove one and said he couldn't empty the tank no matter how far he drove!

The other car I was thinking of was a Suzuki Alto, which also has an 800cc model, but I can't find one online anywhere. Anyway I have found the 1100cc (1.1) engine model and this is 35 quid a year road tax and free of congestion charging, which is handy being so close to London.

The problem is I don't want to drive something that's gonna start shaking when it gets up to 80mph....but I can't afford to run anything like a 1.4 or above, let alone a bigger car.

So what do you drive? How much tax do you pay? How many miles, roughly, do you get out of a full tank? What's your insurance like and overall, how is the car you drive working for you?

Anecdotally, my instructor gets 320 miles to a full tank of petrol, which costs her about 36 quid to fill up. It works out roughly at 8.8p a mile, taking into account city driving would probably be 10p a mile....which when you think of how many miles you do in a day, it's not that great really. She drives a Fiesta Zetec 1.4.....

[MinionZombie]

Apparently a VW Lupo Diesel will get up to 70mpg, it was tested on Top Gear. They took the same car, but petrol, along with it and it did far less, something like 50 or 40-something even.

It's also the way you drive.

So you want to keep unnecessary weight out of the car, don't have your windows open at high speed because that lowers your MPG, try to break less often and use the engine to help slow the car. Don't stamp on the break or accelerator (unless it's absolutely necessary, like avoiding an accident or something), those kind of things.

They all help to reduce fuel consumption, but having a car with good MPG already also helps, and having a diesel helps even more.

Heck, my Dad's Audi A6 with a 1.9ltr engine is a diesel, and just generally pootling around town and to the supermarket and such he gets something like 55mpg, but on motorway journeys he'll get up to something like 65mpg ... and it's a big sodding car too.

Hope that info helps. :)

[DjfunkmasterG]

As an american driver I can give you some advice...

Drive on the right side of the road. :D

J/K... had to pop in when I saw the topic header. :lol:

Back to your regularly scheduled program.

[Tricky]

dude,if you've just passed your test anything above a 1.2 will murder you on insurance,never mind fuel!im 26,clean license,been driving 9 years & drive a seat ibiza TDi, my insurance was £800 this year!i tend to accelerate quite hard in it though,it makes a nice addictive roar when i do it so that doesnt help my fuel consumption :lol:
If you get a matiz make sure you get blacked out windows so no-one sees you driving it,not good for the rep :p

[Chic Freak]

I drive an old Peugot 106, diesel, which now costs about £48 to fill up from dry (only cost £30 2 years ago, argh!) and £400 per year to insure. I'd guess I get about 320 miles to a tank, although as MZ said it depends how you drive.

[SymphonicX]

Thanks for the advice guys and girls....I think it may be a Peugot 107 now....!!!

[MinionZombie]

Whatever you do, don't get a Peugot 1007, with those stupid-ass heavy-arse sliding doors. Those are rubbish. :D

[SymphonicX]

thanks dude, I'll bear that in mind. A colleague at work just showed me his brand new 107 and he got a wicked deal on it, and it's emissions are superb making it very viable for road tax - only issue is insurance for a brand new car...ugh

[MinionZombie]

Or you could do a Top Gear and just buy a £100 car, run it till the MOT/Service time, ditch it, get another £100 car. :D

In fact, that's apparently what the third presenter in the first series of the new Top Gear does (big bloke, called Jason, now on Men & Motors apparently).

Mind you, it's a bit of a fuss and you'd just be running gash cars mostly, I think it works best if you really know stuff about cars and keeping them maintained.

[SymphonicX]

Also the cheaper the car, guarantees a high emissions rate and also tax and insurance. I could buy a jag for 1.5k and it'd probably last a lifetime but it eats fuel like no one's business. It needs to be as much as an investment as humanely possible, even though they piss money, it's gotta be as economical as poss..!