Help me choose a car for work please.

Associate
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Hey everyone.

Im in need of a car for work.. I'm a letting agent and just sold of my 2001 Golf Gti turbo because the fuel bills were getting a bit much.

I have about £3500 to spend. The car doesnt have to be super fuel efficient, just better than the golf, I was getting on average around 22mpg around town with that. No Older than 2002 and something that look nice aswell would be a bonus..

So far I've been considering:
Yaris T-Sport - I know a lot of people dont like these, but I really do like the exterior looks.
Ford Fiesta Zetec - although it looks like decent ones will be above my budget.
Clio 172 - I know its not economical, but they're so cheap to buy now and must surely be better than the golf on fuel, as there's no turbo. However I was concerned about the reliability of these??

I'm open any suggestions and any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Caporegime
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Im in need of a car for work.. I'm a letting agent and just sold of my 2001 Golf Gti turbo because the fuel bills were getting a bit much.

I have about £3500 to spend. The car doesnt have to be super fuel efficient, just better than the golf, I was getting on average around 22mpg around town with that. No Older than 2002 and something that look nice aswell would be a bonus..

You must have been driving it like you were on fire, or as if the throttle was an on/off device.

No way does a 150PS 1.8T only average 22mpg with even remotely careful driving.

This sounds like a classic case of change your driving style rather than change your car, but you already appeared to have jumped ship.
 
Man of Honour
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No way does a 150PS 1.8T only average 22mpg with even remotely careful driving

That depends really. He's a letting agent which would suggest most of his driving was around town. Pure town work, especially from cold, kills the economy in anything - I get 27mpg from a 530d and 21mpg from my 530i and used to get 26mpg from a 2.0 Mondeo just doing short trips around town in traffic. It's entirely possible that his Golf was averaging 22mpg without driving like a fool.

Problem is that nothing is going to be particularly brilliant at this sort of work economy wise. Certainly not a Clio 172.
 
Associate
OP
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LOL.... I really didnt, the car has always been really thirsty.. Even when I used to drive it and never go above 2000 revs, it would only do 27mpg at best around town.. On motorway runs it was really good and would get up to 39 mpg.
 
Man of Honour
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LOL.... I really didnt, the car has always been really thirsty.. Even when I used to drive it and never go above 2000 revs, it would only do 27mpg at best around town.. On motorway runs it was really good and would get up to 39 mpg.

Sounds like you just got rid of a decent car with no real way of making a huge difference without doing any research.
 
Soldato
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prius sorry.

imgToyota%20Prius1.jpg
 
Associate
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[TW]Fox;15124034 said:
Sounds like you just got rid of a decent car with no real way of making a huge difference without doing any research.

Not at all... the 27mpg would only be achievable when there was very light traffic, however this is rarely the case on London, so 22mpg was usually the norm.. Im pretty sure there are quite a few cars that can beat that.. I'm currently using a VW Golf GT Tdi 150 that I've borrowed from my dad, at worst it returns 35mpg, but I usually average around 40mpg.. I would buy one of these, but decent ones are well above my budget.
 
Soldato
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I'd just go for some 1.2 small hatchback, whatever you like the look of really.

In London you're never going to be able to have enough fun to warrent a 172 or GTi over a 1.25 Fiesta. You've not got massive amounts of money so just get yourself a work car that'll get you from A to B.
 
Soldato
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If its mostly town work that doesnt sound far off - you want a small hatchback to get decent economy in town - Fiesta would be the sensible choice, 172 would be the fun choice although probably less reliable
 
Soldato
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Surely a cheap, dirty derv would be sufficient in this case?

Extra cost of running, buying, servicing etc on what I assume is small yearly mileage would mean maybe not. Also the thought of having to drive a tiny derv hatchback doesn't sound too good!

I'd think a petrol would be just as cheap and a better bet.
 
Soldato
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Servicing a derv costs no more than a petrol on the whole - i'm not sure what extra running costs there would be. He's spending 3500 which would buy a petrol or a diesel the age he wants - he doesnt stipulate anythign else as a requirement so its not going to cost more to buy is it?

A Clio 1.5 DCi would give really good mpg around town, they're really zippy and responsive - more responsive than the 1.2 petrol by quite a margin.

I'd still get a fiesta though
 
Caporegime
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22mpg or less around town sounds about right, i get about 15 - 25mpg when driving between the lights / stop start etc.

Your car weighs about the same as an average sized oil tanker however.

I can get above 25 without really trying in the leon. I currently average 38MPG out of the 330d for my 2~ mile commute through town.
 
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