I have a 2011 1.6 Ti-vct fiesta titanium but being i do very local driving was looking at a cheap Diesel, either a fiesta or focus,my car is bad on local around 32 MPG.

Because i have never had a diesel would it be wise to look at Diesels,it would have a good blast once a week but would i save a lot of being Diesel is more than petrol.

It would be 2 miles there and back so around 4 miles stop and start a day might be a bit more but not a lot,it would be the older reg Diesel around 2010  reg.

 

Personally I don't think you would see any benefit in the overall cost. Diesel fuel is quite a bit more expensive than petrol.

If your looking at older diesel models then their mpg around town is only going to be slightly better at probably 34 - 36 mpg.

Forget all about even trying to use a modern diesel for multiple short trips around town, they are not designed for it and will cause you no end of problems.

Don't get too hung-up on the mpg issue. At the end of the day it is the whole package that is what you should be looking at. (a) Road Tax, (b) Insurance, (c) Service costs (d) Price of fuel (e) MOT work that might be needed.

If you still fancy diesel then I would recommend you go with a 2010 Fiesta, not the most refined engine, but easy to work on and cheap to maintain.

 

26 minutes ago, unofix said:

Diesel fuel is quite a bit more expensive than petrol.

The Mrs and I were discussing this as we drove past a few filling stations this morning - diesel was 18 to 20p a litre more than petrol! I doubt it would be worth a swap for the majority of people these days.

Coincidentally I had a 2010 Fiesta 1.6 TDCI for a while, and my current Ecoboost** gives similar mpg, despite being heavier and having around 50ps more.

** Before you say it - assuming it doesn't explode!😀

 

If it really is nose to tail stop-start traffic then you won't much MPG from anything and not worth the change.

However, even on 1 mile each way to Tesco and back I'd easily get 50mpg from either a 2.0 TDI or 1.6 TDCI...because I drove there out of peak times when the traffic was light.  For comparison I only got around 30mpg from a 2.0 petrol (Fiesta ST/306 GTi6) doing the same trip at the same time.  So even with the higher cost of diesel, it was a significant difference over a tankful.  Not to mention the diesels were only £30 a year to tax.

 

32 mpg is not bad. I can easily do my short commute (3 miles) worse than that in our diesel if I pop it into sport mode and drive it like its stolen (Sunday morning). 

Have been looking for a second car for a few weeks now which will be petrol but no luck as of yet.

11 minutes ago, Wino said:

Have been looking for a second car for a few weeks now which will be petrol but no luck as of yet.

Well it just so happens I've a Ecosport 1.5 petrol for sale 😉

Hi.

If you need any help with insurance for a 2nd vehicle then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

If it really is nose to tail stop-start traffic then you won't much MPG from anything and not worth the change.

However, even on 1 mile each way to Tesco and back I'd easily get 50mpg from either a 2.0 TDI or 1.6 TDCI...because I drove there out of peak times when the traffic was light.  For comparison I only got around 30mpg from a 2.0 petrol (Fiesta ST/306 GTi6) doing the same trip at the same time.  So even with the higher cost of diesel, it was a significant difference over a tankful.  Not to mention the diesels were only £30 a year to tax.

 

To be fair, not really comparing apples and apples there, though, Tom. Don't remember the 2.0 ST Fiesta ever being noted for economy and my earlier 309GTI certainly liked a drink - can't imagine the 16v being any better.

If just looking at an economical second car, I've been very impressed with the Seat Mii (VW Up! clone) my Mrs has had for almost 8 years now. Her usage is almost all short trips of a couple of miles and her mpg is still usually 50+. Cheap tax also, but of course nowadays that's often down to when a car's first registered and you need to check it out before buying. (Narks me that at the last renewal the Mii was £20 while my Fiesta which is lower CO2 was £150!😠).

 

Thanks for all the replies,i do see what you mean the whole package for cost.

And i do think the ''stuck in traffic'' is one of the main problems as loads of road works,i did think of the eco boost but if i went that way i would have to get rid of mine as the cost and reading around the eco and Diesel and a lot between them as the petrol is cheaper.

Although my car is 11 years old its been faultless in the 8 years i have had it so didn't really want to sell it or hand it in against another.

I know there are not only fords out there that are great on Diesel but being having for for years its always the first choice.

 

9 hours ago, unofix said:

Well it just so happens I've a Ecosport 1.5 petrol for sale 😉

I'd sooner walk, oh the shame 🤣

If you can find one go the classic route, it'll keep you busy 🤣

10 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

To be fair, not really comparing apples and apples there, though, Tom. Don't remember the 2.0 ST Fiesta ever being noted for economy and my earlier 309GTI certainly liked a drink - can't imagine the 16v being any better.

If just looking at an economical second car, I've been very impressed with the Seat Mii (VW Up! clone) my Mrs has had for almost 8 years now. Her usage is almost all short trips of a couple of miles and her mpg is still usually 50+. Cheap tax also, but of course nowadays that's often down to when a car's first registered and you need to check it out before buying. (Narks me that at the last renewal the Mii was £20 while my Fiesta which is lower CO2 was £150!😠).

 

Fair point...  But I've never had a 'boring' petrol long term in this location...  Just couldn't justify ~35mpg and £200 tax for something without the torque of a diesel or the fun of a 'GTI' spec.   When I lived out in the stix, having to drive ~15 miles to town, college or Tesco, let alone anywhere else, the difference was obviously larger.  2.0 HDI would easily do 55+mpg.  1.4 (75ps) petrol would do 45mpg.  1.8 (112bhp) petrol would do 35mpg and the 2.0 GTi6 would do 27mpg.  All 306s for an easy comparison.  Then I got the taste for diesel & VNT boost with the 1.9 PD Golf...couldn't get that under 60mpg no matter how I drove, haven't had a petrol daily since!  

The ST150 actually wasn't bad on fuel, presumably due it's lack of weight.  My Dad had the same engine in a Mk3 Mondeo which drank almost as much as his previous 2.5 V6!  Though he does only do stop start town driving...and I did try to explain that that swap would be pointless for him at the time as well!  He's now gone back to a 2.5 V6 4WD in an X Type...mpg is not much different to the 2.0, though the tax is eye-watering!

You're absolutely right about small petrols doing super MPG.  No experience with a Mii, but C1/107 and Swift will both easily do 50+mpg as well.  If you're not interested in power or space, and don't want specific extras or a premium interior, they'd be a much better option than a diesel Fiesta for town driving.

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Fair point...  But I've never had a 'boring' petrol long term in this location...  Just couldn't justify ~35mpg and £200 tax for something without the torque of a diesel or the fun of a 'GTI' spec.   When I lived out in the stix, having to drive ~15 miles to town, college or Tesco, let alone anywhere else, the difference was obviously larger.  2.0 HDI would easily do 55+mpg.  1.4 (75ps) petrol would do 45mpg.  1.8 (112bhp) petrol would do 35mpg and the 2.0 GTi6 would do 27mpg.  All 306s for an easy comparison.  Then I got the taste for diesel & VNT boost with the 1.9 PD Golf...couldn't get that under 60mpg no matter how I drove, haven't had a petrol daily since!  

The ST150 actually wasn't bad on fuel, presumably due it's lack of weight.  My Dad had the same engine in a Mk3 Mondeo which drank almost as much as his previous 2.5 V6!  Though he does only do stop start town driving...and I did try to explain that that swap would be pointless for him at the time as well!  He's now gone back to a 2.5 V6 4WD in an X Type...mpg is not much different to the 2.0, though the tax is eye-watering!

You're absolutely right about small petrols doing super MPG.  No experience with a Mii, but C1/107 and Swift will both easily do 50+mpg as well.  If you're not interested in power or space, and don't want specific extras or a premium interior, they'd be a much better option than a diesel Fiesta for town driving.

I looked and test drove a C1 condition wise it was mint. Full DSH but he wanted £6.3k for it on a 16 plate low miles and I wasnt prepared to pay that. Offered him £6k with no partx and he wouldn't budge, so we walked away.

It's now still on trader a week later and been reduced to £5995.

28 minutes ago, Wino said:

I looked and test drove a C1 condition wise it was mint. Full DSH but he wanted £6.3k for it on a 16 plate low miles and I wasnt prepared to pay that. Offered him £6k with no partx and he wouldn't budge, so we walked away.

It's now still on trader a week later and been reduced to £5995.

Offer him £5.5k for a quick sale.  'Cash today'...   

Must admit, it always was difficult to know when to drop the price and when to stand firm as a seller...must be near impossible in the current situation.

Got to say for a very small car i do like the seat Mi then again i do like some cars seat have made.

Are the older ones just as good like the 2009 ones,i know a lot of people like larger cars but for me on my own and do very very local driving it does tick a lot of boxes.

3 hours ago, jace1969 said:

Got to say for a very small car i do like the seat Mi then again i do like some cars seat have made.

Are the older ones just as good like the 2009 ones,i know a lot of people like larger cars but for me on my own and do very very local driving it does tick a lot of boxes.

Don't think the Mii was out in 2009!  The problem you'll have with any of the VW superminis (Up!/Mii/CitiGo) is that they use a cambelt with a short interval (5 years iirc) so chances are it'll be due a belt change if buying around 10 years old.  The city bugs (Aygo/107/C1) have a chain driven Jap engine which doesn't need a belt change.  But the clutches are fairly weak, so you'd probably be looking at one of those by 10 years old.  Nowadays, it's maintenance costs that makes 10 year old cars much less of a financial benefit than they used to be.

If you are thinking about an Aygo then check out the rear visibility, especially over your left shoulder.

We had some newer ones as pool cars and I found the rear visibility very poor because there is not a lot of glass at the rear sides. The older ones may be better.

Just now, Tizer said:

If you are thinking about an Aygo then check out the rear visibility, especially over your left shoulder.

We had some newer ones as pool cars and I found the rear visibility very poor because there is not a lot of glass at the rear sides. The older ones may be better.

Tbh, there's very little rear visibility in anything nowadays...even the Mk7 Fiesta was pretty awful.  And after many years of large rear screens on Golf's, the Mk8 Golf is ridiculously small!  Rear parking sensors and even a rear cam are almost a necessity on a lot of modern stuff to avoid reversing over short people...

6 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Don't think the Mii was out in 2009!  The problem you'll have with any of the VW superminis (Up!/Mii/CitiGo) is that they use a cambelt with a short interval (5 years iirc) so chances are it'll be due a belt change if buying around 10 years old.  

Yes, you're right - production started late 2011 so realistically first here were 2012.

There's a lot of conflicting info on the Up/Citigo/Mii cambelt change with some sources saying it lasts for life and different info from VW and Skoda even though it's the same engine. General consensus seems to be 50-60k or 5 years but we stretched it (not literally) to 7 on the Mrs's before I had it done by the local garage for around £300. The water pump is at the other end of the engine so doesn't need changing at the same time as the belt, though it seems a lot of main dealers try it on and say it's recommended to do it with the belt change (which is true for most VW engines).

5 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Tbh, there's very little rear visibility in anything nowadays...even the Mk7 Fiesta was pretty awful. 

Mk 8 Fiesta is just as bad. I thought the camera seemed ridiculous on a small car when I ordered it (it was a cheap option then) but I've been glad I went for it.

Back to the Up! etc - visibility is excellent all round with good sensible mirrors. No need for sensors and cameras there!

Finally found a cheap daily in good condition. Non Ford though with good MOT history (no faliures). 1 owner from new, FDSH and 38k on the clock.

 

 

 

 

That picture makes it look like a marshmallow eating tomato 🤣

probably cheaper to feed than using petrol

1 minute ago, unofix said:

That picture makes it look like a marshmallow eating tomato 🤣

probably cheaper to feed than using petrol

Lol. Felt weird driving a petrol after yrs of diesels.

£30 almost filled from empty, just not sure when I'll be driving the Focus next, probably have to make an excuse on Monday, lol.

Settled into it's new home......