I'm planning to buy a second-hand car as my first car with a budget of around 15k.
Location: Sydney - Inner west suburbs.
Could someone please suggest the top 5 fuel efficient/Low maintenance cars.
EDIT: Sedan only.
Top 5 Fuel Efficient Cars
SydOzber on 16/08/2015 - 00:22
Last edited 16/08/2015 - 11:21
Last edited 16/08/2015 - 11:21
Comments
15k? Buy a brand new kia rio, 3dr. 7 year warranty. Also with about 3-4k more you can get a bnerw cerato. Mitsubishi lancers are very old Models you can get one bnew for 16-17k
Should've mentioned that.. am keen only on Sedan.
How many klm/year do you drive?
If not many it may be more efficient to drive a good condition 6 cyl and have $10k in your pocket.I've had the same commodore for at least 5 years now, 2 new tires and a set of front brake pads is all it has cost mechanically, drives like new, presents in very good condition given its age.
It does Bris/Syd 3x a year and 400klm every week no problems at all.have $10k in your pocket ?
op's $15k - 8 to 10 year old well maintained commy @ $5k = $10k in pocket
10 year old car will not doubt have problems down the track which will need attention. so that 10k will no doubt be thrown back into the car.
also not very fuel efficient as requested.@Hotkolbas:
Like I said 5 years on all I have had to do is pads and tyres and that's pretty much been the same with every 10 year old car I have bought in the last 20 years and would be the same with a new car as well.The secret is to buy a bog standard one with low klms for its age, well maintained and a service history, not a flogged out boy racers drift car.
As for fuel did you miss the part where I have $10k in my pocket?
i was going to suggest similar, people think its best to spend more and get good fuel economy - or pay $3000 for a diesel motor on the car and then sell the car after 3 years - $3k is a lot of fuel…
same with people buying $50000 electric cars when they could buy a similar vehicle using fuel for $25K.
A cheap commodore is a bargain, fuel economy isnt horrible and the money saved buys a heap of fuel. insurance , parts and servicing is cheap as well.
$10k in pocket, or just happy to see you.
Go the commy :)
Lol
Prius C - good car, about 3.9L per 100km.. or roughly $40 for a tank of fuel that will last you about 3-4 weeks, depending on mileage you drive. We've had about 3 years with no issues or problems maintenance. You can get some in 15k range (2012 model). Friends have a Camry hybrid which they love as well and good economy if you need a bigger car look at that model.
How much do the batteries cost to replace on that 2012 prius or 2010 camry?
they use eneloops. wait for a deal.
think about $2500-3500. At the moment the prius taxis are getting them changed around the 400,000 - 500,000 mark i think. Some people have reported issues between 175,000 + km mark too.
I thought it was 6000+ for a new battery
The battery warranty depends on country, but in Australia it's 8 years or 160,000km.
The battery is usually never "replaced" in full. Faulty cells from certain blades are replaced and repacked at much lower cost than throwing out the entire unit and putting in a new one.
Cost doesn't matter when you never need to replace them!
Toyota has replaced ONE set of batteries in Australia under warranty.
I've owned a prius for 7 years, no issues. Battery as good as it was when new (fuel eco the same the entire life of the car, rising fuel eco can be a sign of a bad battery). Now onto a camry and just as good! No complaints.
You know your question is like saying how much will your automatic transmission cost to be replaced in your car?
Or have you factored in how much the brickwork will cost to replace on your house!?
Should've mentioned that.. am keen on Sedan only
… yes efficient, but it's a Prius. There's a (negative) stigma attached to drivers of Prius', as being slow grannies of boring vehicles.
Nothing personal, but that's just the case. If you don't care about what others think, the Prius would probably meet your fuel-efficiency needs in my opinion.
A relative bought a Prius C and regularly achieves 3.7L/100km in winter and slightly more in summer. He tried driving really gently at first, and then started to drive 'normally' with quick starts off the line and not trying to coast to traffic lights. Economy dropped by only 0.1L/100km versus 'granny' driving.
Like I've said, it's a stigma… as in just a perception. Doesn't mean it's true.
Just watch their faces when you beat them at the start of the lights. Let see who gets the last laugh.
Not sure if mocking or being serious…
…but the idea of a serious driver in a prius is funny
Then after less than 4 yours a valve needs replacing and you're up for $2000 to fix it. I wouldn't do it again. Great fuel economy, but all lost in one small but ridiculously expensive fault.
And its just come down in price by another $1000 too. $13999
suzuki mightboy 600cc
yes, saw one of these beasts today, havent seen one for years.
Beats me why people ask questions like this on a site like this when 3 minutes Googling will find out the answers from people who actually know. Such as this, on fuel economy:
http://www.carsguide.com.au/car-reviews/the-most-efficient-c…
Thinking the same since now a days no one knows anything, yet you can get the answer in seconds!
It's easier if people do the research for you.
As shaybisc has proven.
Go a diesel Volkswagen Jetta, cheap price because it is a Jetta and most people only know of the Volkswagen Golf. 2012 onwards they are value for money. Have a look around at the auctions if you are looking to save some real money as many are used for company lease cars, they will have leather, park assist, sat nav and when I worked at Volkswagen they were always serviced properly, none of that small workshop $2 per ltr engine oil.
This is why people ask on forums like this, you can't get this type of information from a Google search.when I worked at Volkswagen they were always serviced properly, none of that small workshop $2 per ltr engine oil."
You assume that every Jetta was serviced by a VW dealership and at the one you worked at in particular.
"This is why people ask on forums like this, you can't get this type of information from a Google search"
Great if you believe everything you read on the internet put up by anonymous posters.
I was referring to company lease cars. But thank you for your useless contribution
I have no problem with people asking things you can google. I just meant it is usually what most do now a days. Not everything you read on the net is true correct, plus real life experiences and other's opinions can be quite useful. Not understanding why you would criticize someone trying to give advice. We aren't all like that.
TRUE!
REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES!
I guess that's what the OP wants or whoever asks questions that you can easily get on Google :)
Forget the sedan, buy a Suzuki Swift. Cheapest to own and maintain in it's class. It's important to look at maintenance and resale value. All well and good to look at a Prius, until you see the servicing costs and the resale value.
Also, what sort of driving do you do OP? Some cars will be better on the open road but not stop-start. Some cars with engine stop functionality will be ok in stop start traffic if you're actually going to utilise that function.
IE New Mazda 3 has a lower combined fuel economy because of the stop-start technology, but if you're just doing highway k's, it won't mean a thing to you.
Also some combined fuel economy figures are totally bogus and you wouldn't achieve it in the real world.
To summarise, all we have to work on is that you want a sedan, within a budget, and cheap to own and run. You haven't told us desired size, how old you want the car to be, it's desired purpose, how many people it needs to fit, nothing. So are we supposed to help you properly?
How old : <3 years
How many people : 4 adults
Desired purpose: Use it over the weekends.Use it over the weekends.
Would you even notice a difference of say 2L/100km then? If the car is doing 10,000km/year, and average fuel price of $1.50/L (worst case scenario), and let's go with 6L/100 vs 8L/100 between 2 cars, car A will cost $900/year in fuel, car B will cost $1200/year. But on a weekly amount, that's $5.77/week difference. Looking at a Commodore for example, and lets go with 10L/100km depending on driving, that will cost you $11.54/week more than the 6L/100k car, but likely to have more space, more comfort, more power, cheaper parts, and more likely to go over 250,000km on the engine than the European car with 6L/100km economy.
Some people get so focused on the figures, without taking into account the bigger picture.
I agree with Spackbace.
If you are using a car mainly over the weekends and don't plan on high km's, then getting a fuel efficient car should be the lowest priority on your list.
Reason being on the used car market you actually pay a premium for cars with good economy but if you are doing low km's then you will never realise that as a gain for the extra money you initially paid.You should be more concerned with: Condition of car/km's on the clock, service history, safety, reliability, service costs, passenger comfort.
just dont have a bump that the air bags go off as the swift will be written off by insurance (thats what a panel beater told me when I asked about small cars in accidents)
Same with a lot of cars with air bags ;) With 6-7 of them, gets pretty costly replacing them!
he was saying that the airbag damages a lot of the car in the swift (cracks wind screen down near the bottom), its not just the bag replacement.
good looking cars though and nice to drive.
These are the most efficient non hybrid cars in Australia
Mini Cooper D (3/5 door)
Audi A1 1.6TDI
Fiat 500 TwinAir Cabrio
Fiat 500 TwinAir Hardtop
Audi A3 1.6TDI
Citroen C4 e-HDi
Mercedes-Benz A200 CDI
Peugeot 2008 1.6 e-HDiBut spackbace has it right. For weekend driving, get a car that does what you want rather than because its fuel efficient. Fuel use will mean nothing. All of the above cars are diesel, so you probably have to spend an extra $100 pa in servicing (or more). Depreciation, insurance, servicing all have the potential to cost more than the fuel saving
And why do you want a sedan? They don't have bigger boots, usually, and they are harder to find
The Swift is a good choice, also the Jazz. The current Polo and Mazda 2 are good but not sure about second hand value
Larger cars like the older Mazda 3, the Cerato, i30, even the humble Corolla are good as well.
missus is keen on sedan.
Well, sedan rules out pretty much all of the 'city' cars. So you are looking at Mazda 3, Corolla, Octavia (slightly bigger), focus, Cerato, Impreza or Elantra - all have sedan versions. Unless you want to go bigger again, like the Honda Accord (Accord Euro is a great smallish sedan, pretty stylish, not sure if its in your price and age range)
Of those, I would put the Accord at no 1; but if you wanted smaller/cheaper then head to the Corolla or Mazda 3 first; then the Cerato.
The Prius/Prius C isn't a bad car. Well, the Prius drives terribly but it is spacious. The taxi drivers much prefer the C to the standard Prius
Although diesel cars are more fuel efficient, they're also more expensive to maintain and usually more expensive to buy.
So there's probably an overall saving if you do a lot of driving, but less or not at all if you're only an occasional driver.
do not buy a peugeot. they are the worst cars known to man.
have you looked at second hand euro cars. they lose a lot of value in the first 3 years of their life and resale value is crap. which is good if you happy to have a second hand car.
There's a reason why European second hand cars plummet in value towards the end of the warranty period. Some buyers become very nervous about part and repair costs. As the car starts to develop expensive faults all that money you've saved by driving a 1.6L TDI car goes up in flames. Never again (speaking from personal experience).
Just look at trade-in prices. No dealer wants to put a warranty on an out-of-factory-warranty Euro (or Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge for that matter).
4 Adults, needing sorta decent fuel economy, low-cost maintenance, relatively new..
Me too in the same situation. currently have Yr 2000 camry v6 Auto. drives nice never had any major issues.. but can hardly get 650 Kms per tank full. I am driving mainly hume hwy.(done about 100,000 ks last 2 and half yrs.) So is it worth to keep my camry or get something used i30 or cruze diesel auto. not sure.. looking into carsales for last couple of months.. Please suggest
Depend on what you 'really' want. Sell your Camry and you might get $2k. Buy another car for $8k and you have spent $6k more already - takes a long time to recover that in fuel.
on the other hand, you have a new(ish) car.
If you are wanting a new car, then a diesel sounds like a good choice for you. If you just want to save money, buying a new (even second hand) car is rarely going to save you money.
For long highway drives I would look at something other than the small cars you mentioned (and not the cruze at all). Check out the Mondeo TDCi, for example (MC if you can stretch to it). Its bigger but much more comfy. Or a 'falcon on gas' (LPG tanks). Or a Skoda Superb diesel. All are good cars that are unloved and can be picked up fairly cheap.
You can prove the Prius stigma wrong by driving it like a regular car. The Prius is surprisingly quick off the line up to 60-70kph (which is what you'll ever need in Sydney streets) because of the torque while still getting great fuel economy. Data from Fuelly:
Golf diesels:
http://www.fuelly.com/car/volkswagen/golf?engineconfig_id=50…Golf blue motion:
http://www.fuelly.com/car/volkswagen/golf?engineconfig_id=&b…Prius:
http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/priusMy Prius:
http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius/2007/jondael/126507I'd get one of those $10-15k 2nd hand low-mileage (sub 150K) Prius.
I travel 50km/day (not counting weekends) (between 1,100 and 1,200 kms / 45 liter tank). I spend $140/month on petrol (V-Power).
So in a year, I spend $1,680 as petrol cost.
If i had a normal car that uses 8L/100kms, I'll be saving twice the amount of petrol per yr. Assuming a conservative useful life of
say 5 years (I've had it since 2010), I've saved $8,400 in petrol cost vs $16,800 petrol cost in a normal car for 5 yrs doing the same
kilometers. So buying a $10K prius vs an $8k corolla or $13k golf for that matter, I'll still choose a cheap 2nd hand hybrid.It's the easiest and cheapest to service. No clutch to replace, no starter, brakepads last the life of the car. I only spend for oil, oil filter
sparkplugs when it's time to replace. Roughly around $150/service (10,000km or 6months interval).brakepads last the life of the car.
This is all assuming that once the batteries die, you pretty much just sell the car for scrap metal. The brakes still wear down, just nowhere near as badly as a standard car.
I guess some just cant be bothered can they thats why they just chuck them away. They just dont realise that theyve saved money already to cover for any HV battery-related expense. Batteries can be repaired or replaced easily. There are some cheap ones floating around salvage yards that are still good. It just so happened they got into an accident and not battery related. So even if the battery fails on me tomorrow, i know that im still $8,400 better off already (5 years in) than if my car was a regular one with lots of ancilliary parts to take into account in terms of maintenance.
Im now on 183,000km and im still getting really good fuel economy the day i got it (got it when it was at 67,000km). Pads are still 40% front , 60% rear. Oh, and no fanbelts to worry about as well.
The prius is really for high mileage drivers. You cant save money with them if your commute is just 10kms a day.
My point was your statement of saying the brakes last 'the life of the car' could be pretty deceptive to someone that didn't know any better. As I said, they wear but not as drastically as a standard car. So your 40% front pads should be up for replacement in about 60,000kms, or lets say before the car hits 250,000km. That's not 'the life of the car'.
thats pretty good mileage for your prius, Fuelly shows no-one else really getting that high, average low 40's. only two cars get your milage (yours is one)
Theres some basic and useful techniques to learn and practice in driving this particular hybrid which can be used for regular cars as well. It took me some time to get it but now it comes second nature. At first i was getting 4.4-4.9 in the first few months and steadily dropped it to where i am now. But the basic concept is learning how to use and conserve momentum without holding anyone back in traffic.
O master of the conservation of momentum, enlighten us…
No worries mate. I have 10 to start you off. I hope they help.
- Read up on "traffic waves"
- "Flatten hills" that is, accelerate going down, carry the speed going up, bleed off the speed as u approach the crest with minimal throttle input.
- Know your commute's traffic light sequence
- Know where the fastest lane usually is in your commute
- Take alternate routes. Learn new alternate routes. (I just leanred a new one today!)
- No jackrabbit starts between short stoplights. (Related to #3 and #9)
- "Driving without brakes". Feel free to carry a little more speed through a corner with safety in mind.
- Only use cruise control on flat and slightly downhill stretches. Not going up big hills. (Related to #2)
- Accelerate briskly to desired speed (about 50% of your car's ability) if you know that you will still maintain that speed for a long stretch of road.
- Feel free to change lanes sensibly and when safe to do so. (Related to #4)
4 bicycles. Boom!
ive been looking for a car for that price range as well that is fuel efficient and fairly roomy.
Have you checked out the Mitsubishi ASX? you can get them for around 15k for 2010-2012 models. Not a sedan but a small SUV so its pretty roomy and got some good space.CVT - For city driving you'd be amazed how thirsty they can be!
Lots. Of people are suggesting vw golf and jetta but are they cheap to maintain?
They are cheap to maintain as long as you dont take it to a Volkswagen dealership, you can cheaply buy the parts from www.imparts.com.au.
While under warranty sure
An indication of real costs from an Ozbargain member.
So my car is a Volkswagen R36. A costly car to fix if anything goes wrong, and behold, my DSG and Steering Rack needed replacements. Circa $8000.
Has someone mentioned Falcodore on LPG?
Seems to be mentioned on Whirlpool a far bit.
The thought is that the Falcon/Commodore are cheaper to buy, LPG making them cheap to run, and parts,service and insurance all cheaper.
It is looking at the total cost of owning rather than just picking the car that is lightest on fuel.
Few of my friends have camry hybrid
Pros:
Large and comfortable sedan
Cheap on fuel ~5L/100km on HW and ~7L/100km city
Large tank- easily goes >900km per tank
Electronics- lots of them, includes keyless entry and push start button. Can keep the key in pocket the whole time from entry to exit the car.
New shape- makes the last gens depreciates.
More power than regular camry.
Very reliable and cheap to maintainCons
It's a toyota
May be difficult to get a decent one for <15k for < 3 years
"Cab" car- for good reasons- fuel economy, reliability and comfort.Older camrys (2010 onwards) still a good buy, and aged pretty well. I felt that larger cars tends to age better than smaller car, and way- way more comfortable to ride in. Might be hard if you have never experienced it, but once you go large, theres no going back. (currently driving a 2012 aurion, like a boss)
The front end of the car is slightly ugly though that is a con as well.
Google?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorzelany/2014/02/05/cars-tha…
http://www.automotive.com/best-and-worst-cars/
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/05/best-worst-fuel-e…