Random question - given petrol prices, license costs, tax - what are best bets for a used car purchase from here?

[Werewolf1976]

Thought this might be a fun topic

- Assume you live within the M25

- Budget of 10k GBP or less

- Reasonable bang for buck (4 doors, crashability, driving experience, running costs, insurance, MOT, road tax)

 

[Mossypossy]

Honda Jazz. I have the "Sport" version. Mostly cosmetic.

Huge cargo for a small car. Excellent crashability with lots of safety systems like auto collision detection. Driving experience is mildly amusing if you use flappy paddle mode, but mostly the idea is to extract as many mpg as possible (62mpg on a 30 mile commute). Low insurance as it is an old persons car, lowish road tax £165 (1500cc). 

You either have a frugal car and drive accordingly or you have a fast car and drive accordingly. I had 340bhp in the Lexus and now I have 130bhp. Double the mpg is the price to pay for loss of horses.

 

[Anevb]

I would go for another Honda - Civic 1.8i Manual from 2013-16. Running costs will be slightly higher than a Jazz but is more fun to drive and it has loads of space too.

[MartinH]

An interesting byway for this forum! I rented a current model Honda Civic in Portugal recently. It was OK, with lots of the electronic toys people want now, and of course loads of space in back for son's enormous mountain bike. Economy not wildly impressive at 37mpg though.

What about Toyota Yaris? Makes sense to me... if only it didn't have such a dreary interior.

[Anevb]

The normal Yaris is a little too slow for my taste. I would love to own the GR Yaris and keep it forever but it's quite a bit more than £10k 😀.

 

[Mossypossy]

Just peaked at 70mpg on my 30 mile commute today in the Jazz. Best yet. Maybe the hot weather was good for it. Air con switched off.

Hypermiling can actually be fun. Build up the speed slowly but then keep the momentum thru the corners. Try not to use the brakes.

[Malc]

given petrol prices, license costs, tax -

methinks an older Ls400   ...... economy up to around 30mpg on a run, low road tax and cheap insurance too for limited miles per annum .....  and tiny tiny servicing and maintenance costs too usually coupled with supreme comfort and reliability and " presence "

OR maybe a Yaris or Aygo ....... if you've got capital to spend willy nilly  

Malc

[Kijan]

I find mileage of GS 450h very good but I enjoy steady ride and I get about 40mpg+ from every tank (right now I usually start from ecu showing ~830 km left once I fill tank fully). Sum it up with cheap tax and hassle free service and it would be hard to beat.

Same time I know I'm not matching your considerations of 10k entry point 🙂