We are currently looking for a 2nd car.

We love our current car, a citroen kombi, but averages 9.5/10.5km per tank. Its fine for me to do my shopping and taxing kids, also perfect for family days out, i can make 1 tank last 1 month.

But hubby would drive 100km a day and with a car that drinks that much it would drink a tank a week, so he is looking for a small, steady car that can handle motorway driving in all conditions, but does not drink like a horse.

Anyone can recommend any makes/models? What do other families have a going to work cars? We are also on a budget and would be looking to buy a recent but not new. I know hubby hates Alfa romeo, otherwise he open to any recommendations.

Thanks in advance for any help.

9.5 average is not that bad for large petrol car. But if you are traveling often, cheapest solution probably will be 1.4/1.9 SDI Seat Ibiza or Cordoba. They are very cheap compared to a VW but are as good and reliable as a VW.

If it's the Ibiza it has 3 cyl engine that gets something like crazy 3.5/4 l per 100 km highway. The cordoba is 4 cyl but gets almost same mileage. I had a 1,9 cordoba and with 1 tank I could go 1200 km highway without problem or 800 city.

Only issue is diesel can be very expensive to maintain and to repair if something goes wrong.

And if you search for a petrol you won't find anything that gets better than 5.5/6 l on the highway so your save will be minimal and almost not worth it to get a 2nd car.

Look at a small Diesel car, like a Polo BlueMotion.

Yes it is. Modern engines, such as the VW FSI/TFSI ones with variable direct fuel injection, should be able to do much better than that. A normal 2 litre family car should be down at 7 or 8 (I've averaged almost exactly 10 in my 3.6 litre 300PS Passat over 75000km, but then that's definitely not 'normal').

I broadly agree with the rest of what you say - but if cost is the main criteria, then even the smaller diesels will only be cheaper if you're doing a lot of driving and you keep them for several years.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...esel-cars.html (UK figures, of course, but the fuel price difference is similar to here, I think).

I'd look out for a Golf or similar (i.e. Seat or Skoda versions). The current crop of VW group petrol engines are mostly brilliant, with much higher power outputs and much lower fuel consumption than anyone would have thought possible even just a decade or so ago.

Yes for the newer version, let's not forget TSI FSI are much newer technology and still keep the prices up on the used market, OP already said they look something cheap. I don't think a used 2009- VW or Skoda will fit the bill there. Plus, as you said, with the TSI averaging only 1/2 liter per 100km better will not change anything especially not to buy a 20k+ used car.

The new diesel engine in the new Passat will average 3.0 liter on the highway, but it will cost 40/50k to buy new.

So when you think about it, 9/10 liter is not that a lot for older petrol wagon which is far more reliable than a diesel of that age and cost less to maintain. One trouble with a used diesel and all of your savings will go out to the repair or even more.

Out current family car is a 3 liter citroen C5, petrol, so yeah it probably drinks above average because of its engine size. It also only likes 98, we tried 95 and it really did not run well.

2nd car is a must for us, well i must be mobile, we live in a tiny village were the is no shop even for just butter a milk, me and the boys would be completely isolated if we didn't have the car, we do not use it every day, but for sure 2 or 3 times a week.

I love seat's too, you just confirmed they are a good choice, although it is hubby who has to love it too. I do not think hubby wants diesel though, so we looking for petrol.

We also toying with the idea of going into a garage, giving in our citroen and buy 2 new ones, but i do not see the point of giving in a car that is reliable, comfortable and we love.

I found buying the 1st car overwhelming, i cannot believe i am embarking in the a similar journey again LOL

I've driven the ultra-efficient FSI/TFSI VAG cars as well as the Alfa/Fiat groups 1.4 multiair whilst searching for my daily commuter. The outcome was that they all just felt a little too weedy and unsatisfying, they're fine for cruising along the highway and giving reasonable figures but for hilly terrain and safely overtaking I found them lacking. Adding superchargers, turbochargers etc.. to assist a small engine still doesn't change the fundementals of engine size = power. So in the end I just went with tried and tested German diesel.

With a tank size of 66 litres that works out at about 6.6 litres per km...

Yes, I can see how that can be a bit of a bind. Especially if the nearest petrol station is 11km away...

Even my Espace gets better economy than that. But only just.

Yes, this is common with modern eco boxes - they work well at constant throttles, and on flat terrain. But the economy plummets as soon as you introduce some variety into your journey. My "old" Skoda Fabia with a previous generation 1.4 turbo diesel would score 65mpg (combined) with a full load and on the motorway. However, as soon as I hit Switzerland, the economy plummeted to 40mpg...

Better to go for a larger engine, with good torque figures. Torque (and kerb weight of the vehicle) are the stats to look for.

I had a Peugeot 206 2 litre turbo-diesel a few years ago. Enormous fun to drive, and ~6.5 l per 100 km - mixture of urban and autobahn. (I now have an XC70 D5 - 205hp, 7l/100km on the autobahn, 10l/100km urban).

ha, diesel drivers. All torque.

LOL at myself, had to read this a few times to spot my mistake, blond moment over .
Obviously what i meant to say is my current car averages 9.5/10.5 liters per 100km.

Martha, I have a Mini Cooper S which although very practical, is a fun car to drive and has averaged 14km per litre from new in October 2010. Its done 27k and is for sale at CHF 22,500. This is a link if you're interested: http://www.autoscout24.ch/Search/Det...1&vehid=992449

Des225

Whilst the Cooper S is a nice and fun car, calling it very practical is probably somewhat of a stretch...

Oh and by the way, you may want to move your sales ad to the for sale section. Naughty Naughty...

Thanks Jako, more practical than you might expect. However, fair comment on the ad.

Wazzat? km/litre now?? what's that in litres per 100km??

Can't you do sums? (and that's an easy one, no?)

As it happens, I've always felt that km/l (or mpg) is a much more useful measure to have in mind, when you're asking yourself how far you can get on the quarter tankful left, or how much you need to put in an empty tank to get you to a certain destination and back.

whoever thought of the l/100km as a measure was surely some sort of weirdo.

But a consistent weirdo. To add a third measure of fuel consumption is more than confusing - and like Celsius, I just learned to forget MPG and now think only in litres/100km.

14km per litre is 100/14 = 7.14 l/100km and poor for a small car...