The absolute cheapest cars to run (antidote to financed moderns)

[Matt]

In the Finance repo's thread we talked about how people are paying out the nose and often more than they can actually afford to own a car the only novelty of which is that it is new. This thread is an antidote to that, and a bit of a game. What I want you to do is think of what the absolute cheapest, every expense considered, ways to enjoy* four wheeled, roofed motoring are and then go and find an example for sale then post a link here. Vegetarians can be included but cost of equipment and oil has to be considered.

 

Purchase cost

Insurance

Tax

Fuel efficiency

Repairs

[Ghosty]

http://autoshite.com/topic/21746-wbod-%C2%A3250-fife/

[skattrd]

See 320touring's veg burning skoda taxi ... Cheap as chips

[Junkman]

Peugeot 405. You even get 20p back. Check handbrake mechanism.

[scaryoldcortina]

I think the doomrover is going to prove difficult to beat.

 

Purchase cost - Nil. I was given it because OMGHGF was due to happen

Insurance - Nil. I just updated the MID with the details because trade policy

Tax - Nil. It's got Mrs S's Disabled disk on it.

Fuel efficiency - About 40mpg

Repairs - In almost 20k it's had the exhaust welded, two tyres and a set of front brake pads. And about a pint of water a week, and a MoT (it had 11 months when I got it)

[Timewaster]

Cheapest thing I ever ran was a Rover 115 Kensington.

 

Cost £50.

A little patch and discs & pads for mot.

Mpg in the 50s at least.

Tax was cheap. Insurance was buttons.

Smell of wet dog.

Looked shit. Embarrassing to be seen in.

So many bits missing - trim etc. I think someone had begun to break it!

Driven for 6 months and sold on for £350.

[Lacquer Peel]

My Volvo V70 TDi cost a Nissan Vanette plus some cash, it's needed a wheel bearing and timing belt. It runs on fuel that costs 0-30p a litre and plods along reliably and comfortably with minimal maintenance, though the horrible minging wheels and rear brakes need attention now, as well as the ticking tappets.

They are well-made, well-engineered cars with no major flaws.

[twosmoke300]

Saxo /106 d I reckon .

Or maybe a fiesta . Not fantastic on fuel but parts are just soo cheap for them

[mouseflakes]

^ Agree.

 

https://www.gumtree.com/p/peugeot/pug-106-/1133599620

[LabRat]

1.3 skoda Felicia. Totally povvo spec with no power steering or and creature comforts. Given to me because the previous owner changed jobs and wanted something posher, so bought an Aldi A2

 

In 2 years of back and forth over the woodhead pass for work it cost me £15 for a radiator.

 

Averaged high 30s on the fuel

 

Cost next to nothing to insure.

 

Could be fixed with blu tack and broken dreams if necessary. Built like a small tank too, or at least felt like it!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[twosmoke300]

Cheapest car I've run has been a vectra dti estate . Bought with 113k on for 800 quid . Sold 6 years later with 165k on for 600 . Needed 1 caliper and some pads , injector seals and a brake pipe . Did 45mpg local 50 on a run . Carried and towed no end of shit moving house or camping holidays in Scotland

[320touring]

See 320touring's veg burning skoda taxi ... Cheap as chips

So far:

 

Purchase in June with MOT til Dec £200

service kit and brake pads £60

tuning cable and software £13.59

wipers £14

road tax £130/12 months

WVO water butt and filters £15

 

subtotal £432.59

 

miles travelled 3319

average mpg 61.04

fuel cost £147 running on WVO with diesel at about 10%

 

fuel cost per mile 4.4p

 

other costs 13p per mile (will drop as mileage increases)

 

 

 

Its going to get a once over tomorrow to see if it'll be recieving any more spend before its mot runs out.

 

then off to york on Fri to GLF. 474 mile round trip (£21 total for WVO)

[hairnet]

madness

 

civic has been cheap

 

530 to buy minus 200ish that we got for fiesta

 

mot 30

 

4 wiper blades at 3 quid a go from wilko

 

20 quid recon starter off ebay cos he listed it wrongly/bought the wrong one double whammy - 20 to fit

 

oil change 15 for bits 10 to do at garage

 

battery 30 quid as the orig died due to being stood when car bought

 

set of plugs 12 quid two tyres at 30 quid a go

 

its done 10k 2 trackdays and a trip to holland and france in two and a half years and does about 40/42 mpg

 

oil brake and belt change on monday

 

not done bad

[robinmasters]

I've just spent the best part of an hour going through invoices, and in the five years I've owned it my XUD ZX had cost precisely £1,280.72, or £21.51 per month. That doesn't include MOT fees, just the cost of any work, insurance (£not much), or fuel (40mpg if you thrash it, 50mpg is theoretically possible).

[HH-R]

Renault Laguna II 1.9 dCi.

[wuvvum]

My diesel AX wasn't a bad contender.  Paid 150 quid for it with several months' T&T, spent nothing on it apart from a grand total of £7.87 on an oil change (£3.87 for a filter and a gallon of special offer Tesco 15W40 diesel oil for 4 quid), and it returned 70mpg on the commute to work, and made it to my aunt's in Somerset and back with no issues, even hitting an indicated 96mph on the M4.  Great little car, sadly when the MOT expired it needed too much work to be worth sorting.

[Sloth in a bowl]

For ultimate cheapness, you need the cms206 finance package where other people buy your raffle tickets for you.

[Junkman]

I'm still convinced that any car one owns that's paid for and works, even if just about, is the cheapest car to run.

[MarvinsMom]

god, i thought the metro was a cheap thing to run, but i cannot get close to any of these.

 

cost- was i recall £600.

insurance- £100 mark each year

tax- £140 i think this year

MGP- around 50mpg, though last year going down to peterborough i did hit 65mpg....

repairs-dunno, i know i've spent too much over the last 4 and 1/2 years but that is cos i let it get under my skin....

 

most bits are cheap though since many of the oilly bits are the same as a real mini (been an austin metro)

 

i do love it though, its been and still is a fine wee car.

[tooSavvy]

Well, the Savv was [almost] cheapest cash new then.

 

If you fitted it with 4x 'skinny spare wheels' it could look like an Axiam.. so pretty much still cheapest.

 

Runs on fairydust too!

 

 

TS

[dollywobbler]

An easy one for me. Perodua Nippa. £300 to buy, £85 for an MOT, less than £20 to service. Does over 50 mpg. Cheap road tax, absolutely sod all equipment to go wrong. Not what you'd call a comfy cruiser though.

[lisbon_road]

My Mk3 Astra cost £700 nine years ago.  It gets a consistent 42 mpg on lpg at 49-58p/litre depending where I get it.  I've done 90K miles in it, and it is still very clean. 

 

All running costs have been low though I have arguably spent more on it that I need to as it is a hobby.

 

But I doubt anyone will beat me without doing something criminal.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Another vote for the 106 Diesel.

 

Purchase cost - sub £300 nowadays

Insurance cost - under £150 if you're my age

Tax - the lower (pre 2001) rate (unusual for a 90s diesel due to 1527cc..)

Fuel efficiency - 60mpg

Repairs - very straightforward.  The scrap yards are full of them still, so everything is buttons to buy and easy to find.

 

The big 'gotcha' with 90s Pugs is of course rear beam failure.  However, I've noticed IM Axles now knock out fully rebuilt assemblies for £225- bargain! 

[phil_lihp]

Citroen AX 1.0 - sips fuel, cheap parts, not too unreliable if looked after.  Still cheap to buy, too.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CITROEN-AX-1-0I-ELATION-RED-1995-WITH-1-2-A-TANK-OF-PETROL-/262037763851?hash=item3d02aaf70b

 

[Taff]

The F currently stands me at:-

 

Cost                      Ã‚£274

Insurance              Ã‚£218pa(this was from my previous car, simply replaced that one with the F. I notice others haven't included this figure)

Tax                       Ã‚£220pa

MoT                      £38

Tyres                    Ã‚£120 for 4

Belts                     Ã‚£220

ICE                       Ã‚£12

Oil change            Ã‚£17

Gaskets                £16

Exhaust                £39

Roof                     Ã‚£32

Total                     Ã‚£1206   

 

Fuel is about £200 a month. So £2400 a year.

 

That puts me ITRO £3606pa to run the F. Happy with that, I could do cheaper with a different motor but I enjoy driving the F.

 

I suppose to stack it up against a finance car, some of the above would be included while others wouldn't be.

 

edit to add,  looking at that list, I've realised that the next 12 months will be about £700 cheaper, which should cover the cost of doing the omghgf

[bub2006]

Another vote for the 106 Diesel.

 

Purchase cost - sub £300 nowadays

Insurance cost - under £150 if you're my age

Tax - the lower (pre 2001) rate (unusual for a 90s diesel due to 1527cc..)

Fuel efficiency - 60mpg

Repairs - very straightforward. The scrap yards are full of them still, so everything is buttons to buy and easy to find.

 

The big 'gotcha' with 90s Pugs is of course rear beam failure. However, I've noticed IM Axles now knock out fully rebuilt assemblies for £225- bargain!

Used im axles fir xsara. Good discount if you ask! Will use them again if the saxo beam gets much worse. Talking of saxo,it's a 2002 ad I paid 250 quid for it. It's a furio too so looks quiet smart. Average 42/44 mpg out of it knocking about and i don't exactly hang about. I see no point in getting credit on a car when 2 months payments would be what I paid for the saxo. I'm pretty certain I won't lose money either on it.

[mercrocker]

My economics all fall down on the constant expense of weldage.    I could break it down into pure running costs which are pretty reasonable but its impossible to distinguish between pure repairs and on-going improvements.   My cars (190E excepted)  require frequent body repairs which, even had they been fully restored, would still be required after a decade of continued all-year useage.

 

I still think I am "ahead" with a four-vehicle fleet all fully roadworthy and in constant use compared to the ownership of two normal second-hand used cars which over the last 12 years of my current lifestyle would probably have been replaced on at least one occasion each.  

 

On pure paper economics I reckon the 190E beats the Morrisssesss and the T25 for whole-life running cost but only because I am prepared to bin it at some stage.   However because this is Mrs Rockers car it gets an expensive annual going over at the local MB specialist which is a domestic agreement owing to having had all three of our other cars off the road at once on occasion. 

 

All of the economies I get with the other cars goes out of the window when I consider restoration work over the past two or three years - £2000 on the Minor, £1000 on the Cowley and £3000 on the T25.   They only get that when I have owned them so long that another vehicle would cost that anyway.    Which brings me to the point that you can only really add it all up when you have given up driving for good!

[John F]

My Calibra has cost me less than £2,000 for 10 years / 70,000 miles of motoring - this covers initial purchase, all consumables, repairs (not many tbh... one alternator, one fuel pump and a couple of wishbones) . Total does not cover insurance (under £100 per year) tax (£230 per year) and petrol @ 30-ish mpg.

 

And it'll do 150 mph.

 

1. 5. 0.

 

(In Germany, anyway)

 

[ShiteRider]

This bag of wank cost me three days of welding on a shitbox ducato camper (i'll value that at £300) . It needed an mot and VIC check, also needed a scrapyard axle chucking in ( probaly another £130-ish) .

It's done around 32,000 in the 26 months i've had it. The only additional costs have been one rear wheel bearing, rear cylinders + shoes, front discs and pads, and a couple of services (another £150 ish).

 

It returns high 30's mpg and has yet to let me down in any way......... Depressingly in real terms it's the best car i've got/had.

[Tartan58]

Because I am a bit of a sadcase nerd I have a spreadsheet that keeps a running total of the cost to run my car. It is a 2nd car so is only used for me getting to work and back (8 miles each way 4 days a week) and over the past year it was worked out at £187.77/month all in which is worryingly high.

 

However my nerdy spreadsheet also tells me how much I would need to sell the car on for to break even against having to get the bus and that is currently sitting at £579.59 which I reckon is achievable were I to sell up so I reckon I'm doing ok overall.

 

Interestingly I also did a comparison against buying a new Skoda Citigo on a 3 year PCP deal and it worked out as £189.57/month all in over 3 years.

 

Still the overall running cost of the streetwise will only go down over time as there were a lot of upfront costs (purchase, tax, tyres, exhaust etc. which still have a lot of life in them.)

 

Problem is I'm getting bored of it now so will probably end up selling it on and buying something more expensive which will loose more value quicker.

 

Hopefully I'll manage to hang on to it until the MOT is up in Feb then by the wonders of my spreadsheet it is projected to have cost me £120/month and I'd brake even if I could sell the car for £340 - (that's just 34 tickets at £10 each......)