The wise old adages for economical driving are familiar to most motorists: drive slower, avoid over-revving, check the air pressure in your tyres. But sometimes it's not your driving habits but your car that should be changed to make driving a little less heavy on your wallet.
Despite the fact that fuel prices are now falling, they are still fluctuating wildly so it's not easy to budget for car expenses; and, according to the AA, 45 per cent of motorists say their main motivation in choosing a new car is finding one that is cheaper to run.
Mark Huggins, chief executive of AA Personal Loans, says: 'The current financial climate is making people reconsider their options when buying a car, and looking for something cheaper to run is a good way for a family to economise.'
Meanwhile, new research from price comparison site uSwitch.com reveals that 77 per cent of motorists say the credit crunch will affect the choice of the next car they buy: they'll either not buy one at all, spend only around £3,000 on a second-hand one, or hold on to their current car for longer than planned -possibly sacrificing some safety for savings.
But some drivers are considering 'downsizing' their cars to more practical and affordable models. Zoe Cooper, an account executive from Brighton, switched her Volvo 1.8 estate to a much smaller 12-year-old Ford Fiesta with a 1.3 litre engine because she couldn't afford the running costs of the larger car.
'My insurance was about £800 a year on the Volvo; now it's £220 and it costs me around £35 to fill up with petrol when it was much more expensive with the Volvo,' she says. 'I drive 76 miles on the motorway for work every day and taking a train is just not an option because there aren't that many and weekly train tickets work out to be more expensive than my petrol costs.'
Another Observer reader from west London swapped his Porsche 911 Carrera 4S, which cost around £40,000, for a second-hand Volkswagen Golf GTi, which he bought for £12,000 nine months ago, to save money to help finance a major house refurbishment project. The Porsche used to cost him 'around £700' a month in overall costs (including car financing payments and insurance), £250-plus of which was going on petrol.
'It used to cost around £75 to fill up a full tank, and I wasn't getting very many miles out of it; I was filling up once or twice a week. With the expense of the house project, I realised I didn't need the expense of the car,' he says. 'But the Golf is much more practical. Day-to-day, it's really very cheap - everything from petrol to tyres is much cheaper, so the overall running costs are around a quarter of the Porsche's.'
So, if you want a more practical and efficient runabout, where should you start? 'It's not just the purchase cost of the car you need to consider,' says Will Thomas, head of car insurance at comparison site Confused.com. 'If you're on a budget, you have to consider a number of cars within that price range and compare their running costs, including insurance, petrol, road tax and maintenance.'
Thomas says you should always ask what insurance group the model of car you have in mind falls into, and always get an insurance quote to get an even more exact idea of how much your monthly outgoings will be.
'Your insurer will use the insurance group as an indication of how powerful the car is, how likely it is to be stolen and how expensive it is to repair,' he says. 'It's one of the factors that will have a bearing on how much insurance you will have to pay yourself.'
From next year, the road tax bands will change, so that drivers with low-emission cars will pay less tax than those with gas-guzzlers. If you drive an eco-car like a Seat Ibiza Ecomotive with emissions of less than 100 grams per kilometre, you will not have to pay any road tax. Low-emission cars (between 101-110g/km) such as the Toyota Aygo fall into band B and will cost £20 to tax from next year, instead of the current price of £35. From 2009, cars currently in band C will fall into a range of three new bands, which may offer buyers of certain models some advantages. For example, a Mini Cooper falls into band C this year, but band D (121-130g/km) next year, when it will cost £90 to tax, instead of £120.
From a practical point of view, Richard Headland, editor of Which? Car magazine, believes that if you and your family can manage with a small car, and a small engine, your costs will be considerably reduced. He says: 'Smaller cars, like superminis and hatchbacks, tend to be fuel-efficient and so they are cheaper to run, as well as being greener. You get lower fuel bills, running costs and emissions. You need to look at the reliability of the car also, since this will impact on cost. You have to ask yourself how much it will cost you if you are going to foot a repair bill yourself.'
According to the Which? Guide to Greener Driving, the Citroen C1, Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo are the best-value cars for drivers on a budget of up to £10,000. Basic new models start at around £6,995, and because these small 'superminis' are low-consumption and low-emitting - they all emit the same amount of carbon dioxide as a Toyota Prius hybrid, but cost half the price - you'll only pay £35 in road tax.
For a slightly higher budget of between £10,000 to £15,000, Headland recommends the Kia Cee'd and the Ford Fiesta. He says: 'The Kia is bargain-priced, but not downmarket, and the Fiesta is a very economical option.'
The Cee'd starts at £11,090 and comes with a seven-year warranty - four years longer than the standard warranty period on many new cars, so you don't have to worry about extra costs if something goes wrong.
If you snap up the 1.6 Ford Fiesta Econetic, which goes on sale for £11,845 at the end of the year, you will be exempt from road tax since it emits only 98g of carbon dioxide per kilometre, making it green and relatively affordable.
Medium-sized family cars such as the Toyota Prius or Volvo S40 are also cheaper to run and more environmentally friendly than MPVs, 4x4s and people carriers. Which? recommends the Prius as a 'practical family five-door'. Although the initial purchase price isn't cheap (it starts at £17,932 and goes up to £20,832) it does falls into a cheap road tax band, and as a petrol-electric hybrid, will help you save pounds on fuel as well as cutting your carbon footprint.
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