New (to me) car model advice please

[Alan22]

I am now in a position to look for a better quality fully loaded car, and most importantly reliable etc, I need a fully loaded car, and I want a balance of power and economy, cars I have been looking at are around 0-60 mph in 7.5 seconds give or take, and a return of around 80mpg cruising, 70mpg average (these are the highest returns I have seen quoted against some cars), I've looked at so many cars I can't be exact per model, but these are figures I have seen against a number of cars, and easy entry\exit is essential for my legs, I was resigning myself as having to go over to the dark side and get a BMW, as they had similar numbers but at a price I could afford then, now I can go maybe £6k at a push, and at such a price it would be suicide not to get a full RAC or AA inspection done I'd imagine?

Not that I can afford it as I still need to insure it etc on top of that, so it takes a bite out of what I can reach, but C and E class seem to be the cars that keep coming up, I can't say I'm happy going for diesel, as I don't do long journeys, and it causes DPF issues etc I believe, but doubling the range I can take it for a good run around the M25 or something to keep that at bay, I would rather have petrol, but the mileage is way down in these, and this is a big factor for me on disability, not sure about hybrids, the only one I have seen is an E class BlueEFFICIENCY or BlueTEC, claiming it's a hybrid, on diesel, with a mileage of 67.3mpg across the board, insurance isn't a big deal for me now, and my tax is not a problem.

A convertible would be a dream, but can't see it without going CLK or SLK on my money with the above spec, neither of which attract me now, but 4 doors is more practical, I don't really want\need an estate these days, more so with space becoming more and more valuable these days thinking about parking, auto would be better for my legs, but manual ones seem to have more Oomph, and I can drive anything, but when stuck in traffic the clutch leg pays the price big time, and is why I had to go auto in the first place, but I don't rule it out, warranty would be another massive question after my only experience with these totally ripped me off, so I am really worried about 'IF' I get this, so if there are ones to die for and ones to avoid that would be a great help, TIA.

 

[Spider10]

Im not sure what your after but where did you get 70 -80 mpg from on any 6k car tbh with everything you have mentioned you are looking for a golden egg if you find 1 please let us all know

 

[SmartAmg]

0-60 in 7.5 secs, fully loaded, a nice E class 220d premium plus, fits the bill nicely, but 70-80
mpg, good luck with that.

 

[E55BOF]

If reliability is really your most important criterion, for £6K forget any Mercedes and buy a Japanese or Korean car. Mercedes have many good qualities, but extreme reliability is not one of them.

 

[markjay]

If reliability is really your most important criterion, for £6K forget any Mercedes and buy a Japanese or Korean car. Mercedes have many good qualities, but extreme reliability is not one of them.

Agreed.

 

[markjay]

...a return of around 80mpg cruising, 70mpg average (these are the highest returns I have seen quoted against some cars)...

Which car does that? Just wondering. Assuming your not talking of EV or PHEV etc.

 

[markjay]

Have a look here:

Most economical cars on sale 2024 | Auto Express

Do you value fuel economy above everything else? Here’s a definitive list of some of the most economical cars currently on sale in the UK

www.autoexpress.co.uk

Looks like the Peugeot 208 1.5L Diesel is as close as you can get to your economy and acceleration targets. Not sure it will meet your reliability and price criteria.....

And, keep in mind that the claimed mpg is the official figures - real life figures are likely to be significantly less. Not to mention that a 'fully-loaded' car will have worse mog figures anyway due to additional weight and drag etc.

 

[jotter22]

If you are disabled is Motability not an option? They seem to throw cars out at random.

Tony.

 

[Scooby_Doo]

70-80 mpg and 0-60 in 7.5 seconds , try Fantasy Island.

 

[ChipChop]

If reliability is really your most important criterion, for £6K forget any Mercedes and buy a Japanese or Korean car. Mercedes have many good qualities, but extreme reliability is not one of them.

A pre DPF Mercedes diesel that meets the Euro 3 emissions standard is a pretty reliable beast. £6000 would get you an expectional example, not usable in Khan world or other communist run UK cities which may be an issue for some.

 

[Smiley]

I think your most important criteria is reliability - and by definition low running costs. If you do not do many miles then do not buy a diesel - and actual mpg should not be a big factor for you - as long as it is 30+mpg it is not going to make much difference to the overall annual cost of ownership.
As others have said, at a price point of £6k you would be much better off with a Toyota, Honda or Hyundai - all with varying sizes of petrol autos at below £6k. Some of them (eg pre 2006 Toyota Corolla and the Hyundai i10/20/30/40) have traditional torque converter autos and it is worth buying one of these rather than one of the automated manuals (eg Toyota MMT in the Yaris/Auris). You should be able to find a really nice one of these cars for your budget.

 

[Alan22]

Sorry I didn't get back sooner, had a bad night, anyway yes it is always the dream of what you want, but sometimes if your patient you get them, I thought my CLK was fitting with that, then the truth unfolded over the year, I was looking for 18 months before I found it and had saved enough for it, and yes it's very true about book numbers, as they are all made in a very exacting standard\use\location etc, and I know that in reality the returns would be less, significantly in some cases, there is a site that has a database of real figures accumulated over many years from users of the site giving their returns each time, but they are simply starting points for me, once I started knocking off specific models I would then look up the true figures for them before deciding, but the easy entry for my legs is why I'm trying to find something that has the same.

Yes I can go to Motability and get a brand new car every 3 years (on average, not sure if there are 4 year deals), But, they are not affordable, well to me anyway, what you may not realise is that depending on what car you want, you will have to pay a considerable amount of money down, for the comfort level I need it's probably what I have got now (£6k), on top of that, you have to sign away your money for the period of having the car, then at the end, you never own the car, and at the end of the contract you have to give it back and start all over again, only this time you don't have enough money for the same kind of car again, as you have lost a large sum of money from the previous car, you are also tied down to mileage having to pay a premium if you go over it (not likely for most people), you can get a car for no money up front, and can even retain some of your money, but they are plastic gutless pieces of crud, and I would never be able to manage one as the support isn't there, it's a great idea if you have money, but my life ended in my mid 20's, so I never had the chance to set up the future, but just because I'm older and disabled, it doesn't mean I drive like a Sunday driver, so I appreciate a nice car.

I have looked at many cars trying to find something that appears to have the features I need, and the initial figures I quoted were what had stuck in my mind as I went through countless searches, so I can't find as many as stuck in my mind, possibly they had been sold before I went looking for them again to show what I had been on about, but here is the few examples to show that it's not that far from what I was saying, here are the details of a small handful of cars:-

BMW 3 Series; 2011 (11 reg) £1.6k
2.0 320d ED EfficientDynamics 4dr
• 0-60 = 7.9 Seconds
• Urban = 56.5 mpg
• Extra urban = 78.5 mpg
• Combined = 68.9 mpg

BMW 3 Series 2010 (10 reg) £3.5k
2.0 320d SE Business Edition 4dr
• 0-60 = 7.9 Seconds
• Urban = 47.9 mpg
• Extra urban = 70.6 mpg
• Combined = 60.1 mpg

Mercedes-Benz E Class; 2012 (62 reg) £5k
2.1 E300dh BlueTEC Auto (s/s) 4dr
• 0-60 = 7.5 Seconds
• Urban = 67.3 mpg
• Extra urban = 67.3 mpg
• Combined = 67.3 mpg

Mercedes-Benz E Class; 2013 (62 reg) £6.5k
2.1 E250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Sport 7G-Tronic Plus (s/s) 4dr
• 0-60 = 7.7 Seconds
• Urban = 42.8 mpg
• Extra urban = 62.8 mpg
• Combined = 53.3 mpg

Mercedes-Benz C Class; 2010 (10 reg) £2.6k
2.1 C250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY SE 4dr
• 0-60 = 7.0 Seconds
• Urban = 42.8 mpg
• Extra urban = 67.3 mpg
• Combined = 55.4 mpg

Mercedes-Benz C Class; 2012 (12 reg) £6k
2.1 C250 CDI AMG Sport 7G-Tronic Plus 2dr
• 0-60 = 7.1 Seconds
• Urban = 43.5 mpg
• Extra urban = 61.4 mpg
• Combined = 53.3 mpg

That's as much as I can do for now, but at least it gives details that may make more sense now, Thanks for all the reply's anyway.

 

[E55BOF]

Those are all diesels. Buy a high-mileage diesel and you take much more of a chance on large repair bills than with a petrol car. It really comes down to how lucky you feel.

 

[jdrrco]

Just doing a quick scan on AT, there are a lot of C-classes with a petrol engine which is reported as being capable of 57mpg.

At 10k miles pa, 75mpg in a diesel saves just £4 per week over 57mpg in a petrol.

If costs are a significant factor, consider the whole cost, not just fuel.

 

[st13phil]

here are the details of a small handful of cars:-

Dennis' (@E55BOF) comment about high-mileage diesels being a bit of a lottery regarding unexpected large repair bills not withstanding, from your list I would suggest the E250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY as being the best bet.

The W212 E-Class platform is generally very reliable and robust, offers lots of room, a good base specification, and has a comfortable ride even in Sport guise. Despite their size, they can be hustled along quite quickly if you wish and also have the ability to be a relaxed drive on long journeys. There are lots of examples of intergalactic mileage E220CDI's and E250CDI's running as taxis for good reason, so don't be afraid of a higher mileage example as long as it has a meticulous maintenance history. Another benefit is that the 4-pot diesel is more refined in the E-Class than it is in the C-Class.

The one to definitely avoid from the perspective of unexpected bills is the E300d Hybrid.

BTW, I love the avatar

 

[jdrrco]

Why not go for something cheaper and older which has been looked after? This looks like it could be a good 'un. Petrol won't be cheap, but if it's been looked after it could be a peach: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202104281909140

or:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107024561412

or:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107084784890

Just a thought...

 

[Alan22]

Yes but the way things are I was ready to go that route as a trade off, I'm a little surprised about the concerns of high mileage diesel vehicles, these are (or at least were) capable of going round the clock at least twice, as it was always said that they go on forever, obviously this is with 100% care and proper maintenance etc, hell back in the day I had a 2ltr petrol Ford Cortina that went round the clock twice, and was still going strong when I got another car, is this an outdated view on cars now?
I appreciate that there is a lot more that can probably go wrong in modern cars, but the mechanics looked after properly with quality parts etc shouldn't be that different (electrics etc aside)?

But I now have further info to take into account, but I am surprised about the hybrid, I was looking to that one the most, I thought being hybrid it would have been far better, so that helped me dodge a bullet at least, Thanks, it's the very kind of detail that I was hoping for, I would prefer petrol, but mpg is too poor, as I said I appreciate a good car, so the types of car that I would look to, and need from comfort\support side of things is not that good on mileage, not at this price level anyway, more so as my daughter is a 100 mile round trip each time we go there, and with her new-born daughter being in and out of hospital since being discharged from ICU, with all kinds of follow up appointments, and we are needed for taking care of her 1st child, it means there can be a lot of trips, before the birth we were there 3 times each week initially, and she has now put her house on the market, and is looking at moving to Scotland, or well up north, hence taking the diesel route as a trade off.

The Avatar is very fitting for me lol, I've always said when I get a mobility scooter I will see if I can get it souped up, and go popping wheelies up the high street lol.

I had thought about older cars, but the mpg on that one is not much different too my CLK 3.2ltr, but I have just thought abought finance, I don't want to get that, but if an extra £2k can make a big enough difference, then it's worth me thinking about that, but I'll have another look and see what's out there today.

Thanks everyone, it's a big help.

 

[E55BOF]

The more miles you will be doing, the more a diesel becomes a reasonable option. I had formed the impression you would not be doing much mileage, and it is low mileage on short journeys that militates against diesels.

Don't buy a car with Airmatic; it's good, but expensive to fix if it goes wrong.

That burgundy E240 (first one in post #16) looks absolutely superb for £2k, if you can live with the thirst, and there's a lot less to go wrong than in later cars. Find one similar with a diesel, and the same applies, plus the economy will be much better. The inline six-cylinder diesel engine (OM648? OM613?) which preceded the V6 in the early W211 is regarded as one of the best (and most bombproof) diesel engines MB have ever made, and more conomical than the V6 as well.

Looking at diesels, bear in mind anything in emissions class euro 5 or lower is likely to incur daily charges in the increasingly common low emissions zones in city centres.

 

[markjay]

The M274 1.6L CGI and the M264 1.5L EQ mild hybrid petrol engines are as frugal as it gets for a midsize petrol saloon (C-Class). And the cars will be cheaper to buy second-hand because everyone want Diesel "because they're more economic to run".

 

[jdrrco]

I had formed the impression you would not be doing much mileage, and it is low mileage on short journeys that militates against diesel.

I had formed a similar impression. Perhaps it was the phrase "I don't do long journeys" in the opening post which fooled us?!