Mitsubishi Outlander is the best-selling plug-in car. Worth considering for urban drivers looking to save on fuel (Picture © Mitsubishi)
Thankful that the 2016 Budget didn’t lead to an increase fuel duty? If you’re like many drivers, you could be looking to spend the money saved on fuel to upgrade your car.
Online retailer Motors.co.uk conducted research which shows that the number of buyers looking at cars costing up to £300 per month to lease has increased by 78 per cent this year. Peter Watts, director of dealer insight at Motors.co.uk said: “Over the past few months, we’ve seen fuel prices reach their lowest since 2009, with supermarkets slashing their prices to below £1 a litre. To put this into context, at its highest price point, we were paying more than £1.42 a litre in April 2012 – that’s a saving of just over £25 for a 60-litre tank each time it’s filled up.”
Philip Nothard, retail specialist at car valuation expert CAP Automotive believes buyers are still looking for fuel-saving motors. He said: “We’ve been researching this extensively among motor dealers and they confirm to us that fuel economy hasn’t slipped down the list of priorities for the typical customer.” So if you’re one of the drivers looking to upgrade but want to hedge against future fuel price rises, here are our top five motors that will save you money at the pumps… and five to avoid.
Five fuel savers to look out for
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
This Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle is the best-seller of its kind. And with good reason. It has plenty of room for five in the rugged SUV shape that drivers are increasingly yearning for. Although you’ll struggle to match its claimed 148mpg, if you do most of your driving at low speed around town, it should save you money on fuel. And you can pick up year-old examples for around £20,000 ‑ about a third off their price new.
Volkswagen Golf 1.6TDI BlueMotion
The Golf is the ultimate all-rounder. Inoffensive styling, practical, popular and in BlueMotion guise it’ll return a claimed 83.1mpg. We found a 2015 64-reg model for £15,000.
Skoda Citigo
If you’re after a small car, the VW Up, SEAT Mii and Skoda Citigo are the ones to go for with the Skoda the best of the bunch. We found a 2015 65-reg 1.0MPI, which Skoda says does 62.8mpg, for £7000.
MINI Cooper D
You can have style and save money at the pumps with the 74mpg MINI. Great fun to drive, nicely built, good to look at and available from £13,000 if you want a 2014 64-reg model.
Kia Cee’d
In 1.6 CRDi guise the five-door Kia will return 78.5mpg. For £13,000 you can get a super low mileage 2015 65-reg model that still has six years of manufacturer warranty to run.
And five gas guzzlers to avoid
Hummer H2
The Hummer was killed off because even the Americans with their famously cheap fuel found its 6.2-litre V8 too thirsty.
Bentley Continental Flying Spur
The saloon version of Bentley’s most popular model is now available for the price of a family hatchback. But it still only returns 19mpg.
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Although there’s a relatively frugal diesel engine, the 4.7-litre V8 version of the Grand Cherokee does just 17.4mpg.
BMW X5
In 4.4-litre V8 guise this has a serious fuel habit, covering just 20.3 miles for every gallon of unleaded.
Range Rover Vogue
For many drivers, a Range Rover is up there with Rolls-Royce as the ultimate mode of automotive transport. The bad news is its 4.6-litre V8 does a mere 17.2mpg.