Fiat Panda has been the car we’ve been using so far. Overall, it has done a good job. The car was great for commuting to work, running errands, or heading to the doctor. It’s small, so parking was always a breeze. It has four doors, low fuel consumption, cheap insurance, £0 road tax, and meets Euro 6 standards, allowing us to drive in London’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) without any extra costs. I even managed to transport an entire garden shed (in pieces, of course) to the tip with it. However, the smallest trip with the whole family, like going to the city centre, often ended with complaints from the kids about being cramped and uncomfortable.
Additionally, we’re considering driving to Poland, as plane tickets cost us around £1,000 (return). We often have to be at the airport very early in the morning. There’s a lot of stress for the kids during security checks, plus 2.5 hours of sitting in a narrow seat without being able to use the toilet during takeoff, landing, and turbulence. On top of that, we have to pay for seats to ensure we sit together, plus taxi transfers both ways in the UK. I don’t even want to mention the hassle of weighing suitcases and carry-on luggage, or the logistics of arranging transport from the airport to where we are staying and back in Poland.
It’s time to choose the right vehicle for us. The car had to meet the following criteria:
- large boot/trunk
- ample space in the back seats for our children
- spacious inside
- as low fuel consumption as possible
- ideally 7-seater with foldable rear row
- Euro 6 compliant
- as low mileage as possible
- cheap insurance
- of course, no previous accidents
- with a timing chain
I think I’ve read the entire internet 😊 when it comes to such cars, and the winners of this contest are:
- Citroen Grand C4 Picasso
- Fiat 500L
- Fiat Tipo Estate
- Ford Grand C-Max
- Ford Mondeo Estate
- Vauxhall/Opel Zafira
- Vauxhall/Opel Astra Estate
- Vauxhall/Opel Insignia
- Peugeot 308SW
- Peugeot Partner Tepee
- Mazda 6 Estate
- Toyota Auris Estate
- Skoda Octavia Estate
After thorough internet research, we decided to buy a Vauxhall Zafira 1.6 diesel with 70,000 miles on the clock. It was registered in November 2015, making it 8 years and 7 months old when we purchased it. The car is a 7-seater with a massive boot, spacious and economical. I can confidently say that when the rear and middle seats are folded down, the space created is like that of a fairly large tent. I had no trouble fitting in my road bike.
I quickly did some calculations regarding a car journey if we were to visit family in Poland.
Ferry from Dover to Calais: £84 or Euro Tunnel: £119 The round trip distance is 2000 miles, which is 3218 km. The car achieves 42.5 mpg in city driving, which is approximately 5.5l/100km. Fuel efficiency on the journey will be much better, but let’s leave it as it is for now; I’ll share a report on fuel consumption after the trip. So, assuming the car will use 177 litres of diesel (3218km x 5.5l / 100km). The fuel cost should be around £265.5 at £1.5 per litre of diesel (June 2024 price). An open return ferry ticket costs £134. This ticket allows us to board the ferry up to 72 hours before and after the planned departure date. An equivalent Euro Tunnel ticket costs £334, so I’m not considering it.
I’m considering two travel options:
Option 1:
Dover-Calais ferry £84 + fuel £265.5 + Calais-Dover ferry £134 = £483.5
Option 2:
Euro Tunnel to Calais £119 + fuel £265.5 + Calais-Dover ferry £134 = £518.5
It seems we can save about half the amount we would have spent on a plane journey.
The downside is that the car journey (plus ferry) will take us around 18 hours one way, whereas a plane journey including airport transfers takes about 7 hours.
The plus side is that we’ll have our own car with us, which will allow us to move around comfortably — for example, going to the shops, taking trips, or visiting various family members.
Anyway, the car is great. We all love it. Just to share some additional information with you, insurance for me and the added driver is £415 per year, plus £20 road tax.
P.S. The Panda is staying with us for now. You could say we have it for free because it saves us £1000 annually compared to the car we had before the Panda. But that’s a topic for another article.
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