To buy a car with 2.0 engine?

[MariaDingbat]

We unfortunately need to get a new car as our current one is on its last legs. We saw a 2016 Honda we like that ticks every box and is actually affordable but it has a 2.0 litre engine. It says it has the same MPG as our current car and we only use it for 10 minutes nursery runs 3 times a week, 10 mile round trips to town for work 3 days a week, a 80 mile round trip every 2 weeks and a 200 mile round trip every 6 weeks.

I've only ever driven 1.4 and below so I don't know how much more that will cost to fill up and run than a smaller engine. Given the rising fuel costs, would it be madness to get this car or should we wait and hope a smaller engine model comes up?

Just buy it. It will probably last a while being a Honda. It will definitely cost more to fill up, it's going to have a bigger tank for one thing. But if you drive it economically and don't drive it with your foot to the floor, then it should achieve a good mpg.

Like other pp has said it will probably wear better, all the parts will be bigger. that will balance extra fuel costs.
Check tax band, that can be a real trap and insurance.

Thanks all. It's petrol, it will put our car tax up £80 and insurance up £200 per year but I'm too worried about that. It's more the petrol costs that concerns me. Our current car is a Honda and it's been brilliant so definitely want to get another one if we can.

Engine size and fuel economy are nor as related as many think, we went from a 1.6l to a 2.ol and found the larger engine far more fuel efficient. You should be able to check the figures on line. One thing to be aware of is the power of a 2.0l in comparison to a 1.4l, it will depend then on your confidence as a driver, my goes like s* off a shovel very quickly!

Is it a CRV? If so, you won’t regret it, you already know Hondas are great cars and they are excellent family cars. MPG won’t be great in the nursery runs but sounds like you’ll make up for it with the longer journeys. Filling up atm is eye watering but the the car will last for years.

I run a 2.5 litre diesel car and it is more fuel efficient than the 1.6 litre petrol vehicle DH drives. They're similar ages as well, no major differences in driving style.

We have a 1l Fiesta Ecoboost (petrol) and a 2l mini SUV (company car, not my choice) diesel. MPG is about the same in both (bearing in mind that we use the Fiesta for short journeys and the SUV for long journeys where we can) at c42 mpg on average per tank. There is a difference because petrol is cheaper than diesel - but not much...

Having said that, I had a golf until the company car came along, and regularly averaged 60mpg on a tank in that, so there can be quite a variance.

What's the model and spec of the car and engine? Which year is it registered to?

You need to know the size of the fuel tank to know what out will cost to fill. You can then look at proper MPG ratios, based on user-reported figures rather than the manufacturer claims (which tend to be over egged).

We've just sold a 56 plate 2.2l Freelander 2 and bought an 09 1.6l Citroen Berlingo. Both cost £120 to fill the tank with diesel, but I get 700 miles out of the Berlingo and got 380ish out the Freelander for that. It's also about £100 less per year in tax and £100 less in insurance. We literally couldn't justify the cost of a 4x4 any more.

Newer engines are far more efficient than older ones so if your current car is very old, you will probably find that a 2016 one is actually more fuel efficient.

I now have a 3 litre petrol, I upgraded from a 1.5 litre petrol to this one - I haven't noticed much difference in terms of fuel economy, but I don't drive particularly long distances so my mpg are relatively similar (even thought much more powerful engine) but I am driving a bit more now as previously I had my old car during lockdown.

It is a CRV, that's good to hear a positive report on it. Our current Civic is 2008 so we are hoping a newer engine even if it's bigger will be more efficient so should work or about the same. We're hoping to keep it till it falls apart so repairability and reliability are really important to us.

We've baby no. 2 on the way and our Civic will be tight fit 2 car seats plus it's 14 years old and has got almost 125,000 on it so we want to get a new car before the baby arrives, just in case it does break down so I won't to be stuck on the side of the road with two small little ones. I think if we didn't have a new baby on the way I'd keep the Civic for another year or two, it's been bloody brilliant!

It's a 2016 reg Honda CR-V 2.0 i-VTEC SE 5dr 2WD. My current car is a 2008 reg Honda Civic 1.4 i-VTEC SE 5dr 2WD.

The cheapest car to run is the one you already own.

True, but the one I own may not run for much longer! :)

I own 2.0 petrol Tiguan. I say we put between £200-300 a month for me to commute to work (13 miles one way) plus some personal stuff like shopping, trips to the countryside (not far though). My husband WFH. I use approx. 4 litres of petrol a day.

It's only got 125,000 miles. If you keep it well serviced, it will do a lot more.

But with a second child on the way you'd be better off with the extra space really. If you can afford it go for it.

I'm had a summary dilemma last week when I was looking at new cars. Smaller engine size for me. But bigger petrol tank and higher car tax. Went for it in the end as probably more efficient than my 9 year old car.

Bit of a Honda fan here so understand where you’re coming from. My family has two crv’s, they’re a bit older than the one you’re looking at. Great cars/suvs but, and it’s pretty relevant to you op, they’re pretty thirsty especially for shorter, urban runs.

Google is showing 28mpg for mixed use. If it’s slow speed stop start stuff around town then I’d expect closer to 20mpg, that was their experience too. So something to bear in mind. I also have a Civic (a bit newer than yours) but it can do 40-45 mpg so it’s really quite a lot better in that regard.

Check the real averages MPGs reported by people on the Honest John website:

www.honestjohn.co.uk/real-mpg/

Ok just realised that I was Googling the 2.4l version so slightly off, but I think my point generally stands, you’re going to get less mpg than your current car. Good luck either way op.

Looking at reviews for the CR-V, several say that petrol versions are best avoided and looking at "real" mpg figures I suspect that is one of the main reasons, but the 1.6 and 2.2 diesels are much better.
Honest John's www.honestjohn.co.uk/real-mpg/ gives
Civic 1.4 = 45 mpg
CR-V 2.0 2WD = 37.8 mpg
CR-V 1.6D 2WD =53.5 mpg
CR-V 1.6D = 46.5 mpg
CR-V 2.2D = 43.7 mpg

That's a really handy site, thanks! Our Civic only gets 40mpg at moment so 37/38 isn't too different. I'm wary of getting a diesel given how they're being phased out in the next few years and we are expecting to have the new car at least 8 years.

I think I'll call tomorrow and arrange a test drive and see how it goes from there.

You're welcome

Depends if it's naturally aspirated or injection I think. Mine is 2l naturally aspirated (I'm copying the salesman's explanation ) which means it's it but less technical so less issues with the engine, it's similar power to a 1.5. 2l injection is more powerful