[marti30]

My shine red UK specification 2009.5 model year 6 speed 1.6 u2 crdi 5 door hatchback now has 285,888 miles on the odometer which is about 200,000 miles more than average. I bought it new at the very end of 2009 with a delivery mileage of 8.4 and in very nearly 8 years have driven it for 282,503 miles (a brother accounting for the other 3,377 miles). During 43 trips to the European mainland I've clocked up 70,470 miles in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Andorra.
On the day of acquisition I drove 128 miles before filling the 53 litre tank with 56 litres of diesel. When fueling I try to fill to the brim and then zero the tripmeter. My meticulous records (I'm a qualified accountant) show a consumption of 20,484.84 litres over 285,424 miles which equates to 63.3mpg. The stated consumption for this model is 53.3mpg urban, 68.9mpg extra urban and 62.8mpg combined. On 7 occasions (including 3 in a row) I've actually driven more than 900 miles without fueling. The most I've fitted in is 61.43 litres. I'm the only person to have fueled it and in France and on the English side of the channel I've only ever used supermarket diesel. The only other places where I've bought diesel have been Luxembourg and Andorra where supermarket fuel doesn't seem to be available. The dashboard displays for average speed (45mph) and fuel consumption (66.9mpg) have never been reset. Given that the odometer under reads when compared with the marker posts on French autoroutes and English motorways (with the exception of the M25 where strangely it over reads) the true fuel consumption is somewhere between 63.3 and 66.9mpg.
Although the recommended service interval for my car is 12,500 miles I've saved money by having a minor service performed by a small tried and trusted independent garage every 20,000 miles. They only replace the oil filter and engine oil and as they put in in the whole 5.3 litres there's no need to top up the oil between changes as the level drops from above the maximum (no harm has resulted of which I'm aware) to about halfway between the dipstick marks. Every 100,000 miles I let them change the air, fuel and pollen filters. Everything else is done when required.
With the exception of a brace of Marshals I've stuck with Hankook tyres. The front wheel alignment was adjusted at 74,572 miles after which the fronts have worn evenly (the first couple of pairs prematurely lost their inner shoulders). Front tyres have averaged about 40,000 miles. One front tyre had to be replaced disappointingly soon after being fitted due to an irreparable puncture. The 3 rear tyres (I'm including the proper spare wheel) made it to 200,000 miles before 2 were replaced and the best was retained as a just legal spare.
Brakes have lasted quite well. The original rear pads and discs were replaced at 190,000 miles, the fronts at 200,000 miles.
Bulbs have been a bit of a pain. The dipped headlight bulbs have blown 3 times nearside and 4 times offside, sidelight bulbs 3 times nearside and once offside, each number plate bulb once and the offside brake light once.
It was recalled to have the headlamp wiring kit fitted but this didn't make a discernible improvement. Other recalls were to do with the driver's door handle, stop lamp switch and power steering.
Free of charge warranty work consists of replacement of noisy alternator (119,383 miles), putting the driver's door window back in its runners (123,610 miles), replacing the leaking air conditioning condenser (141,259 miles) and replacing the bit of black plastic triangular trim on the rear nearside door window frame.
There have been front nearside suspension issues with the front bottom ball joint being replaced twice due to rubber gaiter failure (200,246 and 285,466 miles) and the coil spring snapping in the middle (250,288 miles). This did not stop the car from being driven but I tried to remember to corner with a little less verve.
Other repairs and replacements have been an air conditioning re-gas (114,764 miles), front wiper blades (180,007 Tesco supermarket and 280,000 Asda supermarket), rear wiper blade (I bought a twin pack of 600mm rubber strips which I cut in half), screen wash pump (260,822 miles) and heater matrix (270,323 miles). This was the closest it's come to breaking down and a call to the RAC but I was able to drive after topping up the coolant with water. At 220,016 miles the car was given a bottle of Forte diesel treatment to clean the fuel injectors.

[tw2005]

My shine red UK specification 2009.5 model year 6 speed 1.6 u2 crdi 5 door hatchback now has 285,888 miles on the odometer which is about 200,000 miles more than average. I bought it new at the very end of 2009 with a delivery mileage of 8.4 and in very nearly 8 years have driven it for 282,503 miles (a brother accounting for the other 3,377 miles). During 43 trips to the European mainland I've clocked up 70,470 miles in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Andorra.
On the day of acquisition I drove 128 miles before filling the 53 litre tank with 56 litres of diesel. When fueling I try to fill to the brim and then zero the tripmeter. My meticulous records (I'm a qualified accountant) show a consumption of 20,484.84 litres over 285,424 miles which equates to 63.3mpg. The stated consumption for this model is 53.3mpg urban, 68.9mpg extra urban and 62.8mpg combined. On 7 occasions (including 3 in a row) I've actually driven more than 900 miles without fueling. The most I've fitted in is 61.43 litres. I'm the only person to have fueled it and in France and on the English side of the channel I've only ever used supermarket diesel. The only other places where I've bought diesel have been Luxembourg and Andorra where supermarket fuel doesn't seem to be available. The dashboard displays for average speed (45mph) and fuel consumption (66.9mpg) have never been reset. Given that the odometer under reads when compared with the marker posts on French autoroutes and English motorways (with the exception of the M25 where strangely it over reads) the true fuel consumption is somewhere between 63.3 and 66.9mpg.
Although the recommended service interval for my car is 12,500 miles I've saved money by having a minor service performed by a small tried and trusted independent garage every 20,000 miles. They only replace the oil filter and engine oil and as they put in in the whole 5.3 litres there's no need to top up the oil between changes as the level drops from above the maximum (no harm has resulted of which I'm aware) to about halfway between the dipstick marks. Every 100,000 miles I let them change the air, fuel and pollen filters. Everything else is done when required.
With the exception of a brace of Marshals I've stuck with Hankook tyres. The front wheel alignment was adjusted at 74,572 miles after which the fronts have worn evenly (the first couple of pairs prematurely lost their inner shoulders). Front tyres have averaged about 40,000 miles. One front tyre had to be replaced disappointingly soon after being fitted due to an irreparable puncture. The 3 rear tyres (I'm including the proper spare wheel) made it to 200,000 miles before 2 were replaced and the best was retained as a just legal spare.
Brakes have lasted quite well. The original rear pads and discs were replaced at 190,000 miles, the fronts at 200,000 miles.
Bulbs have been a bit of a pain. The dipped headlight bulbs have blown 3 times nearside and 4 times offside, sidelight bulbs 3 times nearside and once offside, each number plate bulb once and the offside brake light once.
It was recalled to have the headlamp wiring kit fitted but this didn't make a discernible improvement. Other recalls were to do with the driver's door handle, stop lamp switch and power steering.
Free of charge warranty work consists of replacement of noisy alternator (119,383 miles), putting the driver's door window back in its runners (123,610 miles), replacing the leaking air conditioning condenser (141,259 miles) and replacing the bit of black plastic triangular trim on the rear nearside door window frame.
There have been front nearside suspension issues with the front bottom ball joint being replaced twice due to rubber gaiter failure (200,246 and 285,466 miles) and the coil spring snapping in the middle (250,288 miles). This did not stop the car from being driven but I tried to remember to corner with a little less verve.
Other repairs and replacements have been an air conditioning re-gas (114,764 miles), front wiper blades (180,007 Tesco supermarket and 280,000 Asda supermarket), rear wiper blade (I bought a twin pack of 600mm rubber strips which I cut in half), screen wash pump (260,822 miles) and heater matrix (270,323 miles). This was the closest it's come to breaking down and a call to the RAC but I was able to drive after topping up the coolant with water. At 220,016 miles the car was given a bottle of Forte diesel treatment to clean the fuel injectors.

Ok,. got all that . What a fantastic report. I'd have to question the 100 000k replacement of Fuel and Air Filters though. Fuel is every 30000k and Air should be 45000k in our manual at least.

I just replaced one of my air filter after about 40 000k and it was pretty well stuffed. Coolant they suggest 100000k the first time then every 40 000K, Don't understand that one

[Dazzler]

Thanks heaps for that. Very interesting.  I'm impressed with your frugality and pleased you've had a good run with your i30. It has paid for itself several times over. A lot of other brands would have cost considerably more to keep on the road over that mileage (as I'm sure you are aware) 

[beerman]

Fuel filter was 60,000k when they first came out from memory. I suspect the diesel may be of a better quality over there.

[marti30]

The main point of my post was to demonstrate that it is possible to buy and run a car without incurring too much cost. Under my regime of 'benign neglect' total expenditure on maintenance and repairs has been £4,437.34 which not only includes the 20 services, 17 tyres and all other items listed but also £75.00 for a replacement windscreen (it was repaired once as well but that cost was fully covered by insurance).
Warranty work was undertaken even though I'd stretched the service interval and never been back to a main dealer except to have things done free of charge. It would probably have been different if the parts that were replaced had been service items. My gamble (which seems to have paid off) was that the savings I made on servicing would exceed any extra cost incurred by me due to the warranty becoming invalid.
I've not noticed any change in fuel consumption and how the car runs either side of the 100,000 mile services and therefore consider it acceptable to change the air, fuel and pollen filters at this interval.
The coolant was only changed when the heater matrix was replaced because most of the original ended up flooding the driver's foot well. The small independent garage that I use greatly reduced cost by sourcing a pattern part and replacing some rigid pipe with flexible hose thus avoiding the need to remove the dashboard. They also assure me that the original brake fluid is still good. I was dubious when they recommended replacing the broken coil spring without changing the other but 35,600 miles later I think they were right.

[tw2005]

The main point of my post was to demonstrate that it is possible to buy and run a car without incurring too much cost. Under my regime of 'benign neglect' total expenditure on maintenance and repairs has been £4,437.34 which not only includes the 20 services, 17 tyres and all other items listed but also £75.00 for a replacement windscreen (it was repaired once as well but that cost was fully covered by insurance).
Warranty work was undertaken even though I'd stretched the service interval and never been back to a main dealer except to have things done free of charge. It would probably have been different if the parts that were replaced had been service items. My gamble (which seems to have paid off) was that the savings I made on servicing would exceed any extra cost incurred by me due to the warranty becoming invalid.
I've not noticed any change in fuel consumption and how the car runs either side of the 100,000 mile services and therefore consider it acceptable to change the air, fuel and pollen filters at this interval.
The coolant was only changed when the heater matrix was replaced because most of the original ended up flooding the driver's foot well. The small independent garage that I use greatly reduced cost by sourcing a pattern part and replacing some rigid pipe with flexible hose thus avoiding the need to remove the dashboard. They also assure me that the original brake fluid is still good. I was dubious when they recommended replacing the broken coil spring without changing the other but 35,600 miles later I think they were right.

Oh, yeah the pollen filter , of course. I left that out because it has no maintenance benefit mechanically for the vehicle.

Check this one out/ Currently working on a 377000K 2008 specimen, can't say the age or distamce but it's not original

[Dazzler]

Oh yuck! 

[mickd]

This one is out of the FD Trophy we bought Kate.
53 k km on the  clock and not original.

[Dazzler]

This one is out of the FD Trophy we bought Kate.
53 k km on the  clock and not original.

Gee! I better check Trish's Tourer. Only  a bit over 20,000 on the clock but over 3 years old. 

[Lakes]

well done!
I always blindly changed fuel filter at 30,000k on my fd diesels, but a friend who is also a mechanic and engine builder , doing everything himself machining dyno tuning flow bench testing.
his wife has had two Ford Focus turbo diesels and the latest has over 200,000k ( 125,000 miles ) and he told me he has never changed the fuel filter. I have a water trap before the fuel filter on my diesel so it will also trap and show dirt at bottom of glass bowl, but as yet has never showed dirt. as I said this is before the diesel fuel filter not after.

[xiziz]

Wow, thanks for sharing! Works out to 4.46l/100km for us not well dressed in imperial measure, Im guessing a good ammount of them are motorway running?

Good to know about the servicing intervals you have used too, and that its come to no harm from it.

[marti30]

Irritatingly I made an error in my second post on this topic. With a 20,000 mile interval the car has been serviced 14 and not 20 times. Fortunately it seems that no one noticed and I got away with it.
Although I drive in all conditions most of my driving is on motorways and dual carriageways with the needles close to 2,000rpm and 70mph. This seems to give an acceptable combination of progress and economy.
During 2017 it was driven on 285 days and clocked up 44,734 miles which averages 157 miles per day, the shortest day was 100 miles and the longest 625 miles.
The air and pollen filters are filthy when changed at 100,000 miles but I do like to get my money's worth out of these things.

[Dazzler]

Great info and I admire your fugality. Nothing worse than replacing stuff that is still serviceable. .. 

As for fuel filter, my 2008 Kia Rio 1.5 CRDI never had it changed, sold car after 5½ years & 110K Miles...A lot of those service-interval parts is there only to give the dealer extra profit in my opinion. I would never driver more than 15 Kmiles between oilchange as i believe its an Excel-calculation made by the carmakers, made that high only to get the turbos past warranty.

Impressive milage & economy...For sure your car cant have a particle filter?

[marti30]

My i30 does not have a diesel particulate filter (I think the emissions are Euro4 compliant).
When driving I try to increase economy by avoiding use of the brakes. I once managed to cover just over 230 motorway miles (Devon to Kent via Bristol using the M5, M4 and M25) without any gear changes or brake applications.
I also tend to let the engine idle rather than turn it off and start it again for short periods. My feeling is that very little fuel is used when the engine is just ticking over and that the life of certain components is extended by leaving the engine running. 

My i30 does not have a diesel particulate filter (I think the emissions are Euro4 compliant).
When driving I try to increase economy by avoiding use of the brakes. I once managed to cover just over 230 motorway miles (Devon to Kent via Bristol using the M5, M4 and M25) without any gear changes or brake applications.
I also tend to let the engine idle rather than turn it off and start it again for short periods. My feeling is that very little fuel is used when the engine is just ticking over and that the life of certain components is extended by leaving the engine running.

Totally agree on your thoughts. Also reason why im in progress of making a little circuitboard for my car that will send a false pulse just after ignition has been applied so the ISG will be disables as default. On a bit longer run, i got a spare emptied DPF that i will get welded together again, get EGR permantly closed & ECU programmed for this. But as i drove 600 miles a week, i find it hard to find time for this and also considering it with 3 years of warranty left :-)