The company specialises...
The company specialises in 24-carat gold plating, so you’ll be able to touch up your alloy wheels, badges, grille, bumpers or interior trim – and you can be as subtle or extravagant as you wish.
Still popular with buyers...
Still popular with buyers on a budget looking for unburstable reliability, the Micra was originally available with two engines, until a modern 1.4-litre unit was added in 2000. While the 1.3-litre model offers reasonable pace, it"s the 1.0-litre that"s responsible for the dismal Driver Power rating.
In post-2000 facelift trim, the entry-level four-cylinder model develops 60bhp. Fresh out of the showroom, that was enough to get the Nissan from 0-60mph in 15.5 seconds, but by today"s standards you"ve told us that"s just not fast enough.
Whether it"s equipped with a manual transmission or a hi-tech CVT auto, the Micra fails to respond swiftly. But it"s not all bad news. The supermini"s modest performance makes it enviably cheap for young drivers to insure. Fuel economy is also excellent, and as a result, the old shape Micra makes it into fifth place in the running costs ranking.
Britain"s worst running costs... Mazda RX-8
If you think your car is expensive to run, spare a thought for RX-8 owners. They might enjoy driving one of the best handling machines on the market, but they certainly have to pay for the privilege.
Only when you own a car for several months or even a few years does its financial impact become clear. And all RX-8 owners agree that it swallows too much cash.
So why is the Mazda so costly? It"s down to the rotary engine. Fuel consumption is the biggest problem. The firm claims 26mpg in the combined cycle for the 228bhp Hi-Power model, but in reality any figure above 20mpg requires careful use of the throttle.
Super unleaded isn"t the only fluid which the RX-8 has a taste for. A quirk of the powerplant is that it needs regular oil top-ups to keep it spinning freely. This is not only an inconvenience, but it"s also a cost which many owners haven"t budgeted for.
Finally, any drivers who use the Mazda as a company car will be crippled by massive tax bills, thanks to the rotary engine"s poor emissions. The RX-8 is a brilliant drive, but buyers pay a serious financial penalty.
IT"S A FACT! Think you haven"t got enough money to spend on your car to take any notice of the Driver Power results? Think again. More than a third of the models reported on cost less than ÷£10,000.
For the full Driver Power 2006 results, see this week"s issue of Auto Express magazine.