MK4 with reasonable MPG return? 1.6 not cutting it

[NotMyName]

My wife has a MK4 1.6. It's constantly getting low 30s MPG.

I've had numerous cars & taking those in to account, my mothers, my wifes, sisters, brothers etc etc, when comparing them to Parkers it ends up Parkers is pretty spot on.
So my wife's MK4 Golf 1.6 is the first car that is a fair bit out. Parkers reckons up 39mpg but she's constantly getting low 30s ... 30, 31, 33 on a good day etc.

I'm a fairly economical driver & even i can't manage a great deal.

Is her only resort to be a diesel? We don't do a lot of miles in a year. Perhaps 6k each for us. When you take in to account the tax as well though, i was wondering if it'd be better we trade in her 1.6 for something else.

[barrym381]

My 1.8t has been made redundant since I picked up a gt tdi for daily duties 

[itavaltalainen]

6k a year means mostly short trips?

6k miles at 30mpg at current petrol prices means 1000£ a year..... or 85 quid a month.

Even if you got a diesel (which may have possibly higher tax, insurance and repair risk) how much are you really to gain?!

Give the mk4 a good service.... check that thermostat works ok, temp sensor reads correct engine temp..... if thermostat is stuck open it e.g. would be running cool (cooler than it should as it shows 90 already when actually it is 70), which ECU compensates with injecting more fuel.

[brettblade]

The PDs can return 50+ quite easily, but with the sort of driving I assume your wife is doing to only cover c6k p/a, then you'd only realistically be getting mid 40s or so.  Granted, that's a better number than the 1.6, but given the comparative cost of the cars, is it really worthwhile changing for what is less than £200 a year in fuel saved?