[Fklein64]

...as they say in North Germany.

I'm driving 30Kmiles per year, mostly long distances for business.

4 years ago I got a new job and had to chose from either a corporate paid car or a fixed monthly bonus when I continue using my private car. My private car was in pretty good condition, 60K miles old and pretty cheap to maintain, so I chose the monthly bonus.

My old car was already fully paid and very fuel efficient (about 45-50 mpg), so a lot of the bonus was not used, so I saved it for a new car.

Last year I decided to spend my savings. My old small Citroen C3 had 150K mls on the meter, worked fine, but I was dreaming of a more silent, comfortable car for my frequent long distance travels. I had about 30K Euro to spend. It should be a Diesel, because they are the most cost efficient cars when you run more than 20K miles in Germany. Some luxury was mandatory:
- automatic A/C, because I cannot go sweaty to a business meeting
- Cruise Control, because no one wants to keep the foot down for 300++ miles
- Xenon light, because my eyes are not the best anymore, I am close to my 50th
- Hands free phone
- Comfortable seats and suspension

The usual suspects, Audi A4, BMW 3 series, Mercedes C are way to expensive in Germany, at least when you want some extras. They start at 40K or more. Since my last Citroen was (unexpectedly!) very reliable, I search for good offers for a young Citroen C5 Tourer. I found a 4 month old exhibition car: Fully equipped (leather, SAT nav, 204HP, 6-speed automatic), original list price 45K, for a little more than 28K. I couldn't resist, a similar equipped Audi would have cost 50K or more, and only the Citroen has the unique, excellent Hydractive suspension, making the car a flying carpet!

Now I had my new car.
Big.
Heavy.
Super Power Diesel.
Running easily 140mp/h on my home Autobahn.

Though I was tempted, I didn't change my driving style and so I achieved extremely high mileages. The new car is a super luxury, 2 metric tons station car. I'm really impressed about the engine, a 2.2 liter diesel engine with 204 brake horse powers and 330lbft torque. Though it has a regular 6-speed automatic transmission, it can be run easily at 40++ mpg.
OK, other drivers of this model say it's impossible, but in fact they are just speeding too fast on the German highways.

I quickly entered the top of the list on the German Fuel Economy web site spritmonitor.de

No other driver of this model reached better mileages, and almost all comparable cars (A4 Diesel 200HP, BMW 3, Mercedes C) do not reach this efficiency. I found only one other driver in the 200HP class with an automatic gearbox, who was doing better than me (Mercedes CLS 250 Diesel).

I'm not going to change much on my car. I keep the tire pressure only slightly above normal, I don't want to lose all the comfort. I use best 0W30 oil, fuel efficient Michelin tires (which last MUCH longer than any other brand) and keep going smooth. I guess an average of 45mpg is possible, not bad for such a heavy flying lounge.