Cheap commuter wagon

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Discussion

funkyrobot

Original Poster:

18,789 posts

227 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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Became a dad 9 months ago and my fiancée would like to stay at home for a few years with our daughter. As a result, purse strings are being tightened.

My daily work commute is a 50 mile round trip and I'm currently doing it in a 2.0 litre petrol Mazda. It's a good car, but it seems to drink a lot of fuel. Road tax is north of £250 and it doesn't seem to be that cheap a car to run for what it is.

I'm wondering if there is something to change it for that is more economical, cheaper to run and still reliable. I do around 15,000 miles a year, so am on the cusp of a diesel. However, I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a cheap diesel. The Mazda replacement doesn't need to be anything special. It just needs to get me to work and back cheaply for a few years until my fiancée goes back to work.

I am thinking of doing my motorbike test at some point. The proceeds of the sale of the Mazda may need to go towards that too.

Budget will be £2k or less and I'm 6ft 5 with a bad back, so the car needs to be comfortable. It'll also need space for a buggy and child-related items. Any ideas anyone? Thanks.

DanielJames

7,543 posts

167 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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Something like this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-Audi-A4-Avant-1-9-T...

I had one with Bose, was lovely.

surveyor

17,764 posts

183 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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Volvo V70 or Saab 9-5. V70 more available and nicer in diesel form....

moustache

292 posts

110 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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If comfort is a priority, a saab 9-5 or Volvo V70 can't be beaten. I drive a petrol saab so don't know what the diesels are like, but the seats are just sublime (saab seats are designed by orthopaedic specialists).

funkyrobot

Original Poster:

18,789 posts

227 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
Thanks.

I do like the look of a Volvo. Plenty of space too.

That Audi looks good. Years ago, I owned a Bora Tdi and even though it wasn't anything too exciting, it ran a treat and was really good on fuel. I think i need to stick to the older diesel technology if I can. How to VAG PD engines hold up?

Saab is a good shout and I never even considered that make. My neighbour has a lovely red Saab convertible and it looks really good.

Lugy

830 posts

182 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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Peugeot 406 HDI Estate, uber cheap to run, comfortable, loads of space and lots of change from £2k!

ZX10R NIN

27,490 posts

124 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
Here are a few with great seats & decent fuel economy

MG ZT £260 tax 40.4mpg
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Saab 9-3 £265 39.2mpg
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

£225 42.8
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

£205 42.8 only 56k
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

If it was me I'd pick the Saab.

funkyrobot

Original Poster:

18,789 posts

227 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
Lugy said:
Peugeot 406 HDI Estate, uber cheap to run, comfortable, loads of space and lots of change from £2k!
Good idea. A friend has a 406 saloon and they were indeed roomy.

funkyrobot

Original Poster:

18,789 posts

227 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
ZX10R NIN said:
Here are a few with great seats & decent fuel economy

MG ZT £260 tax 40.4mpg
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Saab 9-3 £265 39.2mpg
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

£225 42.8
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

£205 42.8 only 56k
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

If it was me I'd pick the Saab.
Will take a look through that list. Thanks. smile

SidewaysSi

10,742 posts

233 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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Mercedes W124. Character, class and supreme comfort.

Blue Oval84

5,276 posts

160 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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You're definitely opening yourself up to much greater risk with a diesel, my 2.0 petrol Mondeo was supremely reliable so for a relatively small fuel saving I'd have been very reluctant to swap. My TDCI Mondeo was an expensive bag of spanners and even when working, it only delivered about 8mpg more than my 2.0 on a run.

Also, move away from cheap stuff and into Audis and the costs of every other little job escalate. For example, I put my A4 in to get the tracking done and found that the track rods were seized. The garage explained it would be no problem on most cars as they could just apply some heat, but the Audi components contain rubber bushes, which melt. So the only solution ended up being to have the track rods replaced, ended up costing me £195 for a job that would have been no bother on my Mondeo. It's just one example I know, but it's indicative of a pattern that I've found whenever I have owned a cheap "premium" car.

In short, if you must buy diesel, get a Mondeo TDCI because they're as good as most other things out there, they drive well, and are cheap to buy, but I'd probably just keep the Mazda until it goes pop in an expensive way.

How many years / thousands of miles would you need to do to make back your cost to change in fuel savings?

moustache

292 posts

110 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
funkyrobot said:
Thanks.

I do like the look of a Volvo. Plenty of space too.

That Audi looks good. Years ago, I owned a Bora Tdi and even though it wasn't anything too exciting, it ran a treat and was really good on fuel. I think i need to stick to the older diesel technology if I can. How to VAG PD engines hold up?

Saab is a good shout and I never even considered that make. My neighbour has a lovely red Saab convertible and it looks really good.
Before owning my current SAAB Aero I was all sensible and had a passat diesel estate with the 1.9 PD Tdi engine. I did 80k in 5 years of ownership and the car was sold on with 180k on the clock, still with plenty of life left in it.

Search for golfs/Passats with the PD engine on auto trader and you will see that a significant majority of them have circa 200k miles on them. If looked after, they go on and on. Mine was an estate (big heavy car) but still averaged 52mpg (620 odd miles from a full tank).

The downside is they are boring and uncomfortable!

jas xjr

11,309 posts

238 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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How about this ?

Cheap and nasty.has not failed to start first time in 18 months of ownership. Gets driven hard on 40mile commute.looks respectable,just .and easily keeps up with traffic . just looks a bit ghey smile


Edited by jas xjr on Sunday 24th May 10:43


Edited for having the memory of those gold coloured swimming things
It is a 2.0 hdi diesel. A tankful gives me 550 hard driven miles per tankful.nobody looks at it. Looks a bit they but I am very very slowly saving for something a bit better

Edited by jas xjr on Sunday 24th May 10:46

Pistom

4,913 posts

158 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
Mondeo TDCI would be at the top of my short list.

Just get a good one, not an ex cab fleet car.

Willy Nilly

12,511 posts

166 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
OP, keep the car you have, look after it then when it's worn out buy something cheaper to run. I doubt you will come out ahead swapping it now and for £2,000 you could end up buying a load of someone elses trouble

Pistom

4,913 posts

158 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
Willy Nilly said:
OP, keep the car you have, look after it then when it's worn out buy something cheaper to run. I doubt you will come out ahead swapping it now and for £2,000 you could end up buying a load of someone elses trouble
Probably the best advice here.

oilslick

901 posts

185 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
Blue Oval84 said:
You're definitely opening yourself up to much greater risk with a diesel, my 2.0 petrol Mondeo was supremely reliable so for a relatively small fuel saving I'd have been very reluctant to swap. My TDCI Mondeo was an expensive bag of spanners and even when working, it only delivered about 8mpg more than my 2.0 on a run.

Also, move away from cheap stuff and into Audis and the costs of every other little job escalate. For example, I put my A4 in to get the tracking done and found that the track rods were seized. The garage explained it would be no problem on most cars as they could just apply some heat, but the Audi components contain rubber bushes, which melt. So the only solution ended up being to have the track rods replaced, ended up costing me £195 for a job that would have been no bother on my Mondeo. It's just one example I know, but it's indicative of a pattern that I've found whenever I have owned a cheap "premium" car.

In short, if you must buy diesel, get a Mondeo TDCI because they're as good as most other things out there, they drive well, and are cheap to buy, but I'd probably just keep the Mazda until it goes pop in an expensive way.

How many years / thousands of miles would you need to do to make back your cost to change in fuel savings?
Absolutely this. When you think of all the stuff that can go wrong with a modern diesel (DPF, DMF, EGR, turbo to name but a few), one repair bill could very easily end up costing you more than the cost of a little more fuel each week.

jas xjr

11,309 posts

238 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
oilslick said:
Absolutely this. When you think of all the stuff that can go wrong with a modern diesel (DPF, DMF, EGR, turbo to name but a few), one repair bill could very easily end up costing you more than the cost of a little more fuel each week.
Trend has a 2009 Mazda 6 diesel.just had a turbo replaced at a cost of over £700.
To me that's a pretty new car that I would not expect any major bills for a few years. Maybe modern cars are more likely to have been built down to a price.
As someone said above sometimes better the devil you know

ZX10R NIN

27,490 posts

124 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
Have to say we were running both Petrol & Diesel Mondeo's on our Fleet & the difference was 17mpg between the two in terms of maintenance the diesel was around £175 per year to run but they tended to have a higher annual mileage. Also with Petrol at £5.30 & Diesel at £5.39 per gallon Tax at £290 Petrol & £180 Diesel.

Over 15000 miles (using claimed figures) the Manual Petrol Mondeo(31mpg) will cost £2564.51 the Diesel (48.7mpg) £1660.16 (neither will hit the claimed numbers) so with the road tax saving you're looking at £1014.00 in favour of the diesel & it's quicker in real world driving terms.

Good luck with the bike test you won't look back once you've done it that grin on your face as you roll out plus you'll never be stuck in traffic again.

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Sunday 24th May 11:20

funkyrobot

Original Poster:

18,789 posts

227 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
Pistom said:
Willy Nilly said:
OP, keep the car you have, look after it then when it's worn out buy something cheaper to run. I doubt you will come out ahead swapping it now and for £2,000 you could end up buying a load of someone elses trouble
Probably the best advice here.
I have considered this and I agree that swapping my current car could end up costing me more.

However, I really do need to get my fuel bills down. With work and social travel, I'm spending about fifty quid a week on fuel. It just doesn't seem worth it for a basic 2.0 litre car. I wouldn't mind spending it if I had a v8 or something. smile

Also, I really could do with something a bit bigger. My fiancée and I are both tall and our daughter is getting bigger. It's getting to the point where neither of us can have our seats fully back (which is what we need in the Mazda)) with the baby seat in the back.