Advice request - best car for the job
Discussion
Hi all, long time lurker, new poster, thought I'd ask for the board's advice/opinion on what would be the best car for my job. I work as a field engineer for a software company and our main product is used in doctor's surgeries. I'm based at home in South Yorkshire and travel daily to surgeries all over the north of England and some of the midlands too. I have to use my own car and am paid per mile on expenses. A typical week could involve round trips to Teesside, Liverpool, Cumbria, Stoke, etc, all roughly 200 miles or more in a day, and I have been know to do 1000+ miles in a week before, though usually it's more like 650/700. It's mainly motorway driving, but I've had a bit of everything in the few years I've been doing the job. I've had a Fabia VRS which I've made more suitable for the job (driver's armrest/ipod stereo/decent cupholders etc) for the past few years which has served me well but it has a lot of miles on the clock now and needs a new turbo in addition to some other repairs, so I'm looking at fixing her up, and getting something else. I'm looking at spending about 4500 (could go higher though for something desirable) and need something with low running costs, good reliability and comfort, but not totally dull. I've had a few ideas already but wondered if any of the wise sages of PH have experience doing the same kind of job and can recommend something, or have any tips on what to avoid?
I do about 600 miles/wk, mostly motorway. Couple of weeks back I picked up a 2004 B5 Passat with the 1.9tdi 130 engine.
Looks dull, but comfy on the motorway with 15" wheels, 50mpg and clips along as well as you could reasonably need on the commute. It's a Highline model so has heated hide and just had a Parrot ipod / bluetooth thing fitted. Also just reaslised it has rear 12v sockets so the kids can charge their i-things when cruising down through France.
Have to say, it does the job and for 3 bags I'm really impressed with it. With your budget, you'd still have a couple fo grand left over if anything major crops up.
Looks dull, but comfy on the motorway with 15" wheels, 50mpg and clips along as well as you could reasonably need on the commute. It's a Highline model so has heated hide and just had a Parrot ipod / bluetooth thing fitted. Also just reaslised it has rear 12v sockets so the kids can charge their i-things when cruising down through France.
Have to say, it does the job and for 3 bags I'm really impressed with it. With your budget, you'd still have a couple fo grand left over if anything major crops up.
Volvo S60 D5 ?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...
Edited by tercelgold on Saturday 4th February 17:30
The Crack Fox said:
I'd be looking at another VRs !
Yeah it has been quite good tbh, all that torque in a small car is a lot of fun 
doesn't get much respect on the mways though, get a lot of Audi's etc not happy sitting behind a Fabia no matter what speed I'm going.Some good suggestions here, really quite like the look of the diesel Accord, driver's armrest is a major plus point for me, as is Hondas' reputation for reliability. Keep them coming!
XDA said:
OP - Doesn't your employer offer a company car/van? I'm in a similiar line of work myself, and these types of jobs usually come with a company vehicle.
Unfortunately not, our parent company has a company car allowance scheme that we were offered of a yearly cash rate and a lower mileage rate but most of the engineers would have ended up a fair amount worse off, for me it would have been about £1500 per year, so we decided to stay as we are with the mileage rate of 45ppm for fist 10000 miles, 25ppm thereafter which is OK but the maintenance can be a pain in the arse.My dad was faced with similar and got a 3 year old 318d with 15k on the clock, plan is to run it to 250k over 4 years then repeat, admittedly a higher purchase cost (15k from BMW) but should pay itself back with more comfort and the lack of worry over big bills (renewable AUC warranty)
My other option would be to get a 8 year old average mileage Mondeo with 12 months MOT and good tyres for c. £1500 run for 6 months doing nothing to it then sell it on for £900 and repeat, otherwise the miles would kill all value left in the car and present a number of bills for consumables
My other option would be to get a 8 year old average mileage Mondeo with 12 months MOT and good tyres for c. £1500 run for 6 months doing nothing to it then sell it on for £900 and repeat, otherwise the miles would kill all value left in the car and present a number of bills for consumables
tercelgold said:
Volvo S60 D5 ?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...
+1 beat me to ithttp://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...
Edited by tercelgold on Saturday 4th February 17:30
How about a newer Octavia VRS? Would have a bit of a bigger car feel than the Fabia so comfy for your big miles, the 170TDI wouldn't be far off the Fabia's economy and have the edge on performance. Another one that looks good on paper and I want to check it when I change cars is the Mazda 3 2.2D sport, although I haven't driven one. The standard spec is basically the same as a remapped VRS, 190bhp with plenty of "big car" toys.
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