New job - 90 mile commute - what car?
Discussion
Hi guys,
I've just got a new job that'll require a 180 mile round trip around 3 or 4 days a week. My current car is a Corrola - nothing really wrong with it except quite poor mpg and it's done ~130k so I want something a bit newer and with better mpg.
I've got £4000 saved, the rest will be a bank loan. I don't really want to borrow more than £4000 so the total budget is around £8000. But I could be swayed by a brilliant car.
It doesn't have to be quick and it needs to have over 60mpg (over 70mpg) if possible.
I'm 6'4" so size comes into it a little bit. I need some boot space too, but if the rear seats fold flat I'll have enough space.
Currently I'm looking at VW Polo BlueMotion, which I've found for around £7500 used, although I'm not sure I'll fit in it.
Also considering Dacia Duster, Seat Ibiza and Kia Rios.
Any suggestions?
I've just got a new job that'll require a 180 mile round trip around 3 or 4 days a week. My current car is a Corrola - nothing really wrong with it except quite poor mpg and it's done ~130k so I want something a bit newer and with better mpg.
I've got £4000 saved, the rest will be a bank loan. I don't really want to borrow more than £4000 so the total budget is around £8000. But I could be swayed by a brilliant car.
It doesn't have to be quick and it needs to have over 60mpg (over 70mpg) if possible.
I'm 6'4" so size comes into it a little bit. I need some boot space too, but if the rear seats fold flat I'll have enough space.
Currently I'm looking at VW Polo BlueMotion, which I've found for around £7500 used, although I'm not sure I'll fit in it.
Also considering Dacia Duster, Seat Ibiza and Kia Rios.
Any suggestions?
MINI Cooper Clubman D? Hatch sounds like it may be a bit too small for your boot space requirements.
I know people well over 6ft who fit in these comfortably, perhaps try find one without a sunroof
£8k should get one with decent miles/spec
I know people well over 6ft who fit in these comfortably, perhaps try find one without a sunroof
£8k should get one with decent miles/spec
Doing that sort of milage you'd be better getting a decent wafting barge. OK you won't hit the mpg but these will be a hell of a lot nicer place to sit;
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/citro...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/citro...
If the Corolla goes fine keep it till its knackered. The mpg is a minor in the running costs, you will have no depreceation and the same service costs that a newer car would have.
Keep the money in the bank and set up a standing order to a savings account for the amount a £4k loan would cost. In a year or 2 when settled into your new job you may not need a loan.
Unless you just want a different car which we all do sometimes, but rarely does it make financial sense.
Keep the money in the bank and set up a standing order to a savings account for the amount a £4k loan would cost. In a year or 2 when settled into your new job you may not need a loan.
Unless you just want a different car which we all do sometimes, but rarely does it make financial sense.
Don't forget there are plenty of cars out there that will allegedly hit your 60-70mpg desired figure, but very few that will do it in the real world.
55mpg-60mpg is probably do-able from a few cars with a light right foot. My wife's Vag 2.0tdi 140 will do 55mpg on a run at 70mph, and my old Mondeo 2.0tdci used to do similar. Achieving over 60 is another leap and short of buying a brand new super eco-box I don't think you'll achieve it with your budget on a used car.
55mpg-60mpg is probably do-able from a few cars with a light right foot. My wife's Vag 2.0tdi 140 will do 55mpg on a run at 70mph, and my old Mondeo 2.0tdci used to do similar. Achieving over 60 is another leap and short of buying a brand new super eco-box I don't think you'll achieve it with your budget on a used car.
I used to do that kind of commute, in various new cars rather than used ones, but it should still be relevant. The ones I used for a week or more were:
Focus 1.6 TDCi
Civic 2.2 i-CTDi
Passat CC 2.0 TDi
BMW 325d Touring
BMW X1 sDrive 18d
BMW 520d
Toyota Rav-4 2.2D
The worst was the Rav (too big and wallowy) and the best was the 520d (as expected), but there wasn't as much in it as you'd think and I'd happily use any of them again.
My choice though, would be a Volvo C30 1.6d. It's comfy, has a decent stereo and will do a real world 60mpg+ if driven with moderate care so is ideal if space is not a big issue. I's also second a Mini Cooper D - I ran one for 2 weeks when my MCS was in for a massive amount of transmission related warranty work and did over 1k miles at 63mpg in it.
Polo BMT would not be something I'd look at personally, the eco bite that help it hit the on-paper numbers make it a bit miserable to drive, and in the real world you have to drive it fairly hard to keep up with most traffic which kills the economy.
Focus 1.6 TDCi
Civic 2.2 i-CTDi
Passat CC 2.0 TDi
BMW 325d Touring
BMW X1 sDrive 18d
BMW 520d
Toyota Rav-4 2.2D
The worst was the Rav (too big and wallowy) and the best was the 520d (as expected), but there wasn't as much in it as you'd think and I'd happily use any of them again.
My choice though, would be a Volvo C30 1.6d. It's comfy, has a decent stereo and will do a real world 60mpg+ if driven with moderate care so is ideal if space is not a big issue. I's also second a Mini Cooper D - I ran one for 2 weeks when my MCS was in for a massive amount of transmission related warranty work and did over 1k miles at 63mpg in it.
Polo BMT would not be something I'd look at personally, the eco bite that help it hit the on-paper numbers make it a bit miserable to drive, and in the real world you have to drive it fairly hard to keep up with most traffic which kills the economy.
Welcome to the extreme commuters club. I do a similar type of commute 100miles each way. Questions what time of day, what type of roads you are travelling on. You are going to be spending huge amounts of time in the car so comfort is more important than anything. My journey is 95mins on clear roads I leave at 4:50am but can be over 3hrs on a bad day coming home.
An aside look at cheap hotels to stay over just to give yourself a break sometimes.
I drive an A6 Avant it's big, relaxed, and comfortable. You need to be able to be a functioning human being when you get out.
Try and get some long test drives if you can. I bought manual out of habit next car will be an auto/dual clutch an hour of stop start on the M25 gets wearing on the left leg. Seats and suspension are far more important than horse power but don't go gutless for the sake of the odd mpg, your driving style makes more difference.
Ideal next car would probably be an x-drive bmw 420 auto, why? Fuel consumption, auto box and 4 wheel traction for the winter but I'm not an SUV fan. If I was looking for something cheaper A3/Golf/1series Bmw around 2l diesel, auto, climate control, xenons (lots of night driving) heated seats for those winter mornings Anything smaller would probably be more tiring than the cost saving gains. Oh yes tyres and servicing check the costs before you buy the car with those mileages they add up.
A few thoughts and rather a long ramble hope some of it was useful, good luck!
An aside look at cheap hotels to stay over just to give yourself a break sometimes.
I drive an A6 Avant it's big, relaxed, and comfortable. You need to be able to be a functioning human being when you get out.
Try and get some long test drives if you can. I bought manual out of habit next car will be an auto/dual clutch an hour of stop start on the M25 gets wearing on the left leg. Seats and suspension are far more important than horse power but don't go gutless for the sake of the odd mpg, your driving style makes more difference.
Ideal next car would probably be an x-drive bmw 420 auto, why? Fuel consumption, auto box and 4 wheel traction for the winter but I'm not an SUV fan. If I was looking for something cheaper A3/Golf/1series Bmw around 2l diesel, auto, climate control, xenons (lots of night driving) heated seats for those winter mornings
Anything smaller would probably be more tiring than the cost saving gains. Oh yes tyres and servicing check the costs before you buy the car with those mileages they add up.A few thoughts and rather a long ramble hope some of it was useful, good luck!
surveyor said:
I would not borrow money to run a car doing this mileage. It will depreciate like a stone.
A fair point. The way I looked at it was I would have a car anyway and the additional costs of fuel, tyres, mileage, depreciation were effectively my commute cost the same as if I'd had to buy a rail season ticket. i too asked myself a similar question last week after my laguna died from 6yrs of long daily commutes.
i had trawled through many options for £3-5k; including audi a2, lupo tdi, ibiza, 206, fiesta, etc. i then started looking at diesel polos, from the bluemotion all the way up to the 1.4. my concerns were, as raised above by another poster, the 'real-life' mpg which, depending on your commute, may or may not sit well against the official figures. my commute involves about 20 miles of m1/m62, and about the same again on 'a' roads with some stop-start depending on time of day.
i stumbled - literally - upon the polo gt (1.9d version), which i understand was a rather limited alternative to the fabia vrs - also mentioned above.
a main attraction for me was how the larger engine responds and copes with motorway speeds - i am getting around 52-55mpg from this on my daily commute which i expect to raise slightly even more once the novelty factor wears off and i settle into a driving style.
the car cost me short of £3k, which means it sits very low in a depreciation curve and sticking another 25-30k/year on wont harm it in a significant % like a £8k car. again, a point raised above that is very pertinent to my situation, but of course, everyone is different.
just a negative point though on the polo - smaller, older cars are short on kit such as armrests, cruise, bluetooth etc - just something to factor in as you'll be spending a lot of time in such a place...
i had trawled through many options for £3-5k; including audi a2, lupo tdi, ibiza, 206, fiesta, etc. i then started looking at diesel polos, from the bluemotion all the way up to the 1.4. my concerns were, as raised above by another poster, the 'real-life' mpg which, depending on your commute, may or may not sit well against the official figures. my commute involves about 20 miles of m1/m62, and about the same again on 'a' roads with some stop-start depending on time of day.
i stumbled - literally - upon the polo gt (1.9d version), which i understand was a rather limited alternative to the fabia vrs - also mentioned above.
a main attraction for me was how the larger engine responds and copes with motorway speeds - i am getting around 52-55mpg from this on my daily commute which i expect to raise slightly even more once the novelty factor wears off and i settle into a driving style.
the car cost me short of £3k, which means it sits very low in a depreciation curve and sticking another 25-30k/year on wont harm it in a significant % like a £8k car. again, a point raised above that is very pertinent to my situation, but of course, everyone is different.
just a negative point though on the polo - smaller, older cars are short on kit such as armrests, cruise, bluetooth etc - just something to factor in as you'll be spending a lot of time in such a place...
Before you part with any cash sit down and look at how much you will save (with better mpg), and how long it will take you to recover the additional cost and depreciation on a newer car against the improved MPG - I bet if you sit down and do the math it will take you something like 8 years or so to break even!
If you current car is not suffering any issues then stick with it, 130k is nothing on a modern car as long as it has been kept serviced. Also, the thrill of owning a new car will soon pass once you have commuted in it for a month and you will be wishing you didn't have a 4k loan!
If you current car is not suffering any issues then stick with it, 130k is nothing on a modern car as long as it has been kept serviced. Also, the thrill of owning a new car will soon pass once you have commuted in it for a month and you will be wishing you didn't have a 4k loan!
For that amount of time in a car a day, and the depriciation factor, I would be looking at a £2k Audi A4 1.9tdi 110 with the AFN lump.
Big enough to be comfy and have creature comforts, will return 55mpg all day long, limited depriciation - even ones with intergalactic miles go for £1k, and a nice basic pre-common rail diesel so if it breaks not too bad to fix.
The AFN engine is well known for going to 250k miles with basic servicing, £2k will get you a tidy clean one probably just sub 100k miles (you won't get much lower due to age).
Its a bit of an agricultural old beast when cold, and performance won't rip up tarmac, but its a bloody good tool for the job.
Big enough to be comfy and have creature comforts, will return 55mpg all day long, limited depriciation - even ones with intergalactic miles go for £1k, and a nice basic pre-common rail diesel so if it breaks not too bad to fix.
The AFN engine is well known for going to 250k miles with basic servicing, £2k will get you a tidy clean one probably just sub 100k miles (you won't get much lower due to age).
Its a bit of an agricultural old beast when cold, and performance won't rip up tarmac, but its a bloody good tool for the job.
I was in a similar boat and bought an A3 2.0TDI 170 Auto with full leather.
It's a really relaxing place to be for big miles and get around 50 mpg from it.
If you can get auto, leather, 150-200hp then you shouldn't be worn out when you arrive to work.
As someone else said, look out for a car with Bluetooth, cruise, iPod etc too.
It's a really relaxing place to be for big miles and get around 50 mpg from it.
If you can get auto, leather, 150-200hp then you shouldn't be worn out when you arrive to work.
As someone else said, look out for a car with Bluetooth, cruise, iPod etc too.
loskie said:
If the Corolla goes fine keep it till its knackered. The mpg is a minor in the running costs, you will have no depreceation and the same service costs that a newer car would have.
Keep the money in the bank and set up a standing order to a savings account for the amount a £4k loan would cost. In a year or 2 when settled into your new job you may not need a loan.
Unless you just want a different car which we all do sometimes, but rarely does it make financial sense.
^^^ This. Buying a newer car with better mpg will not save you money.Keep the money in the bank and set up a standing order to a savings account for the amount a £4k loan would cost. In a year or 2 when settled into your new job you may not need a loan.
Unless you just want a different car which we all do sometimes, but rarely does it make financial sense.
Have you commuted this distance before ? My wife does three days at 150miles round trip and one day at 300miles round trip with a day at home. She's completely shattered, especially after the 300. Don't underestimate how much time you lose just sat on the motorway/traffic.
I'd want:
comfort
cup holders
good a/c and ventilation
relaxed drive and road compliance
DAB / Bluetooth
I'd want:
comfort
cup holders
good a/c and ventilation
relaxed drive and road compliance
DAB / Bluetooth
I used to do Birmingham to Manchester every day. Picking the time was key to success and I was able to average over 80mph in the mornings and arrive at 7:45. My "weapon" of choice? Peugeot 306d. Racking up that kind of mileage costs a fortune in depreciation before fuel. The most important thing is to be comfortable and that means more than just the seat. Today I do 20k miles a year in the US and could not do it with out satellite radio. If there is an equivalent in the UK that you are used to make sure you have it in the commuting car. The next most important thing is reliability. Getting stuck 5 miles from home is a pain. Getting stuck 80 miles from home is a nightmare on a wet winters evening. My 306 only let me down once when the exhaust fell off on the M60 in the rain. That was not a good day.
JQ said:
loskie said:
If the Corolla goes fine keep it till its knackered. The mpg is a minor in the running costs, you will have no depreceation and the same service costs that a newer car would have.
Keep the money in the bank and set up a standing order to a savings account for the amount a £4k loan would cost. In a year or 2 when settled into your new job you may not need a loan.
Unless you just want a different car which we all do sometimes, but rarely does it make financial sense.
^^^ This. Buying a newer car with better mpg will not save you money.Keep the money in the bank and set up a standing order to a savings account for the amount a £4k loan would cost. In a year or 2 when settled into your new job you may not need a loan.
Unless you just want a different car which we all do sometimes, but rarely does it make financial sense.
The cheapest car is the one you've already got.
Stick with what you've got. Adress any known issues (suspension issues, clutch issues, etc etc) and get major service items (cambelt, water pump) done if they havnt been done fairly recently. Might be worth changing the gearbox oil as well to help the transmission.
Get the geometry checked, the brakes checked (sticking pistons etc) as that will help your fuel economy when its all correct and true.
If there are no major issues (things like, water consumption, oil consumption) and everything is well serviced, keep on with the corrolla. Change the oil and filter every 3 months and the engine will be fine on the most part
Get the geometry checked, the brakes checked (sticking pistons etc) as that will help your fuel economy when its all correct and true.
If there are no major issues (things like, water consumption, oil consumption) and everything is well serviced, keep on with the corrolla. Change the oil and filter every 3 months and the engine will be fine on the most part
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