Which car to buy!?

[sdaba]

Hello All,

I'm new to the site and would like your help on which car to buy...

Starting in a few months, I will be travelling 120 miles round trip a day mainly on the motorway, lasting around 3 hours in total. I'd like your opinion on which is the best car to buy?

I have a max limit of £4500 to buy the car (anything less would be awesome!!), and as I've only been driving for 2 years I know the insurance will be quite high, so I'm looking for a low insurance group. I'd like to have air conditioning and cruise control in the car. (any opinions on cruise control would be great too - is it worth it for the motorway?). It has to be a diesel and a quiet comfortable car too, I don't want a headache and aching back everyday!

I've been looking around for the past few weeks, and heres the cars I've come up with. If theres something better then please please let me know!!

VW Golf, Seat Leon, Seat Ibiza, Mini Cooper


All your advice would be greatly appreciated

[JeS10]

A diesel mini for £4.5k!?

I would suggest a Skoda Octavia, couldn't really go wrong with that. You'd get a good pick for £4500, which is just as important as picking the right car. I had a situation last year when I wanted a Cooper for £3500, the fact that it limited me to sheds negated the notion of getting a MINI in the first place.

Golf TDIs are very popular, and you'll pay accordingly - but they're very much a utility.

[PLamborghini]

Saab 9-5
Mondeo

You could get great examples of them for 4.5K

[sebhaque]

Cruise control is fantastic on the motorway, it makes journeys so much more pleasant. Although I do admit a particular disdain for any MLMs/idiotic drivers who make me switch it off and manually maneuover the car around them.

Have you considered something like a Passat, 406, Mondeo, Laguna, or an Vectra? They can usually be had at low prices (because there are so many of them around) and if you are careful with what you buy then you can end up with a lot of car on you drive for not a lot of money.

Here are some examples:

Passat:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

406:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

Mondeo:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

Laguna:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

Vectra:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

And if cruise isn't mandatory, a 306:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

This is just a 5-minute search on AT - the market you're in is very saturated and there are plenty of cars to choose from; if you go onto Autotrader and search for diesel cars in your price range, with your preferred body style, age or mileage, you'll find a lot there. I haven't included things like Merc C220s or BMW 3-series as they'll be a bit pricier to service and insure (the latter of which is my main concern).
However, there are also a lot of lemons out there, so pick carefully

Welcome, btw.

[boredofmyoldname]

Fabia TDI, maybe a VRS and retrofit cruise control.

Oh and check out a Bora, like a golf but cheaper.

[Blakewater]

I have a VW Golf and I've had another Golf and a Polo before that. I've been quoted far more to insure smaller cars such as Renault Clios and Vauxhall Corsas. VWs seem to be relatively cheap to insure.

[sdaba]

Thankyou for all your suggestions everyone .

From what you've written, I can see that you're recommending bigger cars than I would have thought of. Is this because they're better on the motorway than superminis?

To be honest, I think I'd prefer a smaller car...