50m commute a day. What car?

[noworries182]

So I’m starting a new job with a motorway commute of 50 miles round trip a day and was wondering if you good people could suggest what car you would buy considering my preferences below.

- 2nd hand car, not a lease car or a new car (max £8k)
- 5 doors
- Not bothered what it looks like, make or model.
- I plan on having the car at least 5 years

Due to the fuel economy, I was looking at a post 2015 diesel with low or no road tax but I’m worried that our so called government will increase road tax for these cars as well and then it will no longer be the most economical choice.

In these circumstances or experiences, what type of car would you go for?

[dionbee93]

If that was up to me I'd go with something from this list:

Old passat (B5.5 shape) 1.9 TDi dirt cheap to run, Comfy and if you bought a highline - nice spec, leather etc. Very tidy ones to be had around the 1.5K mark and cash left over. Service them and you'd be looking at getting 300K plus miles trouble free apart from usual servicing and maybe a turbo.

Bluemotion Polo 1.6 tdi? or the equivalent Skoda, Ibiza FR etc? Cheap tax, cheap to run. 63+plate cars available for the 4k mark

I do 55 miles a day to work but it's mixed driving, mostly country 60mph's and lanes and I've bought myself a 1.5 dci Kangoo Van to use for work as it's cheap to run and an ideal runner. Keeps the mileage down on my 5 series.

It just depends what you want really. You could buy a cheap to run car for sub 1K if you don't care what it looks like and it's going to be purely a car for commuting - what about a 1.6 VTS HDi C2? or a 1.4 hdi 207 or C2? £30 tax and cheap to run again.

[mnaylor]

I do 50 miles a day and have a GT86. I think 50 miles a day you don't really need a diesel. Although, I do work from home at least once a week.

Assuming you are not able to work from home you will only do 12k to 13k miles a year so I would go for something petrol that returns over 40mpg. There are plenty of options.

[99dndd]

If you've concerns about tax and have charging options at work then you'd comfortably be able to drive a Nissan LEAF.

The cheapest are sitting around the £8k mark now.

[RSTurboPaul]

Is the 50 mile round trip all motorways with horrendous traffic? Or sweeping A-roads? Or cross-country via back roads?

If the first, automatic luxobarge would seem ideal. If the last two, just get something fun and Manual with decent-ish fuel economy.

[Mafffew]

mnaylor said:

I do 50 miles a day and have a GT86. I think 50 miles a day you don't really need a diesel. Although, I do work from home at least once a week.

Assuming you are not able to work from home you will only do 12k to 13k miles a year so I would go for something petrol that returns over 40mpg. There are plenty of options.

Agree with this, I do 15k a year in a Fiesta ST. Uncomfortable at times, but wouldn't want anything too dull/depressing.

[joropug]

I have an F30 320d manual. It'll get 65mpg without trying in that scenario. Comfortable and reliable. Servicing costs low and tax insurance etc.

My OH has a 1.6 TDI A1 5 door. Again comfy despite size has a big car feel and looks stylish. Lacks cruise control but is an option. Gets 55mpg at 70-80, lacks a 6th gear. At slower speeds though it's very frugal.

I'd definitely consider both , the A3 and 1 series I don't think are as good value for money.

Tax, don't worry about it. Will affect new cars mostly.

We pay £30 per annum tax for both our cars even if it was 10x that it wouldn't be that bad.

[LandyManSam]

joropug said:

I have an F30 320d manual. It'll get 65mpg without trying in that scenario. Comfortable and reliable. Servicing costs low and tax insurance etc.

That's pretty impressive, is 65mpg a computer figure or a full-to-full calc?

[ElectricSoup]

99dndd said:

If you've concerns about tax and have charging options at work then you'd comfortably be able to drive a Nissan LEAF.

The cheapest are sitting around the £8k mark now.

This is a correct answer. I have a 30-50 mile round trip every day (depending on same variations) and I got myself a Leaf for £10k last September. I don't need to charge it at work, even in the winter it can handle about 70-80 miles on a single charge. Most days I get home with 50% charge still remaining and it costs about 50p to recharge it to full overnight, although it only takes 3-4 hours to recharge. No VED, no servicing costs (OK, minimal one every year to stay in warranty). Never been anywhere close to experiencing range anxiety.

Absolute no-brainer. It works brilliantly for me, and mine is the smallest range/capacity model, the 24kwh one.

It is electric, it is the colour of tomato soup, hence my forum handle. I love it to pieces.

[J8 SVG]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

This would buff out?

Are you sure you meant 2015? not many cars that have done less than 100k miles for under 8K

[ZX10R NIN]

I'm taking it you want a Euro6 car which will mean you won't have any problems any future legislation, with this in mind you can still land a decently spec'd car to be in while you're doing 15k per year.

Astra Elite 1.6/2.0d

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

2016 Astra SRI Nav This has to be the VFM option it'll still have a years worth of manufacturer's warranty left too.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Kia C'eed 2 with 4 years of Warranty left.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

From the above that 2016 Astra would be where my money would go.

[DoubleD]

ElectricSoup said:

This is a correct answer. I have a 30-50 mile round trip every day (depending on same variations) and I got myself a Leaf for £10k last September. I don't need to charge it at work, even in the winter it can handle about 70-80 miles on a single charge. Most days I get home with 50% charge still remaining and it costs about 50p to recharge it to full overnight, although it only takes 3-4 hours to recharge. No VED, no servicing costs (OK, minimal one every year to stay in warranty). Never been anywhere close to experiencing range anxiety.

Absolute no-brainer. It works brilliantly for me, and mine is the smallest range/capacity model, the 24kwh one.

It is electric, it is the colour of tomato soup, hence my forum handle. I love it to pieces.

Do you lease the battery?

[Lee540]

Don't need a diesel for this..

At one point I was commuting 150 mile round trip in a BMW 540i for a couple of years.

Just get any car that you like..

[GreatGranny]

DoubleD said:

Do you lease the battery?

Plenty on the 2nd hand market with no battery lease.

It's just a 2nd hand car like any other.

For 50 miles its ideal. More so if you have access to another car for longer journeys.

[joropug]

LandyManSam said:

That's pretty impressive, is 65mpg a computer figure or a full-to-full calc?

I did it manually once and it was within 2mpg so pretty much. It also has start stop but I don't use it much for fear of wearing out components more costly than the fuel save.

Here was my best over 23 miles

[Mexman]

I read your post as 50m (metres) a day..

[ElectricSoup]

DoubleD said:

ElectricSoup said:

This is a correct answer. I have a 30-50 mile round trip every day (depending on same variations) and I got myself a Leaf for £10k last September. I don't need to charge it at work, even in the winter it can handle about 70-80 miles on a single charge. Most days I get home with 50% charge still remaining and it costs about 50p to recharge it to full overnight, although it only takes 3-4 hours to recharge. No VED, no servicing costs (OK, minimal one every year to stay in warranty). Never been anywhere close to experiencing range anxiety.

Absolute no-brainer. It works brilliantly for me, and mine is the smallest range/capacity model, the 24kwh one.

It is electric, it is the colour of tomato soup, hence my forum handle. I love it to pieces.

Do you lease the battery?

No, I own the car and battery outright. There is no additional cost.

[ElectricSoup]

GreatGranny said:

DoubleD said:

Do you lease the battery?

Plenty on the 2nd hand market with no battery lease.

It's just a 2nd hand car like any other.

For 50 miles its ideal. More so if you have access to another car for longer journeys.

Exactly this. We need two cars so we have an E320 CDI also for long journeys, but the Leaf is the daily driver for commuting, school runs, dropping off/picking up wife from railway station, shopping etc. It's saving us a fortune. I'm paying £150 a month on a PCP and it costs about £20 a month in electricity, and has no VED when previously I was spending almost £300 on fuel alone every month in our previous car plus £25 a month VED. I struggled with the decision to buy the Leaf for months, trying to find the catch or downside. Finally I took the plunge and no catch has emerged. Best motoring decision I ever made. And it's enormous fun to drive. It has been cheaper to buy and run this nearly new car (it was 2.5 years old with 8k miles on the clock when I bought it) than run the paid-for 12 year old car it replaced.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Mexman said:

I read your post as 50m (metres) a day..

Me too! I was desperate to see which car was going to be best.

[Donbot]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Mexman said:

I read your post as 50m (metres) a day..

Me too! I was desperate to see which car was going to be best.