Looking for advice about what car to go for

[Randomusername]

Hi, I’m not really sure if I’m posting this in the right place. I’m 20, soon to be 21. I’m looking for a car, up to 2.0 engine (due to living rural a 2.0 is reasonable on insurance > £800).

My commute is gonna be upped from 360 miles a week to a 500 mile commute a week. Having a daily 120 mile motorway commute (moving closer is out of the question due to caring responsibilities), I need a new car. Especially as my Fiat 500 is due to go back the finance company in November.

I’m looking for recommendations about what car i should get for my commute. Don’t really know anyone around me who is good with cars so I’m hoping I’m posting in the right place for some advice.
These are the things I would like to have on it:

Bluetooth
Built in sat nav
USB/Aux
Climate control
Diesel engine (around 60+mpg)
2.0 litre or below
Lots of safety equipment
Cruise control (as my foot is currently killing me)
Ideally less than 2 years old. Looking for something on finance at around the £200 pcm mark with up to £5000 down.

I’m not really sure if I should be looking into leasing/pcp/or HP with my millage (around 24000 a year).

ATM the only cars that have caught my eye are the VW scirocco or the Mercedes A class. I would prefer a hatchback opposed to a larger car as I don’t really need the space.

Thank you.

[Unclegerry]

Might fit the bill. Comes at around £237pm for 25k pa on a 2yr deal.


https://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/Ford_...

Edited by Unclegerry on Sunday 13th May 16:06

[Mo28]

A golf ticks all those boxes and comes with adaptive cruise control

[Randomusername]

Hi, thank you for replying. Just looked into the adaptive cruise control (which you mentioned the golf has). It looks like a system which could be very handy on the motorway.

Would you say, with the amount of miles I’m doing, if I would be better of leasing/pcp/ or HP?

[Flumpo]

Randomusername said:

Hi, thank you for replying. Just looked into the adaptive cruise control (which you mentioned the golf has). It looks like a system which could be very handy on the motorway.

Would you say, with the amount of miles I’m doing, if I would be better of leasing/pcp/ or HP?

Are you looking at about 30k miles pa? Leasing and pcp is going to push all these cars well beyond your budget of £200 a month with that mileage. You would also need to think about the condition you will be handing the car back in after 3 years.

[Randomusername]

Flumpo said:

Randomusername said:

Hi, thank you for replying. Just looked into the adaptive cruise control (which you mentioned the golf has). It looks like a system which could be very handy on the motorway.

Would you say, with the amount of miles I’m doing, if I would be better of leasing/pcp/ or HP?

Are you looking at about 30k miles pa? Leasing and pcp is going to push all these cars well beyond your budget of £200 a month with that mileage. You would also need to think about the condition you will be handing the car back in after 3 years.

Hi, when taking in holidays etc into account i’m Gonna be looking at around 23 thousand miles a year.

[Flumpo]

Randomusername said:

Flumpo said:

Randomusername said:

Hi, thank you for replying. Just looked into the adaptive cruise control (which you mentioned the golf has). It looks like a system which could be very handy on the motorway.

Would you say, with the amount of miles I’m doing, if I would be better of leasing/pcp/ or HP?

Are you looking at about 30k miles pa? Leasing and pcp is going to push all these cars well beyond your budget of £200 a month with that mileage. You would also need to think about the condition you will be handing the car back in after 3 years.

Hi, when taking in holidays etc into account i’m Gonna be looking at around 23 thousand miles a year.

The national website someone posted above will give you a really good idea as you can put 25k into the search box.

Just be careful estimating mileage, it’s easy to do more than you think and a lot can change over 3 years. So take a look at the pence per mile for going over. It varies from 9-18p per mile over.

Well done though, decent graduate job and looking for a decent car. Good times!

[jam_up]

I’d definetly want an auto and adaptive cruise at that mileage. The Golf has it standard from low trims but not auto climate control - it has manual heating/cooling. Might not be a biggie but something to look out for

<2 years old is pretty tough with that budget. I’d go with something older to minimise deprecation and potentially bigger too. Something like a Skoda Superb or Mondeo will be more comfortable.

[Randomusername]

Flumpo said:

Randomusername said:

Flumpo said:

Randomusername said:

Hi, thank you for replying. Just looked into the adaptive cruise control (which you mentioned the golf has). It looks like a system which could be very handy on the motorway.

Would you say, with the amount of miles I’m doing, if I would be better of leasing/pcp/ or HP?

Are you looking at about 30k miles pa? Leasing and pcp is going to push all these cars well beyond your budget of £200 a month with that mileage. You would also need to think about the condition you will be handing the car back in after 3 years.

Hi, when taking in holidays etc into account i’m Gonna be looking at around 23 thousand miles a year.

The national website someone posted above will give you a really good idea as you can put 25k into the search box.

Just be careful estimating mileage, it’s easy to do more than you think and a lot can change over 3 years. So take a look at the pence per mile for going over. It varies from 9-18p per mile over.

Well done though, decent graduate job and looking for a decent car. Good times!

Thank you. Your advice is very helpful. Me and my boyfriend have two cars between us. So really this car will just be used for me commuting back and forth to work as his is owned outright. Therefore, if push comes to shove (as he works very locally) I can always take his if I’m near my mileage limits.

Haha! Yes definitely decent graduate job. Hoping to buy a house soon to. Lucky enough I live in an area where I can still buy a house for £100K. That way I have enough money to still get myself a nice car. (I mean i’d love an Abarth but the fuel prices are frightening with my mileage).

[Randomusername]

jam_up said:

I’d definetly want an auto and adaptive cruise at that mileage. The Golf has it standard from low trims but not auto climate control - it has manual heating/cooling. Might not be a biggie but something to look out for

<2 years old is pretty tough with that budget. I’d go with something older to minimise deprecation and potentially bigger too. Something like a Skoda Superb or Mondeo will be more comfortable.

Yeah I’m leaning more towards a auto for rush hour. I’ll consider going for an older car, however I’ve had a quick noes at lease deals and some seem to be coming in around my budget. I get what you mean with a larger car. However, I just really don’t need the space. I also prefer a smaller car for when I’m going to the shops (as parking spaces aren’t pretty narrow where I live. However, I will definitely check one out and take one for a test drive. Who knows, I may actually end up going for a larger car.

[Mo28]

The 1.6 auto golfs could be had for around £8500 for a 13/63 plate and the 2.0 auto golfs are around £10000 for a 14/64 plate. You could get a bank loan and keep the car for around 3 years and put 60,000 on it and sell it off. The 2.0 can do 100,000 miles + with ease.
The adaptive cruise control is great and works very well, it also has collision assist so the car brakes for you if it thinks your going to hit a car or pedestrian. These features help to reduce you insurance premium as well.
The trim level to go for is either SE, GT or if your budget can stretch to it then a GTD.

[bearman68]

Reliability with most of the toys - you're probably looking at a Pug 308 type car. Seem to score highly on the reliability front, and while they don't look the best from the outside, they are more full of toys than most golfs. The 1.6 diesel engine is refined and frugal, and seems to manage the miles well.

[ZX10R NIN]

With your annual mileage I'd look to buy outright as (around 12k will see you right) you'll still land yourself a very decent car that won't break the bank to run.

At this price point the obvious answer is a Titanium X Focus:

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

but they're hard to find where as if you look slightly away from the norm there are some very good low mileage alternatives:


Kia Optima with 4 years worth of (my brother has one he said they have to be mapped & a 50mpg average is realistic) Warranty left:

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

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

Cee'd 3

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

The new shape Astra's in Elite or SRI Nav spec represent great VFM at the moment when you consider the kit age & cost.

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

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

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

Alfa Giulietta:

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

Mazda3 Sport Nav

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

Megane GT Line

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

308 GT/GT Line

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

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

Leon FR

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