Cheap car for 20 mile commute - Page 1 - Car Buying

Original Poster

18,789 posts

248 months

Friday 14th September 2018

Soon to be needing a vehicle for driving to work again. I've been fortunate enough to not need one for the last few years. I would bike, but my place of work doesn't have any facilities for someone cycling in and being a bit sweaty.

Requirements are good mpg, cheap (budget is around £1500), reliable, big enough to fit me (6ft 4in tall) and a family of three and bikes in, and easy to fix (I will be aiming to do this myself). The commute is 20 miles each way.

I'm not bothered about the make and model at all. It just needs to work. It will sometimes be taken on long weekend trips around the country too, hence the need to fit 3 of us in.

Any ideas? I'm guessing estate or large hatchback style. Maybe Octavia, Volvo V70, Honda CRV?

I would consider diesel due to the weekend trips.

Thanks all.

ZX10R NIN

29,763 posts

145 months

Friday 14th September 2018

Original Poster

18,789 posts

248 months

Friday 14th September 2018

Nice array of options. Thanks. smile

All a bit heavy on the fuel though?

ZX10R NIN

29,763 posts

145 months

Friday 14th September 2018

Yes but all will be reliable & fit your requirements spending a bit on fuel is better than spending chunks on a less reliable car.

Original Poster

18,789 posts

248 months

Friday 14th September 2018

Thanks.

Never even considered a Ford auto.

defblade

7,917 posts

233 months

Friday 14th September 2018

Friend has just bought (another, previous finally run into the ground over the last 8 or 10 (?) years and 200k miles) Citroen C5 estate, £1495, 58k miles, scuffed around the edges, massssssive boot, reasonable mpg (diesel).

Quite easy to work on as you can just set the the suspension to "high" to get the axle stands in smile

Original Poster

18,789 posts

248 months

Saturday 15th September 2018

That's a nice option. Thanks. smile

Mr Tidy

28,465 posts

147 months

Sunday 16th September 2018

I sold a BMW 325ti Sport Compact just within your budget earlier this year OP.

Ticked most of your boxes, with the bonus of being fun when you wanted to have a spirited drive!

I hardly commuted in it, and 95% of my use was on 30+ miles trips on dual carriageways/motorways but over 3+ years and 23K miles the OBC was showing 34.9 mpg so not exactly thirsty either.

Anyway good luck with the search. thumbup

Facian

56 posts

157 months

Monday 17th September 2018

I bought an '09 Saab 9-3 Diesel Estate ~1yr ago with a similar aim (minus the children) and it's been great.

I paid £1500 with a years MOT from a small dealer expecting it to last a year at most and then be fit for the bin. I just MOT'd it again and it passed with no remedial work required, and has been absolutely perfect! I've done 12,000 miles in it enjoying the comfy heated leather seats & decent sound system, and it's averaged an actual 47mpg in that time. It's saved me almost the purchase cost in fuel alone compared to commuting my S2000 on boring motorways.

Only costs have been two front tyres about mid-way through (which I expected, given their condition when I bought the car. My only regret is that I didn't buy an auto for full-wafting, but I wasn't willing to take a punt on a high-mileage auto box for that price range.

I'd strongly recommend it for some comfy budget motoring. Petrols tend to be cheaper, and less soul-destroying too but obviously depends on how high MPG is on your priority list.

ALawson

7,982 posts

271 months