Commuter car below £5k.

[danllama]

Hi all, been looking endlessly in to commuter cars for my partner. 140 mile round trip. MPG and comfort are paramount. Currently leaning towards a 208 1.6hdi. Apparently 80mpg is achievable in the real world but i've read about issues with the built in infotainment system and also it may or may not have a funky seating position.

Her drive will be majority M20 and a couple of miles to and from the motorway.

We'd be happy to sacrifice a bit of economy for a better all rounder, but want 60mpg.

I've also considered Accords and Passats. Would either achieve a real world 60mpg on this commute? Both look like far superior places to be for 2-3 hours a day.

Any other ideas?

[Deep Thought]

danllama said:

Hi all, been looking endlessly in to commuter cars for my partner. 140 mile round trip. MPG and comfort are paramount. Currently leaning towards a 208 1.6hdi. Apparently 80mpg is achievable in the real world but i've read about issues with the built in infotainment system and also it may or may not have a funky seating position.

Her drive will be majority M20 and a couple of miles to and from the motorway.

We'd be happy to sacrifice a bit of economy for a better all rounder, but want 60mpg.

I've also considered Accords and Passats. Would either achieve a real world 60mpg on this commute? Both look like far superior places to be for 2-3 hours a day.

Any other ideas?

A mk6 Golf 1.6TDI will achieve your 60mpg. I'd one for a year and did 28k miles in it. Brim to brim checks on every fill, averaged 62mpg overall. I did drive with economy in mind, mind you. Passat is bigger and heavier. Comfier place to be but wont achieve quite the mpg.

IMHO

[Dift]

I'd be looking to put cruise control your list too!

• shameless plug... we are looking at PXing our a 2wd 2012 (facelift) 2.0 Tiguan, been offered £4800 for it. Slightly higher than normal seating position, recent cambelt, Michelin tyres cruise control cant think of a better place for under 5k (might not squeeze 60k though).

[ZX10R NIN]

60mpg will be a push realistically mid to high 50's is (for something with a bit of poke) more realistic also I'd be more concerned with comfort if I'm going to be spending 2-3hrs in a car day in day out.

The Citroen DS5 is a very good comfortable car that'll be 52mpg (this one will be nearer 60mpg because it's mapped) real world but a nice place to be in for 3hrs

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Volvo S60 D3 SE Lux

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Astra Elite you'll see a real world 55mpg

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Alfa Mito Veloce

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

The Giulietta Veloce 140 will be the better place for your OH to be & it's better on fuel than the Mito above real world 57's

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Mini Cooper SD real world 60mpg but the ride is a bit stiff

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Tuesday 19th May 17:20

[jwilco]

Deep Thought said:

A mk6 Golf 1.6TDI will achieve your 60mpg. I'd one for a year and did 28k miles in it. Brim to brim checks on every fill, averaged 62mpg overall. I did drive with economy in mind, mind you. Passat is bigger and heavier. Comfier place to be but wont achieve quite the mpg.

IMHO

I can second the 1.6tdi in the Mk6 Golf on economy, having owned one 5 or so years back. I would regularly get 60mpg out of it on fairly mixed driving. Good thing is I had to drive it economically because it was anything but fast.

[swampy442]

danllama said:

Both look like far superior places to be for 2-3 hours a day.

That would be my number 1 consideration for 3 hours a day behind the wheel. Accords, Volvo's Passats, A4's all bigger, more robust and comfortable than a 208 and not much less on the economy front

[DSLiverpool]

Go electric, work it out but must save a fortune

[Deep Thought]

jwilco said:

Deep Thought said:

A mk6 Golf 1.6TDI will achieve your 60mpg. I'd one for a year and did 28k miles in it. Brim to brim checks on every fill, averaged 62mpg overall. I did drive with economy in mind, mind you. Passat is bigger and heavier. Comfier place to be but wont achieve quite the mpg.

IMHO

I can second the 1.6tdi in the Mk6 Golf on economy, having owned one 5 or so years back. I would regularly get 60mpg out of it on fairly mixed driving. Good thing is I had to drive it economically because it was anything but fast.

I have quite fond memories of mine. No, not the quickest thing on earth but then my commute was in steady traffic so it was fine. A tuning box would give it a bit more oomph if necessary but i never bothered.

Found my excel spreadsheet calcs - these were brim to brim readings, not from the trip computer.

[jwilco]

Deep Thought said:

I have quite fond memories of mine. No, not the quickest thing on earth but then my commute was in steady traffic so it was fine. A tuning box would give it a bit more oomph if necessary but i never bothered.

Found my excel spreadsheet calcs - these were brim to brim readings, not from the trip computer.

850 miles on one tank. That takes some beating.

[keo]

They are impressive figures for the 1.6. I have a 2.0tdi A3 so golf size. I have been getting 55+mpg average properly worked out.

Another feature I would look for in a car where you are doing lots of miles is a big fuel tank. As filling up every few days would soon get tiresome.

[danllama]

Deep Thought said:

jwilco said:

Deep Thought said:

A mk6 Golf 1.6TDI will achieve your 60mpg. I'd one for a year and did 28k miles in it. Brim to brim checks on every fill, averaged 62mpg overall. I did drive with economy in mind, mind you. Passat is bigger and heavier. Comfier place to be but wont achieve quite the mpg.

IMHO

I can second the 1.6tdi in the Mk6 Golf on economy, having owned one 5 or so years back. I would regularly get 60mpg out of it on fairly mixed driving. Good thing is I had to drive it economically because it was anything but fast.

I have quite fond memories of mine. No, not the quickest thing on earth but then my commute was in steady traffic so it was fine. A tuning box would give it a bit more oomph if necessary but i never bothered.

Found my excel spreadsheet calcs - these were brim to brim readings, not from the trip computer.

That is very very impressive! Hadn't even considered a Gold but I am now. Do they come with built in bluetooth and cruise control as standard?

Cheers for everybody's suggestions so far! Looking in to all of them.

I'm actually hoping she gets sick of the commute and moves her job closer to home, the idea of her being on the road so much makes me uncomfortable.

[danllama]

keo said:

They are impressive figures for the 1.6. I have a 2.0tdi A3 so golf size. I have been getting 55+mpg average properly worked out.

Another feature I would look for in a car where you are doing lots of miles is a big fuel tank. As filling up every few days would soon get tiresome.

Yeah tell me about it. I'm currently doing my 140 round commute in my little old MR2 roadster until my work transfer goes through. It's a comfy little car and would actually be ok if it had cruise control, but 45mpg means filling up twice a week. Not ideal.

[Deep Thought]

danllama said:

That is very very impressive! Hadn't even considered a Gold but I am now. Do they come with built in bluetooth and cruise control as standard?

Cheers for everybody's suggestions so far! Looking in to all of them.

I'm actually hoping she gets sick of the commute and moves her job closer to home, the idea of her being on the road so much makes me uncomfortable.

Mine was an S. I think it had Bluetooth ok, cant remember if it had cruise. I dont think it did actually.

SE or Match spec is where you'd want to be for some extra toys.

Any scope for her to work from home some days? Would reduce the travel burden.

[MattW]

If you can find one a Saab 93 TTiD is a good bet, pretty rapid, very comfy seats and upto 70mpg on a run. Has to be the TTiD though, not the TiD which is not as economical. Also a good size car to sit on the motorway in.....not a tin box.

[Deep Thought]

MattW said:

If you can find one a Saab 93 TTiD is a good bet, pretty rapid, very comfy seats and upto 70mpg on a run. Has to be the TTiD though, not the TiD which is not as economical. Also a good size car to sit on the motorway in.....not a tin box.

Whats the average MPG? I cant see a TTiD breaking 45-50mpg on average.

EDIT: Honest John showing 45-50mpg across the TTiD variants

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/saab/9-3-2007

[MattW]

Ah I was ust going on the AT figures for the 93 TTiD Turbo edition:

Fuel consumption (urban) - 49.6 mpg
Fuel consumption (extra urban) - 72.4 mpg
Fuel consumption (combined) - 62.8 mpg

Which may be way out I guess......only ever had a 2.0T petrol, which was very thirsty!

[BrettMRC]

My old A5 (2013, 2.0tdi, 2wd, manual) would do well over 50mpg on an average run, 60+ was seen from time to time.

They seem to be edging towards £5k now - so might be worth looking at anything with that VAG engine in?

[Deep Thought]

BrettMRC said:

My old A5 (2013, 2.0tdi, 2wd, manual) would do well over 50mpg on an average run, 60+ was seen from time to time.

They seem to be edging towards £5k now - so might be worth looking at anything with that VAG engine in?

If someone wants 60mpg+ then they're realistically going to be in to a 1.6TDI hatchback as a maximum.

If someone can tolerate 50ish MPG the world is their lobster for bigger more comfortable cars.

[anonymous-user]

danllama said:

Hi all, been looking endlessly in to commuter cars for my partner. 140 mile round trip. MPG and comfort are paramount. Currently leaning towards a 208 1.6hdi. Apparently 80mpg is achievable in the real world but i've read about issues with the built in infotainment system and also it may or may not have a funky seating position.

Isn't the 1.6 HDi engine known for suffering all manner of issues from leaking injector seals to terminal engine failure if the oil change interval is not religiously adhered to?

[Deep Thought]

Joey Deacon said:

danllama said:

Hi all, been looking endlessly in to commuter cars for my partner. 140 mile round trip. MPG and comfort are paramount. Currently leaning towards a 208 1.6hdi. Apparently 80mpg is achievable in the real world but i've read about issues with the built in infotainment system and also it may or may not have a funky seating position.

Isn't the 1.6 HDi engine known for suffering all manner of issues from leaking injector seals to terminal engine failure if the oil change interval is not religiously adhered to?

It used to be a hateful thing. I'd some very bad and expensive experiences of it when i was motor trading. We stopped buying in and selling anything with that engine (Peugeot, Citroen, Volvo, Ford all used it at one point).

Cant comment on more recent variants though. You'd hope they got it sorted after this length of time....