First car advice for commuting (40mi each way) - Budget £10k

[ichicc]

First post here - hello all

I'll soon be moving to a house where my partner will need to commute to work daily. It'll be c. 40 miles each way, mostly on the motorway (M40) with a couple miles of town driving each side. We have a maximum budget of up to £10k, and want to buy a second-hand automatic.

Neither of us know much about cars, and this will be our first car purchase. Living in London, we've never really had to drive before this. Our key priorities are:

- Safety

- Reliability

- Good value

- An easy & comfortable ride

- Ease of parking

We don't really care much for specific brands and don't need anything flashy or super-powerful. If we could get something that meets our needs at much under £10k, we'd happily settle for that.

My partner has said she would like a Toyota Yaris, having driven her parents' one a few times and quite liking it, especially its ease of parking as a smaller car. However, my feeling is that for her kind of mileage and journey type, something slightly bigger might be more appropriate - am I correct?

I know I've read before that Japanese cars tend to be the best bang-for-buck - would they be recommended for our use case? I'd like to defer to the knowledgeable community on these boards for make/model recommendations.

My other question is that given we are buying second hand, what kind of age/mileage would give the best value/reliability proposition?

Also, are there any (non-gimmick) features we should be looking out for to make the driving experience as pleasant as possible? I had parking cameras and cruise control in mind but please let me know if there's anything else!

Many thanks in advance.

Edited by ichicc on Wednesday 24th June 10:22

[Shiv_P]

I think something like Mk7 Golf 1.4TSI or 2.0TDI (comes with adaptive cruise control as standard), with the DSG box would do you nicely.

[PistonAFC]

Focus

[Feirny]

Volvo C30 D3/D4.
Volvo V40 D3/D4.

[Jonny_]

Shiv_P said:

I think something like Mk7 Golf 1.4TSI or 2.0TDI (comes with adaptive cruise control as standard), with the DSG box would do you nicely.

Would not countenance a turbocharged Golf with DSG outside of manufacturers' warranty. They're a complicated car with lots of highly stressed, expensive components.

For that money, a Prius or Auris hybrid is the boring but sensible choice. The drivetrain is simple and well proven, the economy around town is superb, the drivetrain is incredibly smooth as there are no actual gearshifts, and the reputation for reliability about as good as it gets.

All bar the lowest trim levels will have cruise, most have parking sensors and reversing camera as well. Even the air conditioning is electrically driven so you can stay cool in traffic without having to run the engine constantly. Look for Excel trim for maximum toy count.

[Shiv_P]

Jonny_ said:

Shiv_P said:

I think something like Mk7 Golf 1.4TSI or 2.0TDI (comes with adaptive cruise control as standard), with the DSG box would do you nicely.

Would not countenance a turbocharged Golf with DSG outside of manufacturers' warranty. They're a complicated car with lots of highly stressed, expensive components.

It's not a turbocharged 3.8L McLaren 650S V8, it's a VW Golf

[ZX10R NIN]

There are certain things I want from a car when doing 20k a year, the first being comfort the second is low road noise etc & of course reliability.

Anything listed below will be comfortable reliable with sensible maintenance costs so it'll really come down to which you like best as there are no really bad options.

You can do that kind of mileage in a Yaris but personally I'd rather do it in something from the next segment up or another above that also I'd be looking for an Auto with cruise & low miles that way you can keep it for three to four years without incurring major bills with this in mind here are my picks, most are 2015> & under 40k.

Alfa Giulietta QV Line well spec'd nice car with a well proven drivetrain

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

Exclusive

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

308 GT Superb car for your commute

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

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

GT Line

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

DS5 Sport/Style another smart commuter car

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

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

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

V40 D3 SE Lux

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

SE Nav

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

Focus Titanium X these are the go to but because of that they tend to be a bit more expensive when you take age/spec/mileage into account.

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

Titanium

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

Astra Elite Nav very good cars & you'll be able to extend the Manufacturers Warranty for added peace of mind.

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

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

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

Kia Proceed 2 you'll still have 3/4 years warranty left on these & they're a good car

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

Ceed 2

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

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

Ceed 3

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

Infiniti Q30 Premium Good reliable cars with a fit & finish a step ahead of the rest but they're hard to find at this price point without high ish miles in auto form

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

Or something from the next segment up:

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

All of the above will do your commute so I'd visit a car supermarket & sit in as many as you can & see what you to test drive.