What Car; 60mile/day motorway commute, new or old?
Discussion
Here's a what car thread for a change! If I could please enlist the services of you Knowledgeable people..
When I finally find a house and complete my move, my commute is going to become 30miles there and back of pretty much all motorway. Now originally I was planning on just buying something for £1k to do the daily slog in, but thinking about it more I would really prefer to have something newer and more refined given I'll be sat driving it a lot over the course of the next however many years, and I don't want to be constantly wondering when it will need something replacing/repairing. So now the debate I'm having with myself is whether I get something new on finance, e.g. a Volvo XC60, Octavia 2.0D/VRS etc, or do I spend what I would on finance payments, £5-10k, on a car upfront. What genuine car options are there for £5-10k that get 50mpg+, are a comfortable and quiet motorway drive and very reliable? I don't need it to be a particularly enjoyable drive as I have a fun weekend car.
Short Version:
What Car for 60 motorway miles/day:
£3-10k
50mpg+
Quiet and comfortable
Modern
Very reliable
Thanks in advance for suggestions
When I finally find a house and complete my move, my commute is going to become 30miles there and back of pretty much all motorway. Now originally I was planning on just buying something for £1k to do the daily slog in, but thinking about it more I would really prefer to have something newer and more refined given I'll be sat driving it a lot over the course of the next however many years, and I don't want to be constantly wondering when it will need something replacing/repairing. So now the debate I'm having with myself is whether I get something new on finance, e.g. a Volvo XC60, Octavia 2.0D/VRS etc, or do I spend what I would on finance payments, £5-10k, on a car upfront. What genuine car options are there for £5-10k that get 50mpg+, are a comfortable and quiet motorway drive and very reliable? I don't need it to be a particularly enjoyable drive as I have a fun weekend car.
Short Version:
What Car for 60 motorway miles/day:
£3-10k
50mpg+
Quiet and comfortable
Modern
Very reliable
Thanks in advance for suggestions
Toaster Pilot said:
Don't rush into buying a diesel - 40MPG vs 50MPG is only 1.5 gallons a week difference over 300 miles...
Surely to get 40mpg average out of a petrol you'd need to be driving it pretty sensibly? In which case, I'd have thought that you'd get a lot more than 50mpg out of a decent diesel driving in the same manner.Sounds like you've talked yourself in to paying a lot more money for a boring commuting tool than necessary.
I have a £900 mk2 mondeo for instance. It has it's faults, but poor refinement is not one of them.
Buy a diesel accord or avensis. It won't break - you know that really - and spend your money on something you'll actually enjoy (beyond the initial novelty).
I have a £900 mk2 mondeo for instance. It has it's faults, but poor refinement is not one of them.
Buy a diesel accord or avensis. It won't break - you know that really - and spend your money on something you'll actually enjoy (beyond the initial novelty).
That 1.5 gallons/week is about £400/year ish so not a huge difference, however 40mpg could well be a over optimistic estimate for the petrol.
I spend years doing 120 miles per day in a ZX TD, older car but top spec, nice and comfortable, 50mpg, reliable, and 90bhp is plenty for cruising down the motorway.
Now have a Octavia VRS diesel and it uses less fuel on the motorway, has aircon and cruise control that the ZX didn't, and is much better at overtaking on A-roads, but it's depreciating way faster because it's worth more.
I'd say if you go with an older car get a high spec one, it will be a much nicer place to be than a base model and won't cost a lot more. If you want creature comforts like aircon or cruise control you probably want newer or more premium brand older cars.
I spend years doing 120 miles per day in a ZX TD, older car but top spec, nice and comfortable, 50mpg, reliable, and 90bhp is plenty for cruising down the motorway.
Now have a Octavia VRS diesel and it uses less fuel on the motorway, has aircon and cruise control that the ZX didn't, and is much better at overtaking on A-roads, but it's depreciating way faster because it's worth more.
I'd say if you go with an older car get a high spec one, it will be a much nicer place to be than a base model and won't cost a lot more. If you want creature comforts like aircon or cruise control you probably want newer or more premium brand older cars.
CTS86 said:
Surely to get 40mpg average out of a petrol you'd need to be driving it pretty sensibly? In which case, I'd have thought that you'd get a lot more than 50mpg out of a decent diesel driving in the same manner.
That's got to be right. Two people I know with 520ds can relatively easily get up near 60mpg on the motorway. Thanks for the input all, in reply:
I had pondered going electric but i would like to be able to do long several 100 miles drives when needed without having to worry about charging
As CTS86 said, getting 40mpg out of a petrol would mean driving like miss daisy and if doing that I might as well get 60mpg out of a diesel.
E60 520d is a good shout, hadn't spotten that these were under £10k. Are they reliable? How are the automatics?
Bennet - A cheap mondeo for a couple grand had crossed my mind as they all come with loads of kit. Am I correct in thinking I've read somewhere that the diesels engines are a problem waiting to happen though? Likewise with the avensis and accord, are they really going to be that nice a place to sit everyday for a number of years or will they be painfully dull and souless?
I had pondered going electric but i would like to be able to do long several 100 miles drives when needed without having to worry about charging
As CTS86 said, getting 40mpg out of a petrol would mean driving like miss daisy and if doing that I might as well get 60mpg out of a diesel.
E60 520d is a good shout, hadn't spotten that these were under £10k. Are they reliable? How are the automatics?
Bennet - A cheap mondeo for a couple grand had crossed my mind as they all come with loads of kit. Am I correct in thinking I've read somewhere that the diesels engines are a problem waiting to happen though? Likewise with the avensis and accord, are they really going to be that nice a place to sit everyday for a number of years or will they be painfully dull and souless?
you're going to spending most of your time on motorways, anything is going to dull and soul less.
You'd get a Prius for that money and they're supposed to be insanely reliable, not sure how much benefit you'd get from a hybrid on the motorway though unless you get a lot of heavy traffic.
You'd get a Prius for that money and they're supposed to be insanely reliable, not sure how much benefit you'd get from a hybrid on the motorway though unless you get a lot of heavy traffic.
I know a lot on here is said being said about petrol vs diesel etc
I have a ford Focus 1.6 Ti-VCT. I do 118miles aday, I get a true 44mpg, or true 48 (if i slow down abit). i've 70K in the last 2.5 years. none stop reliable motoring
Petrol engine is great in the winter, considerably less to worry about and easier to maintain. I used to own a diesel, did 110K from new (in 3 years) all motorway, outside of the warrantly period getting the latest ECU map put on because of engine light issues, getting fueling issues with the injector (80K) or the fuel pump failure (likely inside the warranty period) made me realise Petrol is the way to go. in fairness it once did return a true 50mpg, but only driving sensibly. inho diesel cost more to run in the long term, and when something went wrong.. it costs a fortune.
I have a ford Focus 1.6 Ti-VCT. I do 118miles aday, I get a true 44mpg, or true 48 (if i slow down abit). i've 70K in the last 2.5 years. none stop reliable motoring
Petrol engine is great in the winter, considerably less to worry about and easier to maintain. I used to own a diesel, did 110K from new (in 3 years) all motorway, outside of the warrantly period getting the latest ECU map put on because of engine light issues, getting fueling issues with the injector (80K) or the fuel pump failure (likely inside the warranty period) made me realise Petrol is the way to go. in fairness it once did return a true 50mpg, but only driving sensibly. inho diesel cost more to run in the long term, and when something went wrong.. it costs a fortune.
Decoy said:
Thanks for the input all, in reply:
I had pondered going electric but i would like to be able to do long several 100 miles drives when needed without having to worry about charging
How often would you need to do those? Might be cheaper to go electric and hire a car if it is only now and again.I had pondered going electric but i would like to be able to do long several 100 miles drives when needed without having to worry about charging
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