70 miles a day = £2,500 - £3,000

[Too Late]

Doing 70 miles a day with a budget of nearly 3k for a runner to and from work.
I was looking at a cheap Ford Fusion.

What would the running costs be like for a leggy BMW touring or Audi?
Am i best to bite the bullet and get a fusion? I want a car i can beat about in and not cost a pretty penny to run and maintain

BMW 3 SERIES 320d SE 5dr 2.0
£2,950
2002 (52 reg), EstatePrivate seller, distance: 112 miles
100,000 miles
Manual
2.0L
Diese

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...


BMW 3 SERIES 320d SE 4dr 2.0
£2,980
DIESEL MANUAL LOW MILES
2002 (02 reg), SaloonTrade seller, distance: 32 miles
69,000 miles
Manual
2.0L
Diesel
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

[eltax91]

Octavia TDi

Much cheaper to fix, IF it ever breaks.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

[Fox-]

Too Late said:

I want a car i can beat about in and not cost a pretty penny to run and maintain

So don't buy an old BMW.

Honda Accord or something.

[Too Late]

Fox- said:

So don't buy an old BMW.

Honda Accord or something.

is the maintenance of something like that and that leggy going to be a lot??
I expect the Audi are the same in cost as the BMW..

[Garett]

Volvo S60/V70/S80 with the D5 engine.

[Rammy76]

Garett said:

Volvo S60/V70/S80 with the D5 engine.

This, I'm very impressed with my D5 S60 as a motorway barge/general workhorse.

The engine, seats & sound system are leagues ahead of my old PD130 Passat it replaced.

[Krikkit]

Rammy76 said:

Garett said:

Volvo S60/V70/S80 with the D5 engine.

This, I'm very impressed with my D5 S60 as a motorway barge/general workhorse.

The engine, seats & sound system are leagues ahead of my old PD130 Passat it replaced.

Boom, just what I was about to suggest! Comfy, good stereo, great engine.

[Garett]

Its the standard answer for this price bracket, my S60 clocked onto 160k today meaning I've covered 70k miles in 3.5 years and its been nothing but reliable with the only major expense being a clutch.
Old Volvos grow on you, the less you care about their appearance the more charming they become!

[Too Late]

The S60 isn't bad looking..

What about a land rover defender????
Any good?

[anonymous-user]

Too Late said:

What about a land rover defender????
Any good?

For 70 miles a day? Every day?

[Prawnboy]

Fox- said:

Too Late said:

I want a car i can beat about in and not cost a pretty penny to run and maintain

So don't buy an old BMW.

Honda Accord or something.

what he said, i'm sure you could get this for 3 grand, and it wont go wrong,and you wont be another 320d on the motorway.

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C505324

[strath44]

bmw at that price will be costly on upkeep if you aren't handy with a spanner.

Volvo a good choice my old V40 had done 90k miles full service history and was going through the auction as a trade in via Arnold clark, I paid £1600 great looking car and did 55mpg easily!!

looked like this:

http://www.ossettmotorco.co.uk/used-cars/volvo-v40...

[strath44]

actually to be fair if you want to avoid maintenance that Honda for £3k is pretty much self healing!! You could probably avoid doing nothing to it for 2 or 3 years and then make it all back when something weird and expensive breaks!

[Axionknight]

Garett said:

Volvo S60/V70/S80 with the D5 engine.

My suggestion at this price point every time. A comfortable, safe, reliable cruiser with proven mechanicals. They aren't going to set the world on fire but they have a good level of economy/performance as a motorway cruiser - a massive amount of space in the estate too if you need a big boot.

[Too Late]

strath44 said:

bmw at that price will be costly on upkeep if you aren't handy with a spanner.

Volvo a good choice my old V40 had done 90k miles full service history and was going through the auction as a trade in via Arnold clark, I paid £1600 great looking car and did 55mpg easily!!

looked like this:

http://www.ossettmotorco.co.uk/used-cars/volvo-v40...

That Volvo is lovely.

What would peoples limit be on millage. I know car can go for hundred thousand miles and more. But would a 100k put you off?

That v40 looks nice. And the honda looks really good.. Back to autptrader..

[Ren Esis]

I bought the car before I got the job, but have an 02 E39 530D and do the exact same mileage per day. The car cost me £2,500 and has about 150,000 on the clock now (had 100,000 when I bought it 18 months ago).

My advice would not to get too worried on mileage when you buy as 70 miles a day means you'll be adding quite a bit on to it each year anyway. Buy on condition, since Volvo cars go on forever if they're looked after. Saw a 300,000 mile V70 on eBay a few months ago and still looked fantastic considering. Can't go wrong with the advice of a S60... there are more economical cars out there (only has 5 gears IIRC), but none as comfortable as this and that's what matters when you're spending a couple of hours a day in there. Alternatives would be something VAG derived with the 1.9tdi unit, which are also great engines.

In case you're wondering, the 530d costs £90 to fill (approx 65 litres) and returns a range of 660-710 per tank dependent on conditions, which is about 3 weeks worth of fuel for work. I did the brim-to-brim calculations via an iPhone app and that's roughly 46mpg (car states incorrectly 53mpg). I'm lucky that I'm always travelling against the rush hour traffic in the mornings and evenings, and keep my speed around 70. Very *VERY* surprised at this sort of economy considering it has a 3.0 engine.

Edited by Ren Esis on Thursday 5th June 11:45

[S10GTA]

I think there is something wrong with me. I saw this and thought if that was me I'd buy an XM for a grand or so.

Edited by S10GTA on Thursday 5th June 11:52

[JDMDrifter]

Surely something VAG with the 1.9tdi ?

[blueacid]

Krikkit said:

Boom, just what I was about to suggest! Comfy, good stereo, great engine.

Agreed. If you do get one of the automatics (Geartronic), make sure to get the transmission fluid changed as soon as possible. Volvo doesn't change the fluid as part of the service schedule which is commonly regarded to be a big mistake - the box then gets killed by old out-of-spec fluid full of muck and contaminants.


Otherwise, brilliant. If you get the SE trim you get the Dolby Pro Logic stereo, heated electric leather seats (the stuff of gods) and split climate. Not a bad do!

You can add an aux-in to the stereo for around £50; bit dear I concede but worth it overall.

[Decoy]

What mpg do the D5 engines get out of interest?