Fun, reliable and comfortable Daily Driver - 5kish

[RedMedic]

Hello chaps, I’m moving to Birmingham from London for a new job starting in August and need some advice.

Looking for some recommendations for my daily car, will doing a 22 mile round trip commute which is mostly city driving.

Having only driven a 2001 Toyota Yaris and a 2002 c200 previously I was looking for something more engaging to drive.

Looking to run the car for at least three years, my partner will be in cambridge and there are no children (yet) so bootspace and rear legroom isn’t a priority.

Budget is around 5k. Ideally the car needs to be reliable and comfortable, developed some lower back pain from doing long commutes in the c200 so the ride can’t be deathly harsh. Will also be doing once monthly trips to Manchester so needs to be able to handle motorway driving.

Nil preference between Manual/Auto.

Any suggestions?

[Shiv_P]

22 miles I would probably say a petrol especially city driving
Mk5 Golf GTI?
FN2 Civic Type R? I think this has a harsh ride though
mk2 Focus ST
BMW 130i/330i

[RedMedic]

Out of those particular cars, within the realms of my budget which would be most reliable?

[JJ55]

Clio 182 is a lot of fun & well under budget

[Shiv_P]

JJ55 said:

Clio 182 is a lot of fun & well under budget

Yes because a Clio 182 is massively comfortable??

Of those I listed FN2 Civic Type R is probably most reliable, followed probably by the BMW 130i (a rare case of where BMW actually made a bulletproof engine recently!)

Edited by Shiv_P on Sunday 25th March 21:53

[ZX10R NIN]

If you have a back problem forget a hot hatch, if you want a comfortable daily driver.

I'd go for one of these with their Orthopedic Seats back pain won't be a problem & they're reliable able to do your journeys with ease should children come along they can cope with this too.

CLK220cdi Sport (the runs to Cambridge & Manchester make these a viable proposition)

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

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

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

Or if you want a Petrol:

CLK200 Sport

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

CLK280 Sport (haggle hard as the road tax is high)

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

CLK280 Elegance Sport (you get the Orthopedic seats but the softer Elegance Suspension)

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

CLK350 Sport

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

I'm bias as I've had a few of CLK's but they're reliable go well & are a good steer as well as being a great place to be.

330i

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

335i

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

If it has to be a hot hatch I'd be looking at the ST-3 Focus:

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

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

Warm hatch wise the Alfa Giulietta is the one to look at:

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

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Monday 26th March 17:12

[RedMedic]

Thank you for your post, super helpful and some interesting options I hadn’t thought of.