A unicorn? Cheap-ish, comfy, economical, reliable

[VolvoPaul]

Afternoon all, first post but long time lurker.

I have a 2004 V70 D5 with the 5 speed manual at the moment that I bought for snotter money. It has given me good service but there are a number of niggles and I don’t think they are worth fixing, plus the MOT is due in the next couple of months and I’m not convinced it’ll pass without more expense, and the cambelt will be due soon. So given all that I feel it’s time to move on.

However, as much as I liked bangernomics, the constant worrying about things going wrong is actually worse than when I was worrying about going over mileage on the PCP Renault I had before.

So I think I’d like to spend a bit more, but not too much. My thinking is that if I could replace it with a car with cheap tax, insurance and fuel costs it would sort of offset the additional cost. Budget up to £3500.

I am in the office 3 times a week (work from home on my 4th day and have every Friday off), on 2 of those days it’s a 70 mile motorway jaunt with no traffic on the way in, and a bit more traffic on the way home. The other day it’s a 55 mile drive on rural A roads to drop the brat off at my parents house, and then a 10 mile city drive to work.

You still awake at the back? If you couldn’t be bothered to read all that (and who could blame you), then the must haves for a 140 mile round trip commute are as follows, at a budget of £3500:

- Cheap tax, £30 or less
- A lower insurance group than the Volvo (36) (I know it’s not just related to that, but it’s a good rule of thumb)
- Easily attainable high 50s/low 60s mpg at 70 mph
- Reliability, I know cars in this price range might have some niggles, but the less horror stories the better
- Cruise control
- Some element of comfort, good seats preferred over good suspension

Desirable:
- An auto
- Heated leather armchairs
- A good stereo, with phone streaming of some description (or easily added)
- 5 doors, for the bambino


Thus far, I have come up with the following ideas, of varying sizes and comfort levels:
- Peugeot 208 1.6 e-HDI (manual)
- Dacia Logan dCi (manual)
- Peugeot 508 (don’t know which engine, I’ve heard the automated manuals are gash though)
- Mini Clubman Cooper D (manual)
- A DSG Passat/Superb/Octavia of some description
- Vauxhall Insignia EcoFLEX (manual)
- Honda Accord (is the auto any good?)
- Laguna 3?

So yeah, a really random assortment. I know it’s a bit of a baptism of fire, but I would appreciate any advice given. Especially from that ZX10 chap who I see posting on this section a lot.

[DavidY]

At £3500 you are still potentially i some some leggy (hi mileage) options, and with your spec, they aren't going to be a whole lot newer than your existing Volvo.

My Volvo V50 meets most of your spec (R-Design D2), but £5.5K gets you a 7/8 year old car with 76K miles on it. Mine would be well in your price range but it has 198K miles on it.

Whats the mileage and the niggles on your existing Volvo, personally I'd put it through an MOT, at least you'll know what is in store and then you can choose to fix a some of the niggles, and I'd save a bit more until you can get something newer with a lot less miles on it.