Diesel or petrol for new commute?

[RED5RACING]

I'm about to start a new job working across 2 sites within my company running two departments. The role has a far bigger salary than my previous job but sadly doesn't include the use of a company car.

The distance travelled each month will be in the region of 800 miles, with minimal use of motorways or faster dual carriageways.

I have a budget of £1500 to purchase the car and I want something from the VW Group as my new job is within their dealership network so makes sense to buy one for cheap parts etc.

Do I gamble on a TDI powered car with 125k plus miles or a smaller petrol engine. I own a 6 month old SEAT Ibiza FR which I want to keep the mileage down on as well as minimise wear and tear. Ideally I'd like to keep this as our family car for weekends away.

I'm drawn towards to Fabia VRS TDI 130 but these are few and far between now and of course come with the risk of DMF/Clutch issues as well as PD injectors or a turbo. Failing that maybe something with the newer 1.6 FSI engine in a Golf MK5 or A3, although these are not without issue.

Sadly the old 1.8 20VT powered cars are just going to be too expensive to run and pointless if stuck in commuter traffic in the south of England.

Any thoughts or constructive ideas would be appreciated.

[andyalan10]

Where is your designated place of work, because mileage to the other location (or possibly both if you are home based) should count as a business expense...

Even if the employer is not going to reimburse you, you can get the tax back on your legitimate expenses.

Do you have a car at present, why not run that for a few weeks/months and see how the journeys/costs pan out and also if you like the job and vice versa.

As the advice on here at that sort of price level is generally buy Japanese and mechanically simple there is a bit of an issue...

[RED5RACING]

I'll be doing 3 days a week at one site with a daily round trip of 36 miles and 2 days a week at the other site of 44 miles per day. There's no travelling from one site to other in the same day expected of me.

[stevemcs]

9600 is hardly massive miles, personally i would be looking at a small petrol engine. I wouldn't worry about buying something from within the same franchise as the parts are not that cheap, yes the 4 plus range can be cheap but parts are still cheaper from the likes of Euro Car parts.

At £1500 I would avoid anything from VW if you want cheap to run. The ideal car would be a little Toyota Corolla 1.6, if you must go for something from VW go for a Mk1 Octavia with the 1.9 diesel engine.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-52-Skoda-Octavia-1...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-04-Skoda-Octavia-1...

Edited by stevemcs on Thursday 21st November 20:19

Edited by stevemcs on Thursday 21st November 20:23

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say a diesel would be the way to go.

Passat TDI

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

Jetta

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

Leon

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

[Jag_NE]

Immediate thoughts, try and up the budget if you can. You mention a big pay rise. 10K a year commuting plus personal miles is going to test a car, it might be worth it to get a loan and get something much newer if you can stomach the payments. Bank loans are very low APR at the moment.

If you can’t/won’t do that, I’d definitely get a diesel if you are doing 10K commute plus personal miles. At 1500 it will most likely be pre dpf. And I wouldn’t stick to vag, cheap parts are available from lots of sources.