Car for long daily commutes?
Discussion
New here, don't have much knowledge on the technical side of cars so any help is appreciated.
I currently drive a 1.6L petrol ford focus, I commute 40 miles everyday, 4 days a week. The car is sometimes used for short city commutes on the remaining days. As you can tell, my 1.6l is crying and dying. Is a diesel car the only option for me, and if so which ones are recommended? My budget is around 5-6k, I had a quick look at some quotes for diesel cars and they were pretty high than what I'm currently paying. I'm still a young driver but I desperately need a bigger engine for my commutes
I currently drive a 1.6L petrol ford focus, I commute 40 miles everyday, 4 days a week. The car is sometimes used for short city commutes on the remaining days. As you can tell, my 1.6l is crying and dying. Is a diesel car the only option for me, and if so which ones are recommended? My budget is around 5-6k, I had a quick look at some quotes for diesel cars and they were pretty high than what I'm currently paying. I'm still a young driver but I desperately need a bigger engine for my commutes
Depending on the type of driving you're doing, then that kind of distance is ideal small-ish diesel territory. Options are plentiful, and low tax is a bonus too . As one example, a 1.6 Diesel Mini enjoys £30 annual VED, and can easily return 50mpg on a run.
That said, there are numerous petrol turbo models around now, as well as hybrid and bev. Depends on your location, commute characteristics, and budget as to what is ultimately "best" for you.
That said, there are numerous petrol turbo models around now, as well as hybrid and bev. Depends on your location, commute characteristics, and budget as to what is ultimately "best" for you.
Volvo V40, D2 or D3?
Assuming you have the correct pipe and slippers available? 🙂
Seriously though, plenty of kit, reliable and mega mpg. Not bad looking either IMHO:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211141...
Assuming you have the correct pipe and slippers available? 🙂
Seriously though, plenty of kit, reliable and mega mpg. Not bad looking either IMHO:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211141...
If we assume that you do 40 miles a day for 5 days a week and 52 weeks a year then that's still only just over 10,000 miles - while a diesel wouldn't necessarily be a silly option, that's still firmly in 'petrol' mileage I'd say.
What do you dislike about the focus? The 1.6 N/A is no rocket ship but I'd have thought it would be an effective car for your current use.
I'm not trying to shoot you down or anything, rather define your actual desires a bit better; if you want something a bit more refined and with more shove then a tiny diesel will not give you that, even if it costs buttons to run.
What do you dislike about the focus? The 1.6 N/A is no rocket ship but I'd have thought it would be an effective car for your current use.
I'm not trying to shoot you down or anything, rather define your actual desires a bit better; if you want something a bit more refined and with more shove then a tiny diesel will not give you that, even if it costs buttons to run.
40 miles a day is nothing for a petrol car.
You're best looking into what MPG you are currently getting vs the car you are thinking of getting. Once you find a car, go and search Honest John MPG as a few people will have posted their MPG. There's plenty of calculators to show you how much you'll be saving and you'll have to think is it worth it as you'll be buying an unknown. At least with what you have you know the condition.
When you say the 1.6 is crying then yes the car will be sat at higher RPM but isn't that stressful on the engine. You need to figure out the MPG you're getting with this 40 mile commute because you might not even be saving that much moving to another car.
Going from my old Yaris to my current Insignia diesel fuel wise I'm only slightly better off. Yaris use to get 42MPG and the Insignia gets 50MPG. I only changed car because I needed a bigger family car.
You're best looking into what MPG you are currently getting vs the car you are thinking of getting. Once you find a car, go and search Honest John MPG as a few people will have posted their MPG. There's plenty of calculators to show you how much you'll be saving and you'll have to think is it worth it as you'll be buying an unknown. At least with what you have you know the condition.
When you say the 1.6 is crying then yes the car will be sat at higher RPM but isn't that stressful on the engine. You need to figure out the MPG you're getting with this 40 mile commute because you might not even be saving that much moving to another car.
Going from my old Yaris to my current Insignia diesel fuel wise I'm only slightly better off. Yaris use to get 42MPG and the Insignia gets 50MPG. I only changed car because I needed a bigger family car.
marshmallow1 said:
New here, don't have much knowledge on the technical side of cars so any help is appreciated.
I currently drive a 1.6L petrol ford focus, I commute 40 miles everyday, 4 days a week. The car is sometimes used for short city commutes on the remaining days. As you can tell, my 1.6l is crying and dying. Is a diesel car the only option for me, and if so which ones are recommended? My budget is around 5-6k, I had a quick look at some quotes for diesel cars and they were pretty high than what I'm currently paying. I'm still a young driver but I desperately need a bigger engine for my commutes
You can get both petrol or diesel your journey type suits both, it sounds like you want something with more midrange so make sure whatever you choose it has a turbo on it.I currently drive a 1.6L petrol ford focus, I commute 40 miles everyday, 4 days a week. The car is sometimes used for short city commutes on the remaining days. As you can tell, my 1.6l is crying and dying. Is a diesel car the only option for me, and if so which ones are recommended? My budget is around 5-6k, I had a quick look at some quotes for diesel cars and they were pretty high than what I'm currently paying. I'm still a young driver but I desperately need a bigger engine for my commutes
As an example here's where I'd be looking.
1.6T Focus Titanium X 180:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209270...
Titanium 180:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?include-de...
Zetec S 180:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301032...
2.0d Titanium X 160:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212032...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212312...
2.0d Alfa Giulietta Veloce 170:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210140...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209109...
1.4T Veloce 170:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212312...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212012...
Cloverleaf 240:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212272...
1,6T Elite 180:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212302...
SRI 180:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211111...
Astra GTC SRI 180 if you can live with three doors these are a good pick:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211111...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206146...
GTC 2.0d SRI 160:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208178...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209099...
2.0d Astra Elite 160:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301032...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212092...
2.0d Megane GT Line TomTom:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212032...
As you can see there are some great options with your budget.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211211...
Plenty of good advice.
I'd only add good media unit, comfortable seat and lazy turbo diesel torque having been in the same situation and glad to be out of it. I'll leave the car choice to others with more experience to recommend but Volvo is an easy tick box on that. My wife still loves her's and it's used for that purpose.
A D2 would be slower than I prefer but I think it's free tax.
I'd only add good media unit, comfortable seat and lazy turbo diesel torque having been in the same situation and glad to be out of it. I'll leave the car choice to others with more experience to recommend but Volvo is an easy tick box on that. My wife still loves her's and it's used for that purpose.
A D2 would be slower than I prefer but I think it's free tax.
Petrol Insignia 1.8VVT - more reliable than diesel equivalents, cheaper to fuel (at the moment) much more refined, will do easy 45-50mpg on a run, worth a look - not as spritely due to sheer weight of the car, but does the job on the commute.
Its on my list when my ageing commuter (Vectra '08 1.8VVT) calls its a day, still getting 50mpg out of this at moment, 50 miles a day commute currently.
Its on my list when my ageing commuter (Vectra '08 1.8VVT) calls its a day, still getting 50mpg out of this at moment, 50 miles a day commute currently.
Edited by 757 on Wednesday 4th January 08:55
keo said:
160 miles a week isn’t far I would definitely go petrol.
The only bit where I maybe slightly disagree on that is the journey length. But I just realised it's probably 40 miles and not 40 miles each way. If it was the latter I'd lean diesel even if it's only for three or four trips per week. If it's 40 miles in total I definitely agree there's no need to go diesel and the world's your oyster.
luckystrike said:
What do you dislike about the focus? The 1.6 N/A is no rocket ship but I'd have thought it would be an effective car for your current use.
Current road tax is £200, having to refuel much too frequently which isn’t great with current petrol prices, 08 plate so pretty old and coming to its end now. I will admit it has been very reliable til now marshmallow1 said:
luckystrike said:
What do you dislike about the focus? The 1.6 N/A is no rocket ship but I'd have thought it would be an effective car for your current use.
Current road tax is £200, having to refuel much too frequently which isn’t great with current petrol prices, 08 plate so pretty old and coming to its end now. I will admit it has been very reliable til now My main car's 09 and I can think of many reasons for changing it but they're just excuses for wanting a new car. If it's not costing you too much maybe better the devil you know. But I totally understand a want to change.
keo said:
I’d agree 40 miles each way but if it’s only 20 I’d think the engine was only just starting to get warm. I admit I am quite anti diesel but they make sense of doing lots of miles or towing. I do 20k a year and hoping to go petrol next.
I commute just over 18 miles each way and my diesel Golf is up to temperature by the half way point or so (even in winter), and that’s without hard driving. The pitfalls of diesel are often exaggerated.
Fusion777 said:
I commute just over 18 miles each way and my diesel Golf is up to temperature by the half way point or so (even in winter), and that’s without hard driving.
The pitfalls of diesel are often exaggerated.
As I've mentioned it totally depends on what MPG the current car is getting over a possible new car. Considering diesel is 20p more in some cases than petrol that's a massive factor to think about. The pitfalls of diesel are often exaggerated.
I've just done a quick compare now from Which.co.uk
Petrol - 10k a year @ 145p per litre at 40MPG = £1647
Diesel - 10k a year @ 165p per litre at 50MPG = £1500
So you'd save £147 a year if you get 50MPG. As soon as you hit 46MPG you start to pay the same price as a Petrol at 40MPG.
You then have to factor in things like EGR, DPF that might need doing. Buying a car that you haven't lived with so no idea how reliable it will be.
Best option would be to buy a decent petrol car that can do good MPG.
I've just done a spreadsheet with the same sort of calculations...
I've currently got a 2019 Suzuki Swift 1.0 BoosterJet which is only returning 45 MPG on my 30-miles-each-way daily motorway commute.
I'm in the process of working out if it makes sense to change to a more economical car (either petrol, petrol-hybrid or diesel) or if I should just stick with the Suzuki.
I've currently got a 2019 Suzuki Swift 1.0 BoosterJet which is only returning 45 MPG on my 30-miles-each-way daily motorway commute.
I'm in the process of working out if it makes sense to change to a more economical car (either petrol, petrol-hybrid or diesel) or if I should just stick with the Suzuki.
BillTheButcher said:
I've just done a spreadsheet with the same sort of calculations...
I've currently got a 2019 Suzuki Swift 1.0 BoosterJet which is only returning 45 MPG on my 30-miles-each-way daily motorway commute.
I'm in the process of working out if it makes sense to change to a more economical car (either petrol, petrol-hybrid or diesel) or if I should just stick with the Suzuki.
If you could find a petrol car that averages 60mpg (thinking some kind of Toyota Hybrid) over your commuting mileage of circa 15k a year you’d still only save about £500 at current fuel prices. I've currently got a 2019 Suzuki Swift 1.0 BoosterJet which is only returning 45 MPG on my 30-miles-each-way daily motorway commute.
I'm in the process of working out if it makes sense to change to a more economical car (either petrol, petrol-hybrid or diesel) or if I should just stick with the Suzuki.
Probably better the devil you know. Unless you want to man maths your way into something else.
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