Buying a Car for Commuting - What is the MSE way?

wallbash

I am interested in a Ford Fiesta to Focus size car.

Just change that to ... Fiesta or Focus , there are hundreds of thousands of them , because people like them, So would/will you.
But as a first time buyer , get some insurance quotes first.
I drive a Focus , but daughter has to settle for a small engined Fiesta , nice car AND much cheaper on the insurance.

Inactive

bachgammon wrote: »

I am interested in a Ford Fiesta to Focus size car. Reliability is massive to me. I like the idea of getting a very good warranty - or getting a car that won't let me down.

What do people think? I don't expect to be a big user and would use the car maybe twice a week on average.

Buy a nice, well cared for Honda then.

forgotmyname

If this weather goes on for a while & winters will be like this in the future get a petrol car.
warms up faster and less risk of the fuel freezing.

So many diesel owners complaining of slow warmup times.

The cheaper the car the better, A larger car/engine wont like doing 10 mile journeys.
It will need servicing more frequently than the manual states.
If you dont the engines life will be shortened considerably.

Moisture in the engine/oil wont get burnt off in 10 miles on a larger engine.

Small petrol car with 6 month oil changes.

Cash-Strapped.T32

Hell, for that kind of usage get a 125 bike, or scooter, or auto-bike (there are good ones nowadays, one of mine's a 125 auto & it flies).

Seriously; Under £100 a year insurance, £15 tax, and for the mileage you're talking about there I doubt you'd spend £8 a week in petrol.

16 year olds up & down the country make a goer of it to school & college, so it's not difficult to do in the scheme of things (not like finding & holding down a career, or operating on a human, or anything ).

Repair costs negligible in comparison to a car, since if you're feeling MSE you can do it yourself, and when you're flush the garages/know-how to work on small, popular 4-stroke 125s is everywhere.

If you don't have a bike licence, you'll be restricted to not riding on motorways (but even the biggest of 3-4 lane A-roads are open to you), but still, if you want to do this the MSE way I bet a small bike would cost considerably less than public transport over a year, and will murder the costs of running any car you could imagine.


Tbh, I think you could argue that a car for a single person (non oap of course) is verging upon barmy anyway..

Lithian

haha, i wrote this for the OP, but think it works well for bach as well, just adjust your mileage :cool:

Focus? pick up a facelift mk1 for about £2k, 1.6 petrol will get 40MPG combined

Per year cost
Fuel (5000miles?) ~£700
tax - £155
mot - £30
service - £50 diy
breakdown cover - £30
tyres - £100 (probably less)
wear and tear - £65 (that'll buy you some new front discs and pads plus a bit extra)
DEPRECIATION - £200

So, that stands you after a year of motoring at £1330. I've made a lot of assumptions, you've not been lucky, you've not been unlucky and you arn't afraid to wield a spanner.

Obviously there is an ommision there in insurance but thats so personal i'll leave that as an exercise to the op, shouldn't be too high here tho.

I think thats quite good going for a perfectly reasonable commuting hack and a bit more comfortable than a supermini, and a bit less grief than the bus

Don't restrict yourself too much tho, by all means go for a newer, or more powerful/expensive to run car. Just be aware of what you are paying to run it. Thats my MSE way

Lum

M reg Corsa for about 50 quid with six months MOT left on it. When the MOT runs out scrap it and buy another one.

frothey

clever_username wrote: »

Well I doubt you'd to nigh on the same MPG, these modern common-rail diesels are exceptionally frugal little units.

Could always buy a slightly older diesel variant so you're still spending the same amount on buying the car.

it's about a 9mpg difference between the two - and at 4p a litre difference it could take for ever to get the money back which is why Toyota stopped the Aygo diesel fairly soon after releasing it - the only reason Cit/Pug do it because their home market is massively diesel.

BigDonut wrote: »

The c1 might be ok but can't shake a feeling that buying French is false economy - bad experiences from friends

That's ok - the important bits are Japanese!

Keith wrote: »

fast but with enough room for the family - an M3

Do you know what the running costs of an M3 actually are? And you think it's going to like being used as a daily runabout? Know any M3 owners lol!

Much as I agree with the buying an older, thirstier thing, I'm not sure they are cheap enough to outweigh the insurance cost, servicing costs, 18mpg and the potential issues (VANOS anyone?)

Hintza

Cash-Strapped.T32 wrote: »

Tbh, I think you could argue that a car for a single person (non oap of course) is verging upon barmy anyway..

I think for the majority of folk driving a motorcycle on a regular commute at this time of year is not only barmy...........but certfiable!

hubert_cumberdale

just get a £100 car from the paper

i got a old 5 door vauxhall nova for £25 with 5 months tax and 7 months mot
i drove it and didnt spend a penny on it other than fuel and then threw it away

jeferey

hubert_cumberdale wrote: »

just get a £100 car from the paper

i got a old 5 door vauxhall nova for £25 with 5 months tax and 7 months mot
i drove it and didnt spend a penny on it other than fuel and then threw it away

I don't know - today's throw away society :rotfl:. No, only kidding - there's a lot to be said for Bangernomics