Best Value for 80-Mile Daily Journey?

tommie1shunt

Cheap option, Kia Carens diesel, ours is an 04, does 60 motorway miles a day, never breaks. Also good if you get the urge to buy a washing machine.....

Rolandtheroadie

Guy at work done a 100 mile commute 5 days a week on average and swore by his Skoda Fabias, new one every 2 years.
In 6 years, I never heard him moan once about the cars.

colino

Don't laugh, but get yourself a nice 1.8 petrol Vectra for well under £2k, keep it serviced and it will easily trot up 30,000 a year and change it every two years. Car is big enough to be a motorway muncher, will average 42mpg, is useable for the supermarket sweep and if in a nice bright metallic, will also return some of your money down the line.

wdw2003

colino wrote: »

get yourself a nice 1.8 petrol Vectra

Funnily enough, that was what I got rid of 3 years ago, and I felt so pleased with myself at the time, finally getting down to one car.

property.advert

If you can handle the maths, look at it from a total cost perspective over the timespan you'd have the car.

Depreciation, fuel, insurance, road tax, servicing, tyres etc. all of it. Add it up and divide per year to get your annual cost. Do this in Excel with a number of cars and you may find that a new one is a better deal at certain price points. Remember to add in the purchase of a warranty if you buy second hand and the greater chance of it blowing up.

Funnily enough I was chatting to a friend today about Kia. One of the points we raised was the ability to run it for 5 years and then still sell it with 2 years remaining on the warranty. Obviously subject to 100k which may not suit you but think through the principle with 5 year warranties and above.

I would buy a FSH motor with highish mileage with 2 years warranty remaining but I would not buy one without a warranty or I would pay a heck of a lot less for it.

mikey72

We've got a mid 90's 106 1.5d that's done 50,000 miles in the last 3 1/2 years.
Cost £475, and apart from 8 oil changes and normal wear and tear items it's cost next to nothing.

property.advert

You could do as I did and look through the Network Q site to pick out a 3 year old coming off Motability and then get them to add a 2nd year of warranty to the deal which sort of gets you as far as you'll get to being bullet proof in the second hand market.

http://used.cars.networkq.co.uk/richexperience

grizzly1911

mikey72 wrote: »

We've got a mid 90's 106 1.5d that's done 50,000 miles in the last 3 1/2 years.
Cost £475, and apart from 8 oil changes and normal wear and tear items it's cost next to nothing.

Did it come with a whip?

I had the pleasure of a 1.8D escort, N plate 6months old, for a 60 mile return, got a bit tiring when I went on to a 120 return commute. Don't think was the cars fault though.

I'm getting old now I personally would need something a bit more relaxing for that sort of commute these days.

blue_haddock

If you are considering total cost then spending 8 grand on a car that is going to end up being worth massively less is in my view pointless. Better to spend in the region of £2k and get something older and you will save a fortune even if you put a few quid aside just in case something goes wrong.

mikey72

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Did it come with a whip?

I had the pleasure of a 1.8D escort, N plate 6months old, for a 60 mile return, got a bit tiring when I went on to a 120 return commute. Don't think was the cars fault though.

I'm getting old now I personally would need something a bit more relaxing for that sort of commute these days.

I must admit power steering and aircon would be nice.

My daughter does a 20 to 25 mile round trip every day in her 80's mini as well though.