400 mile commute per week - what car?

shelene

Hi,

Looking for suggestions really to lessen my fuel costs and increase mpg for a 400 mile per week commute to work with a new job. Low tax band would also be good.

I have less than £1K to spend, so am really on a budget, I was looking at possibly a diesel but not got a clue as I have never had a diesel before. I have tried looking but with my low budget dont seem to have that much choice, also dont know if you need to get a low engine diesel or could have a car with a little bit of pull ?

My commute is mostly motorway miles (about 30 miles motorway and 10 miles inner city each way).

Any suggestions please???:D

interstellaflyer

I think you will be struggling for less than a grand, you may find something cheap on fuel and cheap tax band but you are doing a lot of miles, will it be reliable or will it turn into a money pit very soon after purchase/

Notmyrealname

MK2 Mondeo diesel. Should get a good one for £1k. Don't worry about mileage - a well maintained one will do 250k easily.

DKLS

You should be able to find a decent 306 for that money.

shelene

any ideas on mpg?, and also something that doesnt cost the earth to repair (I have a history of needing to change my cars each year due to the MOT charges lol)

I am still suprised that with a diesel its a larger engine that appears economical, i thought it was as simple as getting a car with a low engine capacity ie 1.1

Thanks

shelene

interstellaflyer wrote: »

I think you will be struggling for less than a grand, you may find something cheap on fuel and cheap tax band but you are doing a lot of miles, will it be reliable or will it turn into a money pit very soon after purchase/

Unfortunately i dont have much choice on my budget, and a gamble I have no say on really :-( Can only be optimistic unless i win the lottery lol

gilbert_and_sullivan

Peugeot 106/Citroen Saxo, still one of the cheapest cars to own and run, Diesel is very economical.

agrinnall

The problem with small diesels is that they don't have much power or torque, and the engine makes the car heavier than a petrol equivalent, all of which adversely affects consumption. A bigger engine is quite likely to give better consumption, and will be a better drive on at least the motorway part of your commute.

andygb

Notmyrealname wrote: »

MK2 Mondeo diesel. Should get a good one for £1k. Don't worry about mileage - a well maintained one will do 250k easily.

:beer:
Great suggestion, cheap to insure, service and parts if they go wrong. There is also a brilliant forum where people can help.

Notmyrealname

andygb wrote: »

:beer:
Great suggestion, cheap to insure, service and parts if they go wrong. There is also a brilliant forum where people can help.

Not only that, you can run a MK1 or MK2 diesel Mondeo on veggie oil. The most my uncle and parents have dared try is a 50% mix but it should be possible to go higher, even to 100% with a pre-heater.

They're long in the leg now and quite gutless compared to more modern common rail diesel engines but they're still very comfortable for putting mileage in and you can't overlook the veggie oil.

Johnmcl7

shelene wrote: »

I am still suprised that with a diesel its a larger engine that appears economical, i thought it was as simple as getting a car with a low engine capacity ie 1.1

Thanks

Diesels don't work quite the same way as petrols in that when you look at the diesel range you'll notice most of the capacities are around the same and it's the power output that varies. Small diesel engines didn't tend to work particularly well (seems to be more of them now though) so it was normal even for a Fiesta to have a higher capacity diesel engine. You do need to check power output though, as an example VW produced a 1.9 diesel engine which produced just 65bhp in its SDI form, 90bhp in its TDI form and varying power outputs from there up to 150bhp.

I'd look to see if there's any mk 1 Octavias with the 1.9 TDI engine as it's a fairly robust engine and economy is pretty good.

John