Car recommendation for motorway use (£5k-7k)

playaz

Hi guys - looking to buy a car shortly ideally want to spend between £5k-£7k.

I am not fussed about having the "best" or most "stylish" cars but it would need to match the following criteria:

• Diesel
• Good for motorway usage
• Relatively low/reasonable running costs
• Hatchback/Coupe have no need for Estates or Jeeps
• No more than 5 years old
• Reasonable Mileage (Under 60k)

Any ideas - what do people think as my last car is on its last legs.. (or wheels lol :rotfl:)

rxbren

Mazda 6 diesel

Tobster86

I'd advise against your stipulated mileage limit.

'Good' motorway cars will usually have done more than that in five years, and will take monumental mileages. Indeed, there's a lot less price-mileage correlation than there used to be as a result.

20,000 miles of motorway driving a year is far better for a car than 5000 miles of town driving. After five years, one is potentially knackered at 25,000 miles and the other is 'just run in' at 100,000 miles.


My pick at that price would be a Skoda Octavia.

Notmyrealname

60k? My car was a motorway muncher and had 90k on when I bought it at 3 years old. 5 years later I sold it with 165k on the clock and no major problems. Its still going now.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Octavia is a good shout, you should be able to get a MK2 Octy for £6k with less than 50K on it. Had a MK1 53 reg diesel a couple of years ago and best I got out of a full tank was Eastbourne to Blackpool and back again - 640 miles no less !!!!! From a 50 ltr tank that was averaging 57mpg, cheap tax and insurance as well.

I now have a '07 320d and its no where near as good at the Octy but a nicer drive.

playaz

Thanks for that info - I am not the biggest expert on cars so more gems like that are much appreciated

Tobster86 wrote: »

I'd advise against your stipulated mileage limit.

'Good' motorway cars will usually have done more than that in five years, and will take monumental mileages. Indeed, there's a lot less price-mileage correlation than there used to be as a result.

20,000 miles of motorway driving a year is far better for a car than 5000 miles of town driving. After five years, one is potentially knackered at 25,000 miles and the other is 'just run in' at 100,000 miles.


My pick at that price would be a Skoda Octavia.

rxbren

or vectra design 150 ps

andy8442

Skoda Octavia, Golf, BMW 320D. The Skoda for the money you will get newer less miles etc. Stay away from anything French, they just won't be reliable after 3 yrs.

Fluentcode

With the right (and regular) servicing, any car can make monumental miles on the motorways with little or no problems. At the lower end of your price bracket, I would personally look at the 2.0 TDCI Mondeo.

Fords are cheap to service, reliable and the new shape Mondeo is comfortable, pretty good looking and will come packed with options that the Skoda or Mazda likely won't. Most importantly, if you are after a motorway car, make sure the cruise control fully works in any vehicle you try and make sure you get a brief blast up the dual carriageway when you test drive.

andygb

You would probably get this for £6K (or even less), and it has all the creature conmforts.

http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201237484929148/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/manual/price-from/6000/body-type/hatchback/price-to/7000/fuel-type/diesel/engine-size-cars/1-7l_to_1-9l/model/octavia/make/skoda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/me21dp/radius/1501/page/1?logcode=p

I can also confirm that they will do between 55-60MPG, and are comfortable (I have had a couple of BMW 5 series in the past), quiet, good ride quality, cheap to insure and tax, cheap servicing, and we have just put nearly 3K miles on one on a tour of Europe.

jase1

rxbren wrote: »

Mazda 6 diesel

rxbren wrote: »

or vectra design 150 ps

Not sure about either of these suggestions to be honest.

The 6 diesel is apt to lunching its engine if the oil level/pressure is too high, which can be brought on by a clogged DPF. Too much hassle IMO.

The Vectra 150BHP is worse; the DMFs on these are weak, and worse the gearboxes aren't strong enough for the engine and knackered boxes are not uncommon.