Car for big mileage

moredeadthanalive

My work will be relocating to 70 miles from home. I am considering keeping the job and commuting as I estimate it will take 75 mins each way. I therefore want to buy a car that can take the 34k (ish) miles a year and will last about 5 years. I don't want to consider resigning yet as I don't expect to get a comparable job nearby.

I use a wheelchair and so need a car with a big boot eg Zafira size. I prefer the taller cars as I am 6ft and hand controls limit the room under the steering wheel. It needs to be automatic.

What cars have good reliability, an engine that can take a seriously large amount of mileage and have reasonably good mpg?

Should I go diesel and what is the oldest car I should consider if it is to last 5 years without too much going wrong? I was thinking of 5 year old car costing about £7k that would depreciate to 0 in 5 years.

Any advice?

getmore4less

Budget?

Octavia estate 1.9 DSG (or other VAG tdi)

hatch has large boot you can get a load shelf to level the access like an estate


Look at what the taxi drivers use in your area they do high miles and have places that service on the cheap

steve-L

34k/yr then diesel is a logical choice
Set aside a new clutch and DMF for any diesel of that age to do another (petrol is still likely to need a clutch in the 5 yrs) budget every to replace every 100,000
(also expect some work on turbo after 200,0000 miles)
After that its what works for the car..... for you and the hand controls
(Nothing to do with me but my family have been doing this for 40 years)

Honda CRV ? Accord is quite low access wise, boot is huge and with conversion can take a wheelchair loader

BMW 320D tourer (much smaller than accord)
BMW 325D or 330D ..... not such good urban MPG (you should get 50 mph motorways though) but the engine is going to last 'forever'
(My 330D gets similar or better motorway to my Accord 2.2TDCI)

Mondeo Estate? (2.0D)
Octavia 1.9 or even Fabia (or Seat/VW equiv)

Lum

Got any specifics as to type of chair and how you go about unloading it?

My GF uses a wheelchair and the cars it most goes in are a Nissan 200SX (her daily driver and definitely not a recommendation for your purpose) and a Ford Mondeo hatchback.

When we're in the Mondeo, the chair goes on the back seat with one wheel removed, when she's in the 200, the chair goes on the passenger seat with the two wheels on the back seats.

andygb

As an Octavia owner, I am not sure how good the car would be for a wheelchair user. However, our neighbours have a VW Sharan diesel, and it is a great car/MPV, really economic and huge amounts of room. It is a similar driving position to the Zafira, but far more refined. They have driven to the South of France and back in it.

wba31

steve-L wrote: »

34k/yr then diesel is a logical choice
Set aside a new clutch and DMF for any diesel of that age to do another (petrol is still likely to need a clutch in the 5 yrs) budget every to replace every 100,000
(also expect some work on turbo after 200,0000 miles)
After that its what works for the car..... for you and the hand controls
(Nothing to do with me but my family have been doing this for 40 years)

Honda CRV ? Accord is quite low access wise, boot is huge and with conversion can take a wheelchair loader

BMW 320D tourer (much smaller than accord)
BMW 325D or 330D ..... not such good urban MPG (you should get 50 mph motorways though) but the engine is going to last 'forever'
(My 330D gets similar or better motorway to my Accord 2.2TDCI)

Mondeo Estate? (2.0D)
Octavia 1.9 or even Fabia (or Seat/VW equiv)

My mate has a BMW 3 series and it is smaller inside than my civic.

The civic has huge boot, bit of a funny shape so not sure how that would suit a wheelchair, but it is massive. Also has the magic seats in the back, so they either fold flat in one movement (like most other cars) or you can pick up the back seat and lock it up by the back of the seat, that creates a massive well of space behind the front seats... also im not sure if there are many auto's out there, but the 2.2 diesel engine is incredible...

Strider590

Might be worth looking at a Vectra estate, im pretty sure i could lay a wheel chair on it's side in the boot of my hatchback, so the estate should take in easily.
The steering wheel and seats are fully adjustable and I get 34mpg, 2 mpg less than a Yaris (actual real world figures).
The 1.8 petrol is a bit lacking in power, but it's the most reliable engine Vauxhall have.


What people seem to be suggesting here is big 4WD or softroaders abd I can't see how something like that is going to be conducive to a wheelchair user........

forgotmyname

35,000 miles a year and your going to need something almost new with virtually no miles. And when you come to sell it. It will be worth pennies.

5 year old car with 170,000 miles anyone??

Picking up a 5 year old car is OK but the issue is you adding 170,000 miles to it.