Can you suggest a car please?

DevilsAdvocate1

learningaboutinsurance wrote: »

I am confused, you mention this is second car you want to get? yet you do 22k on the first car, thats alot of miles where will get time to do another 20k on this car?



I think it would be good if you could clarify if this car will be the second car in your household or your second car after getting rid of your first car.

I am intending to do the bulk of the miles in the new car. Most of the miles are done when I am working. I travel from Newcastle to Sheffield, Leeds, Harrogate, Manchester etc.

At the moment, when I go away we sometimes hire a car which my husband uses to do the school run and to take the children to their various clubs and activities. We have spent about £140 this month on hire cars, though it was February the last time we did this. If I go away for a day then my dad will do the school runs so we don't hire a car. For example, next week I am gong to Leeds for the day and the week after I am going to Manchester for the day. However, if I go away for a week then we hire a car.

The current car will be used when I am away. It will also be used when the boys have different activities on the same night as sometimes I can spent 2 hours just dropping them off at separate places. As soon as I drop the last one off I have to head back to collect the first. A second car will come in handy so my husband can take 1 and I can take the other 2.

If we go out as a family, then we will take the Mazda 5 as it is a larger car. Also, holidays will be in the larger car.

Hope this makes sense.

OddballJamie

Mazda2 or 3 maybe?

DevilsAdvocate1

Ultrasonic wrote: »

DevilsAdvocate1 - you REALLY need to give people here some idea of your budget in order to get helpful replies.

I haven't given budget much thought, which sounds daft I know. I have recently paid off my kitchen, bathroom and sofa. Adding these amounts up it comes to £350 a month. I can manage this as I have been shelling this out for the last 4 years. I also save £500 a month as well, so don't have to be rigid on £350.

On another note, my dad recently bought a car at auction. He has suggested that I buy an ex-motability car at an auction as I will then know that it has been serviced / looked after. He says that they are sold at auction because the Motability company are a charity and therefore are not allowed to make a profit. Is this right?

OddballJamie

There's no guarantee that a Motability car is well looked after, some are, some aren't, I look at them the same as any other lease/company car.

A lad I went to school with had an Escort Auto on Motability as he unfortunately lost a limb to cancer. He used to drive it like it was stolen.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Ultrasonic wrote: »

That must be the fuel only cost right? I own an Octavia and and a fan, but the real cost per mile is probably 2 to 3 times that figure. Including depreciation my 2005 Octavia 1.9 TDi (PD) has cost me 37p per mile over the last 2.5 years and 21,000 miles (which is not as cheap as I'd hoped...)

Yeah, £0.12 per mile for the diesel....mine was a MK2, I am guessing yours is the MK2, which is ment to be so much nicer to drive.

Depreciation and other costs vary so much, say you bought it too dear and sold too cheap, you may of had a clutch,turbo,engine go bang etc etc.

For cost like insurance, tax, mot, diesel which every car needs, the Octavia is a good bet.

Foxy-Stoat_3

So you are aiming at spending £15,000 on a car. You have so much choice at that level:

2012 10,000 mile octavia diesel
2012 10,000 mile mondeo diesel
2009 60,000 mile 520 diesel
2010 40,000 mile 320 diesel

Or spend half your budget and buy something cheaper. Question is, what car do you want to drive?

Ultrasonic

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

Yeah, £0.12 per mile for the diesel....mine was a MK2, I am guessing yours is the MK2, which is ment to be so much nicer to drive.

Yes, mine's a MK2. I've not driven a MK1 but like the way mine drives out of town. I bought it for longer trips to visit family members about 200 miles away and have not been disapointed. I just wish stupid things like rear parking sensors wouldn't fail and cost an annoying amount to fix...

I'd be considering one of these in this case I think:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/ford/focus-2008/16-tdci-econetic-start-stop

It get's the highest real-world mpg I've seen for a car of the sort of size I think the OP is after? Although I should make it clear that I've not driven one and have no knowledge of this model's reliability.

DevilsAdvocate1: it's well worth checking out the real-world fuel economy figures on that Honest John site for other cars you're considering. It gives far more useful info. than manufacturers data on modern cars, where even the most careful drivers fails to reach the published fuel economy figures.

I wouldn't be considering a Mondeo as their fuel economy really isn't that great (due to their size and weight), with even the best diesel getting below 50 mpg.

oliverr

Have a look at a golf or Octavia diesel something that size. If you are doing that many miles it would make more sense to get a diesel. I know the golf Bluemotion is free to tax and we got one as a rental and though it was mostly motorway driving think we managed nearly something like over 900 miles in one tank of fuel. Very comfy and spacious too

are you planning on buying new or used? Vw's have quite high list prices some good deals for 6 month -1 year old cars at the moment