Spec me a motorway car

=rizla=

As has been said i'd definitely go diesel, so far as DPF's go, a 75 mile journey twice a day should keep it happy, I think a lot of the DPF problems that you hear about come from short journey 'to the shops' every day. At 70mph for 75 mile journeys should in theory be great for the right car, ie low revs, very few gear changes/corners/braking etc, the engines up to temp for most of the journey, so as has been said look for one of the 'rep mobiles' that are designed to sit on the m'way, I used to have a Mondeo tdci, 6th gear was almost too 'tall' for legal motorway speeds.


The French used to make some decent diesels that give good mpg, worth a look.

With the miles you do, and the depreciation that will cause a car i'd be tempted to spend £5k on a car to be honest.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Alt wrote: »

With the OP already satisfied with toyota reliability I am surprised no one suggested a Diesel Avensis...... something wrong with them that I am not aware of?


Alt

I think lots of internet users are wary of CHG problems on the 2.2 in particular, then Toyota had the leaking copper injector seals (can lead to oil pick up blockage and total engine failure in rare cases) and faulty peizo injectors on the 3.0 4 cyl in Hilux and LC5 pre 08 (no full recall on either), so unfortunately used Toyota Diesels are not as highly regarded as once they were despite these problems being relatively rare, if the one you own does fail and Toyota reject goodwill you're up an expensive creek without a paddle.

It appears from various sources that the 1.8 petrol is giving nearly as good fuel economy as the Diesel versions, hence all in all Avensis Diesels not featuring high up the must have list...plus they saddled the thing (09 on) with an electric parking brake (what on earth for) just to put the rest of the long term owner car fraternity off.

GJ_WRX

My last car was a 12 plate Octavia 2.0 diesel SE. Fantastic car, I did over 60k in just under two year with no issues at all, it was averaging 60mpg and if driven well could top 75mpg. It had variable servicing which worked out to be every 18k-20k. Also in all that time it only went through one pair of front tyres.

I've just had a look on autotrader and you could get something similar or better for your budget.

Money_Grabber13579

chrisyboy wrote: »

With big mileage, unless it was a brand new car with a warranty I would stay well away from the 320d, from personal experience it will brake...

I should certainly hope so.

loskie

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?p=1839395#post1839395

something like this. This isnt my car nor do I know who owns it.

Stoke

As someone who does a lot of miles myself (25k a year) I prefer the compact nature of a smaller car. So I drive a Lupo SDI, seriously good MPG, no performance whatsoever, but you can also run on veggie oil which will save a surprising amount of money.

However, I think my next motorway cruncher will be a Polo SDI 9N, these have air con, electric mirrors etc. Just a few more creature comforts which I miss in the summer. That said, this Lupo doesn't seem to want to die, and I'm smashing miles on it for fun right now.

Nick_C

I'd also recommend the Yaris 1.4 diesel. Much more powerful than the petrol engines. I get 54 mpg on a mix of town and dual carriageway driving with lots of roundabouts, stopping/starting and fast acceleration. If I was driving at 70 on motorway journeys, I suspect the fuel consumption would be significantly better.

A good value reliable vehicle, although noisier than a large saloon would be at speed.

Stoke

Nick_C wrote: »

I'd also recommend the Yaris 1.4 diesel. Much more powerful than the petrol engines. I get 54 mpg on a mix of town and dual carriageway driving with lots of roundabouts, stopping/starting and fast acceleration. If I was driving at 70 on motorway journeys, I suspect the fuel consumption would be significantly better.

A good value reliable vehicle, although noisier than a large saloon would be at speed.

I think most smaller cars, i.e. Yaris, Polo, Lupo, Micra suffer road noise at speed. Primarily because some noise is transmitted through the wheels and struts which are closer than you think. Also because manufacturers tend to lean off the sound insulation on smaller, cheaper cars.

That said, if you fancy yourself as a handy man, a roll of Butyl flashing tape like this :

http://www.screwfix.com/p/sika-multiseal-butyl-flashing-tape-grey-150mm-x-10m/94203

And a day of decent weather, you can do some serious sound deadening on these cars to the point that very little road noise is audible. Inside of the doors and under the front carpets should be enough. Rear panels and boot for extra sound deadening.

JustinR1979

Something German and fairly big.
Something from the Vag group if you don't require correct wheel drive.

Stoke

JustinR1979 wrote: »

Something German and fairly big.
Something from the Vag group if you don't require correct wheel drive.

What's correct wheel drive?