How do I purchase a car if driving 35k miles a year?

stator

motorguy wrote: »

It "might" be the best value for money, but thats not necessarily what the O/P wants.

Well all we can do is make suggestions. Money saving is the name of the game around here :money:

EssexExile

ScrumpyMagpie wrote: »

Prefer the higher driving position to see what is going on and to help with my back.

and

I am 6'4" so I need a car with room

If you need an upright car, you need an upright car. Even if something smaller is more economical.

almillar

I can buy a pair of jeans from a charity shop for £2 and that would make them best value for money, however its not necessarily what i want.

No, that would make them cheapest, not necessarily best value. Maybe there's a pair for £4, that would last 3x as long - they would be best value, but not cheapest.

Anyway - new car, 35K per year, 3 years will have 105K miles on it. That'll be a tough car to shift.
Hopefully part of your running cost analysis will include service intervals. Over that same 3 years you could be servicing a car 10 times or 5 times - this is significant as you'll be paying for at least some of the servicing.
I'd be buying the car (with a loan if necessary), and 'running it into the ground' - as in you've bought it, that money is gone, you're not getting it back. Run, service the car until it's not financially viable to keep doing so. If you treat it well from new you might be surprised how far it goes.

bugslet

almillar wrote: »

I'd be buying the car (with a loan if necessary), and 'running it into the ground' - as in you've bought it, that money is gone, you're not getting it back. Run, service the car until it's not financially viable to keep doing so. If you treat it well from new you might be surprised how far it goes.

That would be my approach. Slightly different in that it's a car derived van, but I got my Combo at 35k, four years later it's got 170k and apart from fan belt and clutch it's been no problem and still shifts for a 1.4. And someone has offered to buy it!:eek::)

bod1467

High driving position doesn't necessarily mean a crossover ... what about a C-Max/S-Max, Zafira, Grand Scenic etc?