New vs Second Hand

straighttalker

Perhaps consider a nearly new car or demonstrator where you'll be the second owner. You'll make a significant saving over new but will also get the balance of the manufacturer's warranty.

Ectophile

My recommendation would be to buy the best car you can afford (or are willing to pay for) without loading yourself up with loads of debt.

Better to buy an older car outright than to buy an expensive new one on credit and have to keep paying the finance every month for years to come. And if your circumstances change, you can easily sell it whenever you want.

Edit: If you're thinking of buying on finance, I refer you to this thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5250000

carter91

At 25k miles a year, the likely economic life-time of a car is going to be around 5 or 6 years. Buying new (or even nearly new) will be therefore be rather expensive in depreciation / finance costs.
I (like Jonesya) would tend to be looking at about 4 yrs old, from the Mondeo segment (so better designed to cope with high mileage), a diesel with low to average miles, possibly Honda Accord, Mazda 6, Volvo S60, or Mondeo.
Run ( and maintain well) for 4/5 years then bin, and replace.

forgotmyname

Not new, But nearly new with neglible mileage. Should be able to save at least £5000 with no penalty with the reliability.

You should be concerned with the new cost and resale value because you will be adding a lot of miles which will hurt the resale value.

I bought a £23,000 Mondeo when it was 5 years old for just over £2000. So in just under 5 years they lost £21,000 on it. Mostly because they did almost 130,000 miles in that time.

I had the car for just over 5 years and took it past 170k miles and the new owner is putting over 400 miles a week on it.

I changed the oil twice a year even when the first year or so it probably did under 6000 miles a year.

Herzlos

Look at the train first; it's a lot of time to spend in a car.

Then car wise you want a rep mobile or whatever the taxis local to you are using (Skoda Octavia, Mondeo, Insignia) as they are aimed at the fleet market and are designed to spend all day cruising motorways. You'll want diesel, though nothing fancy. Chain driven if you can. Try and avoid the tiny displacement ones (1.4-1.6) as they'll be working harder and won't be that much better on fuel than a bigger (1.8-2.0) engine.

I'd also be looking at one about 2-3 years old unless you can get an amazing deal on a new one. But only if the train isn't practical for some reason. I have a similar commute and do it by train even though the car works out marginally cheaper.

utopia_11

Not a motoring suggestion, but might it be better for the OP to rent a single room in Ruislip near her work place? You'll save a lot of time commuting and in most cases no small saving is worth sacrificing time.

andyfr_2

I think for peace of mind alone you should go for the newest car you can especially as you live in a rural area. Maybe a pre-registered one with delivery mileage.

We also live in a rural area so can appreciate your situation.

Good luck with the new job!

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

In the end there is personal preference, but it is fairly easy to get a 1 year old car with several years of manufacturer's warranty, at something between 30-40% of list price with say around 10k on the clock. Peace of mind of the dealer which might be important to you.

I think for the very high mileage and your concerns, you'd be happier going the nearly new route rather than something with a few years on it. Modern cars do normally last well - look around you and see how many early 50s plate cars still look good - so don't be too concerned.

Also with the mileage you are looking at, I'm guessing that it is a fairly steady commute so mileage will not age the car in the same way as short commutes around town.

andrewf75

second hand definitely, even if your budget allows for a new car it may as well be a few months old because you save thousands

utopia_11

What about those cars that go up to 300-400k plus miles? Like Volvo's and older Merc's. Isn't more economical to have a car that lasts 10 plus years with diligent servicing rather than getting a car every 5-6 years or so if you're doing high mileage like the OP?