High mileage commute - Whats the best motoring option?

fryerrobin

My job requires me to drive 105miles per day, roughly 4 times a week.

That equates (in a 48 wk working year) to just over 20,000 miles. Add personal travel to that I am probably doing 25k-30k a year.

I'm looking for the best option all round to reduce commuting costs, this is not just down to fuel but also the investment in the motor including any finance deal, the initial cost of the vehicle and ongoing maintenance costs.

The mileage I do means after 4 years the car is at 100k and lost a great deal of its value, probably over any mileage limited warranty and beginning to show its age in repair costs etc.

My current car (a 05 plate mini cooper) I got 3 years ago on a HP deal at 62,000 miles and now has 128k and I will be moving on from it in the new year I hope when the finance is paid off.

I am looking for something that will last a minimum of 3 years and not cost me a fortune (lets say over 11k over 3 years excluding fuel), and be reliable. Since I do a lot of miles it has to be practical for the journey (lots of A roads and a bit of motorway) and come with basic features like air-con (but things like sat nav, cruise control, tonnes of power not necessary though a 1.0 engine is probably not practical).


There are a number of options:
1) buy a used car outright
2) buy a used car on a PCP or HP deal.
3) lease a used car
4) buy a new car on a PCP or HP deal.
5) lease a new car

Option 1 would probably see me spend the least money over a 4 year period but I would likely have to repair the vehicle a number of times and it's not easy to purchase used cars which are fault free for this kind of money.

Option 2 Has the same problems as option 1 but without the capital outlay limiting me so much. I could put down a 1k deposit and pay monthly for a finance deal, I would probably prefer PCP has the monthly repayments would be lower but then I may end up stuck at the end of the deal as the car would be devalued by mileage I would probably have a huge balloon payment to make. So for a used car HP may make more sense.

Option 3 Not sure about leasing a used car, there are some companies which do it, obviously cheaper than leasing a new car but after 3 years I won't own anything. I also looked at the maintenance deal for these things and they tend to be very expensive (between £50 and £70 pcm extra), the vehicles would most likely be out of warranty (unless its like a 7 year kia warranty) so I would have to foot the bill for any repair costs (although I could also buy an aftermarket warranty which I heard are not that expensive). What I don't know is if you get a PCP deal with no intention of keeping or selling the car (ie just intending to hand it back) whether this is cheaper than doing the same thing on a lease? I guess it depends on the GFV of the PCP?

Option 4 Same as option 2/3 except I have a 3 year warranty (I would only look at a minimum of 3 yr warranty of new cars and not mileage limited ones unless they were for 100k). That protects me financially from severe failures which is appealing. However its more cost per month and I would still have the large balloon payment on the end (which would be much more expensive than the used balloon payment). Given my budget the type of car I can get would be less value for money which is not necessarily an issue but I would always want more value rather than less. The main argument for this is having a nice new shiny thing rather than an ageing and potentially unreliable older thing, but that said, my mini hasn't had any serious issues so far (fingers crossed) and its at 128k! But with the mileage I do I would always think I am going to loose money on a new car on finance.

Option 5 I've been considering a new car lease a lot, just because I pay for the car a month and at the end of the deal there is nothing to worry about. I am again protected by warranty and can also bolt on the maintenance packs (though again since these are expensive I would probably just put the £600 a year aside for tyres, brakes etc as this seems well overkill). Downside from the quotes I have been looking at is the monthly lease cost would be between £200-£300 a month for a 25k a year deal. For this money I can get a small diesel (example Seat Ibiza https://www.contracthireandleasing.com/car-leasing-companies/independent-brokers/neva-consultants/seat/ibiza/54716610/) with none or a small road tax and reasonable to drive, but over a 3 year period it would cost me between £7k-11k, does this seem crazy considering I would have nothing to show for it at the end of my term?

Any one with high mileage per year that regularly rinses there cars opinions would be helpful! I've got a handful of months to decide what to do next.

mcpitman

I'll go for Option 1

I would buy a 3year old used Mondeo/Insignia/Passat type car and run it into the floor.

I currently have a 59 plate insignia, do 35-40k miles per year and it hasn't missed a beat.

Bought at 4 years old (Nov-13) @ 18k miles, FVSH, for a very low cost (auction admittedly but i'm fairly confident with these things), now on 85k miles.

Apart from tyres and fuel/service costs nothing has gone wrong, and I don't envisage it to either.

It's big, comfy, powerful, has sat nav, park sensors, climate control etc etc and munches the miles quite happily.

"We buy any car" still value this car at a higher price than I paid for it, so my depreciation cost has been zero in almost 2 years.

I will genuinely keep this car until it dies, or becomes too expensive to repair/maintain.

I don't believe in borrowing money for a depriciating asset, and certainly wouldn't buy new or lease. It just doesn't make financial sense to me.

fryerrobin

Thanks, though I'm not sure I can raise the capital to buy a vehicle, remember my capital outlay is likely only to be 3.5k.

I could Hire Purchase it, but like you said you wouldn't take a finance deal to fund a depreciating asset.

I could potentially take a personal loan (since interest rates are as low as they could ever be right now) rather than take finance on it.

I do like the Insignia though.

Amy.B_3

PCP isn't a bad option, i'd just make sure you do some research first regarding your high mileage and the mileage allowance you get with these deals. Sure if you shop around, you'll be able to find a good deal.

Plus if you're purchasing a new car through PCP or finance, your less likely to run into any repair problems down the road.

A risk either way really as you could buy a used car with possibility of constant repairs or purchase a new car through PCP/finance and struggle with the monthly payments .

I'd go for PCP though as I like the flexibility of not having to keep the car at the end if it isn't working out best for me. I wouldn't take out a personal loan though.

Yeah looking at a car that can tackle the high mileage without running into any problems, your best bet is the Mondeo or the insignia.

Although i'm more for the Mondeo myself

gonzo127

also consider the slight smaller focus/astra size cars,

just looking on autotrader and for £750 got a 1.8 tdci focus, with 105k miles, FSH and 11 months MOT, even if it only last until the next MOT it will only have cost you £750 for the year, compared to the £3600 a year you stated in your OP

Herzlos

fryerrobin wrote: »

I could Hire Purchase it, but like you said you wouldn't take a finance deal to fund a depreciating asset.

That's essentially what you're doing with options 2, 3, 4 & 5 though.

I'd be spending at most £8k (borrowing the difference) on a lowish mileage diesel repmobile and keep the remaining £3k for insurance/maintenance/tax/repairs.

Or I'd buy a £3k diesel car and run it into the ground, with the aim of making each one last at least a year.

foxy-stoat

Buy a manual £2-3,000 1.9 PD tdi engined car with good service record, around 100-130,000 on the clock, hopefully it will of had a cambelt/water pump, clutch/dmf change already. Change the oil every 6-8,000 miles and the engine should last well past 200,000 miles.

A4 (B6)
A6 (C5)
Golf
Passat
Octavia
Fabia

bluebiro

I had this same problem last year. The way I saw it was that it was getting quite expensive to get any sort of lease car on my 25k a year mileage.
After looking round I found insignia's were pretty cheap for the size as most were being released from being rep mobiles.
I bought a 61 plate for under 6k, Drove 25k on it and not missed a beat, (well it cost me a fiver for a bulb on MOT) I'm planning on driving it till it dies but hoping with it being faily recent body and 2 litre diesel engine i should get at least another 5 years out of it or hopefully 125k.

I think the main thing is is jumping on issues before they become problems, like making sure it is properly serviced and belts changed before they break.

I now put the money i would pay into a HP/Lease in the bank and this pays for repairs and for next car in a few years.