Best cars for 100+ mile commute

marlot

I used to commute 2 hours by train. Well actually two trains, with a 10-20 minute change. One of the trains was once an hour, the other was every 30 minutes.

It was fine when the trains were on time, and if you had a seat. But the occaisonal journey would become a nightmare. My wife had to drive out and rescue me at a station where I'd been turfed out once (trains stopped about 40 miles from home due to an incident on the line).

The other issue is getting out of work on time. I had to be really strict that I left the office at 16:10 for my 16:25 train. My bosses were understanding (and knew that I would work on the train if needed) but it was sometimes a problem.

foxy-stoat

Gen 8 Civic - or Gen 9 if they are in the price bracket. Nicer to drive than the normal Golfs tdi's without the VAG engine grief.

I have seen a few 2.2 diesels hitting 300,000 miles up for sale when I was looking for one but you may want to get the 1.6 cdti.

jimbo6977

Mercdriver wrote: »

It's not really about the size of car on long commutes, but the comfort of the seat. You need good lumbar support (well at least I do!) for long drives. You can get lumbar support in seats at Golf size level...

And good straight-line roadholding. Last thing you want is a car that twitches or wanders.

shinytop

I would rather be bored for 1-2 hours in my car, in good company, with a guaranteed seat, with my music/audio rather than take my chances on a train. And a car is door-door. You don't want to be faffing around with a bus or bike after a long train journey.


And the car? My best/most reliable car was a BMW320D. 180,000 miles with nothing other than servicing and brakes.

energy1x

Thanks for the replies, I'm trying to narrow down a potential list which from some of the posts here I've narrowed to: Honda Civic, VW Golf, Insignia, Mondeo, Octavia, Kia(?)...

From trawling autotrader it seems I can pick up most of the above for between £3,500 and £5,000. As I said, I would need to do 120 miles up to 3 days a week and the journey is a mix of dual carriage ways (65%) and motorways (35%).

It seems a delicate balance of keeping the maintenance costs and fuel as low as possible whilst maximising comfort by getting the right size of car. A Golf seems the most 'go to' option but probably not the most efficient for maintenance/reliability.

Any ideas still welcome.

Herzlos

VW's are regarded as premium so you'd get better value looking at Golf equivalents. Seat Leon and Skoda Octavia are essentially Golfs, but without the VW badge tax. That should get you a nicer car for the same money.

shinytop wrote: »

I would rather be bored for 1-2 hours in my car

I love an hour or 2 on my own in the car with a good audio book, but the train is hugely more comfortable and productive (I'd rather spend that hour doing work and getting the time back at home when I can do what I want). Depending on the route you might get some bad passengers occasionally but you'll likely be fine. You can still use headphones too.

System

Herzlos wrote:

I love an hour or 2 on my own in the car with a good audio book, but the train is hugely more comfortable and productive (I'd rather spend that hour doing work and getting the time back at home when I can do what I want).

Last time I went to London on Virgin East Coast I found the trains more uncomfortable than my Mondeo. As for spending that hour doing work, I finish work when I walk out of the company gates, sod taking it with me to do, that's a mug's game that leads to you doing things like answering company emails on a weekend when you're on a day out with the family.

energy1x wrote: »

It seems a delicate balance of keeping the maintenance costs and fuel as low as possible whilst maximising comfort by getting the right size of car. A Golf seems the most 'go to' option but probably not the most efficient for maintenance/reliability.

Any ideas still welcome.

Ford is probably the cheapest to maintain meeting the criteria. 12,500 mile service intervals on the diesels and Motorcraft services at main dealers are £149 for a minor, £199 for a major with both coming with 12 months/12,500 miles free pan european breakdown cover. Parts are dirt cheap too although if you're going for independent garage using decent non-genuine parts there most likely isn't a great deal of difference between any of them.

To be honest though if the car is comfortable and you can get the cruise control there probably isn't a whole lot between any of them reliability wise when being used for long motorway journeys. You'll find most of the cars mentioned used for airport taxis all managing 200,000+ miles just fine and dandy with regular servicing and maintenance.

One thing I would say though is to choose tyres carefully when they need changing, mostly for the noise level when you're going to be spending 2hrs at a time driving. A difference of 3dB between tyres may not sound a lot but it is a halving or doubling of the volume every 3dB decrease/increase and a constant drone from the tyres can make a journey quite tiring. I've just gone from Kumho Ecstas to Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons which were 3dB quieter and which got top place for tyre noise in tyre tests and the difference is massive. Stereo is now on a lower volume, we can talk in the car at a quieter volume, road noise is almost non-existent.

energy1x

Tarambor wrote: »

Last time I went to London on Virgin East Coast I found the trains more uncomfortable than my Mondeo. As for spending that hour doing work, I finish work when I walk out of the company gates, sod taking it with me to do, that's a mug's game that leads to you doing things like answering company emails on a weekend when you're on a day out with the family.

I have found the train very hit and miss,and agree with you. It is not 'comfortable' to sit on a train of any sort in this country for more than 1 hour without getting rather bored/tired/sore bum/gormless. Then theres the added 'journey' at the end of the train ride. Overall, a car is much better for me.

Thanks again for the tips and models. I will have a good trawl over autotrader this weekend!

Herzlos

Tarambor wrote: »

Last time I went to London on Virgin East Coast I found the trains more uncomfortable than my Mondeo. As for spending that hour doing work, I finish work when I walk out of the company gates, sod taking it with me to do, that's a mug's game that leads to you doing things like answering company emails on a weekend when you're on a day out with the family.

Ah, but if you have an hour train ride that you can work, then you could leave work an hour early and get an hour more free time at home :beer:

energy1x

Herzlos wrote: »

Ah, but if you have an hour train ride that you can work, then you could leave work an hour early and get an hour more free time at home :beer:

Most employers, certainly mine, expect a certain amount of hours to be worked or spent on site, typically 7-8. Regardless of how much 'work' one may claim to have done elsewhere