Reliable car for rural living?

Melisandre

I have been reading the MSE forums for a long time, but this is my first post.

Currently we live in town and do not have a car. However, we are moving to the rural Pennines and need to buy one. We can both drive, but we are not car people and feel quite overwhelmed by all the options. I hoped some of you might have some advice on a) which car/s to consider, and b) how to finance it? We are considering all possibilities — leasing, PCP, purchase…

Reliability is important. Public transport near the house is poor to nonexistent, so we will be stuck if the car won’t start! I know that long-term leasing supplies a courtesy car if yours breaks down. We both find this reassuring, though it seems you pay quite a lot for that.

Also, although the winters have been getting gentler all round, we want a car that will be safe and functional on snowy and icy roads. We’ll be living a short way up a bank that doesn’t get gritted by the council (though the road at the bottom does). We won’t be doing any off-roading or anything like that, but we have been looking at 4WD or AWD. This pushes the price up, but if we need it, we need it. Or do we? And if FWD would be OK, how significant is the weight of the car?

Affordability is the other important thing for us. We’re taking on our first mortgage at the same time too, and need to be careful. We have budgeted £180/month for car payments (of whatever type) - obviously there will be fuel, insurance, etc. on top of that. Does that seem realistic?

In terms of outright purchasing or deposits, we can manage up to £5000 (mostly borrowed from family if needed). We would rather not take out a formal loan, but I guess if it’s the best overall option we can look at that.

Our estimated mileage is 20-25k per year.

Neither of us cares about having a new car for its own sake. The only reason it might appeal is because a new car will (theoretically) be in perfect condition, and it will be under its full warranty. Similarly, neither of us will turn down a reliable, affordable car just because it’s not very good looking. We’re a couple, no kids, no dogs.

OK, here are some cars that have been suggested to us, or which have come up in our research so far.

Nissan Qashqai — but it seems to have reliability issues when secondhand, according to Which?
Toyota RAV4
Mitsubishi ASX
Honda Civic or Jazz
Suzuki Grand Vitara or Swift
Kia Sportage
Mini Paceman or Countryman
Subaru Outback

I would really appreciate any advice you might have on this. Thank you!

LandyAndy

Of the ones you mention the RAV4 is a good call. Toyotas are generally extremely reliable, It's a decent sized 4WD without being huge and cumbersome. Given where you are going to be living I would probably invest in a second set of wheels fitted with winter tyres for the winter months.

Melisandre

Thanks Andy, that's really helpful. And yes, have been wondering about winter tyres, but forgot to put that in original post.

tonyh66

I used to have a grand vitara, proper 4wd for when the snow hasn't been cleared off the roads, good ground clearence for when there's a bit of water lying, stick a set of mud and snow tyres on and your good to go.

don't discount the subaru forester either, just avoid the turbo engines.

martinthebandit

Do you really want to spend all the extra money on fuel etc that a 4x4 will cost you just on the off chance that you might need it for snowy days?

With your estimated mileage I would be looking for fuel economy first.

Melisandre

martinthebandit wrote: »

Do you really want to spend all the extra money on fuel etc that a 4x4 will cost you just on the off chance that you might need it for snowy days?

With your estimated mileage I would be looking for fuel economy first.

Yep, we've been asking ourselves that too! It's not an off-chance exactly -- I think we're pretty much bound to have a few snowy days a year -- but would winter tyres sort that out? Or snow chains to get down the bank?

Melisandre

I used to have a grand vitara, proper 4wd for when the snow hasn't been cleared off the roads, good ground clearence for when there's a bit of water lying, stick a set of mud and snow tyres on and your good to go.

Thanks Tony, good to know it served you well.

LandyAndy

Melisandre wrote: »

. However, we are moving to the rural Pennines !

martinthebandit wrote: »

the off chance that you might need it for snowy days?

.

I don't think there is any 'might' about it. :cool:

coffeehound

tonyh66 wrote: »

don't discount the subaru forester either, just avoid the turbo engines.

Agreed - conisderably less expensive to buy and run than an Outback. Good reliability. High ratio is useful for steep inclines.

AdrianC

Melisandre wrote: »

Also, although the winters have been getting gentler all round, we want a car that will be safe and functional on snowy and icy roads. We’ll be living a short way up a bank that doesn’t get gritted by the council (though the road at the bottom does). We won’t be doing any off-roading or anything like that, but we have been looking at 4WD or AWD. This pushes the price up, but if we need it, we need it. Or do we? And if FWD would be OK, how significant is the weight of the car?

What's everybody else around the area driving?

Here in the middle of nowhere in the Welsh borders (steep, narrow lanes with grass up the middle - gritters totally unheard of), most people drive... perfectly normal cars. But, of course, in the pennines you may get more snow. When we get some, it comes in force, and the only way you're getting moving is with a tractor... And after the tractor's been past and ploughed the line, you ain't getting anything out of the drive without spending plenty of time and sweat shovelling that wall of compacted snow out of the way...

"4wd"/"AWD" are the same thing. If you want to be pernickerty, "4wd" includes vehicles that don't have all the wheels driven, because four of their six are driven, and "AWD" includes vehicles that have six or eight wheels, all of which are driven. But assuming we're sticking with one on each corner, they're the same difference, as is "4x4" (four wheels, four driven). Having all the wheels driven will help you get moving. It won't, however, make the slightest difference to changing direction or stopping moving, and they can be quite useful... Winter tyres are at least as useful.

In snow, the other thing that's useful is ground clearance... The more the better, because you can easily find all four wheels spinning merrily because they aren't reaching the ground - or you're simply trying to push a snowdrift along with what remains of the front bumper.

So you really need to decide what conditions you're going to draw the line on, and simply chuck another log on the fire instead of even trying.

When we had a big dump of snow the other year, we were out in town. We shouldn't have gone - the forecast was dire - but we ignored it and went anyway... We got home without too much issue, in a lightish FWD car with ho-hum ground clearance... and winter tyres. They were what made the difference. We then left the car at the bottom of the drive for two days before even attempting to get it to the top.

I used to live on a steep suburban hill that wasn't gritted, and commute on back lanes. Remember the bad winters about a decade ago? Again, winter tyres were all the difference. We could sit in the house and watch people trying to get up - big 4x4 SUVs with normal summer tyres on were failing miserably, while my FWD car wasn't breaking into a sweat.

macman

At that mileage, you are firmly in diesel territory. But not all the cars on your shortlist are available as diesels.