Best car for high milage job - efficient and reliable?

Blessingdragon

Hi I have a job that means 40k miles a year - ha e recently been given a load of technical kit and my Mini clubman is no longer big enough.


What estate/suv would anyone recommend that's fuel efficient but also reliable. I usually buy cars 2/3 years old and have a budget of 20k 

Thanks 

Bigwheels1111

My mates got a 2.0l Insignia Sri estate 170 bhp auto.
He does 25k a year.
Gets 45-50 mpg.

Grumpy_chap

Blessingdragon said:

Hi I have a job that means 40k miles a year - ha e recently been given a load of technical kit and my Mini clubman is no longer big enough.


What estate/suv would anyone recommend that's fuel efficient but also reliable. I usually buy cars 2/3 years old and have a budget of 20k 

Thanks 

Mondeo Estate, or hatchback if that is large enough..  Very well equipped and comfortable for high mileage cruising, go on forever, correct image for business use, high safety equipment

mobileron

Skoda Superb great car.

knightstyle

Neighbour has had several Toyota Auris estates, he keeps them for a year or two and then swaps for another when they get to about 120k miles.  He says they have never let him down.

chrisw

Diesel Volvo estate eg V60? 50-60mpg easily.

Flight3287462

mobileron said:

Skoda Superb great car.

I would second that, 2.0 TDi will give you over 50mph and more if you are light of foot.  Big comfortable and with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) a dream to drive in leisurely way.

First car I have had with ACC and to me it is the best thing since sliced bread especially in roadworks and speed restricted areas.

iwb100

mobileron said:

Skoda Superb great car.

Or the Octavia depending on size required. Octavia estate boot not much smaller than Superbs. Comes down to how much rear space is required. 

bengalknights

Skoda Superb estate or even the Audi A6

motorguy

Skoda Octavia estate, or if it needs to be really big, a Superb estate.

Though if you're looking at a Superb, look at a Passat also.  Not just quite as huge as a Superb, and often the same price or less as a Superb, due to the relative rarity of the Superb.

Herzlos

What's your driving pattern like and what's the tax set up?

40k miles with equipment sounds like you're doing ~200 miles a day - is that 100 miles to a work site and back? lots of different sites?

Whilst contraversial, an MG5 EV might actually suit you. The Long Range one would do the 200 mile round trip on a single charge (though you'd likely get the chance to recharge during the day), and is a fairly big estate.

You'd knock your fuel costs down to about 10% of diesel, and would get a huge BIK discount assuming it's a company car.

They might be a bit out of price range yet, though, but the tax/fuel savings would make it worth considering.

Edit: You can get the standard range (quoted 214 miles), 1 year old, from about £21k on autotrader, so not as far out of budget as I assumed. The longer range (250 miles) starts about £23k


Potentially some diesel/electric hybrid would save you a lot in tax too, and a little bit in fuel if you can take advantage of it.