Cheap motorway driving

chrisw

I don't think I'd want to be travelling up and down the motorways twice a week in a small car. How about something like an older diesel Volvo, S60 or S80 maybe?

ncfcfan

p00hsticks said:

I presume you've discounted the idea of travelling by rail ?

Not totally. I just can't rely on them - plus it would mean driving to the nearest train station, parking, paying for the train ticket to reading and then a bus. Probably more expense and less reliable.

ncfcfan

oldernonethewiser said:

Why do you need another family sized car?

Would a smallish one for your commute not be sufficient?

It probably would be sufficient for motorway driving, but when I'm at home 3 days per week I need to be able to transport children around. As long as it's 5 day, cheap to run on the motorway I don't mind. I did think this would mean, family sized, diesel etc.

ncfcfan

born_again said:

ncfcfan said:

Hi there

I have a new job which means I’ll be travelling from Birmingham to Reading 2 days a week.

we only have one car right now, a Kia sportage but my wife will need to use this for her work and to drive the kids around. So we need another motor.

We’re trying to keep costs down here. And unfortunately im in a state of paralysis when it comes to this decision. We obviously need an additional car to keep to these work commitments. 

We have a budget of around £2.5-£3k. We’ve been out of the car market for a few years now so it’s unclear what is good value. 

We need something economical, family sized, low insurance band. Good for motorway driving. Scared of being ripped off by someone on Facebook. What is recommended?

So what sort of mileage does your wife do & does she actually need the Sportage, so you could use that for the 2 days a week?

Something like a older EV (Leaf or Zoe) if you can stretch the budget a bit, if she does not travel far each day? Would be far cheaper to run than a petrol/diesel car. 

This is something we're considering. She also does some work travel, but on those days hopefully I would be at home and she could use the Sportage.

ncfcfan

Goudy said:

I agree with perhaps getting a small diesel.
For your budget, I would look less at the car and more at which engine.

My favourite small diesel is the 1.5 DCi (K9K) which was developed in conjunction with Renault/Nissan/Mercedes that got fitted to a host of models from these and other manufacturers. (like the Infinity Q30)

It was a pretty clean engine right off the bat so they don't suffer as much from problems that other manufacturers suffered when they strangled their diesel engines to meet emission standards.

They fitted this engine in the diesel Dacia Sandero and that will fit right into your budget if you can live with a bit of low rent interior trim. In fact it's the best version of the Sandero.

It also went in the Nissan Note, another car that should be in budget.

very helpful, thanks alot. I don't mind the cheap interior - all I care about is not being ripped off, cheap motorway driving and safety for my family.

Arunmor

How about a VAG group 2.0 TDi plenty to choose from (VW, Seat, Skoda) and around 50mpg.

jimjames

Arunmor said:

How about a VAG group 2.0 TDi plenty to choose from (VW, Seat, Skoda) and around 50mpg.

Agree on this. Find a well maintained one and it will easily do motorway journeys. My 2008 2.0TDI does 500-1000 mile trips with no problems but has been looked after and serviced every 10k miles