Hi

I need some car buying advice – I am after a car that I can use to commute to work, so 5 days a week, 40 miles each way, 80% motorway/dual carriageway.

After low tax, low mpg etc – I was thinking of a 0% deal on something like a citroen c1 so that sort of £7k price band or maybe used…maybe

Help please!

Cheers

A C1 or similar will annoy the hell out of you on a mostly motorway commute I would imagine. Get something slightly bigger so it is comfier rather than tinny in traffic. 2nd hand Diesel Polo/Golf/Focus or similar?

Edit:- Obviously the STW answer will be a 2nd hand Skoda

Seconded. Also there is no point buying a brand new car only to slap above average miles on it, when you come to sell it school run mum won’t be impressed with a three year old C1 with over 60,000 miles on it when most have only done short shopping trips totalling 15,000 over the same time.

ok excellent, this is what I need – so any models that stand out for reliablity and economy?

I’d get something like a Mondeo tdi – highish mileage (100k) about 4 yrs old then run it till it died.

A C1 or similar will annoy the hell out of you on a mostly motorway commute I would imagine.

Really, don’t listen to the guys who tell you you can’t have a car less than 5.6 litre engine or it’ll be ‘wheezy’ on the commute. If it’s anything like my ‘motorway’ trip you won’t get out of 3rd! It is perfectly possibly to drive with a 1.0 engine in your car.

But I’d still possibly consider 2nd hand unless you can get good finance deals on new.

got to go with the 2nd hand skoda if that 7k is burning a hole in the pocket. ours /mrs ( from new in 08) now has 80k on the ticker solid as a rock stops starts good m/way car.

i did 49 e/w daily in a fiat cinq then a punto for 10 years no fun.. all revs and not enough go when you need to get past something and deffo vunerbal on the mway the cinq was scrambled eggs when a merc rammed it from behind the drivers seat came out and i ended up lying on my back, strapped to the drivers seat still, on the parcel shelf..

Im driving my C1 to Germany on NYs.

Get a Mondeo. My journey will be fun and all I have to do is get pissed when I get there. 80miles a day every day begs for good seats etc- S60 has the best. Or get a Mondeo.

Really, don’t listen to the guys who tell you you can’t have a car less than 5.6 litre engine or it’ll be ‘wheezy’ on the commute

Its more the fact that the C1 is a city car and is not geared for motorway cruising. It may do 98mph but it will be noisy at motorway speeds, at 70mph the revs will be approx 3000rpm whereas a mid sized car will normally have taller gears and could be nearer 2000rpm which is a noticeable difference.

Youve got c7k?

Buy a mk3 or 4 Focus.

Best allrounder IMO..

A 1.0 1.2 and even a 1.4 will be noisy.

I had a 1.2 Polo for about 3-4 years and it’d comfortably do 80 on the motorway and was fine in town. I could get two bikes in the back with the wheels off too. If I was buying a second car as a runaround, commuter, town car, I’d get another polo without a doubt.

If it was mainly to get me to work, I’d save most of that £7K for nicer things and get a late model [55/56] 2.0L diesel Toyota Corolla

Boring as ****
Reasonably good mpg
Very reliable, bullet proof engine
Fairly comfortable
Cheap to maintain, No cam belts or DPF to worry about

Save yourself £4K

£7k will get you a 2009 Mondeo 2.0 TDCi

I had a 1.1l petrol 106, replaced it with a 1.8 TDCi Focus.

The 106 (so the same probably goes for 107/C1/Aygo) was actually pretty good fun on my suburban-rural commute,, because 60mph felt really fast in it, so the fairly country roads were made interesting without driving above the speed limit.

I got the Focus and all of a sudden my commute got a bit more boring because it’s so much happier at higher speeds, it doesn’t feel ‘right on the edge’ at 50-60mph so if you wanted the same go kart experience as the 106 you’d have to go a lot faster.

But……I drive the Focus ‘briskly’, don’t tend to speed, but I get to cruising speed quickly and don’t have a problem overtaking if I need to. And I get around the same mpg as the 106 (50 in the 106, 48+ in the focus). And on the motorway it’s just so much more comfortable. 2-3 hours was about my limit for motorway driving, (probably any driving tbh) in the 106 after that the noise and general basicness really got to me. I went all the way to scotland in the Focus with no problem. My Focus is high mileage but a Ghia, so it’s got almost all the mod cons. Auto lights, wipers, dimming mirrors, A/c, heated leather seats, cruise control etc still runs well and is just such a more comfortable place to be.

The GFs 107 on the other hand seems to be exactly like my 106.

As others have said though, a Mway commute might mean rolling along at 30mph, but I’d still pick an ‘old’ Focus rather than a brand new rollerskate.

Find yourself a nice Saab 93 diesel, not a skoda or a focus, toooooooo dull

bails is on the money.

Me and Popa drove to Peebles from Manchester in his TDCI Focus- it was fine. Its also capable of some speed 🙄

For 20k per annum you need to focus on TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), not just MPG and tax. Decide whether you’d rather buy new and replace every 4-5 years or buy s/h and replace every 2-3 years. New should give you peace of mind and a calculated running cost, whereas s/h could reduce initial outlay but could have higher costs ongoing.

Also are you mechanically minded? If I was buying for my wife, it’d be new/ex-demo, but for me s/h. And have you access to another car, in an emergancy, or live in a remote area – again should impact your decisions.

tbh When my secretary asked what car to buy, I said Honda. She said would I buy one? No, was the answer.

Why recommend one then? Because you know nothing about cars and all you want is something that will always go from A-to-B, so there is no point me recommending something fast/handle/pretty etc. You just want something ultra-reliable.

On Hondas- I once asked the question on a Jazz on Pistonheads- lots of 100,000-200,000 examples popped up with only consumables as expenses- if only you can get passed…the name

bluemotion polo