Despite being in my 30s I’ve never held my own car insurance.

A work opportunity may be on the cards that could see me needing to do a 100mile round trip commute 3 to 4 days per week.

We have two cars already, one used a similar amount by my wife for work, the other our new dog/children carting beastie.

Neither car is an option, I don’t think, for me.

Looking round I’m torn between small diesel or something Focus sized. The journey will be approximately 15miles B roads and 35miles dual carriage way.

The frugality of a small diesel appeals but the additional safety(?) of a larger car nags me a little.

Given this will be my first insurance policy trying not to rule out a small van 😉

So suggestions would be welcome.

Should I consider bangernomics?

It’s likely that I would only want the “opportunity” for a year before moving on.

Small new petrol

Look at the total cost of motoring , it’s not all about max mpg

Personally, I would go Bangernomics.

Look for something without DPF, Dual mass flywheel etc. Just make sure timing belts etc are upto date.

Be careful if you get a Van as, if you get a years No Claims, it may not be transferable to a Car in the future.

Have you got named driver experiance on another car ?

Some companys give discount for this and its worth findin out which ones and get quotes Can make a huge difference.
To what i would suggest. Ideally youd want a mid sized petrol car for 100miles a day imo – a 1.2 buzz box roller skate will be tiring to drive and noisy at revs.

As for a new petrol for 100mile a day commute for just one year – i cant think of a better way to give money away infact take it on a pcp. Tht would give more away.

Bangernomics, something with a smallish engine eg 1.0-1.3 and unfashionable, ie cheap. Japanese?

Larger engined cars are cheap as people want fuel economy and lower road tax but in your case insurance will be high so rule them out. You’re not doing that high image so fuel economy will likely play second fiddle to cost of insurance for different cars

At that mileage just get a banger. Like an old Honda. You’ll depreciate a new car like mad

Yeah, you are looking at about 15,000 miles just commuting without any use outside of that.

Some of these £129 per month deals on fiestas etc only allow 5,000 miles per year with additional miles about 9 p per mile…….

Maths is my weak point, but that’s around £900 ???

Mondeo 2.0 TDI with the 5speed box.

You are looking to add a third car to the family car pool? Personally I’d be looking to reduce that to two by getting a family car you would be happy to drive to work or rationalising your wife’s car and the family car together.

Neither car is an option, I don’t think, for me.

Your reasoning on this is….?
Most of the time, keeping is cheaper than buying. I just changed a car I really, really did not want to, and resent the cost of the new one each month vs some maintenance. (four dead glow plugs, all seized in after 13 years, first drill= damage to head, and warning light for emissions on for catalytic convertor and the glow plugs, and MOT fail on emissions. Needing reliable car for winter up here for mrs_oab, we reluctantly got rid 🙁 )

Thanks for the suggestions folks.

Even if I had the budget for new or nearly new I couldn’t live with myself re the depreciation.

Interesting regarding the petrol/diesel trade off.

All of my driving with the exception of our TR has been done with diseaseals, so in thoroughly out of the loop on petrol efficiencies.

At the moment the 1 year “thing” is quite set in stone so leasing is even more so not an option.

There was a nice little Lupo in the classifieds but at 6′ 3” I fear I might need to sit on the back bench ….

I knew the three car thing would be a bit of an elephant in the room but I see you’ve all seen her now 🙂

We have a year old car that we bought for family, dog duties and it would seem that for a years worth of commuting and what that would do to its value + servicing etc could be traded for the cost of a cheap runaround.

That said additional insurance etc

Hmm.

I should perhaps add that the train is an option with similar costs to 3-400 miles worth of fuel but its approximately twice the time.

Nissan Almera – Toyota Corrolla – Honda Civic ..

All insanely cheap and reliable – Civics are a bit more but can still be picked up for next to nothing .

We have a year old car that we bought for family, dog duties and it would seem that for a years worth of commuting and what that would do to its value + servicing etc could be traded for the cost of a cheap runaround.

That makes no sense to me, but I’m sure others would agree with your thinking. You already have the depreciating asset. Use it a bit more and it’ll depreciate faster but that is only relevant if you plan on selling it before it needs to be for vanity reasons. It’ll be reliable and safe (only mentioned as you did earlier). The extra car will still need servicing so the extra servicing of the family car is an irrelevance. Then the extra insurance, tax etc of running 3 cars not 2…

I’m not sure the maths of bangernomics works if you have a 1yr old depreciating asset sitting on the drive you could have used instead.

edit – just seen this…

It’s likely that I would only want the “opportunity” for a year before moving on.

Which makes it even more daft. When you come to sell the family car (which must be doing very few miles at the moment if it’s an ‘extra’) in a few years time, the extra 15K on the clock from one year doing the job will make the square route of sod all difference to the resale price.

I’m not sure the maths of bangernomics works if you have a 1yr old depreciating asset sitting on the drive you could have used instead.

+1

use the one you have. there’s no way the cost of running an old shitter for 100 miles a day including insurance tax mot and servicing and tyres will be cheaper than just driving the one you have.

It’s a car. It’s there to be driven. Drive the damn thing. Mileage on modern cars doesn’t affect the resale value as much as it used to on old cars.

The idea of having three cars when one will be sitting on the drive because you don’t want to add mileage seems a little bit bonkers to me.

If it is the insurance cost you are worried about surely that’ll be offset against purchasing a third car even if it’s a nag. (Which could prove speedy to maintain btw.)

Jammers – have you taken leave of your senses? 100 miles a day in a 1.0 litre engine. Rather you than me. It’d be cheap, but my god, it’d be spirit crushing

Bangernomics is the way forward. 1.8 petrol Focus

Pug 206 hdi

Or if your a masochistic a106 diesel you’d not get cheaper

100miles a day? Just for a year. Japanese bangernomics kinda makes sense.. corolla, maybe old yaris and jazz if you can fit or 1.6 petrol old focus. Small powered engine sucks for that mileage you want..diesel is no go for bangernomics.

Mondeo 2.0 tdci 6 speed. I bought one for £4k a few yes back did about 90k in 3 yrs and sold it for 2k

Big cars are far less tedious on long journeys and a Mondeo drives well.

Focus just doesn’t compare IMO

Small car doesn’t necessarily mean cheap insurance. Just use an online comparison site and churn your way the a few cars on Autotrader to get an idea

MX5. Seriously.

It’s a lot of driving and, as mentioned above, it’ll be soul-crushing. May as well get something you can have a bit of fun in. You’ll pick up a reasonable mk1 for around £1k. They’re pretty much bombproof mechanically, but you’ll need to keep an eye out for rusty sills/arches.

+2 for using the family car. 15k miles on it won’t matter much selling it a few years down the line. All it costs you is maybe an extra service and any difference in MPG.

Meantime saving a year’s insurance and road tax at several hundred £££ plus the cost of buying and repairing another car.

Lol. Your taking rhe piss right flyingox ? Might as well suggest a land rover 90. Its about as suitable.

+3 for use te car you have if it will otherwise be sitting on the drive. Unless of course its a future classic your keeping mint under a sheet in a garage 😉

use the one you have. there’s no way the cost of running an old shitter for 100 miles a day including insurance tax mot and servicing and tyres will be cheaper than just driving the one you have.

+4

Your logic only works if the family car is a lovingly restored vintage classic that will simply be destroyed by the salty winter roads. Otherwise use what you have. Modern cars can handle serious mileage if properly maintained.

£400 would buy you my 02 Citroen C5 2.0 hdi estate. Spacious, economical and comfortable.
It’s been well used and serviced in my ownership. Just fitted four new tyres, front calipers, discs and pads, new cat and a handful of other bits and pieces. MOT until May next years, no advisories on the last one. One or two scratches and dents but still a good useable car. Made three two and a half thousand mile round trips to France in it already this year.

Email in profile.

Currently on a cross channel ferry.

VW Vento 1.9 TDI. You want the low spec turbo and should get one cheap. I drove mine 140k miles and it never missed a beat on a 600 miles/week commute over 10 years.

So definitely bangernomics. Skoda octavia with same engine would be a good choice.

Not taking the piss trail_rat. I’ve commuted in all sorts of “unsuitable” cars, from a rattly diesel Jeep to a 12mpg highly strung sports car. And a mk1 MX5. My thinking was I’d rather be in something that I enjoyed driving than some asthmatic beige hatchback. I know I’d prefer 50 miles done in an MX5 than a 1 litre Yaris.

Use the car you have on the drive.

Insuring your bangernomics car will be very expensive- for the same engine size your new car should be at least a little cheaper because they are safer. If your experience of bangernomics goes anything like mine you will need to spend a lot just to keep it roadworthy (we spent about £300 on just the stuff that was needed to keep it rolling) and it broke down leaving my wife stranded at work three times. It will also cost more in fuel than a modern car. And the tax will be higher.

Once you add up the higher road tax, increased fuel costs, maintenance and insurance the extra cost of insuring the car on your drive already depreciating will be bearable.

I commute 100 miles a day. I have done it my wifes Galaxy (old one and new one) and for a while in crappy Kia whilst I was between cars. The differnce between all of them and in my regular car (very comfortable lux0 barge on bangernomics and LPG) is huge – I get home quicker (can overtake tractors more safely with a massive engine) and am way less tired after an hour or so each way in the car.

Having said all that, go with what the others said – use the car you already have!

Lots of things would be better than a yaris for a motorway commute …..an mx5 would not top my list …or even be close to the top.to be cheap miles – its going to be beige.

And munrobikers proven that getting a good mx5 can be hard ( and they are far from bomb proof) His bangernomics experiance is mx5 based – although 300 quid in repairs is hardly bleeding money compared to the payment on a new car 😉

you’re mental. I’m as tight fisted as they come but the idea of driving a banger so you can avoid the wear and tear on your second (!) car is loopy.

get a 3 series touring, can probably pick up a decent 320d or 318d for not too much from a decent dealer. Tons of space, zippy and doesn’t knacker you whilst doing the miles…get something that’s sensible not a hairdryer burning fuel like a mad thing. Look after it and at the end of it you could probably sell it on and come out of it pretty well too!

+X – as others have said in slightly more words, buying another car (and paying for tax, insurance etc. on that) rather than using the one you already have is mental. Will cost you a lot more than just running what you already have even allowing for any extra servicing and depreciation.

@binners my thought was the insurance costs would be too high on larger engined cars. We’re all too soft these days, I drove my 1000cc mini up and down the country and to Europe, by today’s standards engine, suspension, comfort all dire.

So, loopyness of not using existing cars aside –

2001 – 2005 Honda Civic diesel.

56mpg, fairly bombproof (only had one horrific £700 MOT in 6 years/ 100,000 miles of ownership which consisted of a complete front suspension rebuild) and very cheap to fix if something does go wrong. A “mint” one would probably go for £1500 but you could pick one up for sub £1k if you looked (and I’m getting rid soon).

In that age range though I’d be avoiding the 1.4/1.6 petrols as the input shaft bearing is prone to wear and it’s a ~£500 gearbox rebuild to fix it. The power steering can also be ropey on all models but Honda have recently started offering the parts individually rather than as a complete rack so shouldn’t be as pricey as it once was (torque sensor wear IIRC). Easy to spot both though, if the gearbox is whiney or steering heavy – avoid.

As others have said, you’d be mad to buy a third car! If its one year, thats 15-20k which, if the 2nd car is a keeper, won’t matter a few years down the line. It sounds like its a large diesel, (as you referred to it as a beastie) so if its just running back and forth as a kids and dogsmobile, getting some decent mileage onto it will stave off any DPF issues and actually allow you to realise some of the better efficiency a diesel can offer.

Some suggestions I saw on page 1:

Lupo, couldn’t think of much worse to do a 100 mile commute in! Its a city runabout.

Mondeo TDCi, potential fallout is £1k when the flywheel lets go, followed by £1k when the injectors need attention.

Mondeo TDCi, potential fallout is £1k when the flywheel lets go, followed by £1k when the injectors need attention.

Old man has had two (2.2 and 2.0) and never had any grief, is that not a very old issue on the 1.8’s about 2000 (mk3??) vintage?

I posted on here ages ago about buying a car for my new job which is similar mileage. I ended up with an Alfa Mito 1.3jtdm. Its very solidly built and drives very well as you would expect, all leather and I get 60> mpg. All the toys and looks good as well.