I’m after a new car for commuting. It’s about 30 miles each way with a few B roads and 2 junctions down the M1. I don’t need anything big but 5 door preferred and it would be a bonus if I could get a bike in the back (seats down) without having to take both wheels off. I’m not too fussed about looks or being cool, literally just want something that’s reliable and cheap to run with decent MPG. Preferably comfy too. I’m thinking a small hatchback from Toyota, Ford or Vauxhall maybe?

Budget £5k absolute max.

Honda Jazz will do all of that. Except swallowing the bike whole but you get bonus magic seats to handle that end of things.

A gen 2 Nissan Leaf 24KWH will do everything you require. It may be slightly over 5k (but not much) but will save you over £1k per year in fuel bills. Its also VED tax free and servicing is very cheap.

Its also very nice to drive.

Honda will have a premium because they have a reputation or are perceived to be more reliable.

5k for a hatchback will get you a car that is barely 25% into its life of what 7 years? Of trouble free driving.

I wonder if the stats for reliability between the top 80% are that variable. And it is more dependant on random chance of picking up a dud, or lack of service history.

Logically best bang for buck would be the most common car you would think, avoiding any that falls into badge prestige territory.

So, I would be looking for a Corsa or Focus. Anything with <1.2 engine and a turbo would make sense too.

Edit: OK Corsas and Focus look a bit pricey. I’d maybe look at a Skoda Rapid Spaceback or Hyundai i30.

I30 or Ceed is a good call, we had a credit for 4 years and it was mechanically very reliable. The dashboard went funny on it but was replaced under warranty, the good thing about the long warranties is that they should have had all the problems sorted on them by the time they get to the £5k bracket. You’re probably going to find some Ceeds still in warranty at that price too.

Berlingo

Fiat panda

Or mazda 6 estate.

Suzuki Swift.5k will get you a 2015 with low miles.No turbo,decent mpg,but wheel off for a bike in the back.Relative bought one from new and now has over 100k on it with just routine servicing and consumables.

Small car with as big an engine you can find for that distance. Driven gently it will return a reasonable mpg, but give you pulling out options that will make it more relaxing to drive everyday. A small engine you will end up hammering.

Yaris sr 1.8
Polo 1.9tdi
Clio 2.0
Ibiza tdi 140

Not checked prices or ages on these

Is this a second vehicle to suit new circumstances? That sounds like what you are describing. If so, really think if you need a lot of seats that will be empty 99% of the time. Consider getting a small van, (berlingo size) so useful in all sorts of ways, and about 50mpg if driven sensibly.

Sorry if I got my interpretation wrong.

5k is a good budget, id go petrol, manual, simple.
I had a subaru legacy estate, i paid the guy 2.5k for it.
It ran fine for a couple of years with only normal wear and tear items like tyres etc needed.
Buy something common.
Focus is a good shout.

For 30 miles each way I would want something with a bit of pull. Stay away from the older 1 litre engines that your £5k will get you; you would have to drive it very hard to feel as if you getting where you want to go.
I have a 20 mile commute each way, and do short local visits during the day. The 1.2 tsi petrol polo is ideal.
I had to use my wife’s 1 lite Citroen C1 this week because I had a puncture (no doubt a result of the far right sabotaging the highways) and had to drive it 3-4000rpm to get anywhere in it.
With 30 miles each way – Something with a 16 Diesel engine would be my suggestion.

I’d second the idea of a Leaf if you have a feasible way to plug it in at home or work. As reliable and cheap to run as you can possibly get and also genuinely fun to drive.

Thanks for the suggestions! Having a bit of a rethink for this one. Basically we went down to 1 car (my Golf which I drive to work) a few months ago but my wife is finding it quite isolating not having her car and freedom to get out with the kids, see friends etc. Things are in walking distance but if it’s raining or our son is being difficult she tends to just stay in. Hence on the look out for a 2nd car again.

I imagine the Golf would be a better commuting car for me as it’s a 1.6, feels sturdy on the motorway and gets 68-70mpg on the commute trip according to the dash computer. However it’s done 110000 miles now – would I be better off regularly servicing this and keeping as the commuter, and get something cheap and petrol for the wife doing shorter distances at home? Or giving her the Golf and get something smaller/less miles on the clock for me? It does sort seem a waste to have the Golf when it’s just me and occasionally a bike in it.

Nowhere to charge an electric car at work, I assume I could hook it up in the garage at home somehow though? What does that do to your home energy bills?

I’m in the same boat with mine, 105,000. I’m doing 30-40 miles a day and am going to service regularly as it has been looked after so I risk buying a worse car with less miles on unless we fork out for nearly new. A small car with a large engine is an ideal second car!. a friend recently bought a twinge rs for just that purpose.

That’s my train of thought as well. It’s been pretty well looked after and serviced most years but there was a period where I just couldn’t afford it and let it slip a bit! It’s just had the long overdue timing belt changed and leaky front suspension replaced so I’m hoping it’s got a fair bit more life left in it if I stay on top of the servicing now.

If you have replaced parts then they shouldn’t go wrong again. Set a figure for any one repair cost on a fix or get rid basis and stick to it.
Once dampers, springs have been done it should go on for a while longer. Perhaps budget for a turbo and DMF but otherwise a well looked after car could do at least 100k more than yours is on. Some months might have a big expense but you haven’t paid out a very large lump sum for a new depreciating asset or paying monthly for loan repayments. The car dealers always win!

Edit: I’ve gone a little of toxic there. keep the golf and maintain for commutes and find a suitable small petrol car for your local journeys, you could go under budget and use the rest for maintenance on both cars.

As already said a gen 2 leaf 2013 onward would cover your commute with its 90+ mile range.

Looks like you are doing around 14400 miles a year commuting so at £0.145 per mile you are north of £2k a year in fuel.
A leaf would cost about £0.037 per mile in electricity or ~£530 per year.

Even if you can’t get a gen 2 in your £5k budget with the road tax and fuel savings would you consider upping the budget to get one?

Alternatively if you could get work to consider putting in a charging point or two then the earlier cheaper model could become viable it has a 70 mile range so wouldn’t need much of a top up to ensure you got home.

2013 gen 2 with the dark dash here.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201908080946077?radius=1500&make=NISSAN&postcode=m11fn&model=LEAF&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&sort=sponsored&advertising-location=at_cars&page=2

Having just gone electric myself I’d just add into the debate that home charging is easy so long as you have an off street space or garage. Loads of charger options, including just a simple industrial socket. Even a 3 pin would probably get you your commuting mileage overnight, although it wouldn’t be recommended as a long term solution. However, it would be quite limiting to buy an EV that won’t do your normal daily miles plus a good buffer on one charge. Winter conditions, a bit of battery degradation and an unexpected detour can each take a chunk out of your range.

Other point to raise is that your budget has to cover buy and run. The same overall affordability as a £5k purchase cost conventional car is a more than £5k purchase cost EV.

Got a 1.4 petrol fiesta myself for commuting to station, great little car and would be good as a runaround.

Bit rubbish for bike transport though.

If you have another car already then it sounds like you really need a van.

😉

Ah, I was right! Let the wife use the golf, buy a small diesel van.

How much range is that 7 old Leaf battery likely to manage now? This is a genuine question to EV owners. The one on Top Gear last series was older, granted, but they said it wouldn’t do more than 30 miles per charge.

If you bought an oldish one that was OK for now, how many years until you are back here asking about the most cost efficient way of refurb’ing the batteries? I don’t think pure EV has been around long enough for this to be properly understood yet.

What about a Skoda Octavia? I do 26 miles each way on the A1m with no issues. It ticks all the other boxes too, and can swallow at least 2 bikes with the front wheels off in hatch format.

Boring as hell to drive though.

Nowhere to charge an electric car at work, I assume I could hook it up in the garage at home somehow though? What does that do to your home energy bills?

You can charge from a 3 pin socket – the charging is slower than a dedicated charger but you’ll get plenty of juice overnight. You can also get a grant from the government that covers the cost (or most of) of a dedicated charging point. Not sure if it applies for 2nd hand cars though.

Worth seeing if you can still get the 4 day test drive to see if it will work for you. If it does, I predict your biggest problem will be fighting over who gets to drive the EV.

tthew

Subscriber
Ah, I was right! Let the wife use the golf, buy a small diesel van.

How much range is that 7 old Leaf battery likely to manage now? This is a genuine question to EV owners. The one on Top Gear last series was older, granted, but they said it wouldn’t do more than 30 miles per charge.

If you bought an oldish one that was OK for now, how many years until you are back here asking about the most cost efficient way of refurb’ing the batteries? I don’t think pure EV has been around long enough for this to be properly understood yet.

Some of the early cars lost a lot of range but many did not. There are quite a few EVs out there with range remaining about 90% of original once they’ve covered the kinds of mileage one would normally associate with a car at the end of its design life (like towards 200k). Anecdotally first gen Leafs were bad and Tesla not so, probably because of battery temperature control which is affordable in the much pricier car. However we read that gen 2 Leaf is much better.

So it’s a fair point that EVs haven’t been around long enough to create a large and consistent 2nd hand market of ones with good range remaining. But I think it’s now well enough understood that newish cars should be confident of a long useful life.

Thanks Luket 👍

I’d keep the golf for commuting and get a little runaround for the short journeys for your wife. If it’s been reliable so far and looked after then it could go on for another 100k.

Diesels aren’t great for short journeys, especially if the golf has a DPF (can’t see if you’ve said what age it is).

Volvo V50 drive e.
1.6 td Estate based on the focus platform
70mpg is achievable apparently
Well within budget with enough to cover a couple of hefty repairs if required
Not run one but I am thinking of chopping I the v70 for one

In a Zoé 60 miles uses between 12 and 20kW depending on how and where you drive. 12 driving gently on B roads, 20 at the motorway speed limit or being a dick. A Leaf will use just a bit more.

So assuming you’re careful: 15kW x .13 = about £2

For that distance even a domestic plug will recharge overnight.

Test drive an electric and try it.

Had a 100 mile round trip a couple of years ago. Bought an Alfa Mito 1.3Jtd. 60 mpg and zero tax. Looks great and goes well for a small car. Did about 60k then passed to my son as I live closer to work now.

Mini clubman estate ?
mega mpg from the deisel models not an owner so cant comment on boot space , look quite long tho

They have IMHO the worst, most uncomfortable seats I’ve ever had the misfortune to sit on. Enfield to Cheshire non-stop, my arse was aching before we got to the M25. 😫

So in the end we couldn’t find anything nearby thats nearly as nice and suitable as my Golf in budget so my wife has settled for a cheap 5dr Corsa, nice enough and fits the kids/car seats in just fine. Thanks for all the suggestions.