As S40Man has said, for a PCP on that sort of mileage, you're going to get clobbered.

For the distances you are covering, diesel makes the most sense. In which case, you've got 2 choices.

1. Buy cheap. If something major goes wrong, scrap it.

2. Spend a bit more (using a loan if needed, you've got a budget for monthly motoring costs, by the sound of it) andbuy something a bit better. Make sure you put a bit of money aside to pay for repairs though !

The most I've managed was about 110 miles round trip, which was 1.5 hours ish each way. To be honest it did my head in after a few months and I packed it in. I used to arrive home sooooo tired, fit for nothing except sleep, only to have to get up next day to do the same thing. Groundhog day. It's very tough mentally. As for the car if you must.... buy something with 80 to 100K, run to 150 to 200K, sell, do the same again. I can't see you doing it for £200 a month otherwise. Having said that a colleague had a 160 mile round trip and bought a new Polo 1.4 tdi, got about 70 mpg , kept it a year and bought another. Not sure what the costs worked out at though.

I am a long distance commuter, but fortunately only have to make the 150 mile round trip 2 or 3 times per week. Like me, you must have reasons for living in one place and working in another.

I commute by motorbike when possible. I can cut through the London traffic on the A2 and Blackwall Tunnel and I get nearly 60mpg (most of the journey is motorway at a steady cruise). And I get the added bonus of performance that will make a Porsche 911 driver weep. However, bikes are also (relatively speaking) dangerous. And not much fun on a January morning at 3 degrees celsius in the driving rain. But you dont want a bike, I'm sure.

So to cars. For the sort of miles you are doing, hard to understand buying new. Older diesel and pile on the miles. Or old and cheaper petrol. How about a 1.8 petrol Hond civic which will give you mid-40s on the motorway and doesnt come with the usual worries for higher mileage diesels like DPF, DMF, turbo, EGR valve.

It is a sad reflection of the price of accommadation (mainly because of a few people hoarding houses) that it is so difficult to move.

Of course it's nothing to do with the 5 million plus people let in under New Labour or the 500,000+ net migration they normalised (a ten fold increase on what they inhereted) it's "people hoarding houses" - I see...

This is a very difficult choice - the £200 pcm won't even cover fuel costs. To include fuel and a comfortable reliable car, you are probably looking at £500 pcm.

How much will a breakdown cost in in lost time - can you afford to be away from work while the car is repaired ? or do you have to factor in hiring a car ?

That mileage is going to equate to 100,000 miles in 3 years, if you were to spend say 7200 on an Avensis - and scrap it after 3 years, then that's your £200 pcm. Then there's tyres, insurance, repairs, tax (and fuel).

Is it possible to stay local to work during the week ?

A plus factor with most hybrids is that you are getting an automatic which is useful if you're commuting into a heavily-trafficed area regularly