New car for 80 mile round trip commute - prometheus

I'm hoping some of you nice people will have some advice for me. A lorry hit my car a couple of weeks ago on the motorway and my car has now been written off. I drove a Suzuki Swift, it was bought prior to my commute existing and I accept that it may not have been the best car for the job but it served me well and saved my life.

I would obviously like something economical and comfortable for a journey that often ends up with me sitting in a lot of traffic (M25). Other than that the only thing on my wish list is that I can fit my road bike inside it (amazingly it did fit in the Swift with the back seat down).

I am the only driver in the family and this will be our only car so I'm happy to buy new or nearly new depending on advice and willing to spend anything up to 20k for the right car. (20k isn't a target and I'm more than happy to spend less :-) )

So any suggestions?

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - HandCart

After the accident, are you now looking for something bigger? If not why not another Swift?

For something a bit bigger but not huge, how about a Skoda Rapid, or a Hyundai i30/Kia Ceed ?

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - prometheus

Yes HandCart, something bigger and a little more comfortable. The Swift is a great little car but more suited to trips around town then a couple of hours on the motorway.

Thanks for the suggestions. I had a look at the Rapid at the weekend and though the car itself was the right size etc the interior spec is really basic even in the SE and elegance levels compared to other similar cars (and the Octavia).

I will have a look at the Hyundai 130 and the Kia Cee'd.

Ta

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - oldtoffee

>>>>I will have a look at the Hyundai 130 and the Kia Cee'd.

Have a look at a Focus too. Although they are priced a bit more than the Hyundai and Kia you can get £5k off a new Focus making it quite a bit cheaper to buy. A 1.6 Ecoboost retails at £20k but you can get one for £14k. Same prices for the 1.6 Econetic diesel if you want good economy - looks like you'll be doing 15k+ miles a year so that is a factor I guess.

Skoda Octavia 1.6 diesel - £17k

Honda Civic 1.6 diesel - £19k

Toyota Auris diesel (1.4) - £17k

Mazda 3 1.6 petrol £15k

I'd go for the Focus or if I needed a bit more room the Octavia.

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - prometheus
Thanks oldtoffee.

I will certainly add them to my list of potentials.

I'm going to have a look at the weekend. Exciting but quite confusing.
New car for 80 mile round trip commute - Andrew-T

Money may be no object, but why talk about, or even consider, a brand-new car when 30% or more can be saved on a one-year-old one? Presumably at 20k miles a year you will be thinking diesel. Posters here will say avoid one with a particle filter, but that should be OK given heavy use. Choice is yours - get something you won't have to travel far for any warranty work.

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - Avant

The new Octavia is a lot less basic than the Rapid: I'd suggest the 2.0 TDI rather than the 1.6 as it has a lot more oomph and is only slightly less economical. Your bike should fit into it (hatch or estate) without your having to take a wheel off.

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - prometheus
Andrew-T, I'm not fixated on new and I'm quite happy with 1 year old suggestions etc. its just the advice that I'm looking for. And 20k is a max not a target amount :-)

Avant. Thanks for the advice, I looked at the octavia at the same time as the rapid and I reckon I could almost live in the new one (I'm on 5 foot tall) and it looks like a lovely car. I have arranged a test drive but need other things to compare it to.
New car for 80 mile round trip commute - daveyK_UK
I would go for a Dacia Logan MCV 1.5 diesel (mid spec) for £9,590 and pay the extra £395 to extend the warranty to 5 years and an extra £95 for a full size spare wheel to replace the puncture repair kit.

You get an estate, brand new, 5 year warranty, a proven Renault gear box and engine which even Mercedes use.
But unlike Renault, Nissan and Mercedes who use different injectors, the injectors on the Dacia models have a bigger tolerance and should last alot longer.
The downside is the Dacia models which use the 1.5 diesel get slighlty less MPG officially but you should still be getting near 70mpg on your commute (officially 80mpg extra urban or 74.0 mpg combined).

And this thing has huge boot space for your bike.
90bhp which will pull along nicely.

Nothing new compares to it for value.




New car for 80 mile round trip commute - daveyK_UK
Forgot to add,
if you are a fan of suzuki after your Swift experience
(Suzuki are a good brand if you value reliability)

They are doing some fabulous offers on the SX4 model which is soon to be changed.

I've never been in one but its certainly bigger than the Swift and the feedback is generally positive.


I would stay away from the 1.6 diesel in a Ford focus, these engines are known to be financial time bombs (unless they are now using the Peugeot.Citroen unit?)

Would suspect the Skoda 1.6 diesel will be equally as costly in a few years time to keep on the road.

Renaullts 1.5 diesel unit is highly praised by mechanics / fleets and is proven.
One of the best diesel engines around.
New car for 80 mile round trip commute - thunderbird

"The downside is the Dacia models which use the 1.5 diesel get slighlty less MPG officially but you should still be getting near 70mpg on your commute (officially 80mpg extra urban or 74.0 mpg combined)."

I don't belive for one moment that you would get 70 mpg out of a Dacia Logan. The official figures for the Logan are identical to the much smaller Sandero and on the Honest John real MPG pages the Sandero 1.5 has a "real" figure of 57.9 mpg. Drop a few off that since the Logan is bigger and I would say a max of 55 mpg would be a more realistic expectation.

"I would stay away from the 1.6 diesel in a Ford focus, these engines are known to be financial time bombs (unless they are now using the Peugeot.Citroen unit?)"

Ford have been using the PSA engine (same as Peugeot, Citroen etc) in their 1.6 diesels since the inroduction of the Mk 2 Focus in about 2004 or 2005. We had one for 5 years and it never missed a beat. It was correctly serviced using the correct lubricants.

Now have a Kia Ceed SW. Huge car for the money, totally reliable and on an 80 mile commute you should get possibly the mid to high 50's. Some good deals out there on nearly new cars with the best part of the 7 year warranty remaining.

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - prometheus
Thanks daveyk. My one issue with the Davia range is the poor safety results it gets. Having just been taken out by a lorry that would play in my mind. I will look at the Suzuki too.

Thunderbird. It's good to hear a couple of cars getting a second shout.

All advice much appreciated.
New car for 80 mile round trip commute - TeeCee

My one issue with the Davia range is the poor safety results it gets.

Remember here that if you are hit by a truck, it's how you're hit that's important, not how many rear seat airbags the vehicle has, how pedestrian impact friendly it is or how little damage it suffers when driven into a concrete wall at 30mph.

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - prometheus
True enough TeeCee. It's much more that I would 'feel' unsafe. Ridiculous I know but...
New car for 80 mile round trip commute - 72 dudes

I'm another one who would recommend the new Skoda Octavia with the 2.0 diesel engine. Although you'd be spending nearly all your budget, you'd be getting one of the best family cars around. They nearly always come top in magazine tests.

But you would be better going for nearly new, which kind of rules out the previous Octavia, as it was seriously dull inside.

I'd also be looking at one year old Mondeos or Passat Estates. Lots of car for the money, big and comfortable, but great for a long commute like yours.

For your budget, you could also look at more premium brands: Two year old versions of the Volvo V60 in D3 or D4 guise and the BMW 320d Touring spring to mind, but both would cost more in insurance and maintenance than the cars above.

Edited by 72 dudes on 24/07/2013 at 16:57

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - daveyK_UK

The Sandero Hachback scored 4 stars on the NEW n-cap test, which is more like 5 stars on the old test.

The Logan MCV (Sandero estate) should do better especially from a rear end shunt.

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - prometheus
Thanks 72 dudes.

Daveyk I'll have a look in that case. I wouldn't want to do them a disservice!

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - daveyK_UK

It was the Duster that scored 3 star on the NEW test.

One of the criticisms of the Duster and Sandero was its lack of pedestrian protection.

Im sorry, but when I buy a car based on the impact it will have if I hit a pedestrian, there is something seriously wrong with my though process.

I have no intention of ever hiting a pedestrian the same way I have no intention of going off road. Thus a low score for pedestrian impact or 4x4 ability are not on my priority list.

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - Andrew-T

I have no intention of ever hitting a pedestrian the same way I have no intention of going off road. Thus a low score for pedestrian impact or 4x4 ability are not on my priority list.

I tend to agree about the priority, but I think very few drivers go out intending to hit pedestrians or go off road. However it still happens, so it is crass to suggest it is an irrelevant consideration.

New car for 80 mile round trip commute - daveyK_UK

Its not crass.