Civic, Focus, Astra - Advice on car to handle commuting to new job

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Tue 14 Jan 2014 11:58
Civic, Focus, Astra - Advice on car to handle commuting to new job - greenmuzz

Hello,

I'm currently browsing the market for a car to replace my 2005 fiesta. Originally I was looking for something simply to get a bit more space for camping gear and the inflatable canoe and which would be a little more refined for the long distance weekend (and biannual south-england to north-east scotland) trips. I'm now finding myself adding a requirement of a daily commute of 25 miles each way for a new job - and that's to some extent really forcing the decision to change because I'm not sure I could trust my Fiesta to start every morning any more after the last couple years of expenses.

So basically, I want a car I can trust to start in the morning (or I'm faced with a two hour train and bus nightmare instead of a one hour drive), that's comfortable and mildly refined, and has enough space in it for my weekend pursuits, but not so large it starts costing me bucket loads in fuel.

I think I can easily narrow this down to things like a civic, focus, golf, astra etc but my question is then one of understanding the best tradeoff for my budget.

Based on autotrader then for around £7k to £8k I think I can get a diesel Civic from 2008 maybe 2009 with 40k to 60k+ on the clock. That seems to be a simillar story for a Focus or Mazda 3 (in each case, petrol of course is younger or less miles, but I think the mileage (maybe 20k a year) satisfies a diesel...) . On the other hand, for the same money, it seems like I could have a much younger Astra or Renault or Peugeot (2010/2011 or even younger with less than 30k on the clock). Golf's, A3s and 1 series might be nice but would need an even bigger hit on miles and age than the Civic or Focus and I think they really are just cash for prestige (and maybe it's just me, but the Golf seems really dull and uninteresting these days...)

So the question is, is something like a Civic, with it's reputed reliability and appealing character, or the somewhat more dull but equally well respected Focus, actually worth the age/mileage hit versus an Astra/Kia/Citroen/Peugeot for the same budget?

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Tue 14 Jan 2014 12:03
Civic, Focus, Astra - Advice on car to handle commuting to new job - skidpan

Get a Kia Ceed CRDi 1.6. For your budget of 8K max you will possibly get a low mileage 3 year old (or newer) car with 4 or more years of Kia warranty remaining. They are just as nice as the competition and there is no DMF to worry about even on the diesel models. All diesels registered 1 2011 onwards will have a DPF but there are very few (if any) reported problems with them.

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Tue 14 Jan 2014 12:49
Civic, Focus, Astra - Advice on car to handle commuting to new job - artill

Can i suggest a 2.0 petrol Accord Estate. These are pretty good on fuel, and without any of the worries that come with diesel, turbo, or indeed anything non Japanese. The saving on repairs should be more than enough to offset any extra fuel.

A Petrol Mazda 6 would be an equally good choice

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Tue 14 Jan 2014 17:19
Civic, Focus, Astra - Advice on car to handle commuting to new job - Bobbin Threadbare

A Petrol Mazda 6 would be an equally good choice

Seconded, with experience of 75 miles per day in one for 2 years! I couldn't afford the outlay of a decent, similarly specc'd diesel at the time of purchase. The 6 petrol was a good choice.

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Wed 15 Jan 2014 15:55
Civic, Focus, Astra - Advice on car to handle commuting to new job - 72 dudes

The Mazda 6 is a good car in petrol form, but may be bigger than you need or want.

Test drive a Civic, it may appeal, and both 2.2 CDTi and 1.8 VTEC engines are good. BUT, the ride is firm and jiggly and might annoy on your commute.

If you can afford a new shape Astra, they ride well, and are quiet. The interior is a nice place to spend time. The previous Astra is dull but worthy, and a Focus would be preferable IMHO.

The Kia C'eed (and it's sister Hyundai i30) of that era is also dull but potentially a contender. I wouldn't rule out a 308 or C4 either. But do some sums on petrol vs. diesel, you may be surprised and going petrol may avoid more expensive maintenance later on

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Wed 15 Jan 2014 16:20
Civic, Focus, Astra - Advice on car to handle commuting to new job - skidpan

Doing the type of mileage you plan to do i.e approx 20,000 a year whch will mostly be your 25 mile each way commute and holiday trips the choice between petrol and diesel is simple, its diesel every time.

A Kia Ceed in the type of use you propose should do a genuine 55 mpg, soemthing like a Mazda 6 petrol will do 40 mpg if you are very lucky. Over a year the diesel will be approx £700 cheaper to fuel plus don't forget it will be considerably cheaper on RFL, probably over £100. That is a total of £800, not a small sum. Keep the car 3 years and you stand to save £2400.

You should not have any worries about dpf's in that kind of use and as I said if you get a Kia Ceed any worries about expensive repairs can be forgotten providing you keep it serviced correctly under warranty

In all honesty doing the type of mileage you propose I would personally look at the Hyundai i30. Its the same car as the Kia Ceed but althought the 5 year warranty is shorter than Kias 7 year warranty for high mileage users its better since its unlimited mileage for all 5 years. Kias is only unlimited for 3 years, after that its 100,000 miles max.

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