Driving long distances

midlandsmissus

Hi,

I'm applying for jobs at the minute, and as there are none near me, I've an interview for a job that is a 2 hour drive away.

I'd much rather drive up and down than live there, but I don't know how feasible it would be cost wise.
How much would it cost roughly to drive 4 hours a day?
I'm getting a new car anyway so would I be able do do long distances in a petrol, or should I get a diesel car?

Thanks!

oxegen85

what car you thinking of getting??

midlandsmissus

Any small lady car really with a small engine - fiat punto, opel corsa etc. Diesel I don't know! Would I need a diesel car for long distances? I've heard that before somewhere. And how much do you think it would cost roughly to drive 4 hrs a day?

robbie_998

Audi A3 Diesel for that kind of driving,

plus diesel is like 8c cheaper per liter than petrol

oxegen85

4 hours is a lot of driving.. definately in diesel territory but some people rather petrol. But i think diesel would be a better option for the amount of driving. and id definately consider a bigger size engine.. 4 hours in a 1l car??? id be pulling a lotta sickies

tommmy1979

midlandsmissus wrote: »

Any small lady car really with a small engine - fiat punto, opel corsa etc. Diesel I don't know! Would I need a diesel car for long distances? I've heard that before somewhere. And how much do you think it would cost roughly to drive 4 hrs a day?

If you're gonna be doing that sort of mileage you really need to think about safety too..get out of the small car because bigger is usually better and with lots of NCAP stars

Edit: Would help to tell us what sort of roads your going to be on too

midlandsmissus

oxegen85 wrote: »

4 hours is a lot of driving.. definately in diesel territory but some people rather petrol. But i think diesel would be a better option for the amount of driving. and id definately consider a bigger size engine.. 4 hours in a 1l car??? id be pulling a lotta sickies

Right so diesel and bigger engine is what I need. I'm in the middle of the country and I would be working two hours south of me. Mix of small country roads and motorways.
It is a long way alright, but I know alot of people from here who are working in Dublin ,and driving up and down each day, and it takes them roughly 2 hours each way aswell with the traffic. So alot of people are driving alot each day.

oxegen85

yep... bigger and diesel... but is it a new new car you are getting or a used one??

Tragedy

Fuel consumption has no relation to time travelled, only distance.

Where are you travelling from and to OP?

oxegen85

Tragedy wrote: »

Fuel consumption has no relation to time travelled, only distance.

Where are you travelling from and to OP?

she is obviously stating the time it would take without much traffic... so its like saying the distance travelled

midlandsmissus

Tragedy wrote: »

Fuel consumption has no relation to time travelled, only distance.

Where are you travelling from and to OP?

From the very south of Westmeath to Tipperary town. I looked it up on AA and it said it's an average of 2 hrs driving distance. I don't think the roads I'd be travelling on would be very traffic clogged roads. I've been down that way already and they're usually clear.

tommmy1979

Tragedy wrote: »

Fuel consumption has no relation to time travelled, only distance.

Where are you travelling from and to OP?

Anne leaves cork at 1pm, Anne arrives in dublin at 4pm

Barry leaves cork at 1pm and runs into traffic in abbeyleix, barry arrives in dublin at 5pm.

According to your science, they both use the same amount of fuel???

T

midlandsmissus

oxegen85 wrote: »

yep... bigger and diesel... but is it a new new car you are getting or a used one??

I was thinking of one a few years old? Why? Would that old of a car be able to do the distance?

oxegen85

midlandsmissus wrote: »

I was thinking of one a few years old? Why? Would that old of a car be able to do the distance?

just curious is all... theres plenty of very good reliable used cars out there.. youll have a variety of choices

midlandsmissus

tommmy1979 wrote: »

Anne leaves cork at 1pm, Anne arrives in dublin at 4pm

Barry leaves cork at 1pm and runs into traffic in abbeyleix, barry arrives in dublin at 5pm.

According to your science, they both use the same amount of fuel???

T

I see what you mean but lets just say for the sake of argument - average travelling time is 2 hrs! I mean I'd be leaving the house at the crack of dawn anyway so I'm sure the roads won't be packed! Anytime I've driven that way, traffic is free flowing.

midlandsmissus

oxegen85 wrote: »

just curious is all... theres plenty of very good reliable used cars out there.. youll have a variety of choices

Cool, thanks for your input.:D

peasant

If you're going to spend four hours a day driving to and from work, the most important thing is that the car is comfortable and easy for you to drive.
You want to arrive at your destination relaxed and able for work, not shattered, tired and aching all over.

hi_im_fil

Easiest way to work it out is get the average mpg for the car you are thinking of buying (should be available online), get the total distance travelled (google maps will give a good estimate), and use these to work out how many gallons of fuel used per journey.

Then take the cost per litre of fuel, convert to cost per gallon. Then multiply gallons used x cost per gallon.

fletch...

id definatly go with a bigger confyer, reliable and safer car with bigger engine but take into concideration tax and weekly fuel bills. correct me if im wrong but i dont believe bigger engines mean more fuel useage on long open road trips?
Both my ma and sister travel 2 hours each way to work 5 days a week on a mix of country roads and motorway as do a lot of others living in thier area. sure feck it my missus spends over an hour each way just trying to cross Dublin city evry day - she just wishes shed bought a more confortable car!

best thing for you to do ia a test drive of the route at the typical work rush hour that you will be doing and see if you could stick that repetadly over the next couple of years

air

Driving a 4 hour round trip to your job is utter maddness.

Assuming you work 5 days a week that's 20 unpaid hours in the car.

If it's a normal 40 hr / week job you're now doing 60 hours for 40 hours pay so you've just taken a 33% pay cut. This is before you factor in the cost of travel.

Assuming you average 60kph and it's thus a 240km round trip.
Now in order to go against my own argument I'll take the lowest possible figure for cost of motoring from the AA website for 2005 of 61.5 cent per kilometre based on 16,000km.
Since you'd be doing closer to 60k km per year we'll reduce that to 25 cent / kilometre - this is getting very optomistic indeed!

That's a daily cost of €60 approx

Now assuming your new job is paying you 50k / year gross, that's a net daily take home pay of €132.60 in 2010 according to Deloitte

This leaves you with €72.60 into your hand for your day's work.

At that rate of going you'll be making approximately €6.05 per hour for your 12 hour day to work for your new company.

You decide.

Tragedy

tommmy1979 wrote: »

Anne leaves cork at 1pm, Anne arrives in dublin at 4pm

Barry leaves cork at 1pm and runs into traffic in abbeyleix, barry arrives in dublin at 5pm.

According to your science, they both use the same amount of fuel???

T

No, I'm saying fuel consumption is measured in units of fuel per units of distance travelled.

Saying 2 hours is useless, I used to do a 90minute drive to work - it was 8 miles away. Would I use 75% of the fuel of someone driving Nenagh to Dublin every day?

It's about 120-140km depending where in south westmeath you are.


That's 745 miles a week, a diesel car that gives you 42mpg = €93 a week on fuel minimum.

Air, your figures are way off as AA include parking, AA subscription, interest, and depreciation figures pulled out of nowhere.

fricatus

OP, unless it's for a fixed period anyway, you'd be mad to do two hours each way. My commute is an hour each way and it p1553s me off no end... finishing work tired and then having an hour's drive ahead of me. At least I live in Waterford and work in KK, and the M9 is opening next month... I can't imagine having to do a two-hour drive of a wet December evening! :eek:

If you are going to do this, at least get a decent car for it. Don't buy anything too new, because you won't be able to keep it nice, and you will just rack up the miles on it, no end.

A quick search found this, and this is the sort of thing you should be looking at, though a more thorough search would find you a better car and a better deal, no doubt. Basically go for a big comfortable diesel. Don't worry if it's a high miler as long as it's got a regular service history, because you'll get it for small money, which will offset the higher fuel, servicing and repair bills your mileage will imply.

InTheTrees

air wrote: »

Driving a 4 hour round trip to your job is utter maddness.

+1

Also figure in the wear and tear on the car. You'll want to change the oil every few months.

In addition to the cash cost, there's the mental toll of sitting in the car for 4 hours every day. Books on tape? learn a language?

How about renting a flat close to the new job to use during the week? You'd probably save a bundle.

midlandsmissus

Thanks for all the input. Believe me it's not my ideal situation, but unless you live near/in a city, it's far from an uncommon situation.
An awful lot of people round here (Westmeath/Offaly) are working in Dublin, can't afford to live there, and are driving 2 hrs in and back each day (around an hr each way stuck in traffic). An awful lot of Dubliners have moved down here and are doing the exact same thing actually.

I might rethink, and move nearer to the job. Thanks for all the replies anyway, you were all very helpful.

InTheTrees

Yup, times are tough so if there's no alternative...

I think i'd go for something cheap, diesel and reliable. At least with cheap you wont have to worry about the huge amount of depreciation you'll put on a new car.

I think i'd go for an early to mid 90's mercedes diesel.

EPM

Seriously look into renting a house or a house share down there. It may sound grand in your head now but as someone that used to do a similar commute the reality is a lot different jumping into the car at half five on a cold,dark and wet December morning...

If you must a bigger car will be more comfortable. A focus diesel or the like would be fine if you want to keep the size down. But remember the car will need proper servicing at the required intervals to last. This is extremely costly with your mileage

BrianD3

air wrote: »

Assuming you average 60kph and it's thus a 240km round trip.
Now in order to go against my own argument I'll take the lowest possible figure for cost of motoring from the AA website for 2005 of 61.5 cent per kilometre based on 16,000km.
Since you'd be doing closer to 60k km per year we'll reduce that to 25 cent / kilometre - this is getting very optomistic indeed!

That's a daily cost of €60 approx

The AA costs for parking is one of the biggest costs in those calculations, as the OP is driving and working in the country it is highly unlikely that the she'll be paying 3,620 per year for parking.

I haven't examined the rest of the figures but IMO the AA estimate of 61.5 cent per km is way off and as a result, your estimate of 25 cent per km for more driving is also overestimated. I worked out the running costs of my car before, doing a lot of driving it was 20 cent per km and that included a lot of depreciation on a 1.6 litre mid sized petrol car. Admittedly fuel was cheaper when I did my calculation but if the OP buys a diesel car, she'll get significantly better economy than I'm getting.

air

Tragedy wrote: »

Air, your figures are way off as AA include parking, AA subscription, interest, and depreciation figures pulled out of nowhere.

I'd agree that they're figures are excessive, that's why I more than halved them for my example.
Still, I think everyone needs to include the following in their cost of motoring calculations - cost of capital, depreciation, servicing, tax, insurance, fuel, NCT.
I'd leave out the parking and AA subscription as I'm sure they're irrelevant in this case.
I think 25c / km is a reasonable figure for the average individual, fuel alone is going to be 6c or so / km assuming an efficient diesel.
60000km is a decent amount of travel and a car is either going to lose a lot of value or if it's an older one it's likely to need a deal of servicing along the way.

Regardless, my points regarding working time etc stand. The OP could likely rent a room in Tipperary for 200 a month or something. Even spending Monday through Thursday nights there would mean she wouldn't be wrecked all week & might even have some quality of life while saving on motoring costs.

Tragedy

air wrote: »

I'd agree that they're figures are excessive, that's why I more than halved them for my example.
Still, I think everyone needs to include the following in their cost of motoring calculations - cost of capital, depreciation, servicing, tax, insurance, fuel, NCT.
I'd leave out the parking and AA subscription as I'm sure they're irrelevant in this case.
I think 25c / km is a reasonable figure for the average individual, fuel alone is going to be 6c or so / km assuming an efficient diesel.
60000km is a decent amount of travel and a car is either going to lose a lot of value or if it's an older one it's likely to need a deal of servicing along the way.

Regardless, my points regarding working time etc stand. The OP could likely rent a room in Tipperary for 200 a month or something. Even spending Monday through Thursday nights there would mean she wouldn't be wrecked all week & might even have some quality of life while saving on motoring costs.

Yes they do, however if you're buying a relatively cheap, high mileage diesel - depreciation and capital should be very low, likewise servicing and fuel.

NCT is €25 per year, Insurance is ~€1,000, tax is €612(most older diesel cars fall into 1900>1999cc category), servicing/repair/replacement shouldn't be more than €1,000. €1,000 depreciation. €3,637.

Works out as 6c per kilometer if the OP is doing 240km per day 5 days a week. Diesel is another 7.8c per kilometer = €33 for a daily commute.

air

Right, you're up to 13.8c / km. Now add in cost of credit if she's borrowing to buy the car or cost of capital (interest that would be earned on the cost of the car if she had it sitting in the bank).
I think €1000 is optomistic for servicing costs for 60k km tbh, two sets of half decent tires would eat up half of that, doesnt allow room for extras outside that.
€1000 depreciation over that kind of mileage is quite optomistic also I should think but of course it all depends on the chosen car.

BrianD3

Haven't read all the posts but after a quick skim I don't see how much the OP is willing to spend.

This 08 Renault Laguna 1.5 Dci is advertised at 16k
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Renault/Laguna/Dynamiqu/200842190520219/advert?channel=CARS
156 quid to tax, car should average well over 50 mpg, 30k km service intervals, at least 1 year manufacturer warranty left.

This should be a comfortable and quiet car for doing a lot of driving in. Should be reliable and woudl be much safer than something like a previous model Mondeo and most cheaper cars. Obviously the cheaper cars will suffer far less depreciation.

InTheTrees

I was just imagining those japanese hotels where you rent a little plastic cube to sleep in...

Dublin prices are probably comparable to tokyo. You could make a fortune opening one.

746watts

If you can relocate to new job, do if at all possible.
I've been commuting for 1 yr and 5mths, 1hr 30mins each way on a good day, usually 1hr 40mins. By Thursday morning I'm wrecked. Up at 5:30am don't get home 'til 6pm.

Car choice, I bought a new Yaris Diesel (1.4) as it has an excellent fuel economy 63mpg and is comfortable. To reduce service costs I've serviced it myself (competently) and so forfeited any warrenty cover in the process. You will have to factor in service costs too plus tyre wear etc.

If you can at all hold on until you find a job closer to home or make the big move to relocate....... either decision is difficult, nigh impossible in the current climate, but remember your health comes first.

Tragedy

air wrote: »

Right, you're up to 13.8c / km. Now add in cost of credit if she's borrowing to buy the car or cost of capital (interest that would be earned on the cost of the car if she had it sitting in the bank).
I think €1000 is optomistic for servicing costs for 60k km tbh, two sets of half decent tires would eat up half of that, doesnt allow room for extras outside that.
€1000 depreciation over that kind of mileage is quite optomistic also I should think but of course it all depends on the chosen car.

If you're doing 60k KM per year, you don't spend anything over 5 grand or so to be honest. A decent set of tyres can be had for as little as €300 fitted and balanced these days, most diesels don't have timing belts anymore(so thats out) leaving oil+filter changes and misc things that go wrong.