Car for 500 miles per week commute

sean72

Hi All

I'm on the search for a car that can cope with the 500 mile commute I do on a weekly basis. I presently have a Corolla Verso '02 2 litre diesal and its served me well. But I am looking for the VERY best fuel efficiency, probably diesel. I was thinking of a budget of about 20000 +/- 3,000.

Min spec

Max fuel effecieny +++
5 door
Low tax rate if possible
New to 2 years old

I'm not ruling out Toyota again

I'm not a car man so I'm really not up to speed on whats out there. I also wouldn't rule out Skodas, Kia's etc.

Cheers in advance

mickdw

Should be someone along now recommending a certain ugly czech car

Mr Benevolent

A lighter foot would help more than spending €20k on a new car.

squod

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Focus/1.6TDCI-/201014197522148/advert?channel=CARS

R.O.R

mickdw wrote: »

Should be someone along now recommending a certain ugly czech car

Huh??:D

http://www.carzone.ie/new-cars/SKODA/Octavia/1.6-TDI-CR-DPF-AMBIENTE/35476020100101/

Best fuel effeciency I've had on a car in the lowest tax band was in a 1.6Tdi Passat Bluemotion (same engine as above). Was getting between 4.5 and 4.8 L/100km on my 120km a day round trip.

I was getting slightly better economy in a Superb 2.0TDi 170bhp (4.4 to 4.8) as the econonmy didn't significantly drop off over 100km/h.

It seems to depend on the actual driving you do, but the Skoda would be my suggestion for best bang for you bucks, with good economy and grp A tax. It will also be a fairly decent place to be for 10-15 hours a week.

sean72

Confab wrote: »

A lighter foot would help more than spending €20k on a new car.

huh???

sean72

R.O.R wrote: »

Huh??:D

http://www.carzone.ie/new-cars/SKODA/Octavia/1.6-TDI-CR-DPF-AMBIENTE/35476020100101/

Best fuel effeciency I've had on a car in the lowest tax band was in a 1.6Tdi Passat Bluemotion (same engine as above). Was getting between 4.5 and 4.8 L/100km on my 120km a day round trip.

I was getting slightly better economy in a Superb 2.0TDi 170bhp (4.4 to 4.8) as the econonmy didn't significantly drop off over 100km/h.

It seems to depend on the actual driving you do, but the Skoda would be my suggestion for best bang for you bucks, with good economy and grp A tax. It will also be a fairly decent place to be for 10-15 hours a week.

What's that in old money ...miles per gallon???

squod

Google convert 4.8 L/100km to mpg . 49 mpg so, expect more from the lighter focus. 55+ mpg in average driving is easy enough I'd expect.

bazz26

squod wrote: »

Google convert 4.8 L/100km to mpg . 49 mpg so, expect more from the lighter focus. 55+ mpg in average driving is easy enough I'd expect.

Think you got your figures wrong. 4.8 l/100km is almost 59mpg according to here:

http://www.eforecourt.com/l_100km_mpg_convert.htm

Pretty impressive given the weight of a Passat or Superb.

squod

bazz26 wrote: »

Think google got figures wrong. 4.8 l/100km is almost 59mpg according to here:

http://www.eforecourt.com/l_100km_mpg_convert.htm

Pretty impressive given the weight of a Passat or Superb.

FYP

Thanks though.

Neuro Energetic Kinesiology

Volkswagen....Golf.....Diesel

rcdk1

Neuro Energetic Kinesiology wrote: »

Volkswagen....Golf.....Diesel

Three words:
Volkswagen....Polo.....Diesel

You didn't specify size OP so this is the car that best fits your description:

• From €16,600 to €22,280 depending on spec.
• High Fuel Efficiency: 3.4L/100km combined (83.08 MPG)
• 5 Doors
• Tax band A
• Brand New

And it's also the 2010 World Car of the Year

sean72

sean72 wrote: »

Hi All

I'm on the search for a car that can cope with the 500 mile commute I do on a weekly basis. I presently have a Corolla Verso '02 2 litre diesal and its served me well. But I am looking for the VERY best fuel efficiency, probably diesel. I was thinking of a budget of about 20000 +/- 3,000.

Spending €20000 and wanting the best fuel efficiency, if a tenner or so a week is that important why not keep the Corolla and the 20 grand ?

opinion guy

sean72 wrote: »

huh???

How you drive your car has a big effect on fuel efficiency. Aggressive boy racer driving with high speeds, lots of acceleration and braking will be much less fuel efficient than driving with gentle acceleration, not going faster than the speed limit (or even staying a bit under on the motorway) and minimal braking.

If you really want to know more check out something called hyper-miling (spelling ??)

Zubeneschamali

I commute 750 miles a week. It's bad enough without doing it in a Polo diesel, thanks very much. 0-62 mph (secs): 13.9?

The difference between mid-thirties mpg and mid-fifties is only a couple of grand. Take a few years fuel budget out of your car fund, buy something with a decent bit of power, comfort, cruise control, aircon and a really good sound system. You're going to be sitting in it a lot, might as well take as much pain out of it as you can.

Like this V50:
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volvo/V50/2.0-D-SE/201009197147125/advert?channel=CARS

keithclancy

rcdk1 wrote: »

Three words:
Volkswagen....Polo.....Diesel

You didn't specify size OP so this is the car that best fits your description:

• From €16,600 to €22,280 depending on spec.
• High Fuel Efficiency: 3.4L/100km combined (83.08 MPG)
• 5 Doors
• Tax band A
• Brand New

And it's also the 2010 World Car of the Year

I do a 1020 km commute per week .. If I had to do it in a Polo you'd find me hanging from a lamp post via a rope.

That 83.08MPG figure is bull aswell .. its more around the 58 - 62 mark, unless you have Captain Hypermiler driving it. the Bluemotion model is quite popular in Germany as its cheap to run + tax and you get .35 cent / kilometer one way on your taxes for your commute to work.

Important things for commuting car:
Cup Holder
Comfy Seats
Reliable
Good visibility
Low wind noise
Cruise Control
Decent sound system
At least 100 horses.
Diesel.

The VAG Autos are not bulletproof either.

Also never buy a commute mobile new, you'll lose your shirt on the devaluation.

It might be cheaper OVERALL to lease a car, as all the maintenance, fuel costs, repairs etc are covered.

Total cost of ownership is much higher than people think, just factor in everything - Insurance,Tax,Fuel, Repairs, Maintenance, Car Washes, (Consumables - Tyres, Fluids, Spares in the boot)

I went for a Volvo V50, but my second choice would have been an estate Mondeo (Old Shape) Titanium spec.

If you can stretch get an Auto box, I don't care what people say about them, a godsend in a traffic jam

I'll get another car for 'driving' at the weekends

keithclancy

keithclancy wrote: »

Total cost of ownership is much higher than people think, just factor in everything - Insurance,Tax,Fuel, Repairs, Maintenance, Car Washes, (Consumables - Tyres, Fluids, Spares in the boot)

You left out the biggest cost

keithclancy

RoverJames wrote: »

You left out the biggest cost

Well people have taken into account the cost of the car already I think thats an obvious one.

Bonito

OK.

Octavia.
Passat.
Golf.
A3.
I have to throw in a wild card so what about a Chrysler Sebring?
Mondeo.
Seat Exeo?
Subaru Impreza?
Mazda 6.
Alfa 159.
Saab 9-3.

20k would buy an awful lot of tax and fuel

keithclancy

Deleted User wrote: »

do you already have a car?

20k would buy an awful lot of tax and fuel

Thats a good point, you'd save far more driving the car you have now until its dead and maintaining it well.

What is your reason for changing ?

Pot Noodle =

Peugeot Diesel car one of them does about 900 miles for a tank off fuel dont know which model

opinion guy

Ok I'll have similar needs to the OP come next January and so am beginning to think about changing.

I see A3 in that list. I've been thinking of audi's allright myself. But I'm not sure between A3 or A4. Either way I'm thinking 2L TDI, but I want something solid. (Part of my reason for wanting to trade is my Corolla feels very light at motorway speeds - that and its lack of power). Is an A3 a more solid beast than a corolla, or would you need to go for an A4 for that ?

Bonito

opinion guy wrote: »

Ok I'll have similar needs to the OP come next January and so am beginning to think about changing.

I see A3 in that list. I've been thinking of audi's allright myself. But I'm not sure between A3 or A4. Either way I'm thinking 2L TDI, but I want something solid. (Part of my reason for wanting to trade is my Corolla feels very light at motorway speeds - that and its lack of power). Is an A3 a more solid beast than a corolla, or would you need to go for an A4 for that ?

New A3's are quite solid IMO. I'd only go for the A4 if you needed the extra space.

Edit:

Pot wrote:

Peugeot Diesel car one of them does about 900 miles for a tank off fuel dont know which model

Over the course of the two-day, 622-mile drive, the competitors put up some pretty impressive numbers. The top overall result came in a C-segment 308 hatchback with an overall average of 74.9 MPG. Next up was the smaller 207 HDi 90 with 72.5 mpg. Particularly impressive were the 5008 MPV with 70.6 mpg and the new 3008 crossover with 65.9 mpg.

keithclancy

Pot wrote:

Peugeot Diesel car one of them does about 900 miles for a tank off fuel dont know which model

Mate of mine has an S320 that does 600-700 miles on one fill ..

It all depends on how big the tank is ;P

He does have a 110Litre LPG and the main tank in the Car as well though :P

opinion guy

Bonito wrote: »

New A3's are quite solid IMO. I'd only go for the A4 if you needed the extra space.

Aha I see. Thanks. How are Audi reliability wise? One thing I'll say for the corolla is its never been any trouble (despite toyota's recent spate of recalls).

One other question before I stop invading the OP's thread - is it at all possible to find A3 quattro's second hand ? I can't imagine there are too many knocking about but I have my reasons for wanting the 4wd

Bonito

opinion guy wrote: »

Aha I see. Thanks. How are Audi reliability wise? One thing I'll say for the corolla is its never been any trouble (despite toyota's recent spate of recalls).

One other question before I stop invading the OP's thread - is it at all possible to find A3 quattro's second hand ? I can't imagine there are too many knocking about but I have my reasons for wanting one

I'd go for another corolla or an avensis so, seeing as you're looking at A3 - A4. Not sure how Audi manages on reliability but, I have heard of numerous people having an awful lot of electric faults in the 04 - 06 A4 tdi's.

Quattro A3's, I couldn't tell you but sure you have 'til January so just keep an eye out.

Lex Luthor

them pug 308 hdi engines are supposed to be miserably efficient

have a bit of fun and look at one of these
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201017197824615

Bonito

Lex Luthor wrote: »

them pug 308 hdi engines are supposed to be miserably efficient

have a bit of fun and look at one of these
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201017197824615

Mentioned that one but it's in Donegal. Op, will you travel?

sean72

sean72 wrote: »

I presently have a Corolla Verso '02 2 litre diesal and its served me well. But I am looking for the VERY best fuel efficiency, probably diesel. I was thinking of a budget of about 20000 +/- 3,000.

Are you tryin to save money or just get a new car? What kind of MPG is the Verso doin?

If it were doing 50mpg and you could get a car that did 70MPG in the real world you would be saving 20 miles for every gallon of fuel

all approx and rounded off but:

FUEL SAVINGS
on a 500 mile commute thats
500 miles / 70mpg = 7 gallons per week
500 miles /50 mpg = 10 gallons per week

savings of approx 3 gallons per week or 15 litres
which at current prices say 1.30 cent per litre
15*1.3 = 20 euro a week

20,000 euro on a new car to "save" 20 euro a week.
Take 1,000 weeks to make your money back.

TAX SAVINGS
Ok so you could save a bit per year on car tax.....
a 2 litre is 614 a year
or..... 11 euro a week (614/52 weeks in a year)

lets say you can get a car with lowest CO2 rating....104 euro a year
or ...... 2 euro a week. (104/52 weeks in a year)

So saving of 9 euro a week. (11-2 to get the difference in spending)

TOTAL SAVINGS
Include tax AND fuel savings per week
9 + 20 = 29 euro savings a week. Pretty good savings. These new cars are cheaper to run certainly.

PAYBACK TIME
Now lets divide that 20,000 by 29 euro and see what the payback time is:
689 weeks or 13 years to claw back the "savings". If it werent for the changes in the tax system or if older diesels also gained from the CO2 tax system it would take 1,000 weeks or nearly 20 years for it to pay to change from an older 50MPG diesel to a new 70MPG diesel and thats doing 500 miles per week and spending 20,000 - alot of new diesels are alot more expensive than that! You can get older diesels for pennies now!

samsemtex

How about you spend a lot less and buy something appropriate for a 500 mile a week commute.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1302076

You'd probably get it for €6k and that is a car that cost about €100,000 when it came out. Sure tax would be a bit of a balls but mpg is surprisingly good (mid 20s) and you would be so very very comfortable.

What a car for the money.

samsemtex

samsemtex wrote: »

How about you spend a lot less and buy something appropriate for a 500 mile a week commute.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1302076

You'd probably get it for €6k and that is a car that cost about €100,000 when it came out. Sure tax would be a bit of a balls but mpg is surprisingly good (mid 20s) and you would be so very very comfortable.

What a car for the money.

I like your thinking and all in cost per mile would probably be much the same on this as on a newish snore mobile but the OP wants the best possible fuel economy so me thinks the Lexus is not an option.

samsemtex

RoverJames wrote: »

I like your thinking and all in cost per mile would probably be much the same on this as on a newish snore mobile but the OP wants the best possible fuel economy so me thinks the Lexus is not an option.

Yeah I never get that mentality though. If you save a fortune on the car in the first place why get worried about spending it on fuel? If anything it is a much more manageable way of paying for a car. The fuel bills hould be thought of as part of the price of the car. He'd have €16,000 extra to spend on fuel due to the saving!

Burgess5

I commute 500 miles per week. I have a VW Jetta 1.9 TDi. It consistently delivers 60 mpg. I have no complaints.
500 miles means about 10 hours a week in the car. Make sure you are comfortable in the car and that its somewhere you don't mind spending that much time in. My previous car was a VW Bora, reliable etc but had a very gloomy interior.
If you are likely to be driving 500 miles/week on along term basis - that equates to 100,000 miles in just 4 years. Changing the car every 2 or 3 years will be a big expense. The 'sensible' option is to keep it 10 years and drive it into the ground. VAG diesels can do big mileages if well maintained. However, choosing a car is usually about more than that.

Idbatterim

If you already have a Diesel, Id stick with it, its not like your going from an old 3 litre petrol to a new diesel or anything, the new bmw 320d does serious mpg. Is the 500 mile per week trip really necessary? and if its work related, why dont they pay you mileage etc?

Idbatterim

Another thing, if you borrow that kind of money, the interest you will be paying back weekly will come straight off any savings you make from fuel or tax!