Car for Commute

trotter_inc

Hey guys,

I need some help choosing a car for my new commute. The round trip will be 80 km on windy back roads and 40 km on a good quality straight national road (speed limit 100 kph). I know this isn't a very long commute, due to the back roads it will take me 45 - 50 mins each way. Every couple of weeks I could be out travelling to sites all over Ireland, so the mileage would would build up this way as well as the commute.

I currently have a 2006 1.3 Toyota Corolla saloon and it's really hard on petrol. I was thinking about upgrading to a 2008 Avensis diesel. I'm also toying with buying an older cheaper version of the same car and paying the higher tax tax rate. My budget would be approx €8,500 - €10,000.

We have 3 kids, we have a Scenic for them, but we would like the new car to be able to take 3 car seats in the back if necessary.

I also test drove a 2004 BMW 3 series, 2L diesel which was priced very well at €4,800...are these really expensive to maintain in terms of servicing, fixing, etc? The guy selling said that it could do 50 mpg which sounds promising!

Other options from reading threads here would be the Skoda Superb, Mondeo, Passats...we've always had Toyota and their reliability in our experience is excellent!!

Any other suggestions/comments/ideas would be appreciated.

bazz26

You will struggle to get any of those cars you mentioned to fit 3 baby seats. MPVs are designed for that.

colm_mcm

Can you quantify what "really hard on petrol" means, and what your expectations of the new car are mpg wise?

166man

colm_mcm wrote: »

Can you quantify what "really hard on petrol" means, and what your expectations of the new car are mpg wise?

Whatever about the mpg maybe not being massively different, a well specced Avensis diesel with 6 speed would be significantly more comfortable than the Corolla.

Have a drive of a Passat if you can OP, nice comfortable cars, A lift back Mondeo diesel might also do the job.

trotter_inc

bazz26 wrote: »

You will struggle to get any of those cars you mentioned to fit 3 baby seats. MPVs are designed for that.

Not at all, we currently have a Scenic and a Corolla, 3 car seats fit fine in to the back of the Corolla. I've already tried them in a Passat and a Superb and they fit fine in to that too.

trotter_inc

colm_mcm wrote: »

Can you quantify what "really hard on petrol" means, and what your expectations of the new car are mpg wise?

Currently €70 (right now Im not sure how many litres this is) in the Corolla gets us approx 600 km (372 miles), in comparison to some of the claims from drivers of diesel cars this return isn't very rewarding. Some diesel drivers are getting 900 kms - 1,100 kms for the same amount of fuel money.

colm_mcm

That's 38.6mpg
Now from having had a good few corollas as company cars, that'd suggest that's quite economical for mixed driving

I'd also go as far as to say your friends are driving on ideal conditions and while the 70mpg they claim is technically possible in ideal conditions, you're unlikely to get it on your commute.