Car to do 220km daily commute

bold_defender

I need a car to do 220km round trip daily commute. I'm moving to the country.

Budget about 10K but can go a couple of grand either way. Have a 00 focus to get rid of with 100K miles on it. Was on low mileage before.

Economy is the main factor here. Can be reasonably small car. I have a 2011 avensis as the family car.
Comfort is second factor as that's a lot of time twice a day. Bonus for cruise control, air con etc but not that important.

I'll take advice on newer/high mileage v older low mileage. I'll be putting up 50K a year at this rate.

Any ideas?

browniepoints

EEEEKKK
Thats serous miles

My mate got a renaut clio has done 450,000 miles just the normal stuff serice tryes wheel bearing

For me small petrol best is asian and japanese like Yaris 1.2 liter types but some 1000cc types are poky enough .

All i can personal say is not Fiat things

I had the old Susiki swift 1000cc great car economic but seat was way too low for me so long jouneys every day .
Long drives would kill the back so had to put cushions on seat and then my head hit the roof .

test drove a i20 thing my knobbly knees were not able to fit under the steering so it only good as automatic version which uses more fuel

You really need to do very very long test drive and best is do the 220 kilometers to be sure of the car your gonna buy .

the french Citroens are very fuel economic but deadly expensive oif they get faults they are all computers .They are great new cars sell them off after five years and give the problem bills to the next guy

the Renault and Peugeot also best bought new and not known for thier fuel economy

Many swear by Opel but hard to get aircons versions in Ireland

My brother chose to rent a samll car for 6 months when doing long distance contract and got different car every month and cost less than €20 a day i think it was €18 and the expenses paid it .I worked out it was about €6000 for 11 moths of the year as he took holiday in august when the rent tripled .
many car depression per year is 6000 and you got pay all the running costs

It the best car he said ever USED no service issues cost just petrol and go .

It was few years ago so maybe the rental rates are not as good these days

The car rental rules wont allow to keep the same car every month as that competes with lease cars so had to change car every month
My mates Kia thing 1000cc Sequentа i think is the name has aircon is good best bought new like he did but 7 year guarantee I think 13.5 new is the new price .However one year old still got 6 year guarantee. Fuel figures are good ish ok but not the figures they advertise 40 to 45mpg at 110kph tends to be it . Its now about 3 years old 100,000 kilometers and no issues so far and 30% the journeys are long distance regular runs to surfing on the west side irl on weekends
If a seat in car doesnt suit you cheaper to change the seat to something else
My mate took seat from 2 seat audi sports car thing and put it into another car 1400 nissan almera i think and it was real comfort seat

Jed

bazz26

There is no way I'd be doing over 1000 km a week in a small car. They are primarily designed for urban driven and the occasional long journey.

Why not look at this from a different angel? If you already have an Avensis for the family why not consider taking that for yourself and look at spending the 10k on a family car. The Avensis will be perfect for a daily commute of 220 km.

BrianD3

I do a similar commute and have a Megane III 1.5 DCi 86. 230k kms on it and no problems. I do my own oil changes and basic servicing (about 3 services per year, 20k km service interval)

Car is very economical if you don't go above 100-105 km/h indicated. On the motorway at 130 km/h indicated it is unsuprisingly far less economcial and a bigger diesel might do better.

My one is a base model and doesn't have a centre armrest or a leather covered steering wheel rim both of which I think would improve comfort for a long commute. In general the car has pretty good comfort and refinement and feels "planted" which is what you want for a long commute. It's not as good as my old Laguna but not bad.

Blue850

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volvo-s80-sport-top-spec-/9176297?offset=22

griffin100

I do a similar commute in a 2003 S60 D5. Get about 40mpg. Comfortable and fast. Up to 330k miles on the clock now with no major issues. If you can stomach the tax it's not a bad option.

browniepoints

One option is to try renting small cars to see if they can hack it .

I went online to ryan air car rent and the small and economic models for one moth from start may to end may are 460 for mini and 500 for economic basic insurance with excess (most people take extra insurance no excess dont know that figure

Running the numbers at 40MPG it works and 20 working days 2750 miles per month comes out at less than €0.35 cents per mile or €0.22 per kilometer for mini and less than €0.45 per mile or less than €0.30cents per kilometer

Problem is your doing lot kilometers at 40mpg so its still 313 liters per month @1.50 liter thats €470 for fuel a month

You could rent a few different types of cars for each month to see what type of car works best and then take your time before buying the car

Most small cars are geared too low to get best fuel economy at speeds exceeding 110kph

Diesel will tend to give better fuel economy on long runs and do the extra speed like 120KPH without reducing the fuel economy so much .

However often the extra cost of the Diesel car takes a few years to get your money back and if the car engine throws up expensive bills the saving is lost .
Its why I prefer to stick to small petrol less risks ratio and parts are often cheap and available second hand and more easy for home or Indy mechanic to service


Jed

trabpc

Was thinking s80 D3 too. Relatively cheap but reliabile and v comfy

Bigus

Because of the mileage you're doing , it's going to,very very quickly knock the value out of any car you buy , so if I were you I'd put as little capital in as possible, in other words treat the car like a disposable white good.

Something like this 60 to 70mpg diesel ,buy for 2k and sell it after a year for a grand and replace it with something for the same price in a years time ,

comfy and great ncap rating,

if it goes wrong scrap it ,

still cheaper than a years depreciation on a 10 k car

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/renault-megane-1-5-dci/8921863?offset=30

bold_defender

Thanks for the help so far.
I'm a bit more confused than to start with. What is my biggest cost here.
fuel or depreciation?

Would €10 each way seem plausible for fuel? €100 a week, €5K a year.

Should I take another year out of my 2000 1.6 petrol focus? 105K miles and needs timing belt changed.

I'd love to take the Avensis but 3 kids so car needs to take 3 seats in the back. Would need to get a decent sized car for to replace that.

griffin100

I budget around €20 per day for fuel costs in the D5, down from €25 per day when diesel was more expensive. It's not an exact science, I often vary my route due to traffic so consumption changes.

Any car you buy is going to be verging on worthless after 3 years as you'll have put around 100k miles on it on top of what it already had by then which will put off a lot of potential buyers.

If I were you I'd stick with the focus for a bit longer. It'll cost you a few extra euros a week on fuel over a diesel - an extra €7ish a day or so if you can get 30mpg compared to my diesels 40mpg, but it'll take a long time to add that up to €10k.

Bigus

bold_defender wrote: »

Thanks for the help so far.
I'm a bit more confused than to start with. What is my biggest cost here.
fuel or depreciation?

Would €10 each way seem plausible for fuel? €100 a week, €5K a year.

Should I take another year out of my 2000 1.6 petrol focus? 105K miles and needs timing belt changed.

I'd love to take the Avensis but 3 kids so car needs to take 3 seats in the back. Would need to get a decent sized car for to replace that.

Depreciation will be your biggest cost,

Stick with the focus , service it properly, maybe consider fully synthetic low viscosity oil (for better mpg) put good brand Eco tyres on it when they are next due and drive it into the ground. Run tyres at higher psi like 40 plus.
Check out 99 mpg .com and eco modders website for tips on how to get much more mpg from both the car and yourself. Maybe consider under floor faring and grill block ( it doesn't get hot in Ireland ) little or no cost involved.
http://ecomodder.com

Noccy_Mondy

You don't want to be stuck in a mk1 focus for over 1000km per week. Trust me! Whatever about depreciation on a newer car, it's worth it in the long run, when you have comfort.

Mush_Flanagan

2007 up Toyota Corolla 1.4 diesel saloon, super reliable and great on fuel, comfy to

CharlieCroker

I've a 2009 Mondeo 1.8tdci and I do a similar commute, mix of motorway and B roads. Low tax, comfortable, good spec (mines an econetic/zetec) with cruise, climate etc.
Does about 5.5l/100km, I've approx 300k km now on it.

Did the DMF at 240k km and an exhaust at 280k km. Apart from that, its just been standard servicing.

Markcheese

Mush_Flanagan wrote: »

2007 up Toyota Corolla 1.4 diesel saloon, super reliable and great on fuel, comfy to

Kind of what I was thinking - get a mid sized diesel - make sure it's comfortable (do a long test drive ) trade in your current focus before you start clocking up mega miles -
Thinking something like a corrola or mid sized Peugeot or Citroen -
A bit different but would a Prius work ? Economical enough -supposed to be bullet proof mechanically - smooth -and should hold it's value reasonably ..

http://cars.donedeal.ie/view/9167908
TOYOTA PRIUS HYBRID

Red Kev

I'd be looking at something like an 02-05 Passat with 130 bhp, or a 406 2.0 HDi.

Economical with little depreciation and plenty of comfort.

An auto with cruise control would be a priority for me as well.

browniepoints

If your not fussy that it is family car then getting a van version of the popular cars can get you the diesel engines for cheaper prices.

I worked in van delivery both small vans and large vans many which would do 50,000 miles a year.
You would be shocked how brand new new vans after five years are bone shakers .Large amouts of kilometers /miles kills many cars and vans.

If it was me doing big milage I would buy the newest small diesel engine van I could lay my hands on such as Citreon or similar . Register yourself as a light goods delivery and get cheap road tax ..Vans with big milage have low resale so best to drive it into the ground .If you bought one new you might get 10 years out of it at 500,000 kilometers or roughly 350K miles .
Big milage I am great believer in if possible buy it new or as new as possible . Its if you sell every three years that depreciation gets you .
The keeping the van for ten years should be OK cost per annum example €15,000 new van is 1500 per year in costs .Even with repayments on the remaining 5000 assuming deposit of 10k will probably only change this up to 18.5k at worst or 1850 per year assuming you get ten years .
Also factor in replacing turbo every 200,000 kilometers and that typically €1000 or 0.5cents per kilometer
Clutches go typically every 250.000 miles costs €1000 or 0.35cents per kilomer
Diesel injectors tend to go at 200,000 kilometers can cost €500 or 0.25cents per kilometer
Timing belts replace every 100,000 kilometers typical costs doing water pump same time €500 or 0.5 cents per kilometer.
New tires every 30,000 to 50,000 kilometers depending
Other expenditures such as electronics can throw the numbers a bit typically 7 to 12 years years old is where electronics act up .Asian car made in Asia seems to be better made electronics often can last much longe.
Citroen cars/vans are probably the most fuel efficient out there but if the electronics act up after 7 years oocch that can often hurt .If they dont and you get the ten years from the car your laughing


Jed

CiniO

With that mileage I'd seriously consider Nissan leaf.

I'm guessing it's work commute so 110km each way - you'd need to have facility to charge your car at work place.

220km a day 5 days a week is 1100km a week.
Assuming diesel doing 6 l/100km it's 66 litres a week costing about €90 a week.
Over 50 weeks in a year its 4500 on fuel only.
With Leaf, if you charge at home at night rate for 1.5 and at day rate at work for 3.5 then it's €5 a day. €25 a week. €1250 a year.
Saving of 3250 a year purely on fuel cost.

Markcheese

Yeah, but would you get that range from a leaf doing motorway speeds on a cold morning in 2 or 3 years time -and that's before you have to persuade work to put in a charger -

griffin100

Don't underestimate the need to have some comfort and a bit of grunt on a commute of that length. You're going to be spending 3hrs+ a day in the car. For me an auto box, minimum 2 litres and leather are a must. I'd loose the will to live if I had to do 200kms+ a day in a Nissan Leaf or a Megane.

drunkmonkey

530d or 535d, you won't mind commuting, high tax but somebody has already suffered the depreciation...pay 7k for the car and that'll cover 2 years tax all in your budget. Getting stuck behind a Yaris on the way home won't be a problem : )

browniepoints

CiniO wrote: »

With that mileage I'd seriously consider Nissan leaf.

I'm guessing it's work commute so 110km each way - you'd need to have facility to charge your car at work place.

220km a day 5 days a week is 1100km a week.
Assuming diesel doing 6 l/100km it's 66 litres a week costing about €90 a week.
Over 50 weeks in a year its 4500 on fuel only.
With Leaf, if you charge at home at night rate for 1.5 and at day rate at work for 3.5 then it's €5 a day. €25 a week. €1250 a year.
Saving of 3250 a year purely on fuel cost.

if you go on the electric car hybrid forum you will see thistype of commute is just in the ragged edge of commuting distance
Unless your route has fast chargers on route and the user is willing to drop to 100kph and accept longer commute it probably wont work .
The Leaf battery range drops with every charge and after three years of 150,000 one could expect it to be down to 60% of capacity.
A replacement battery if they ever bring them to Ireland like they do in the uSA would cost close to €8000 based on it costs $6500 in the usa
Therefore add the rest of rip off costs to get it to ROI and its is not cheap.
Leaf in Ireland new is 22k and the second hand one with old battery not so good are still stupid money

A pruis hybrid might work even though often the battery does no work once speeds are more than 30mph .The low powered petrol 1500 engine the Pruis has and other factors seem to give good MPG even on long straight motor way steady 120kph driving .
The typical NiMH batteries are known to be in good repair even with more than 150,000 miles on Pruis type like urban taxi's. Battary replacement are often on ebay $3500 so something like €5000 to get to ROI with VAT etc.

All i can say second hand 2008 Pruis is not for me great option as there other parts that can go south in the car of that age

Jed

Idbatterim

530d or 535d, you won't mind commuting, high tax but somebody has already suffered the depreciation...pay 7k for the car and that'll cover 2 years tax all in your budget. Getting stuck behind a Yaris on the way home won't be a problem : )

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/showthread.php?t=119897

Moneymaker

S60 D5 would be highly recommended if you can stomach the tax.

Paul.k.b.90

I do the same mileage a day myself..I bought a 2.0tdi Audi A3sport 140BHP model. It costs me 60e a week on diesel currently, very comfortable, 6 speed DSG gearbox, climate control have cloth interior. Haven't had any issues with the car at all. I've been servicing it every 4 months (8000 miles) and have 140k miles on the clock atm and plan on having it for as long as I have to do the commute. VW Audia and Skoda are all pretty much the same engine and gearbox so going for a 1.9 or 2.0tdi in any of the those makes you shouldn't have any problems with so long as they're looked after. If your going up the years (2008+) tax shouldn't be an issue either. Mines 2004 so the 200e every 3 months tax is a bit of kick in the nuts but the only complaint I would have.

commited

Another vote for S60 D5, tax will be relatively low compared to the rest of your costs when you're doing 55k/year+.

Other alternative is a nice reliable petrol engine with LPG conversion if you're handy to a fill point across your journey.

Duke O Smiley

griffin100 wrote: »

Don't underestimate the need to have some comfort and a bit of grunt on a commute of that length. You're going to be spending 3hrs+ a day in the car. For me an auto box, minimum 2 litres and leather are a must. I'd loose the will to live if I had to do 200kms+ a day in a Nissan Leaf or a Megane.

Come on OP, if you're doing miles like that you want something nice that'll do the mileage well with a decent degree of comfort. I would be looking at the likes of this to be honest,

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/volvo/s80/used-2008-volvo-s80-s80-2-4-d5-se-dublin-fpa-156514296242808090

Bollox would I be doing that sorta miles in a Leaf

CiniO

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Bollox would I be doing that sorta miles in a Leaf

Are you saying that Leaf is not comfortable enough?

Noccy_Mondy

CiniO wrote:

Are you saying that Leaf is not comfortable enough?

No... it's a leaf... that should be enough.... ha.

Toyotafanboi

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Bollox would I be doing that sorta miles in a Leaf

why not?

i know, as was pointed out, it's just on the threshold of making it on a single charge, but other than that, they are hardly a bad car?

i do around 220kms per day in the celica. noisy as ****, bumpy as ****, really awful experience. i love it, but i'm not sure why.

Duke O Smiley

CiniO wrote: »

Are you saying that Leaf is not comfortable enough?

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

why not?

i know, as was pointed out, it's just on the threshold of making it on a single charge, but other than that, they are hardly a bad car?

i do around 220kms per day in the celica. noisy as ****, bumpy as ****, really awful experience. i love it, but i'm not sure why.

Having been in one for 17km I'm just saying bollox would I be up for 220km a day annually when I could have something nicer, muuuch nicer

Toyotafanboi

are they uncomfortable or something?

on paper at least with 0-60mph in 9.9 seconds, 110bhp and 280 newton meters of torque on tap from standstill in a car weighing 1500kgs, they sound like they could be a decent drive. those stats are awfully similar (bar the superior torque) to say a b5.5 passat tdi for example.

i've not traveled in one, but it doesn't look too bad.

Duke O Smiley

I will say that for the 17km I was in a Leaf most of that was motorway, and it wasn't bad bar being stupidly white inside but the owner himself told me that sustained high speed running sees the predicted range tumble quite quickly.

Not only that, but I wouldn't fancy putting all of my faith into doing 220 km a day if it'll only just make it on one charge. What if the Op gets held up, has to take a diversion, anything, and the battery dies? What then?

Toyotafanboi

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

I will say that for the 17km I was in a Leaf most of that was motorway, and it wasn't bad bar being stupidly white inside but the owner himself told me that sustained high speed running sees the predicted range tumble quite quickly.

Not only that, but I wouldn't fancy putting all of my faith into doing 220 km a day if it'll only just make it on one charge. What if the Op gets held up, has to take a diversion, anything, and the battery dies? What then?

Ah yeah, i mean i agree, the range of the car would concern me for this particular commute, there is zero room for error. the leaf is an interesting proposition for smaller jobs though.

Zubeneschamali

bold_defender wrote: »

I need a car to do 220km round trip daily commute.

Diesel, obviously, but you want a 2.0, and a fairly powerful one.

Good driving position, good seats, aircon, decent stereo, cruise control.

A well specced Mondeo or Passat would do it, or go a year or two older for a Volvo, BMW or Merc.

(I currently do 170 km a day in an S-Max - very comfortable. Was doing 220km a day for about a year. I have 280,000 km on the car.)