Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car?

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Fri 13 Jul 2007 15:40
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - rubber
Hi,

Looking for advice on a car used for a daily Commute. The car will be driven for a round trip of 110 miles per day. So approx 550 miles a week and probably 150 private miles, so totalling 700 miles a week.

We have a budget of around £5000. The car must be under 5 years old, as company rules state that the car must be 5 years or under, so no point getting a 4.5 year old car and then having to change in 6 months.
Ideally should have a least 1 years use out of it.
Reliabilty is very important, just turn the key and go. Dont want the hassle of constant breakdowns etc.
Also good comfortable cruiser, with good motorway accelration, as car will probably get driven 4 hours a day at least.
Fuel economy is not so much of an issue as fuel is paid for by company,
A car that will have good resale is also a must...ie when its over 5 years old and taken out of service we want to recover as much of our money as we can.


any suggestions?
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Fri 13 Jul 2007 15:50
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - tunacat
Sounds like a Honda, Mazda or Toyota then.

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Fri 13 Jul 2007 16:01
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - Happy Blue!
I thought we had answered this question before?

Diesel engine, medium size car - Focus, Astra, Golf, 307, Xsara, C4, Civic, Corolla, Mazda 3 the list goes on. Hyundai Accent, Lantra, Kia Rio, Megane, Almera. Just make sure it is comfortable, with a/c and a decent radio.

You will be doing 35,000 miles pa - forget about retained value. Better to buy a 3 year old car and put 70,000 on it and see how it feels then. Either keep it or toss it.
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Fri 13 Jul 2007 16:09
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - rubber
a little bit of badge snobbery as well
no french cars, not keen on ford or vauxhall.
Toyota is ok. Honda sounds good.
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Fri 13 Jul 2007 16:14
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - bathtub tom
'any suggestions?'

Get a job nearer home.

For the last thirty years of my career I cycled two miles into work each morning (if it wasn't raining), and two miles home each evening.
I could have earned more by commuting, but 'I tried it once'!
I was a much happier person, I could have a few bevvies after work occasionaly without risking my licence, and I saw much more of my home life.
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Fri 13 Jul 2007 20:25
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - MichaelR
Lets just recap here.

03 plate or newer
Comfortable for long drive
Reliable
Good residuals
Just £5k

Yea, good luck with that. Anything thats 03 plate or newer and isnt a small town car is going to be sub £5k becuase the residuals suck. But you want something residually strong.

Residually strong cars like... Audi's. 03 plate one of those is.. twice your budget.
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Fri 13 Jul 2007 20:44
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - bell boy
MichaelR good one .........
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Fri 13 Jul 2007 20:56
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - rubber
good advice mate. very clever reply :)
what are prices like for honda accords under 5yrs old?
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Fri 13 Jul 2007 21:06
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - local yokel
£5k on an 03 plate means you are in Focus/Astra territory and nothing more. I'm not sure how thrilled I'd be to do 110/day, every day in SWMBO's Focus, but I can think of worse. I've done 700 in a day in my 405TD, but that's too old for you.
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Fri 13 Jul 2007 21:14
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - bbroomlea{P}
I am doing similar mileage, same car allowance rules etc.

Luckily i got my Audi A4 (52 reg) for £3.5k so fell lucky(dads ex company car!), however will have a similar dilema in 12 months time when I hit 6 years.

I have a colleague in the same situation, same miles etc and he has been buying something from auction, running it 6-9 months, selling on and starting again. So far he has lost no money and covered around 50K deperciation free motoring...

If you are good at sourcing a bargain and like changing your motors every so often its not a bad idea...


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Fri 13 Jul 2007 21:09
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - bell boy
sorry, but read your wish list again and when you find the car that fits all these requirements please let me know :-)(big big smiley )
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Fri 13 Jul 2007 23:19
Advice on Choice of Daily Commute Car? - nick74
If you want to appreciate the impossibility of what your asking do a search on the Autotrader site. I just have and the only car I could find currently for sale in the UK, which comes anywhere close to meeting all your reguirements, was a 2003 Toyota Corolla VVTi for £5k - and that's an ex minicab!

I think you need to consider buying from auction to get anything suitable within budget.
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