On 400 miles a week that'll take your average annual mileage to over 20,000 and on that sort of mileage its definately worth considering a diesel. General rule of thumb is over 15k - diesel. With mostly motorway mileage this would suit a large-ish comfortable diesel car perfectly. Diesels are generally more to buy but the higher mileage you do the sooner you'll be 'in the black' as it were.

However if you're looking to buy a 1-2 year old car then i think you're right to avoid diesels with the well documented DPF problems (feel free to scour this forum for DPF related threads). The Focus is a very good car but petrol models are not tremendously economical, you're looking at over £3,000 a year in petrol alone on that sort of mileage. The best normal car for snow that ive ever encountered is the Peugeot 406, they are getting on a bit now though of course, generally anything with smallish wheels, chunky tyres and half decent ground clearence (no BMW's on 19 inch wheels etc) should be ok.

Generally i'd recommend buying a three-year old car from a franchised dealership, most warranties are three years so you know its had everything it needs during that time and will probably cost half as much as it did new. If you really dont want a diesel then something like a Toyota Prius would probably be the only way to keep fuel costs halfway sensible on 20k a year but i wouldnt want to drive one in snow without putting some decent premium tyres on it over the horrid eco friendly things its made with. Personally if i was doing 20k a year i'd rather have something like a Volvo S80 D5 (diesel) over something like a Prius.

If you could let us know what 'not a large amount to spend' would be that'd be helpful. Just a ballpark figure would be great.

Welcome to the forum by the way! :)

Ruth - welcome. You can buy a diesel safely as with the mileage you're going to do you won't have a problem with the particulate filter (the filters give grief if used for too many short journeys).

If you don't need a lot of room for people and luggage, a smallish car with a big engine could suit you - like a Skoda Fabia 1.9 TDI or newer 1.6 TDI (cheaper than a Golf for a car of similar age, but with the same engine), or a Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDI. The VW Polo is smaller than the Golf, therefore cheaper, although probably still more than a Fabia.

There are also some good economical petrol engines about, such as the 1.3 Toyota Yaris or Honda Jazz (also 1.3 although they call it 1.4 - it's 1339 cc).

66 mls per day in a Micra - I would not think it would be a problem.

What is the journey?

I used to do the at least 30 mile each way trip 2/3 days, Aberdeen, Inverness and most large towns 2/3 days a week. That was when I was gainfully employed rather than a sponging OAP that I am now!

Buying a new diesel car will save you ££s at the petrol pump but you will fork out a lot more cash to buy the car or cash every month if it is on HP.

Garages love people buying new cars at many thousands of new profit to save a few hundred a year on petrol.

I am still looking to buy a Honda Legend 3.5 ltr petrol 2nd hand - say £10-£12K rather than say a brand new Lexus IS at £22K - Lower depreciation and high fuel rather than High depreciation and more modest fuel

Edited by Falkirk Bairn on 23/11/2011 at 20:26