Well on 50k+ a year a diesel is obviously a must and something pretty comfortable to be in is probably on the requirements list! In general though most things tend to be quite reliable in that sort of driving. It'll always be running warm and presumably on motorways regularly, thats how a car likes to work.

That mileage it might be worth getting a Hyundai and taking advantage of their 5 year unlimited mileage warranty, assuming the unlimited bit still stands.

So whatever you fancy in their range, of course the warranty will depend on correct servicing which will be frequent, however no car is going to stand that mileage unless its maintained well.

Assuming most of that mileage is cruising on motorways/A roads, most anything should be reliable-unless you're unlucky enough to get a lemon.

Gotta be diesel at that mileage. You can get a late model, low mileage 1.9 TDI Golf for for under £8k. PSA HDi engines are fairly robust, and the cars are cheap-especially Citroens.

How about a Citroen C3 1.6 HDi for about £5k? Not exciting, but the resale value will be terrible on any car that clocks up £50k p.a. With the lump sum left over-and your monthly car allowance and fuel mileage, you could easily buy something fun for the weekend. Sitting at 70-80 on the motorway, there's very little to distinguish between any modern car, so no point splashing out on something fancy.

Edited by unthrottled on 04/03/2012 at 17:40

You can get a decent Merc C220 diesel for that 8k. Get one of those used car waranties with it. I saw my old one on the motorway the other day which I sold three years ago, looked just the same.

Have a look at the thread started by Rustygate, which asks a similar question. Here's the suggestion I made there:

I agree that the Kia Ceed is well worth a look. A Focus estate should be on your shortlist - more of them around than Kias, and better to drive than any Vauxhall.

If you look at anything from the VW Group ( a Golf estate or Octavia hatch or estate would have lots of room for surfing kit without being any more expensive to run than a 306) go for the 1.9 TDI rather than the 2.0 unless you can afford a 2.0 common-rail diesel. The 2.0 PD had some reliability issues. Driven gently a 1.9 TDI can give you 60 mpg on a long run.

Any used diesel is something of a gamble so make sure it's got a full service history and a change of cambelt if relevant.

Good luck!