New Car - Advice

[stuartj]

Hey guys - I'm shortly about to be in the market for a new car - Got about £10k to spend. I'm going to be doing about 120 miles a day round trip to work and back mostly motorway so I want something that isn't going to drink fuel and as comfortable as possible.

Any reccomendations?

[dj jedi]

Comfortable and economical motorway cruiser - got to be a big diesel or LPG. Something like an Audi A4 or BMW 5 series. A diesel of either will happily return 45MPG, or if you buy a petrol and LPG it (cost of about £1000) you'll get more like 70MPG. Either of the above could be bought for 10k if 3 or 4 years old. both will happily deal with the high mileage.

Avoid so called economical cars - hybrids, 1 litre VW Polos etc. They're only economical if you do 10 miles a week around town. Useless over 50mph.

BTW you've probably noticed I've only mentioned German cars. For a motorway cruiser I wouldn't touch anything else personally! Skodas are apparently good too, although I've never owned one.

[Beagle]

the first thing you need to consider is which cars you like. No point in suggesting cars that you wouldn't consider due to not liking the way they look.

[Double Drop]

Skoda is VW these days.

[Beagle]

also how much are you willing to pay on road tax and insurance? That's a big factor. No point in looking and BMW 5-series if you don't want to pay nigh-on £200 per year in tax. If you're not a brand snob, you can get a lot more for your money if you look at Fords, Mazdas or Hondas for example.

If you do want 'prestige', how about looking at JAg or Alpha?

[stuartj]

Haven't really ruled anything out to be honest. Yes, the thought of driving a Merc or BMW sounds nice, but if I could get more car for my money by looking at Saab, Volvo, or anything else I'd consider it.

Jag or Alfa would be lovely, but I don't think I'd get much Jag for my money and aren't alfa's supposed to fall to bits quite easily?

[dj jedi]

Yep typically Alfa's have horrendous reliability issues. However to be honest all cars have weaknesses. Saab's and Volvo's are a good bet if you buy used/old, terrible car to buy new/recent, they deppreciate insanely. Spend 10k on a Saab and it will be worth 2k in 3 years. And I don't think either will be as nice/comfortable to drive as something German.

[Beagle]

you'd get a top-spec Focus for 10k with low mileage and a lot of mpg if you go for the diesel.

Have a look on Parkers for reviews and suggestions. http://www.parkers.co.uk/


BTW, Alpha's have improved immensely over the years. A mate of mine has a 159 and loves it. The new Honda Civic comes highly recommended too.

[pineappletribe]

BMW 3-series 2.0+ diesel.... (ie. 2litres and bigger :D )

Expensive servicing... but for all that distance, get a comfortable reliable car that is lovely to drive....

:D

I'd definitely buy german regardless.

[Sir Captinweestain]

I'd go with an Alpha mate.

[c_funk]

another vote for german. my last car was a golf and i got it up to 140000 miles. i drive my girlfriends car now its only a 1 series bmw but it is a quality car

[drift]

Was in a similar boat last year as I do an 80 mile round trip per day. Was looking at diesel Civics and Alfa GTs, but when I worked it out because the diesels were more pricey (and I'd probably need a small loan) it didn't save me a lot, everything taken into account. So in the end I just bought a cheaper (and slightly older) petrol car and saved 4k. I'm getting 35MPG now, but it's fun to drive and the servicing aint too bad. Tax is a bit rough at £250 though.

[pineappletribe]

I do also hear a number of people saying the Honda Civic is a good solid car.

I can't speak of their fuel efficiency however - as both recommendations i have heard were in relation to the R-Type

[dj jedi]

Anything Eastern (Honda etc) is likely to be reliable, but they're famous for their gash interiors. If yu'll be commuting, they're not somewhere I'd like to sit for hours on end. My friend's Subaru Impreza is truly horrible!

[Beagle]

Anything Eastern (Honda etc) is likely to be reliable, but they're famous for their gash interiors. If yu'll be commuting, they're not somewhere I'd like to sit for hours on end. My friend's Subaru Impreza is truly horrible!

the new Civic is nice inside (if you like that sort of thing). And if we're being honest, even a new BMW 3 series uses (to my eyes anyway) cheap, hard plastics.

But if I was in the market for a new car I'd look at the Golf TSis. Well built, decent performance but low tax and high mpg.