Best economical and reliable commuting family car

[JCW1975]

Hi. I would appreciate any advice on which used car is best to look at for fuel economy, reliability and for dog, kids etc? I've got a budget of around £5/6 k?

[Temo_Wil]

Dacia Duster or Dacia Logan

[JCW1975]

Thanks. I had not thought about them to be honest. I was thinking about Insignia or Skodas but worth looking at👍

[northwest monkey]

I've got a diesel Vitara 2015 (the "new" shape) - gets 50mpg in "normal" driving and over 65 on a motorway run. Not sure if you'd need more budget though.

[Rawhide]

We pushed that budget and got into a 30kw Leaf for 8k. It's a CAT C though. The extra cost of the purchase are offset by very low running costs and maintenance. It's also a very good family car as it was designed as such.

[ninjag]

JCW1975 said:

Hi. I would appreciate any advice on which used car is best to look at for fuel economy, reliability and for dog, kids etc? I've got a budget of around £5/6 k?

What kind of journeys are you doing each week/month/year?

[Ben Lowden]

What are your current running costs that you're looking to improve on?

[JCW1975]

I am getting around 41mpg at the moment

[JCW1975]

northwest monkey said:

I've got a diesel Vitara 2015 (the "new" shape) - gets 50mpg in "normal" driving and over 65 on a motorway run. Not sure if you'd need more budget though.

Thanks. I will have a look and see if there is anything in my budget👍

[JCW1975]

Rawhide said:

We pushed that budget and got into a 30kw Leaf for 8k. It's a CAT C though. The extra cost of the purchase are offset by very low running costs and maintenance. It's also a very good family car as it was designed as such.

Thanks for the advice. I not sure I can go much above 6k but will have a look around 👍

[JCW1975]

Ben Lowden said:

What are your current running costs that you're looking to improve on?

I mainly commute a 70 mile round trip to work , dual carriageway all the way

[Belle427]

Saab 9-3 Tid Aero Estate are nice.
Primarily vauxhall based so parts are cheap and plentiful.
One of the better looking Estates, decent poke and mpg too.

[JCW1975]

I did own a Saab about 15 years ago but was child free and not commuting then and fuel was not extortionate. I did like the car. Great spec , leather seats etc and really bulletproof 👍

[ninjag]

Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi

0-60 in 2 days but it's showing 67.3mpg combined and £20 a year to tax. At 58k miles there's plenty of meat left for your 20k a year.


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206176...

[JCW1975]

Thanks. A Focus could be a good choice. 👍

[Ben Lowden]

ninjag said:

Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi

0-60 in 2 days but it's showing 67.3mpg combined and £20 a year to tax. At 58k miles there's plenty of meat left for your 20k a year.


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206176...

I was going to suggest something similar to this. We had this engine in my wife's old Fiesta and real world MPG was around 48 combined.

[JCW1975]

Thanks👍

[ZX10R NIN]

At this price point the Insignia SRI 160 is a heard car to look past:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205195...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206106...

Laguna GT Line:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202207017...

[JCW1975]

I was looking at Insignias after a mate at work suggested one after he owned one but they seem to divide opinion on reliability?? They are really nice cars though and tick all the boxes with space, spec and fuel economy

[Phunk]

Look at what taxi drivers have, Toyota Prius, Avensis etc.

We picked up a Toyota Prius, great family car, never less than 50MPG, massive in the back, only required a ABS sensor in the 4 years I’ve owned it.