Help deciding on a short term motorway muncher

[JonnyH.]

Hi All,

As the title suggests, I have recently found myself in the position of requiring a motorway muncher for a short period of time, roughly around 6 months.

As a little context, I work in construction and have now been asked to take up a site based role temporarily. Unfortunately the site is roughly a 450 mile round trip away from home down our lovely motorways. Currently I have a car on PCP and have limited miles on the agreement as this was not something I foresaw myself doing when purchasing that car and I do not wish to put too many excess miles on the car and am toying with this idea which I have mentioned.

I would be doing 450 miles per week in the car for roughly six months, so just over 10,000 miles and have decided it may be best to buy a car for the sole purpose of commuting and getting shut of it once I receive word that I would no longer be needed on site.

Initially I have been looking around the £1500 mark and trying to find something that fits the bill for being reliable, economical and somewhat safe if anything was to happen. Ideally I have been looking at auto's and cars with enough room in them for a few bags and equipment etc. so have been ruling out anything smaller than a small / mid sized hatchback. The car itself will be on an unsecure car park for the week whilst I am on site so I am not too fussed on how desirable it is and more interested on it's suitability. The unsecure car park again, is a factor for why I am considering this option.

If anyone can suggest a suitable vehicle or has been in a similar position to myself and has any advice it would be much appreciated.

TLDR:
Working away during the week now, driving 450 miles a week.
Looking for economical, reliable car to handle the motorway journeys.
Trying to keep cost down, initially looking at spending around £1500.
Currently looking for an automatic.
Open to suggestions as to what car I should choose.

Thanks for reading.

[66HFM]

I'd look at something like a Volvo V50 2.0D or an S40 2.0D.
If you perhaps push your budget more towards £2k you could have a Seat Leon 2.0TDi or a Fabia / Octavia.

I remember a few years ago I had a 400 mile weekly commute (200 miles each way), staying in a Travel Lodge for a couple of nights, I used to do it in a MKIV Golf GTi 2.0, which never put a foot wrong in the 6 months I did it and I used to get 40mpg. I could just do the roundtrip on a full tank...

Good luck.

[Dg504]

I’d be going Saab or Volvo - wouldn’t worry/reduce your options with auto if it’s motorway miles as once you’re off you’re (hopefully) not stopping!

I’m biased and hopefully chopping our 9-3 in this summer - it’s been lovely.

This is ulez complaint if it matters and not £700 tax;

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202503240...

Posterior aside, what’s an additional 10k when it’s already done 150k?! Bigger and more comfortable;

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502169...

[Skodillac]

This is a manual, but surely for motorway use then automatic isn't all that important and will be less fuel efficient?

Skoda Superb: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504010...

How's about a Laguna Coupe: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202501188...

Citroen C5, this one's a diesel auto: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412287...

[TownIdiot]

Might be worth finding out how much the additional mileage will cost on your PCP.


As much as I love a shed you are never too far away from a bill that will mess the economics up. Or a couple of hours on the hard shoulder.

[itcaptainslow]

TownIdiot said:

Might be worth finding out how much the additional mileage will cost on your PCP.


As much as I love a shed you are never too far away from a bill that will mess the economics up. Or a couple of hours on the hard shoulder.

Indeed, 10k miles at 5ppm is £500...

As much as I advocate shedding, for this instance, it's more cost effective just to do it in what you've got.

[JonnyH.]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Some good shouts in here, I suppose the car being an automatic isn't too much of a must as it will be mainly motorway travelling with roughly 5 miles or so either end not being.

In terms of my current car on PCP, within my contract it is stated that it is 15p per mile overcharge, Ideally I would like to change that in 2 years (I will have owned it for 3 years at that point and it will be 6 years old) and have been concerned primarily over the resale value more than anything due to the fact I don't wish to keep the car for the full term of the PCP.

Looking at the list of options I will need to run a few insurance quotes as it slipped my mind to mention that I am 23 and being on the wrong side of 25, some cars do throw up some eye watering insurance costs still.

[alfabeat]

Purely from a financial point of view, even £1500 in mileage surcharge is worth just using your current car.

Car purchase, a service, an MOT, insurance, tax........and you are at the banger end of the market at that value of car which could throw up a few several hundred bills in short order.

[skyebear]

I've not done it myself but a quick search suggests it's possible: could you contact your PCP provider now and renegotiate based on predicted higher mileage? Maybe it costs you an extra £500 or £1000 rather than £1500 at end of term.

[itcaptainslow]

alfabeat said:

Purely from a financial point of view, even £1500 in mileage surcharge is worth just using your current car.

Car purchase, a service, an MOT, insurance, tax........and you are at the banger end of the market at that value of car which could throw up a few several hundred bills in short order.

Indeed, you're at breakeven point for the excess mileage charge on your current PCP for just buying a £1500 shed, not to mention the tax, insurance, maintenance etc, without the potential for a big bill. £1500 on a car doesn't go far nowadays, especially something diesel/big saloon/mile munchy.

[blue_haddock]

skyebear said:

I've not done it myself but a quick search suggests it's possible: could you contact your PCP provider now and renegotiate based on predicted higher mileage? Maybe it costs you an extra £500 or £1000 rather than £1500 at end of term.

But when he is done with the car he could maybe sell it for £1000 to recoup some costs.

[blue_haddock]

Honda civic 1.8 is pretty reliable and is meant to do an easy 40mpg.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202408263...

[JonnyH.]

blue_haddock said:

skyebear said:

I've not done it myself but a quick search suggests it's possible: could you contact your PCP provider now and renegotiate based on predicted higher mileage? Maybe it costs you an extra £500 or £1000 rather than £1500 at end of term.

But when he is done with the car he could maybe sell it for £1000 to recoup some costs.

This was what I had in mind initially. Purchase something that has depreciated enough so that another 10,000 miles has limited impact on it's value, whilst also being low to tax, insure and run ready for me to flog 6 months down the line.

The way my mind sees this situation is a way of spending a little more now and recouping as much of the cost back in 6 months time whilst avoiding the depreciation on my current car and having to take it in for another service due to the miles since it had only been in for one 5 days ago. I'm seeing it as spend now and control the cost to myself (as long as nothing goes wrong with the car in this space of time).

Thanks again for everyone's thoughts and advice, I may need to thing a little longer on this one before I decide to progress with anything.

[The Cardinal]

If you like your current car, just drive it.

The PCP agreement is a promise to pay a certain residual sum at a point in time. You can settle or re-finance at any time, so I'd look into that option personally. PCP is quite a flexible product, certainly more so than a lease.

The 15p per mile charges etc only become material if you 100% want to hand it back to the lender. More likely you could just sell it (for example to a car buying service) just before the end of the agreement period, settle the finance as part of that process and be done with it.

[JonnyH.]

The Cardinal said:

If you like your current car, just drive it.

The PCP agreement is a promise to pay a certain residual sum at a point in time. You can settle or re-finance at any time, so I'd look into that option personally. PCP is quite a flexible product, certainly more so than a lease.

The 15p per mile charges etc only become material if you 100% want to hand it back to the lender. More likely you could just sell it (for example to a car buying service) just before the end of the agreement period, settle the finance as part of that process and be done with it.

I understand, Initially I decided to toy with this idea to avoid being in negative equity when I change, and deal with the costs over the next 6 months separately. I have no intention of seeing out all 49 months so I have been primarily focusing my attention on the resale value of my current car. I'm still undecided on which path I wish to go down at the moment

[Andy665]

I have an E92 330 - earlier N52 engine and manual, use if for my weekly trip to the office in Fleet, 340 mile round trip, 200 miles of it across country, regularly returns 35mpg and is a lot of fun as well

[OutInTheShed]

I think £1500 is not a very generous budget for buying and running a shed for 10k miles.
£300 insurance?
Couple of tyres?
...

Personally, 200 miles each way, these days, I start to consider things like how comfy the seats are.

I've done this kind of work a few times, mostly the cars involved are history now, but I'd say be open minded about makes and models, buy something you feel is trustworthy. Maybe if the right thing comes your way it's worth a punt, but rushing into it will often end in tears.
Best car I bought for this purpose was an Audi, as was the worst.
A mondeo did me quite well, but I still lost 50% in a year.

[paul_c123]

My shortlist would be:

Mercedes C-Class (or maybe the coupe)
VW Golf
Volvo S40/V50/S60/V70 (maybe a C70)

All are available in diesel auto, although you're into DSG era with the VWs

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Skoda Octavia 2.0TDi.

[Back2theFuji]

I run a Kia Ceed diesel on a 59 plate which is very solid. Simple engine (no DPF prior to late 2010 models, cruise control, Bluetooth, climate control and decent seats on the 3 spec.