New car time needs loads of MPG

clv101 said:
Jezz man!! Life's way, way too short for that! Can't you find a job within 10 miles of home? Or home within 10 miles of your job? Even a job that pays £20k less per year would be worth not losing the best part of 2 hours a day for! Wouldn't it be better to spend that extra time with your wife and kids?

I spent a year commuting 50 miles a day on A and B roads, never, ever again. For the last 4 years I've been either a 10 minute walk or 25 minute bike depending on office from work. Being home before 5pm is very important to me.
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Fifty miles a day isn't that much, I commuted 72 miles a day, 5 days a week to university when I was a student, which from what I gathered from some of my peers at the time is mega by student standards (the lazy little bleeders just like to fall out of bed in the morning and cross the road to a lecture). I actually don't travel so far now, but then gain my father always travelled a lot for work, so I was used to him doing that when I was growing up (he still does).

I am used to flying a lot too, spending a lot of time travelling has always been a part of my life, I just consider it normal really. What counts and what makes it bearable is how you do it, for instance I did find it much more stressful and wearing when I started, over 8 years ago in a 1995 Fiesta, now it's totally different in my Jaaaag.

When I flew to Thailand last month, I swore that would be the last long haul I ever do economy class, although it was quite good as far as economy class goes, it was still like being cooped up in a cattle pen, I can't abide being uncomfortable when travelling, that does make it quite unbearable. I actually like being in the car for an hour at the beginning and end of each day, gives me time to think about things, contemplate my day etc and put my thoughts in order.


I would sure as hell spend an extra couple of hours on the road for £20k a year more. I could do more with it than I could with a couple of extra hours a day.

I find it a little amusing that some people seem to think they have a ‘superior’ grasp of life because they don’t spend so much money on cars, and/or are married and maybe have children or like cycling etc. What a load of rubbish. I do have a long-term girlfriend, although I have no desire to get married and have children, but then again, I always have and probably always will be my own best company.
 
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Found this interesting little article earlier, ok, the fuel prices used are a bit out of date, but, still valid when adjusted to reflect current fuel prices.... its food for thought none the less imo....

The Fuel Calculation




Living in a country with some of the highest fuel costs in the world most of us worry about fuel consumption.

However,all cars need fuel to run and the following calculation is an eye-opener which I hope will make you feel a little better about buying a high performance BMW.

Let's take two cars travelling unhindered on an open road...

Car one is a big, performance luxury car returning something around 25mpg...Something like a big BMW!

Car two is something smaller, less performance orientated (and probably much more mundane) returning 35mpg eg. You choose!

For the sake of the calculation let's call petrol 80p/litre = £3.64/gallon

For Car 1 = £0.145/mile or £145/1000 miles

For Car 2 = £0.104/mile or £104/1000 miles

That is a difference of £41/1000 miles

Or £410/10000 miles

In other words, to make a saving of £1000 you will need to drive 25,000 miles...equivalent to once around the World!

Or put another somewhat sobering (if not depressing) way! If you drive say an average of 12,000 miles/year it will take you over 2 years to make that saving in your more mundane car. If, God willingly, you enjoy have a driving lifetime from the age of 20 to 70 years (ie. 50 years) you will,therefore, spend circa 5% of your driving career, in some mundane piece of machinery, to make your £1K saving. You choose!
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:)

http://www.bmwclassics.co.uk/articles/fuel_calculation.html
 
well the OP does 28,000 miles a year, so he'd save over a grand based on those calculations.
£1000 is a hefty sum.
and then you have to take into account the costs (minus fuel ofc) of running an exec saloon for 30,000 miles over a poxy hatchback
 
R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
Found this interesting little article earlier, ok, the fuel prices used are a bit out of date, but, still valid when adjusted to reflect current fuel prices.... its food for thought none the less imo....

:)

http://www.bmwclassics.co.uk/articles/fuel_calculation.html
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Indeed very interesting, which makes me wonder why people use the excuse to spend £5k and trading in their car for another one that does 5-10mpg more purely to save money and they do less than 10k miles a year.
 
mjt said:
and then you have to take into account the costs (minus fuel ofc) of running an exec saloon for 30,000 miles over a poxy hatchback
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I'll point you toward another of his articles.... :D

BMW Servicing


This is a particular bug-bear of mine! "Oh! But you drive a BMW...they're so expensive to service and repair!"

All cars need maintenance and all cars need repairs! This is expensive on all cars especially if you don't know what you're doing or where to go and for what!

There have long been many Independent BMW Specialists (good and bad) who, for a longtime, have made their livings by providing BMW care and maintenance at a fraction of what Main-dealer Franchises have charged. Find a good one and you're laughing!

In a long overdue attempt to counter this and bring customers back into the 'Main-dealership fold' BMW have, over the last few years, launched initiatives to significantly reduce the servicing costs on older BMWs.

Firstly, with the '4+'; then '7+' and more recently even the '3+' Schemes.

These various shemes have brought greatly reduced servicing costs for older BMWs to the point where 'Independents' are now being significantly under cut! £59 for an 'Oil Service'? £199 for the major 'Inspection 2'?! That's difficult for anyone to better. I still believe that a good 'Independent' can significantly undercut them on actual repairs, even using genuine parts, on older cars and that's something the parent company needs to wake up to next!

But to return to servicing...I recently had occasion to find myself in the showroom of a Ford dealership (I just gave someone a lift there...honestly!). They had a board up displaying their 'Special Offer'...Major Service...'From £189'...I know where I'd rather spend my extra ten pounds!
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http://www.bmwclassics.co.uk/articles/bmw_servicing.html

The guy has an answer for everything! :D
 
[TW]Fox;15791889 said:
Exactly. Might as well make it as tolerable as possible.
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Yeah lets all buy maybach mercedes benz, hire a chauffeur and eat caviar on the way to work.

Be real, some people just want to maximise their take home, cutting travel costs is a good way to do that driving something which isn't going to cost a bomb to run and depriciate mad with the mileage.

Carshares are quite good for it too, spend half the money on fuel.
 
Moeks said:
I find it a little amusing that some people seem to think they have a ‘superior’ grasp of life because they don’t spend so much money on cars...
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I absolutely think I have a far superior grasp of life in that I've managed to organise things such that I don't waste hours each day driving A-B. My be amusing for you, but my value judgement is very clear in this area. Life's way too short to spend it on the road.
 
I currently do 2000 miles per month, just to and from work. Not a company car, salary was increased a few years ago to "cover" the costs. (Ish ;))

I am now on my 3rd Seat Leon. In November I took delivery of the new facelift model, and its nice. 09 plate with 4000 miles on it. Its also the Ecomotive SE 1.9 diesel model :eek::eek:

Now, I was dead againt this to begin with. In the showroom, I had my heart set on the FR. I had driven "boring" cars for a while, and fancied something "better". The FR on a country road is very good fun. I also looked at the 3 series (again) and the A3 & A4.

But, when it came down to it, it was just to big an outlay. Especially as the missus recently passed her test, so we are running 2 cars. The Leon returns me 60+ MPG, is £35 a year to tax, is reasonably well built and has lots of kit. The diesel Leons do hang on to a bit of value as well. I will keep it 2 years, then trade it in. And the process will begin again.

It was also very well priced at nearly 5k off ROTRP.

Sure, its not everyones cup of tea, but it serves its purpose, at reasonable cost, and for the OP, is well worth a look IMHO.
 
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Countcussy said:
I currently do 2000 miles per month, just to and from work. Not a company car, salary was increased a few years ago to "cover" the costs. (Ish ;))

I am now on my 3rd Seat Leon. In November I took delivery of the new facelift model, and its nice. 09 plate with 4000 miles on it. Its also the Ecomotive SE 1.9 diesel model :eek::eek:

Now, I was dead againt this to begin with. In the showroom, I had my heart set on the FR. I had driven "boring" cars for a while, and fancied something "better". The FR on a country road is very good fun. I also looked at the 3 series (again) and the A3 & A4.

But, when it came down to it, it was just to big an outlay. Especially as the missus recently passed her test, so we are running 2 cars. The Leon returns me 60+ MPG, is £35 a year to tax, is reasonably well built and has lots of kit. The diesel Leons do hang on to a bit of value as well. I will keep it 2 years, then trade it in. And the process will begin again.

Sure, its not everyones cup of tea, but it serves its purpose, at reasonable cost, and for the OP, is well worth a look IMHO.
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Why trade it in after 2 years? I would have thought it would be financially a much better idea to buy a 2 year old car and run it till it's 4/5 years old and sell it with the extra 50k on it. Buying a car 6 months old and with 4k on it and putting 50k over 2 years will lose a lot more money than buying a 2 year old car with 30k on it and putting 50k on it.
 
Peerzy said:
Why trade it in after 2 years? I would have thought it would be financially a much better idea to buy a 2 year old car and run it till it's 4/5 years old and sell it with the extra 50k on it. Buying a car 6 months old and with 4k on it and putting 50k over 2 years will lose a lot more money than buying a 2 year old car with 30k on it and putting 50k on it.
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Absolutely. Keeping it longer, or buying it older, seems a much better idea.
 
but it would cost more to run, as it would no longer be under warranty

buying newer is more expensive, but less hassle
 
mjt said:
but it would cost more to run, as it would no longer be under warranty

buying newer is more expensive, but less hassle
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You would have to be very unlucky for any out of warranty repair bill in the 4th or 5th years be the greater than the avoided depreciation in years 1 and 2, very unlucky.
 
Peerzy said:
Why trade it in after 2 years? I would have thought it would be financially a much better idea to buy a 2 year old car and run it till it's 4/5 years old and sell it with the extra 50k on it. Buying a car 6 months old and with 4k on it and putting 50k over 2 years will lose a lot more money than buying a 2 year old car with 30k on it and putting 50k on it.
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Its a fair point, and one I have looked into many times. It may be I keep this for 3 years, like my last one. I still got nearly 7k for that, and it had 68k on it. Its more a question of reliabilty. I did it that way once, and with repair costs and servicing, there was not much in it to be honest. The car will also still be in warranty for my entire ownership. No biggie I know, but worth considering. The resale values don`t really start to plummit until 3 years and or 60k+ from my experience.

I also like the feeling of driving a very nearly new motor. As long as I get the right price. It makes me smile.

Luckily, I also have a dealer that looks after me, as I do them with servicing.

Its peace of mind more than anything else. I no longer have the time or desire to tinker or do repairs myself.
 
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I recently changed from a 2.2D Nissan X-Trail to a 1.9TDi Seat Altea for the exact same reason, and financially it worked out that i would save £1500.00 per year on Diesel alone, servicing was also about £40 per service cheaper (3 per year) insurance was £100 cheaper, tyres were cheaper (about £25 per tyre) and it was a sport so it is actually great fun on good twisty roads, although it is as dead as Hector lol.
The car cost me £800 to change and saved me £1820 per year ( over the X-Trail), I normally keep my cars for 2 years and buy them as ex demos at around 3 - 6 months old, I get 2.5 years warranty and usually get a high spec as demo cars always have good specs, I buy at the end of the financial year as its a quiet time of year for dealers and you can wring more out of them. This method works well for me :)
 
A 1.9TDi Altea saves you £1,500 in diesel costs per year over a 2.2D X-Trail ? ...I would not have thought that would be the case except in extreme mileage scenarios ...is the X-Trail that hard on fuel?
 
I think I'm right in saying the Volkswagen Golf Blue Motion does the best MPG these days? Over 80 for sure and zero road tax.

Check it out.
 
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