Beater car for lots and lots of motorway driving

Hades

Hades

Hades

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I'm looking for suggestions on what cars to consider as a bit of a beater car. I am going to be doing regular trips this year between London, York and occasionally further. Parking could be an issue so I would prefer something small or medium sized rather than larger, although I appreciate smaller cars aren't typically ideal on the motorway.

Cost of maintenance and cost of fuel will be a big consideration. Petrol preferred but I would consider a diesel. I don't mind it being a manual or automatic. I don't mind 2 or 4 doors. Basically I just want some cheap transport, good on fuel, a reliable brand and cheap to fix if it does break, for a long motorway trip a few times a month for the next couple of years. It doesn't have to look pretty. In fact a few dents may even be an asset as I don't want to worry about it being parked on the street. ULEZ compliant would be preferred.

Any suggestions on what makes and models I should look at would be appreciated. e.g. a few years ago I had an old dented Peugeot 206 beater car and quite honestly that was great.

Budget: £1k to £3k ideal. But up to £4k max.
 
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Is ULEZ a concern? Honestly, depending on the amount of trips, I'd normally say Mondeo... Perhaps consider Octavia or Superb...
 
ULEZ is a slight concern. I'm on the border of the new ULEZ zone. I could avoid it but it would be nice to be able to use it there too. That's why petrol slightly preferred because it allows for an older and cheaper car which is still compliant.

Thank you for those suggestions. I will take a look.
 
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What sort of money wre you looking to spend?

I'd be looking at the Japs tbh, something like an Accord or even a Prius.
 
Diddums said:
What sort of money wre you looking to spend?

I'd be looking at the Japs tbh, something like an Accord or even a Prius.
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Good point. No firm budget. Up to £4k would be maximum. But the cheaper the better so £1k to £3k if possible.

Yes Toyota did come to mind.
 
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You're gonna want something a bit comfy, a little 1.2 bouncing off the limiter for hours on end won't be fun. Fuel economy will play a large part too I'd have thought.

This will last forever but will be a bit thirsty:

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Same with this one, but a bit waftier and heated seats, not ULEZ compliant though:

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For long distance regular driving on your budget I'd be looking at a small combi-van so you've got somewhere to sleep/have a kip when it breaks down and I'd make sure insurance coverage includes recovery.
 
Vauxhall Insignia or Ford Mondeo. Plenty about.

The Vauxhall Insignia 1.8 is an absolutely dire engine from a performance point of view but will do 40+ mpg on a run and be cheap to maintain.

There are absolutely loads of Mondeo's about with the 2.0 petrol engine. MK3 Ghia X would be my choice. They have heated and vented seats! Plenty sub 50k mile examples for a little over 2 grand.

Both cars being petrol will be ULEZ too.

If you want something with a bit of poke, luxury and still good on the fuel then a Saab 9-3 Aero is worth a shout. Engine is pretty much bulletproof and is based on Vectra underpinnings so consumables are cheap.
 
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Mondeo Titanium X Sport has all the toys and will be a nice place to be. Only issue is trying to find a petrol manual. I don't think the diesels are ULEZ compliant.
 
Two Mk3's here.

3.0 V6 which would be a joy to drive to York and back.

67,000 miles.

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2.0 petrol for the fuel economy.

41,000 miles.

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The 3.0 looks really tasty actually for the money.
 
What car do you currently have? Any reason why that won't work?

York to London is far but not the end of the world...
 
dlockers said:
What car do you currently have? Any reason why that won't work?

York to London is far but not the end of the world...
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Mini Cooper. I used it a lot for the same journey last year and it was really good. But we really need a second car so my wife can use the Mini when I'm in York.
 
The absolute cheapest way of doing this is to use your existing car. Ended up commuting from Birmingham to Bristol daily in a Fiat 500. Not ideal, but it had aircon and Bluetooth, didn’t break down or have any problems and did just over 50 to the gallon. Best of all we didn’t need to buy another car.

When I was thinking about this I considered Mercedes E classes (which can be had at higher mileages for your budget) and the Lexus GS.

The Mondeos above look excellent, but you really have to think carefully about buying any 20 year old car, especially one that you want to rely on.
 
With your budget definitely go jap.

A Mazda 6 or if that’s too big a 3, we have had our 2.0 petrol Mazda 6 for about 6-7 years been a very reliable car. Mpg on a run isn’t to bad either. He guys on the owner group who own the diesels have issues but the petrols are solid.

Honda accord, Lexus IS/GS, Toyota Avensis or a Prius if you can’t get one in your price range. I would also consider a Saab 9-3.
 
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