25,000 miles a year in comfort (and on a budget)

Jez

Jez

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Some of these car suggestions are awful :p Get an old E-Class (You'll need to spend much more for an S IMO, and the suspension will near definitely raise a reasonable bill over time - maybe acceptable?) with a nice high spec and the 7g-tronic auto, the parts are all available on eBay if you do ever need any (likely to just be consumables really, and thermostats, belts, bits like that), the engines/drivetrains themselves are pretty much as reliable as you can get. They are private hire world over for a reason.

The EV argument is the only interesting one, this comes down to whether you definitely want to ride out the lease, and also really think about how much fuel you will really use in the diesel as you really may not use as much as you think that you will (annual leave, bank holidays, WFH, etc). The E-Class wont top much more than 40mpg average even over high mileage, they are not economical like a Skoda PD. (Source: I have done hundreds of k in Mercedes cars).
 
Caporegime
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Some of these car suggestions are awful :p Get an old E-Class (You'll need to spend much more for an S IMO, and the suspension will near definitely raise a reasonable bill over time - maybe acceptable?) with a nice high spec and the 7g-tronic auto, the parts are all available on eBay if you do ever need any (likely to just be consumables really, and thermostats, belts, bits like that), the engines/drivetrains themselves are pretty much as reliable as you can get. They are private hire world over for a reason.

The EV argument is the only interesting one, this comes down to whether you definitely want to ride out the lease, and also really think about how much fuel you will really use in the diesel as you really may not use as much as you think that you will (annual leave, bank holidays, WFH, etc). The E-Class wont top much more than 40mpg average even over high mileage, they are not economical like a Skoda PD. (Source: I have done hundreds of k in Mercedes cars).

This old CLK seems decent as well. Seems like decent VFM. Especially what an alternative Audi or BMW would cost.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109097167131?sort=price-asc&make=Mercedes-Benz&aggregatedTrim=CLK320 CDI&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used&radius=200&postcode=pe217qe&advertising-location=at_cars&model=CLK&include-delivery-option=on&page=1

Saying that this E Class looks decent as well.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-de...on=on&make=Mercedes-Benz&model=E Class&page=2
 

Jez

Jez

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Re the CLK, to be honest i would try to get into a W212/C207 era car? I like those older ones, virtually the same drivetrains on them too, but maybe a bit old for daily use in 2022?

Edit for your edit: Same re the E-Class too - maybe a bit old now? That car is generationally the same as the 1999 S-Class. Nice car but a bit long in the tooth these days?
 
Man of Honour
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This old CLK seems decent as well. Seems like decent VFM. Especially what an alternative Audi or BMW would cost.

You realise the equivalent BMW to that CLK is a 1999-2006 E46 Coupe, right?

I'd imagine an E46 is basically free these days so I don't really understand your point.
 
Soldato
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I'd rather do 25k a year on the bus than drive that. It was a good car once but that was a very long time ago. This model of Octavia came out in 1997 and looks and feels like it inside and out. A very depressing place to spend 25,000 miles a year in 2021. It doesn't appear to even have cruise control.

It looks and will feel like a £450 car and will make doing 25k a year about as miserable as possible.

Sadly can’t have millionaire taste with a £5,000 budget.
I’m sure he will find a ‘better’ car than the one I linked, but will he find a more reliable/economic one.
I would sooner drive a MK4 Golf or MK1 Octavia than a small 1.0 city hatch.

Interestingly, what would you choose to do 25,000 miles a year on a £5000 budget?

Edit: why is it more depressing in 2021 than it was in 1997? It’s just a car. A means of transport. You obviously spend too much time worrying about what people think of you (image).
Also cruise control is next to useless on UK roads. Rare that you find an empty section of road where it’s pleasant to use.
 
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Caporegime
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I’d rather take a hefty pay cut! If you add an extra two hours into your working day and divide out the salary it has a significant impact on your hourly rate! Oh and don’t forget to factor in the days when the motor way is broken and you 70 minute commute turns into 3hrs!

I know what you are saying but when I was younger I commuted 102 miles each way, 4 hours a day for a job I loved and paid stupid money for a couple of years until we were in a situation where we could move house but even then it only cut my journey to 50 miles and an hour each way. Helped that work paid for the car and the fuel.

People used to ask me why on earth i would do it and my answer was that I viewed all jobs as not being my time from the minute I left my door to when i return home so as long as I was happy with the pay for my 12 hour days and then later 10 hour days then that was all that mattered. I worked with people who started at 7am and didnt finish until 6pm and only lived half an hour away and said they were doing the same hours as me in affect so why was it any different? For me I could at east listen to music or audio books for 4 hours of my "working" day.

Not sure now i am older I would do that as prefer my spare time over money but thats the same as everybody as they get older, money means less.
 

Jez

Jez

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I know what you are saying but when I was younger I commuted 102 miles each way, 4 hours a day for a job I loved and paid stupid money for a couple of years until we were in a situation where we could move house but even then it only cut my journey to 50 miles and an hour each way. Helped that work paid for the car and the fuel.

People used to ask me why on earth i would do it and my answer was that I viewed all jobs as not being my time from the minute I left my door to when i return home so as long as I was happy with the pay for my 12 hour days and then later 10 hour days then that was all that mattered. I worked with people who started at 7am and didnt finish until 6pm and only lived half an hour away and said they were doing the same hours as me in affect so why was it any different? For me I could at east listen to music or audio books for 4 hours of my "working" day.

Not sure now i am older I would do that as prefer my spare time over money but thats the same as everybody as they get older, money means less.
I think exactly in exactly the same way as you, I have always commuted "long" distances, until not long ago i was doing 4 hours per day, sometimes 7 days per week in commuting. For me a total no brainer, like you i just considered it as part of the job. The pay was more than i ever thought possible so was worth it for me. I WFH a lot more now, but will still do approx 18-20k/year to maintain visits to customer sites etc. I wont do it forever, but while i do bother having a full time job, it may as well be one which pays well (unfortunately impossible locally).
 

Jez

Jez

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Also cruise control is next to useless on UK roads. Rare that you find an empty section of road where it’s pleasant to use.
This is a very odd comment and is more that you are optionally driving the car using the pedals. I would conservatively estimate that over 95% of my road miles are on cruise control.

Ignoring trunk routes, lets take a simple trip to my local town. I will use the pedals on the car to manoeuvre out of my driveway and onto my lane, cruise control at 30mph for around 5 miles, use the pedals to stop then pull onto an A-road, cruise at 50mph for around 3 miles, use the pedals to stop at some lights, turn, and then set cruise back to 30mph for a couple of miles, i'll then use the pedals once more to manoeuvre the other end and park. Ie, i'll not use the pedals much - manoeuvre only for me. Will use the +/- to anticipate other cars and speed up/slow down, rarely use the pedals while not turning/stopping. Exactly the same is true for every journey i make.

Apologies - a long winded way to say that for me, the cruise controls are the main form of control on any car and the first thing (well, 2nd after the steering wheel/pedals :p) i'd feel totally alien if it were not there.
 
Soldato
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This is a very odd comment and is more that you are optionally driving the car using the pedals. I would conservatively estimate that over 95% of my road miles are on cruise control.

Bizzare.
You must really enjoy driving, I wouldn’t even say that was possible.
But it’s a forum so of course it is…
 
Soldato
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Edit: why is it more depressing in 2021 than it was in 1997? It’s just a car. A means of transport.
Because there are nicer cars to spend (assuming an average overall speed of 50mph) 500 hours a year (or 2 hours a day during the week) of your life in in 2021.

Also cruise control is next to useless on UK roads. Rare that you find an empty section of road where it’s pleasant to use.

Nonsense, I use it all the time on motorways and A roads, it's absolutely nowhere near 'useless' - especially not for primarily motorway usage.
 

Jez

Jez

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Bizzare.
You must really enjoy driving, I wouldn’t even say that was possible.
But it’s a forum so of course it is…
Not following you, i am telling you that i use cruise control for *all* driving except while manoeuvring/stopping etc. I even went into pointless detail of a typical local journey:) The CC is as important to me as the pedals.
 
Caporegime
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This is a very odd comment and is more that you are optionally driving the car using the pedals. I would conservatively estimate that over 95% of my road miles are on cruise control.

Ignoring trunk routes, lets take a simple trip to my local town. I will use the pedals on the car to manoeuvre out of my driveway and onto my lane, cruise control at 30mph for around 5 miles, use the pedals to stop then pull onto an A-road, cruise at 50mph for around 3 miles, use the pedals to stop at some lights, turn, and then set cruise back to 30mph for a couple of miles, i'll then use the pedals once more to manoeuvre the other end and park. Ie, i'll not use the pedals much - manoeuvre only for me. Will use the +/- to anticipate other cars and speed up/slow down, rarely use the pedals while not turning/stopping. Exactly the same is true for every journey i make.

Apologies - a long winded way to say that for me, the cruise controls are the main form of control on any car and the first thing (well, 2nd after the steering wheel/pedals :p) i'd feel totally alien if it were not there.

I agree with you and I am the same but only with adaptive cruise control that slows you down and speeds you up. 95% of the miles i do are done this way.

With older cars with "normal" cruise control, I never would use it as it was impractical except for motorway travel.
 
Soldato
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Indeed, odd. I used standard cruise maybe 80% of my journey, tweak speed depending or roads. TBH its the main way my license has remained point free.

Now lucky enough to have a car with cruise that adjusts with the car in front and its so nice!
 
Soldato
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Not following you, i am telling you that i use cruise control for *all* driving except while manoeuvring/stopping etc. I even went into pointless detail of a typical local journey:)
to use it on a 30mph, urban environment sounds unexpected, local roads to me have so many junctions, where you are looking 100m down the road, to modulate accelerator&speed and drive smoothly, where there is parking on on side too, synchronising your arrival at those narrowed gaps.
 
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