£10k car for commuting

BennyC · 17 Jun 2011 at 15:56

A few months back I was looking at swapping the 182 for something more economical as I will have a 25 mile commute each way to work come October. This may change but one thing is for sure is that I can't manage it every day in that car up and down the A41. The road isn't great and it's generally very bumpy and there's quite a bit of road noise. The consumption doesn't bother me a great deal but more the fact that it's not a great place to be, bearable but not brilliant.

The 182 is great fun on the odd occasion that I give it a bit of beans which isn't actually all that often. I'll have a sports bike soon as well which will feed my need for speed.

I think something different is definitely on the cards. I've driven a works diesel Focus estate which was a total **** box with absolutely zero go but I wasn't expecting great things from it anyway. Some may remember I had the chance to drive a few higher range diesels (A6, 9.3, C class, all 11 plate) however these are way way out of my budget though I did find driving them was fine though they obviously respond differently to a petrol engine.

My 182 should fetch between £3500-£4000, higher end at a push, so I could most likely increase my budget to nearer the £5k mark though the less the better.

My needs & wants:
Comfortable
Reasonable to good economy
Reliability
Something that looks smart/tidy/sporty

I'm sure you're all frantically typing 'Mondeo ST220!!!111one!1', which I am aware of and some higher mileage options are in budget. Though what are the other contenders?

My budget could increase if needs be but not by a great deal and only if it would find me a tidier example. E46 320d's seem fulfill my criteria.

Any other options to be looking at?

BennyC

Relentless81 · 17 Jun 2011 at 16:11

Honda Accord Type-S 2.4 In Line 4 Cylinder VTEC 190BHP well within budget, get a very good example for that

Dr Who · 17 Jun 2011 at 16:50

BennyC said:
E46 320d's seem fulfill my criteria.

Answered your own question tbh, that is about as good as it gets.

BennyC · 17 Jun 2011 at 17:13

Relentless81 said:
Honda Accord Type-S 2.4 In Line 4 Cylinder VTEC 190BHP well within budget, get a very good example for that

Dr Who said:
Answered your own question tbh, that is about as good as it gets.

I'll give these a look over cheers.

I just don't really want a bottom of the barrel example so would rather drop my aspirations a little and get a good clean tidy example that will cause me minimal hassle than stretch to something I can't really afford and end up with a black hole on wheels.

I'll dig out a few examples over the weekend. I'm in no rush and have until October till this commute starts. My cars been recently MOT'd (today) has tax until November, was serviced in March, has new discs & pads all round, remap & SS exhaust. One slight ding on the drivers door pillar. Other than that it's very tidy so hopefully won't struggle to sell nor be bent over for a trade in.

Maccy · 17 Jun 2011 at 17:13

Is diesel really the solution with this sort of mileage? 250 miles a week for commuting so roughly 14,000 miles with personal mileage thrown in too. Hmm perhaps.

BennyC · 17 Jun 2011 at 17:30

Maccy said:
Is diesel really the solution with this sort of mileage? 250 miles a week for commuting so roughly 14,000 miles with personal mileage thrown in too. Hmm perhaps.

The economy isn't really the issue but more the comfort and isolation of road noise and also the ride. Having also had a chance to waft down the motorway in a diesel they are quieter and better built for it. Any increased economy would be a bonus, affordability isn't the issue but more the comfort of my journey.

A 40 minute drive to work in a noisy cabin that isn't uncomfortable but neither relaxing and a reasonably harsh ride will take it out of me.

The 182 is a fantastic car as you well know, just with the roads I'm going to be driving on it's not suited to the task at all. Slowly killing it with motorway miles gives me sad face

BennyC · 17 Jun 2011 at 19:35

Having spent the evening browsing adverts and also numerous threads on here and elsewhere for some background reading the 330i is recommended to people looking for 330d's. Is this due to the cheaper cost to fix & maintain? as they actually seem to be coming up cheaper and slightly better spec'd. Economy, according to parkers isn't close to it's diesel brother but people mention if driven carefully they give a good return? My budget *could* increase to £10k if I can justify the cost, which usually isn't to difficult, just that it's a lot of money for a car.

[TW]Fox · 17 Jun 2011 at 19:37

Oooh yes, a £4k 320d. That'll be a lovely car in fantastic condition and will never go wrong, being so mechanically simple and all that. You definately won't find yourself with 4 figure bills on a 10 year old 320d, you cant go wrong.

BennyC · 17 Jun 2011 at 20:15

[TW]Fox;19396649 said:
Oooh yes, a £4k 320d. That'll be a lovely car in fantastic condition and will never go wrong, being so mechanically simple and all that. You definately won't find yourself with 4 figure bills on a 10 year old 320d, you cant go wrong.

Budget has increased and I have been looking at 05/06 plates so not quite 10 years old...

I'm unsure whether a slight decrease in economy and lower purchase cost of a 330i is a better way to go than an larger initial outlay to get a slightly lower mileage and newer 330d.

[TW]Fox · 17 Jun 2011 at 20:25

Whats the budget now? I see talk of 'stretching'. Stretching to old and/or high mileage BMW's is a bad idea generally.

BennyC · 17 Jun 2011 at 20:45

[TW]Fox;19396938 said:
Whats the budget now? I see talk of 'stretching'. Stretching to old and/or high mileage BMW's is a bad idea generally.

I'd be comfortable with between £7000-£8000 though would need some more confirmed figures for economy on both the 330i and 330d. Both that I'm looking at are coupe sports.

330i's with between 60-80k and 330d's with anything from 65k up to 100k seem to fall in to my bracket.

320d is an option, not really much cheaper but I need to drive both really to see which I prefer. I'd like more grunt but if I find the 320d to be adequate then it's a no brainer really.

Random examples, I've seen hundreds tonight:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../postcode/wd38ja/page/2/radius/1500?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../radius/1500/postcode/wd38ja/page/7?logcode=p

I'd be grateful for your opinions, not necessarily on the examples as the interior isn't great on one but on my situation as I know BMW's are your specialty.

BennyC · 20 Jun 2011 at 19:27

Right, a bit of an update. I've had a long think about my budget and what I'd like to spend. It's a bit limitless really due to a large deposit inherited which I've purchased a house with so have a large amount of mortgage to use should I wish. Though I've never been keen on spending lots on a car only for it to depreciate.

I've decided to be sensible and stick to approx £10k. Worst case I get £2500 trade in for my 182 if it doesn't sell between now and August which is when my insurance renewal is due. So I'll have £2-3k change from £10k to buy a warranty with etc.

I've looked at e45 320/330d's, e60 520/525/530d's, e90 320d/325d/330d. I swung buy a Fiat garage which had a 06 E90 325d coupe in. It had seen better days with a small bit of reversing damage on the rear and scuffs up the door cards, lots of little marks on the trim inserts and a bit of scuff on one of the seats. Never the less I took it for a drive, mostly through traffic :rolleyes:

though did get on to a dual carriage way briefly. I wouldn't want to drop £15-16k and end up having to settle for one that's a bit rough or isn't as nicely spec'd as I'd like. So I've been going around in circles with budget and also car. Warranty too on E60/E90's are a bit too expensive for me...

So I've put my foot down with myself and have decided on an E46 330d. Examples I've looked at have between, best case, 40k and 55k on the clock all 2005 models.

I've done some googling for common faults etc. Very briefly could somebody explain what the issue with swirl flaps is? and how much it would cost to rectify before it should go wrong.

Opinions on the auto box, as well as the manual, would be welcome too having never really driven an automatic apart from the 325d at the weekend and an electric van at work

Any other things to be aware of or look out for would be welcome as would a little advice on a warranty which seems to come in at around £450pa comprehensive from BMW, providing it has a full dealer service history etc.

Thanks

Some examples:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201123389660754

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201122389538145

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201120387726374 (manual)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201123389658629

GT3 · 20 Jun 2011 at 20:49

Or you could save yourself thousands in purchase costs, avoid nightmare problems with the diesel varients and above all not have to put up with a dag dag. You aren't doing that many miles!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2865952.htm

BennyC · 20 Jun 2011 at 20:58

GT3 said:
Or you could save yourself thousands in purchase costs, avoid nightmare problems with the diesel varients and above all not have to put up with a dag dag. You aren't doing that many miles!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2865952.htm

What real world economy can I expect from a 330i? like I say the reason for switching isn't to save money on petrol as we can see from the MPG thread the difference is minimal.

Bare in mind my insurance. Though I will have *touch wood* 5 years no claims come renewal in August I am only 22 so anything much higher than the 330cd insurance wise is boarder line.

Edit: Road tax is almost double...

Unlight · 20 Jun 2011 at 20:59

I don't think I could bring myself to spend £10-11k on an E46 BMW..

[TW]Fox · 20 Jun 2011 at 21:01

BennyC said:
What real world economy can I expect from a 330i? like I say the reason for switching isn't to save money on petrol as we can see from the MPG thread the difference is minimal.

35ish on a run at 70mph. 20ish around town. Somewhere in between on mixed driving.

Cristian · 20 Jun 2011 at 21:02

Unlight said:
I don't think I could bring myself to spend £10-11k on an E46 BMW..

^ that as well.
you can look at plenty of e90s 330i with around 10k in your pocket. Sure it won't be a coupe, but it will be a better car. The engines are also more powerful and economic at the same time.

Unlight · 20 Jun 2011 at 21:02

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2581613.htm any good?

SaBBz · 20 Jun 2011 at 21:03

On the A41, assuming you are on the dual carriageway section you should see about 35mpg. Combined I get about 30mpg.

BennyC · 20 Jun 2011 at 21:15

[TW]Fox;19415766 said:
35ish on a run at 70mph. 20ish around town. Somewhere in between on mixed driving.

Thanks

Cristian said:
^ that as well.
you can look at plenty of e90s 330i with around 10k in your pocket. Sure it won't be a coupe, but it will be a better car. The engines are also more powerful and economic at the same time.

True, I have looked at the saloons, to be honest I haven't a problem with them, more practical no doubt. My budget could stretch a bit if I found one spec'd nicely. Tax would be cheaper too no doubt.

Unlight said:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2581613.htm any good?

Possibly.

I've looked at so many examples I've lost track of what's available. I have a preference that it's silver or grey. As having owned a black car dirt shows very quickly. I'd like black leather, sat nav (wouldn't we all) but very few examples I found had this fitted, also an M sport as I'm not really fond of the SE.

Thanks so far.