train update skeeter.
Commuting long distances
- Thread starter Sinny
- Start date
train update skeeter.
This thread shows it's more about time than distance. I commute 16 miles each way and it can take an hour in the car. Also takes an hour cycling which I sometimes do, and 40 mins on the motorbike.
If I had to do the car everyday I'd go nuts.
If I had to do the car everyday I'd go nuts.
The last time I was employed I commuted 100 miles round trip every day. It was motorway traffic (A1 southbound)90% of the way, but it would take on a good day 45 minutes to sometimes 150 minutes when the traffic was having a wobble.
Fuel wise (2 ltr VW diesel )cost me in the region of 50 notes a week. The time was the killer though and after 12 months of it, I had had enough.
Wouldn't and couldn't do it again.
Fuel wise (2 ltr VW diesel )cost me in the region of 50 notes a week. The time was the killer though and after 12 months of it, I had had enough.
Wouldn't and couldn't do it again.
Exactly. My commute is about 60 miles each way (Portsmouth to Bracknell) but takes 1 hour 10 minutes which I can deal with. If I leave work late which I often do I can actually get home in about an hour. I used to live in Basingstoke which meant my commute to Bracknell was 27 miles each way and that used to take around 45-50 minutes.
Despite my mileage more than doubling, it only takes around 20-25 minutes more which was never a big deal for me. It helps that I have quite a few different routes that I can take too which not only mixes it up a bit so I don't have to do the same thing every day but also gives me options when one of the main roads is inevitably knackered. If it was a 1 and a half to 2 hour jaunt each way on crap roads with little or no alternative routes then I'd struggle to deal with that.
This seems to be less a motoring discussion and more one of getting some hobbies and making some friends.
I absolutely agree with this, don't underestimate the impact on your quality of life. Long commutes are ok on a temporary basis, but as a long term option you have to realise you are throwing many hours of your life away just commuting.
Also don't underestimate the costs. Fuel is just one cost, you also need to take into account the frequent servicing, new tyres, brakes etc... Insurance will also be higher if doing well above average annual mileage.
Associate
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- Nottingham - UK
I personally do a similar commute a couple of times a week going Nottingham to Dudley (~55miles each way). I do it in my Auris Hybrid and manage ~62mpg so the fuel costs aren't particularly large.
Personally I don't find it particularly tiring, and will often do my last conference call of the day or general calls from the car so find it doesn't impact hugely on my time. That said if I had to go in the office every day rather than working from home most of the time, I would have moved jobs by now. Also there are occasions like last night when it took me 2hrs to get home thanks to some clowns on the M6 which does get to you a bit!
You've got to think - can what you are doing be done closer, or do you really value what you've got where you live. Personally what I do is quite a rare job outside of London and enjoy what I do so I'm happy to drive.
Personally I don't find it particularly tiring, and will often do my last conference call of the day or general calls from the car so find it doesn't impact hugely on my time. That said if I had to go in the office every day rather than working from home most of the time, I would have moved jobs by now. Also there are occasions like last night when it took me 2hrs to get home thanks to some clowns on the M6 which does get to you a bit!
You've got to think - can what you are doing be done closer, or do you really value what you've got where you live. Personally what I do is quite a rare job outside of London and enjoy what I do so I'm happy to drive.
I dont get it, i was originally asking about commutes and the discussion has developed slightly.
Where is the problem?
Im an electrical apprentice so im really only staying there to get qualified, once my indentures come through i will be moving back and getting a job back home.
I would not consider it on that wage, your looking at £2.5k just for fuel plus at least £1k of other running costs to keep an older car on the road per year.
You will spend around 35-40% of your take home pay on your car, that is also assuming it doesn't break and you will be putting it in the bin at the end of it.
You also need to take into account what issue you employer would have if the turbo/injectors go on your car and you cant get it fixed for a number of days.
I did a 100 mile a day in a 10 year old 1.2 Clio down the A11 and A14 for 18 months.
I used 10L of fuel per day, meaning having to re-fill every 4 days. I didn't break 65mph and its quite frankly hard work to maximise your MPG is heavy traffic on the A14.
I was lucky in the fact that the car didn't break but in the 18 month period I amounted up 44k miles (inc personal), most older cars will break.
I was 1 hour+ late on average twice per month due to muppet's that cant drive.
You will spend around 35-40% of your take home pay on your car, that is also assuming it doesn't break and you will be putting it in the bin at the end of it.
You also need to take into account what issue you employer would have if the turbo/injectors go on your car and you cant get it fixed for a number of days.
I did a 100 mile a day in a 10 year old 1.2 Clio down the A11 and A14 for 18 months.
I used 10L of fuel per day, meaning having to re-fill every 4 days. I didn't break 65mph and its quite frankly hard work to maximise your MPG is heavy traffic on the A14.
I was lucky in the fact that the car didn't break but in the 18 month period I amounted up 44k miles (inc personal), most older cars will break.
I was 1 hour+ late on average twice per month due to muppet's that cant drive.
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WTF?
For a start, I assumed that the OP's car wasn't the charged version of the 1.4. I could be wrong of course. But even so, while turbo / injector failure is a possibility, it's by no means guaranteed.
And where does another minimum £1k of other running costs come from? Sure, maybe a set of tyres every year instead of every 2 years, but, assuming it's not running bling 19's or something, that is only an extra £200 or so. Basic servicing is easily done yourself, so another £60 on oil and filters should easily cover that. And these are costs that would have been needed every 2 years anyway likely, so the actual extra is only half that.
Brakes, yeah, they might need changed more often, depending on the actual route, and speed of driving. But that's only needing changed every 3-4 years.
I suspect his fuel plus £50-70 per month for servicing, tyres, emergency fund should pretty much cover it.
The thing is, he was only talking about £200 per month or so for another car anyway, so unless it's a new, small, cheap ecobox, that's about a £10k car on HP. So not a new "something nice", which would be likely to have some issues anyway being out of warranty. And sticking these sorts of miles on a new car kills its value.
Moreover, he has also stated it's only for around 6 months. So is only around 10,000 miles. On a 100k car, another 10,000 miles in 6 months isn't going to kill it. So long as it's in decent nick already, then there shouldn't really be any "extra" costs.
I would just crack on. Do the trial in the new year, see how you get on, if you feel you're ok to do it, then crack on with it. Fire £50-odd away every month "just in case", and don't sweat it.
For a start, I assumed that the OP's car wasn't the charged version of the 1.4. I could be wrong of course. But even so, while turbo / injector failure is a possibility, it's by no means guaranteed.
And where does another minimum £1k of other running costs come from? Sure, maybe a set of tyres every year instead of every 2 years, but, assuming it's not running bling 19's or something, that is only an extra £200 or so. Basic servicing is easily done yourself, so another £60 on oil and filters should easily cover that. And these are costs that would have been needed every 2 years anyway likely, so the actual extra is only half that.
Brakes, yeah, they might need changed more often, depending on the actual route, and speed of driving. But that's only needing changed every 3-4 years.
I suspect his fuel plus £50-70 per month for servicing, tyres, emergency fund should pretty much cover it.
The thing is, he was only talking about £200 per month or so for another car anyway, so unless it's a new, small, cheap ecobox, that's about a £10k car on HP. So not a new "something nice", which would be likely to have some issues anyway being out of warranty. And sticking these sorts of miles on a new car kills its value.
Moreover, he has also stated it's only for around 6 months. So is only around 10,000 miles. On a 100k car, another 10,000 miles in 6 months isn't going to kill it. So long as it's in decent nick already, then there shouldn't really be any "extra" costs.
I would just crack on. Do the trial in the new year, see how you get on, if you feel you're ok to do it, then crack on with it. Fire £50-odd away every month "just in case", and don't sweat it.
The OP referenced getting a diesel, given his wage it certainly wont be a new one unless he gets some help.
Your assuming his employment will end when the apprenticeship completes, which is mostly not the case and could end up commuting for some time while searching for a new job.
£1k of other running costs is easily made up if you think about it and I referenced a total cost PER YEAR vs take home wage.
Insurance (especially given his age),
Servicing (not everyone can do it themselves),
Break down (you'll want it),
MOT's
Tax
Repairs
Consumables such as tiers, oil top ups etc.
Given the OP's age, insurance will be most of that alone. I spend close to that and do less than 4k per year. Insurance £250, Tax £180, Service £150, MOT £50, Breakdown cover £80, all of that is £710 before you even get off the drive. My math is solid.
Yes most of those costs are fixed regardless of mileage, but for most people those costs are similar to the cost of the fuel for the year. But when you start doing 22k per year just commuting alone your costs explode. The average UK total mileage is around 8K per year which is about 900 liters of fuel at 40MPG which is £990 at 1.10 per liter.
OP - I never said don't do it, I did it myself. But don't underestimate the costs and don't get another car to do it, it will just cost you more money. Financing costs and the depreciation of a newer car will cost an drasticly more than just using your current car.
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I spend 2-3 days a week in London, though I will usually stay down, but it's circa 2.5 hours door to door and around 140 miles. Car to station (25 mins), train the London (70 mins) cab to office (25 mins).
I think it's job dependant I love my job and dedicate a lot of myself to it, if it becomes permanent I'd probably just suck it up I do worry about the loss of 'me' time which is even harder to find now the Mrs lives with me
I will more than likely get hired at the end of it, but in no way shape or form do i want to live near where i work. I dont like Telford at all.
I am not worried about the commuting time that much to be honest, its more to do with the cost and seeing how other people in similar sort of situations deal or have dealt with it.
If i have to live down there for the duration im sure i can find somewhere better than the doss place i live at the minute, but i get on really well with my parents and find that the main reason for wanting to do it.
I would end up on the 20k miles pa if i did the commute. I think a trial run would be the best bet.
Jesus, I've just started a new job, doing 150 miles round trip per day on A roads predominantly and I'm getting about 45mpg out of my old GTI.
I'd been thinking about making a change to something 2.0TDI based but not sure that sort of saving would be worth the depression of driving a diesel.
Soldato
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I moan doing 18 Miles a day, 90 miles would %^&* me off no end.
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He is saying his complete average since the car arrived is 48mpg. Not that the Motorway section of his commute is 48mpg. He will presumably spend a lot of time in stationary traffic at either end.