Mondeos

Frozennova · 17 May 2012 at 14:18

This thread is probably a little sooner than later it needs to be but I'd like to get my research done early.

For those who don't know I currently drive a mk2 golf, however my annual mileage may be going from around 6k a year to around 30-35k. This leaves me needing something reasonably economical and comfortable as I'll be spending approx 3 hours a day commuting plus travelling between clients.

My budget isn't going to be huge which leaves me looking at mondeos. Ideally I don't want to spend any more than 2k but would prefer closer to 1k. Is a £1000 to £1500 mondeo with 70k ish miles likely to be a liability. For reference I'm only looking at petrol engines for the time being as I am happy to trade some economy to not drive a tractor.

Anything I need to be looking out for when the time comes. I assume to 2ltr makes more sense than the 1.8

Frozennova · 17 May 2012 at 14:43

This is exactly why I came here asking for advice.

I've done 20k miles over 2 years in the Golf and its needed nothing bar servicing a set of tyres and a speedo cable. A car which I was slated for buying in the first place after paying £1000 for it.

It's also worth saying I do my own repairs and pay trade prices on parts.

Frozennova · 17 May 2012 at 15:03

I'm not sure on car allowance etc yet. interview is tomorrow, I'm just forward planning. injectors dmf etc is what puts me off diesel, which brings us to the tddi however there doesn't seem to be that many for sale at all.

Frozennova · 17 May 2012 at 15:29

This is exactly why I'm asking now rather than in two weeks when I've accepted the job and realised the additional pay doesn't cover the additional costs.

Frozennova · 17 May 2012 at 17:40

rodenal said:
Just be careful, that's a stupid amount of miles to put on any car that you own on a yearly basis unless you're being very, very well reimbursed for it.

Im hoping to sway a company car as your quite right, I will also need insurance for business use etc which at 20 isn't going to be cheap.

Brookert said:
What sort of work is it op?

Field engineer in IT

Frozennova · 17 May 2012 at 18:17

I have done exactly as you have said already Fox, you are just the person I was hoping to post in fact.

I already have a target salary in mind and will decline the job if it is offered below this, I'm quite willing to sacrifice 2-3 hours a day communting for a job I'm going to enjoy rather than being stuck in my current job which I currently despise being payed marginally better than minimum wage for a skilled job, which is currently sucking the life out of me, demotivating and giving me no reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Frozennova · 17 May 2012 at 18:40

I set my self a rule when I started my current job that if I had made no progress in terms of real world pay rises/promotion in this or any subsequent jobs after 12 months I would begin looking for something new.

If I do take the new job it is more than likely to be 12 months only then I will begin to look for something closer to home.

On a side note while 46 miles each way isnt exactly close I wouldn't consider it a monster commute either.

Frozennova · 17 May 2012 at 19:19

Brookert said:
Would you consider moving if your enjoyed this new position?

Not something I have considered to be honest, at the moment I'm not in a financial situation to do so but the new position could leave me being able to do so.

At the end of the day I'm only 20 and have no commitments and my girlfriend will be starting uni in Leeds in September so we will be travelling up or down the country every weekend or so to visit each other.

Frozennova · 17 May 2012 at 19:39

[TW]Fox;21944120 said:
You are basically about to embark on pretty much living in your car 7 days a week just at a point when fuel prices are near record highs.

Is this really wise?

Possibly not however I'm young, and you don't get anywhere in life with taking the occasional risk.

Rich_L

I will have more detail regarding allowances for usage of my own car etc tomorrow at the interview however I will enquire about company car options and see what is happens.

It will be a 2-3 hour commute to the office with additional driving to clients

Frozennova · 17 May 2012 at 19:59

I will be pushing for a company car as much as I dare as like you say covering those costs with needing a reasonably new respectable looking car are difficult for somebody of my age especially when I will need business cover on my insurance.
I'm allowing 3 hours for the commute allowing for traffic however it should take 56 mins or so.

Edit I think there is some confusion with the length of the commute, I'm looking at 2-3 hours a day not each way.

Frozennova · 18 May 2012 at 10:28

Robi said:
This is definitely something to consider.

My situation for example -

A. I live at home, pay £75 a month rent with all my food paid for, washing completed etc. Spend approx £400-450 on fuel, receive approx £200 back from work. Therefore my total living/fuel outgoing is approx £325.

B. Move close to work and flatshare at a cost of £350 including bills. I'll now have to pay for food, factor in £30 a week for that (being generous). Still have to spend a bit of money on fuel, approx £20 a week. Therefore my total living/fuel outgoing is approx £550 (doesn't include house insurance).

At the moment, it is more cost effective for me to live at home and put up with the commute.

I'll definitely be moving out, just a case of when.

This is my train of thought at the moment I currently live with my parents and pay a similar amount in rent to you. If I was to moved my increase in outgoing living closer would leave me worse off financially but would free up a couple of hours travel time a day.