New Car - Best for commute?

Steedie · 2 Mar 2012 at 16:42

Hey guys,

Accepted a new job this week due to start in 6 weeks, came with a rather nice pay rise so looking to get a new car (well been looking a while, but even more so now). Reason for that being it will involve a regular commute, not the biggest commute ever, 45 mile round trip every day, but with my car approaching what is considered 'high mileage', I wouldn't want to rely on it every day for the next few years so want it gone.

So I was looking to get new, mainly for the warranty you'd get. Now, I guess I'll have to stick to diesel

as I'd rather not get a tiny petrol engine to match the MPG of a diesel, although I'd be delighted if that wasn't the case. Also, I'd like something fairly comfortable to drive and be in for a while, because commuting on the A34, I'll have to accept I'll be in slow moving traffic some days

So, I really have no idea what would be best? Budget, well 20k or around that? I guess more if leasing. Can stretch for the right car. Another thing, wondered whether it would be best to buy or lease a new car, then just swap it every few years?

Any advice as always is appreciated

Cheers

[TW]Fox · 2 Mar 2012 at 16:47

lol, you drive a 120d not a 1987 Ford Escort. You probably already have the best car for the job. It's not going to explode into a ball of fire because 'the mileage is high'.

Why spend £20k on a diesel tool to drive to work and back?

About a year ago you posted about how much you hate driving a diesel and how you wish you'd listened to advice at the time... now you want to drop £20,000 on a brand new diesel? It's clear you don't really know what you want - hence the random impulse buy of the 120d then the fact you nearly bought a Porsche Boxster and now the fact you've randomly decided you need a brand new diesel. There is nothing wrong with not knowing what it is you really want PROVIDED you don't act on random impulses whilst this is the case.

I can almost guarantee going on past posts you'll shell out £20k on a presumably financed generic diesel hatch and then 6 months later you'll be wondering why on earth you did it.

The Darkness · 2 Mar 2012 at 16:48

I'd think with that mileage (12k/annum?) you could go petrol or diesel, so perhaps keep your options open?

Do you need lots of space, 2 or 4 seats, and how much of a concern are running costs?

Great fun choosing a car; enjoy the process!

Brookert · 2 Mar 2012 at 16:58

I've seen loads of 120d with 100k+ miles on them with no problems. Why the need for a change?

If you just want something new then thats fine, but there would be nothing wrong with using your car for a while longer.

If it ain't broke......

Steedie · 2 Mar 2012 at 16:58

[TW]Fox;21386723 said:
lol, you drive a 120d not a 1987 Ford Escort. You probably already have the best car for the job. It's not going to explode into a ball of fire because 'the mileage is high'.

Why spend £20k on a diesel tool to drive to work and back?

About a year ago you posted about how much you hate driving a diesel and how you wish you'd listened to advice at the time... now you want to drop £20,000 on a brand new diesel? It's clear you don't really know what you want - hence the random impulse buy of the 120d then the fact you nearly bought a Porsche Boxster and now the fact you've randomly decided you need a brand new diesel. There is nothing wrong with not knowing what it is you really want PROVIDED you don't act on random impulses whilst this is the case.

I can almost guarantee going on past posts you'll shell out £20k on a presumably financed generic diesel hatch and then 6 months later you'll be wondering why on earth you did it.

It's done 80k miles...

While I appreciate that's not moon miles, I've been fortunate since owning it that I've not had to pay any bills on it, but that's because I do next to no miles in it as I live 2 minutes away from my current job. However, doing nearly 1k miles a month in it, I really wouldn't want to start forking out when things like turbos go, injectors and so on. And going by stories on babybmw, stuff can start to go wrong around this mileage. I'd rather not spend most of my new salary each year, pouring it into BMW.

And sorry Fox, but what? I still want and would love a Porsche Boxster, and I've been very close to buying one recently, but now I have this new job, I really don't think it would be sensible for me to go and buy one and start doing a commute, even a small one in it. And I didn't say I HAD to go diesel, just unless I want a 1.2 petrol or similar, I'm not going to get the sort of fuel economy out of it that I would a diesel

Seriously, I don't know what your problem is with me, every thread or post I make, you always have some sort of "lol it's Steedie" attitude. Sorry I made a thread on a public forum, asking for advice about cars in a "Motors" section. Jesus, if you have nothing to add other than "lol" and basically mock me based on previous posts, I'd rather you just didn't bother posting. Also, who gives a crap if it's financed? If I can afford it, why not? Not everyone has this "Omg m8, you finance a car!!!!11111 you must be poor lols and you deserve no better than a 20 year old Nova"

Howard · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:03

It's a modern car with average miles on the clock. If your name was Sam Tyler and you'd posted this thread in 1980, perhaps you'd have a point. But come on, spending £20k on a new car just in case your current car throws up a £500 bill?

Perhaps instead of moaning at Fox about what he said, you read what he wrote and heed his advice?

[TW]Fox · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:05

Steedie said:
It's done 80k miles...

OMG! Quick, spend £20k on a new one.

80k? Seriously?

While I appreciate that's not moon miles, I've been fortunate since owning it that I've not had to pay any bills on it, but that's because I do next to no miles in it as I live 2 minutes away from my current job. However, doing nearly 1k miles a month in it,

'nearly 1k miles a month' is smack on average mileage. It is not high mileage driving. It's not some sort of epic and arduous task.

And sorry Fox, but what? I still want and would love a Porsche Boxster, and I've been very close to buying one recently, but now I have this new job, I really don't think it would be sensible for me to go and buy one and start doing a commute, even a small one in it. And I didn't say I HAD to go diesel, just unless I want a 1.2 petrol or similar, I'm not going to get the sort of fuel economy out of it that I would a diesel

You are doing to do 12k a year not 30k a year!

Seriously, I don't know what your problem is with me, every thread or post I make, you always have some sort of "lol it's Steedie" attitude. Sorry I made a thread on a public forum, asking for advice about cars in a "Motors" section. Jesus, if you have nothing to add other than "lol" and basically mock me based on previous posts, I'd rather you just didn't bother posting. Also, who gives a crap if it's financed? If I can afford it, why not? Not everyone has this "Omg m8, you finance a car!!!!11111 you must be poor lols and you deserve no better than a 20 year old Nova"

If thats what you honestly think then why ask for advice if you are going to interpret everything that doesn't re-assure you what a fantastic idea borrowing money to buy a brand new car because you'll be doing 40 miles a day as if its some sort of personal attack.

It's not.

But we've read enough of your posts in the past to forsee the way this is going. Therefore, presented with an opportunity to save you from a pile more regret, it must surely be taken.

If you are bored of your 120d then by all means - splash out on a new car and we'd love to help you make a great decision. But you could probably buy and run that Porsche you crave for LESS than the cost of buying a brand new hatchback! The way this thread comes across is:

'omg, my 120d has 80k on it so will never cope with my super-huge 40 mile a day drive, I must get rid of it because it might drop a bill on me and instead borrow a huge pile of money to buy a brand new hatchback at once'. A £20k brand new hatchback will drop, what, £10-£15k over 2-3 years. Thats guaranteed. So you are effectively taking on a loss of up to £15,000 in order to save yourself from a potential bill of many, many, many times less than that.

That sort of plan is never going to go down rationally on here, is it? It's up to you whether you chose to interpret the opinions as abuse or opportunity.

4T5 · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:06

I think he's right getting rid of that old nail he has with 80k up it, Best go out & buy a car you know nothing about its history instead.

PMKeates · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:06

Steedie said:
Also, who gives a crap if it's financed? If I can afford it, why not? Not everyone has this "Omg m8, you finance a car!!!!11111 you must be poor lols and you deserve no better than a 20 year old Nova"

It's just a shame to finance a generic car; there's a lot better out there for less money. Borrowing to get something interesting that you couldn't otherwise afford is pretty reasonable, but borrowing to get a reg plate that you couldn't otherwise afford? Hmm...

Spamalot · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:12

You're right OP, you don't want to pour all your wages in to an odd BMW when you can spend the same and some in financing a new car of equal or less quality. It's not as if £20k is going to get you anything much better than your 120d anyway is it?

Duke · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:13

Keep what you've got unless there is something wrong with it.

Steedie · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:15

4T5 said:
I think he's right getting rid of that old nail he has with 80k up it, Best go out & buy a car you know nothing about its history instead.

Well the point of buying new is it would have no history to worry about, but never mind

Fine, if everyone truly believes that your average modern car can cope well above 80k and still be relied upon to do so every day, fair enough. I'm just going by threads on babybmw which I'm a member on, and it's reading things like that that led me to believe it would be sensible to get rid of it now

And Fox, I wasn't claiming it to be a large commute, but it's a commute none the less, and 12k a year is still a lot more than I'm used too. Probably doing 4k tops these last two years.

Finally, for the record, only a small portion of it would be financed. I only asked about leasing as an option

[TW]Fox · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:19

Go and buy a £10k Mk5 Golf GTI* or something.

a) Not a depreciation diaster
b) Fun and enjoyable to own
c) Reasonably reliable
d) Looks great, drives well
e) A nice place to be for 40 miles a day

*Swap GTI for GT or whatever if you dont care about performance. You can actually get the 1.4 TSI GT for a decent enough price these days. Reasonably quick yet frugal as well.

Howard · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:21

Of course a modern car can cope well above 80k. Double that and maybe you might have some cause for concern. But if looked after, a car should last, for all intents and purposes, forever. It's far more likely to get written off in a crash

And yes, if you look at single make/model forums, where everybody goes for advice in the case of a problem, it's going to skewer the reliability reputation inaccurately.

4T5 · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:23

Steedie said:
Fine, if everyone truly believes that your average modern car can cope well above 80k and still be relied upon to do so every day, fair enough

Yours isn't an average car though is it its a damn good one which has been well looked after by the sound of it, To me your car is just run in & is ripe for some 1k a month mileage.
Anything you pay for maintenance will be Loads less than the depreciation you will lose buying new. Carry on looking after what you have & you could save Thousands over the years.

Spamalot · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:23

Steedie said:
Finally, for the record, only a small portion of it would be financed. I only asked about leasing as an option

If only a small about would be financed why not spend less than £20k and save yourself some money.

If your board of the 120d and want something reasonably economical, comfortable, faster than your current car and trouble free why not get an E9X 330i/d or and LCI 530i/d. Assuming they have less than 60k miles you'll be able to get a warrenty on them similar to what you'd get on a new car. You should also see a fair amount of change from £15k also.

Haggisman · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:29

It's such a cliche, but in general, the cheapest option is the car you already own.

You seem worried about sudden big repair bills; have a think about how many of those big repair bills will it take to balance out the £20k you seem so keen on dropping on a new car (which will lose most of it's value in the first few years anyway)...

daisycutter · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:35

Im confused,

Your worried about repair costs on component failures. Ive no idea what age your BMW is but why not just shell out on a decent aftermarket warranty. £500 quid and it will cover all major parts. Wear and Tear items obviously not covered.

Or how about a Mini diesel, super economy and a little bit of style and goes well enough. As has been mentioned, its all about what you expect or want from a car, ie: space, performance or just MPG.

if i were you id just keep the BMW and keep it well serviced, oil change every 8000 miles at least on modern diesels, forget the bulls**t long life oil intervals. most turbo failures are still down to lack of lubrication (bearing cooling).

Joe T · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:37

Until I changed jobs I was putting 18k miles a year on a 160k mile BMW (160k miles when I sold it, I bought it with 80k on it).

Steedie · 2 Mar 2012 at 17:37

I have looked at aftermarket warranties, but at my mileage, none of them seem worth having, in that pretty much nothing is covered or stuff that is covered requires you to cover most of the cost anyway

If there is a decent one that's recommended on here, then I'd love to see it as of course that is another option