The concept of the "work hack"

lordrobs

lordrobs

lordrobs

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OK another slightly rambling thread but I'm sure you expect nothing less by now :o

As I've mentioned several times recently my commute has gone up considerably from just over 5 to just over 50 miles a day (soon to be just over 60). This got me all twitchy and test driving 1.6TDCi Foci but a combination of needing to spend money on my Octavia (insurance, MOT and Cambelt all due), rubbish trade in offers for the Octavia (well I think £1.3k is rubbish but that may be me overvaluing it) and not really knowing what I wanted meant that I put buying a car on hold and spent what was needed on the Octavia.

So all the bills are paid on the Octy and the pressure is off but I still find myself looking at a huge variety of cars on Autotrader with a mind to moving it on at some point.

Here is where I find myself stuck. I drove the 1.6TDCi Focus and it was ok if a bit "meh" as was expected really. The weird thing was that I had a Citroen C1 as a courtesy car when the Punto was in for a service and as I walked up to it I was very :( maybe even a bit :mad: as I had 80 miles to cover in the thing. That said though it was actually alright. It fit my 6 foot something slightly stocky frame well, it drove ok, you could almost go as far as to call it fun to throw around the twisty lanes. All in all I was very impressed with the thing. I think it was the way it did the basics well and everything else was stripped away to keep it to the bear minimum. In summary proper cheap no frills motoring and no turbos, injectors, dmf's, dpf's etc. etc. to stress about.

The little thing got me wondering... it was cheap to buy, fuel, tax, service, tyres were a set for less than the cost of two on the Octavia and I didn't want to slit my wrists after doing over 80 miles in it.

So to the point, finally, am I completely insane in thinking that this might actually be a feasible idea? It would literally be used to cover my commute and work miles (unless I need to travel to something 100+ miles) and we would use the Grande Punto as our 'nice' car. OK so a Punto isn't a limousine by any stretch but the dual zone climate and cruise help with making it a stress free machine for holidays and stuff.

Just for clarification this would be my only car and the only aim would be to shift the balance of money going into car running costs and back into our savings account which has been gathering cobwebs for a while now.

Your thoughts, opinions and abuse would be appreciated!
 
It's a completely insane idea. I couldn't even begin to entertain the idea of driving 60 miles a day in a Citroen C1. Buy an old 2.0 Mondeo with 16" wheels if you want cheap.
 
A C1? It's a pile of crap and you'll have to drive it for years before this plan will even break even, cheapest of the cheap C1's I could see just now was 4k. Can't see how this is a good idea at all, 50 miles a day is hardly very much anyway.
 
If you are only ever going to be driving it, maybe worth a shot. If there's ever a chance you're going to be a passenger though... you might want to reconsider :)
 
It's not insane to the average person. To someone who is used to the comfort of a 3 series it will appear that you need commiting for even entertaining the idea.

How was the road noise though and how comfortable are the seats and driving position? These are very important if you'll be covering that amount of mileage regularly.

The plus points of the C1 is that it's pretty much the cheapest car possible to run and you really wont be bothered if it starts to look or get run down. You'll look like a twonk anyway! It's the definition of hassle free motoring.
 
IMO one of those novelty things - the "on the edge" if you can call it that experience of doing without the luxuries the first few times probably adds a bit of a thrill to it that once its gone will be replaced with the reality of how crap it really is for doing regularly. Made a bit of a hash of explaining that but hopefully you get the gist of it.
 
Rroff said:
IMO one of those novelty things - the "on the edge" if you can call it that experience of doing without the luxuries the first few times probably adds a bit of a thrill to it that once its gone will be replaced with the reality of how crap it really is for doing regularly. Made a bit of a hash of explaining that but hopefully you get the gist of it.
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The thrill of doing without cruise control?

Is there a more suburban middle class comment?:D

Once..... and dont tell too many people this..... I drank lager from the can.
 
NathWraith said:
60 miles a day on a push bike? Not sure pushbikes can go down the motorway.
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I'm assuming that's 30 each way which is more than doable. As for the motorway, you'd be correct but there is usually a large network of smaller quieter roads that you can use.
 
As I said didn't explain it very well :P but my point is the novelty of the minimal experience probably at first would mask the reality of actually having to do it every day.
 
Malc said:
How was the road noise though and how comfortable are the seats and driving position? These are very important if you'll be covering that amount of mileage regularly.

The plus points of the C1 is that it's pretty much the cheapest car possible to run and you really wont be bothered if it starts to look or get run down. You'll look like a twonk anyway! It's the definition of hassle free motoring.
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Road noise was acceptable and the seats were fine. As I say I wasn't best pleased about the idea of driving the thing as I had a few stops to make for work which notched up my total distance to just over 80 miles but I didn't have any issue with it.

Your second paragraph is exactly what I'm thinking. Cheap and hassle free being the two main ones. My current car spends 99% of its life sitting bang on the speed limit after being gently coaxed to that speed. Actually that isn't true, as I don't drive it like it should be driven I tend to take whatever is at the bottom of the drive and the gf takes my car.

Rroff said:
IMO one of those novelty things - the "on the edge" if you can call it that experience of doing without the luxuries the first few times probably adds a bit of a thrill to it that once its gone will be replaced with the reality of how crap it really is for doing regularly. Made a bit of a hash of explaining that but hopefully you get the gist of it.
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This is a concern. Maybe it was only ok as a one off, maybe it will be alright for a few months but will I be regretting it longer term? I can't see why I would but maybe?

I think the only thing I would miss is cruise control as I use it whenever possible :p
 
Backslick said:
You already appear to own a 'work hack'. :confused:
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I guess I do but rewind four and a half years and believe it or not it was the car that I desperately wanted (within my budget) and as such I've spent a bit of money on it, looked after it and had some enjoyable times with it. The problem is that now the primary function of it has shifted massively towards commuting and work to the point where I can actually go weeks on end without driving it for any social or leisure use.

That isn't a problem but when you start thinking of your car as a box with wheels to get you from A to B then a box with wheels that can do that while saving you over a grand a year on fuel alone, well.... that's why this thread is here I guess :o

I'm in no rush to make a decision but longer term I'm just considering my options and welcome the thoughts of those on here :)
 
PMKeates said:
This is madness. Seriously you could have a Mondeo instead of that C1 for like 3p more, and it'd commute better than the Octavia.
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I understand that a Mondeo would probably do the job "better" but I'm just looking at it from a cost perspective. If I'm not fussed about saving any money then I'd rather have my current motor over a cheap Mondeo.

As I say I'm not looking to buy something tomorrow, just considering a few ideas :)
 
If you're happy with the C1 and can see it being adequate for the next couple of years (it's not the best tool for the job). Then it's a simple question of priorities.

More savings or more car. Which is more important? There's a trade off somewhere which is probably what you have now, a Mondeo wont change that equation. A C1 will shift it more towards savings.

I can see where you're going with your mentality on your current car. You bought the car for the reason of driving enjoyment. You are now in a situation of increased commuting miles and therefore want this to impact your finances as little as possible and can no longer use your car for what was it's intended purpose when you first got it. Does that mean that it's no good for it's current purpose? I'd say not. Do you still enjoy driving it and will you enjoy driving it more versus the C1. I'd probably say there wont be much in it during the commute and you'll initially be happy with the 50+mpg you get. However I reckon you'll miss it when it's gone because the C1 is undoubtably a much worse car.
 
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