Small car long motorway commute

[fatpatsthong]

This will be 'my' car not the family car so just used for my commute (65 miles each way, 55 of which on the motorway, the rest in city traffic).

That said it will get used as the spare car or for the odd family trip so needs to fit in 6ft 4 dh as well as 2 tween dds.

Needs to be safe, reliable and economical. Am looking at second hand but not more than 5 years old.

Any ideas? Possibles are Skoda citigo, Skoda Fabia or Hyundai 120 but am only at first stages of looking so open to anything.

I would want something with enough power that 70 isn’t essentially its top speed. I don’t speed when I drive but I like to be able to speed up as well as slow down if another car is doing something dangerous.

I’m in a Toyota Yaris 1.3 from 2012 at the moment and it’s fabulously reliable and quite economical and has a good stereo which can override the noise of the motorway.

It’s somewhat under powered, but has six gears so 3-5 are okay for acceleration. I think I’d go fabia over Citigo and go for a 1.4 as the 1.2s can be a bit slow in my understanding.

I would suggest a Ford fiesta. The 1.0l ecoboost model is very economical, does 70-80 mph with very little effort and if you get one a few years old they are free of road tax.

The Citigo is like driving a go kart - avoid.

Ohhhhh thanks. I had wondered about the fiesta actually - had seen good stuff re the ecoboost.

I am quite looking forward to testing a few. My lovely ancient golf is still managing but it really is time to consider a change

Fiesta or a VW Up

For that long a commute I would seriously suggest something a little bigger. A small car will be capable but will be more tiring to drive due to things like increased noise and less stability in cross winds. Something Focus sized would be much better, in fact there’s a reason Foci are so popular. If not a Focus then maybe an Auris. See if you can get an extended test drive and do some motorway miles.

I’ve got a 67 plate seat Ibiza, fantastic car. Runs brilliantly on the motorway, is economical on both motorways and in town centres, quite spacious for a small car and the insurance is very cheap.

Max has a good point and it also really depends what speed you’ll do and if you’ll ever drive loaded up. I do long drives on my own regularly in my Yaris and it’s okay. I drove down France in it with 2 passengers, all our luggage and a shop for 7 people and frankly it wasn’t a great experience.

I have a corsa which is fantastic.

Did many a motorway journey in Hyundai i20. Perfectly comfortable. Feels big up front for a small car and great on headroom. Adequate space in the back seat especially if comparing to other small cars. Hyundai are very reliable too.

We've just got an i20 as a second car and we're impressed. Bigger inside than they look.

I have a citigo and exDP who was 6’3 had to put the passenger seat quite far back to fit his legs in, leaving not much room at all in the back.

I’m up and down the motorway pretty regularly in mine, it gets up to speed pretty quickly for a 1L.

I've got a 1L Citigo. It does 0-60...eventually. I only tootle locally so it's fine for me but it'd be a poor choice if you like overtaking anything faster than a tractor

I got rid of a fiesta because my at the time 6ft 2 DS was really struggling to fit in it...

Polo

Polo

What's your budget? Most small hatchbacks will handle motorway miles fine, just depends on how much refinement you want. The two most refined hatchbacks I can think of are the BMW 1 Series (2012>), and VW Golf (2013>).

If you're looking for reliability, a newer Hyundai or Kia will be amongst the best. The Koreans are beating the German and Japanese brands for reliability these days!

We've got a VW Up! (same car as the Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii)
I'd agree wtih a PP that you need something a bit bigger for motorway driving - a bit more soundproofing, a slightly bigger engine and less prone to cross winds.
(having said that, my 6ft 2 son fits in with room to spare and he's got really long legs)

How about an older Civic? They're reliable and pretty much indestructible !!

I have a Citigo. I love it for pootling around town and it's very economical and small so easy to park.
However, as others have said, it's very slow to accelerate which makes overtaking a bit of a chore.
I don't do a lot of motorway driving but if I did I'd definitely want something with a more powerful engine.

I do exactly this with a 60 mile round trip commute and occasional 6'3 DS and assorted other teens and DH.

Fiat 500. Speedy, super comfy fun and in the summer .. a soft top. What's not to like.

I would also check the reliability rating as well. There's nothing worse than being stuck on the hard shoulder (or in our case the inside lane because they have removed the hard shoulder to make it 4 lanes either side due to the volume of traffic) in the middle of winter because your car has broken down.

Thanks all. Budget is around 7.5 - 8k. I'm not too bothered about extras to be honest - my car is over 12 years old and does me fine so I'm likely to find anything after 2012 quite the fancy option!

Hyundai and fiesta top of the testing list I think. Unlikely to have the funds for a few months so not a huge rush to find anything.

I have a Seat Mii which was bought as a commuting car but has ended up being the family vehicle.

For commuting it is fine and over the 14,000 miles I have put on it has averaged 58mpg. It is the base engine (60hp) but keeps up with traffic well enough even on a motorway - it needs driving though so if you are used to a diesel you will find you have to use the gears if you want to maintain momentum. On the odd occasion I am in a rush to get home I have been known to make the 11 mile cross country trip without ever using 5th gear.

We have also used the car for a couple of family holidays - we travelled from Dorset to North Wales in it on one occasion, and on another occasion we went to Norfolk for a week away. The car took two adults and two kids (11 and 7) with our luggage. It was a tight fit, but everything was in the boot (no filling footwells etc).

As a car in general I think it is great - cheap to insure, tax and run and so far has not had any problems. Not a fun machine or a driver's car by any stretch, but as a tool to do a job I cannot fault it.

I got it when it was 8 months old as an ex-demo from our local main dealer with 2,700 miles on the clock - it cost £7,490, so a similar car should be around in your budget.

My Honda Jazz does a 300 mile motorway journey very happily a few times a year. It's slightly bigger than some of the cars mentioned but I'd still class it as a small car.

AA man told me that Jazzes are very reliable and that they rarely get called out to them.

Definitely a Fiesta! Mine is 7yrs old, purchased in 2015. Does a 250mile trip a few times a month no problem. I've literally had to spend no money on it since purchased (flown through MOTs) & plan on having it for years to come.
Cheap parts if anything does need doing