Commuter car recommendations?

[Missnearlyvintage]

Hi everyone,

DH does 25k+ miles per year of commuting and general driving. We've had a 2nd hand petrol 2010 Vauxhall Astra for 3 years, but it is no longer economical to repair and won't pass another MOT unfortunately without quite a lot of money being spent on it.

Can anyone recommend a good secondhand model for this high mileage commuting?

We think a diesel might be the way to go, and like the size of the Astra. We'd be hoping to keep this next car for around 5 years if possible.

Budget is up to £8k cash, but ideally we would find one for under that as that was our new kitchen fund...

Thanks very much in advance!

When we were in this situation we (twice) bought a nearly new diesel Kia Ceed with balance of 7 year warranty.

Both cost more than £8k - we had some cash, some trade-in & some 0% finance. Current one is 61 plate & over 200k miles - DH is retired now so we’re just keeping it going until it’s not economic.

On his long motorway commute mpg was 55-60. Now it’s mostly shorter trips it’s 45-50. It’s been really reliable & hasn’t cost much in servicing. Got through a lot of tyres though!

So definitely have a look at Kia or Hyundai (same cars really) - Ceed is the same as Hyundai i30, & there are 2 or 3 smaller models which would be cheaper. (I think Hyundai warranty is only 5 years but both are 100k miles)

There are plenty out there at £8k or less & under 7 years old (not Kia approved scheme though at that sort of price)

This one is 15 plate, 44k miles, under £7,000

www.carbase.co.uk/used/kia/ceed/1-4-crdi-1-5dr/aetv71477008/

Thanks very much GiantKitten, that's really helpful!

Oh good We have been really pleased with ours, & the newer ones have even more bells & whistles!

If you might want an estate version (which is what we have, v useful) they’re called Ceed SW