What 80 mile a day shite?

[oman5]

306 td. Reliable, economical,Silly cheap now and hugely capable.

[Micrashed]

MicraShed

 

http://www.fuelly.com/car/nissan/micra/1999/micrashed/71996

 

Im getting 47 MPG out of it these days since the engine turned over 60K miles....

 

Cheap as chips to run, reliable and rusts for fun

 

 

so utterly boring I want to cry

[jonny69]

I'd rather cook and eat my own legs than commute that far by car. You lot must be nuts.

[dollywobbler]

I used to commute 50 miles a day by 2CV. Or whatever other old rammel I had sitting around. Even used the Citroen H van a fair bit. My recommendation is not to use a Citroen H van for an 80 mile commute.

[Craig the Princess]

Even if you are a caterer?

[dollywobbler]

Most caterers seem to trailer their H vans from site to site...

[richardmorris]

I used to commute 50 miles a day by 2CV. Or whatever other old rammel I had sitting around. Even used the Citroen H van a fair bit. My recommendation is not to use a Citroen H van for an 80 mile commute.

 

 

My first job was 50 miles each way - by 2CV. I did 24,000miles the first year!

[lisbon_road]

I commute weekly 120 miles each way with my Mk3 Astra.  Average 51 mpg, petrol 1.4 mpi.  Reasonably comfortable, quiet, reliable, but no fireball for sure.

 

I did use my auto DOHC 1.6 same car for a bit but was more like 40 mpg average.  Picked up better at motorway speeds though.

 

I think the best old cars about are Mk3 Astras and 306s.  Neither rust too much. 

[loserone]

It's probably safe to assume that you're going to be spending around 10 hours a week in whatever you buy.

 

Having put 20k in 8 months on a 240k MX5 and now getting pitiful fuel economy in the pretzel with a similar commute, my suggestions are thus:

 

* Buy something you actually enjoy driving.  That might be because it's a challenge (keeping up with traffic in SWMBOs 1.0 K11 can be fun, when the commuting traffic at that time is mostly doing 80MPH) or because it's actually fun to drive (see Puma/MX5/106/205/whatever)

 

* Don't buy something you can't relax in.  If you're the kind to listen to music/radio, you should be able to hear it.  The seats should fit you, and the driving position should be comfortable.

 

Motoring on the cheap is great, and compromises can add to the pleasure of it, when they've not been winding you up to the point you don't want to go to work anymore.  See: N16 almera.

 

The proper solution here is:

* Keep whatever you have.  If you know it's faults (which you do)

* buy something else *as well* which has other faults which complement the first car.

 

A 1.0 106 and an XJ40 seems like a nice fleet for such a journey.

 

Edit: 205, damnit.  Same applies.

 

Thinking about it, that 323F would complement well; more comfortable, well made and probably less rattly.  Frameless windows and cool-air-to-the-balls along with all the other cool BA features (I think it's pre-Ford too, so still well made) would contrast with the lightweight 205, meaning you'll take a lot longer to get sick of the drive.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

You must be happy and comfortable, that will become far more important than a few mpg.

I do about 1500/1800 miles a week and a week ago was forced into a smaller car,in this case a Merc C220d estate, at first I loved the fact it does 55+ mpg however you drive it!it's well equipped and handles brilliantly. I was so impressed I started looking on Autotrader at 2.0 diesel German whips, as they say. Doesn't matter which e220/520/A6, they're all pretty much the same.

But a week in and I hate the rough 4 cylinder rattle,the hard seats,the lack of a sunroof and the sheer boredom of the thing- I'm back to looking at Phaetons,7's and another feckin 300C ! Even though I know my biggest overhead could be cut by half,I also know I'd be so unhappy and whingey my wife would kill me .

So Mr Boll's V6 Mondeo seems the obvious choice.

[loserone]

You must be happy and comfortable, that will become far more important than a few mpg.

...

So Mr Boll's V6 Mondeo seems the obvious choice.

This.

[Craig the Princess]

I am enjoying having a bit of poke back after changing from 1.1 litre AX to 2 litre Rover. A decent radio also is a huge plus.

[willswitchengage]

Honda Deauville?

[phil_lihp]

I'd definitely recommend a Mazda 323F 1.5 as previously mentioned.  

 

As luck would have it, I happen to have one for sale.  I haven't done exhaustive tests but it seems to be capable of about 45mpg but still has enough poke to be a nice drive, plus a long 5th gear for motorways.  You'll probably want to chuck a new driver's seat in it for that daily mileage but there's a few on Ebay.  Shouldn't ever break down either.

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/18031-for-sale-again-cheap-98-mazda-323-15-lxi/?hl=mazda+323f

[Mr_Bo11ox]

The Mondeo V6 sounds like a good idea, its certainly capable of 80 miles/day. Indeed I did that in it for a while and felt like a winner, until I accidentally entered chapter 11 bankruptcy and lost my home & pension etc.

[forddeliveryboy]

I try and have a car for every day of the week, it means when you break down, there is a choice of replacement.