[Closed] 35k miles lease a car or get something to run into the ground?

I do exactly this. Bought a 2013 V40 D3 in 2018 with 22k miles. Now on 80k and hope to run it for two more years.
Don’t forget to claim MAR if using your own car.

A lease (PCH) with a 35k annual mileage allowance will be very expensive.

If it’s allowance only and no option of a company car, used is defo the way to go. I’d be looking for something economical with very comfy seats, quiet cabin and radar cruise control.

Just check the policy. We can take cash but car must be <5 years old and I think <100k miles in order to claim it. Obviously varies per company but check the small print as they say.

If you have an allowance and you're visiting sites, dont be surprised if the company stipulates it must be under a certain age, under a certain mileage, a certain body style, certain number of seats etc. I doubt leasing is feasable due to the value of a 100k car at 3 years old, but you might not be able to run something old like that civic.

For what it's worth, I'd probably get something in the class above (size wise) if I was doing that sort of milage

I have asked about if there are any restrictions on car type/age/mileage etc. It's a small company and one of the directors rides a motorbike so hoping that there's no restrictions if I arrive in something that looks 'ok'.

Have also asked about AMAP payments (is that the same as MAR?)

At that kind of mileage You may well find and electric pays off, even a second-hand Model S Tesla. Get your calculator out.

AMAP is not the same as MAR.
MAR is tax relief on the gap between AMAP and what the company actually pays you. It makes a big difference if doing a lot of business miles in you own car. Does require self assessment tax form, but really only takes an hour or two a year and saves a lot.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/vehicles-you-use-for-work

Ermmmm, a second hand Model S is like £32k upwards?

Am i missing something? I had considered an electric car, but a lease on an e-niro is about £650/month (a lot too much). To get to and from the office is about 220 miles round trip (not every day)

Lease or HP, minimum deposit, 5k miles a year, 5 years. Voluntary termination after 2.5 years.

You only get to do this once though 😭

A lease (PCH) with a 35k annual mileage allowance will be very expensive.

This.

Also remember with a lease, you are stuck with the lease for the full term, getting out early is difficult and expensive.

What happens if the new job doesn't work out? You'll be stuck paying several hundred a month for the car.

Make sure you understand what's different between a lease and PCP if you go that way.

I used to do around 30,000 a year and I had a company Golf (one of the last 1.9tdi mark 5s, slow but economical). If you are doing 300 miles a day regularly then upsize to Mondeo/Passat size but if it's 100/day with a weekly long run a Golf/Civic/Focus size should be capable and a lot less hard on fuel, tyres etc. Just don't get one with stupid big wheels and low pro tyres. That will suck very quickly. Don't get me wrong the bigger car will suck up the miles better but it'll cost you hard cash so there's a balancing act.

Every car I've had since has been bigger than a Golf but that's mainly because I do more long trips than my wife and we need (benefit from) one bigger car for holidays and biking. I also do less miles overall now but more big fully loaded trips.

The company we use at at work for airport runs use Skoda Superbs. They do 100k+/year serviced every 6 weeks. They retire them at 3-400k. Apparently, they very rarely have any problems beyond serviceable items. Around 90% of the milage is on motorways.

Not sure it is relevent but was interesting to me

with the above said, I just whacked 3 year lease, smallish (£2k) deposit, diesel into leaseloco and a class mercs are coming our really cheap - £305 inc vat for 35k/year. I'd be highly tempted by something like that - for comparison a base golf is £470

If you are still thinking about a civic I did 60,000 fault free miles in a 2015 estate with the 1.6d engine. It was 0 trouble. I think it ate some tires in that time.

It did 60mpg on a long run and a bit less round town.

I have looked at a lease and could get something reasonable, but as pointed out above am a little reticent to sign up to a large monthly outgoing just in case something doesn't work out.

A class mercs do seem reasonable at the moment. I currently do a lot less miles but have an A3 saloon and that's fine for long runs and better economy than my previous insignia estate.

20k+ commuting annually - is it cheaper to move house?

Not sure it would be cheaper to move as it'd be further south so house prices would go up (ignoring the kids/wife aspect 🙂 )

Off the radar but Mercedes E200 cdi bluemotion might possibly be an option.
Surprisingly economical fot a luxo barge. Mid 50s apparently is acheivable, i am looking at estates just now and they appear to be cheap
600 miles a week is 12hrs sitting so you will need comfort, cruise, air con etc

I did this 20 years ago. Bought a VW Vento 1.9 TDI (55mpg over 100k miles). Commuted 33k per annum for 10 years. Vastly cheaper than any other option. I kept a book of all the expenditure, including capital repayment assuming zero value at three years. Car had 25k when I bought it and 145k when it was very sadly written off economically by a lorry reversing into it when parked. After that I went to a company provided lease because our company paid the excess mileage at the lease end (hugely subsidizing high mileage).

Buy a reasonable, UNFASHIONABLE but economical and reliable car with a bank loan at low APR (two years old so some warranty for immediate issues). You are buying transport NOT lifestyle. Drive economically - there is a huge difference between an average of 60 and and average of 75 mph! Keep a tally of your costs including tyres and servicing. That kind of driving really is not stressing the vehicle at all. Skoda Superb above would be a good choice. Or a VW jetta (My Vento was 4K cheaper than the same Golf and a better car!)

Ten years of commuting and I eventually moved. I'd driven 300k miles. That was enough driving for a lifetime. I spent about 1/12 of my time in a car.

Lease a car at £300pcm (plus deposit) and it's close to £13k over 3 yrs
Buy a 2yr old Civic @ £12k, still has 3 yrs warranty and after 3 yrs it may well be worth £3k..so total cost is £9k.
If it's simply an appliance, use the car allowance to buy and run a 2nd hand car and save £4k over the 3 years.

That's basically my current thinking. I'd like something new but makes more sense to have a car that is mine and is effectively being paid for/off by the allowance.

I suddenly find myself looking at mpg figures quite carefully, and am struggling to look past a 1.6 diesel which seem to get circa 60+mpg on long runs so should be fairly economical.

Sample here https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202001186300007

Nobody wants them, everyone in the UK wants a Golf or a bigger saloon car (airport shuttles). Dealers know this. Offer £2K under and see what they say. Small saloon cars in the UK are very undesirable. I did just this for my Vento - I told them they wouldn't sell it to anyone else, but knew it was exactly what I needed. They'd had it three months, it was never going to sell. Tell them you know they won't sell it, so here is your offer.

Forget new and forget leasing. This is a purely economic decision. Your allowance is funding a motorized season ticket.

I currently have an A3 saloon so am used to a small saloon and agree they aren't the most desirable, bit it's fine for its intended purpose of getting me about. I hadn't considered a Jetta but will do now!

Off the radar but Mercedes E200 cdi bluemotion might possibly be an option.

I would say that is the default vehicle for this kind of mileage rather than 'off radar'.

It is the car of choice for long distance chauffeur, airport transfer, private hire and taxi throughout Europe, with dozens of them available at 3yr 100k miles, and a fair few at 3yr 250+k miles.

if I was spending 3 hours a day in a car (pretty much 20% of my waking life), I'd probably splash out on something I wanted, rather than just getting the cheapest thing I could. an extra £100/month works out at under £2/hour

Can you not stick with the A3? You say you want better mpg, but at least you won't have the capital outlay staying with it. That car allowance, once it has been taxed, will have to cover funding a replacement vehicle, plenty of fuel, servicing and tyres.

I'd get a comfortable, unfashionable, economical car of the vintage you suggest, but I'd look after it rather than running it into the ground.

Can you not stick with the A3?

Precisely what I was about to ask.

if I was spending 3 hours a day in a car (pretty much 20% of my waking life), I’d probably splash out on something I wanted, rather than just getting the cheapest thing I could.

Also, this.

There's a school of thought which says that cars are merely tools to get you from A to B. Presumably these people also view houses as something to keep the rain off and consider things like wallpaper and artwork to be a wasteful extravagance. Look at that poser with his fancy-schmancy "carpets."

If you're doing 30k/pa that's, what, two hours a day every working day assuming an average of 60mph for ease of maths, 4 hours per day at an average of 30. Why would you not want something that's a nice place to be?

Another comfortable / unfashionable car to consider is a toyota avensis (saloon is way cheaper to buy thean estate). I have put 110k on mine in last 3.5 years with only tyres and discs.

I’d probably splash out on something I wanted

Trouble is with that amount of mileage and related costs (fuel, 2(?) services pa, wear & tear consumables) paying extra will negate any benefit of a pay rise on changing jobs.

Any thoughts, or indeed suggestions

Honestly, I wouldn't take the job. Or, if it really is a fantastic job then I'd look to move closer within a few months.

What TIRed said.

Mine has been fantastic for the last 12 years. Boot is huge (i'm not sure on the size of the newer model in the advert). The extra weight on the back and stiffer shell makes it criuse on the motorway better than an equivelent golf. Closer to a Passat than a Golf in that regard and better than an equivilent Golf on the twisty roads. My MK5 with PD TDi was equal in fuel economy to a newer Commonrail TDi Golf MK6 despite the extra, 110 KG in weight. I think that is because it has a lower body height therefore more aerodynamic, so in real world driving I would expect it to be more ecomonical that an equivilent golf.

People just leave you alone on the motorway as it is non descript, I would have another quite happily. Mine was our main family car for 8 years as well.

I’d probably splash out on something I wanted

Think like the herd and you’ll pay like the herd. Most cars are of an acceptable quality as to be nice places to sit. This is not the 1970’s!

And the less you pay for travel, the more you have to spend on your nice house/bike/hobby/mortgage on an appreciating asset (Cougar). I would not accept a £2/hr pay cut just to sit in a slightly more expensive car, spend the extra on other things.

I spent my hours commuting listening to audiobooks. That’s a lot easier now than it used to be. The audio system is more important than the alloy wheels. Your travel time is dictated by traffic volume, not your driving.

I didn’t say, but we also owned a Golf at the same time. The Vento boot was a cavern. I used to put the buggy in lengthways with a travel cot next to it. It was our family car at the same time with a baby and a three yo. And everybody just ignores you.

The Vento boot was a cavern...put the buggy in lengthways with a travel cot next to it....And everybody just ignores you.

This. The Mk 5 jetta boot is slightly larger than a B6 Passat estate and 98% as practical but a bigger saloon won't help you there.

Can you not stick with the A3?

This is my current company car so will be going if I switch jobs

Honestly, I wouldn’t take the job. Or, if it really is a fantastic job then I’d look to move closer within a few months.

Before changing to my current job I worked somewhere that was 1.75-2hrs drive in the other direction. My current job involves a 2hr door to door commute into London a few days a week (admittedly by train) so a couple of days a week doesn't worry me. Nature of my industry (construction).

Really something economical, safe and comfy is all I really need. Would love something fun/cool/luxury but doubt it will make much difference when sat on the motorway for a couple of hours in the rain/contraflow/middle lane 🙂 DAB radio and podcasts are what I tend to listen to so as long as it has those (or an aux in so I can connect my phone) and a comfortable seat, then that's probably about the limit of my essentials.

If you can find something suitable on a lease / PCP that on budget, it's not a bad idea - understand not taking on a commitment like that so early into a new job of course.

If you do yeah, in theory as someone said you could stiff the Lease company by signing up to a low mileage, long term deal and then VTing it at half term, it's a grey area, a lot of places expect some customers to play the system at bit and VT with a few thousand miles over, but if you give back a a C Class with 90k miles after 2.5 years you signed up for at 5k miles a year, they could more than justifiably claim that it wasn't because of a change in circumstances but fraud and make you liable for the mileage penalty... 72.5k miles at 8p a mile, that's about £6k isn't it?

Personally I'd buy the best example of an unfashionable car you can afford, in the great tradition of STW I'd recommend a Seat Exeo because I used to have one. I took mine from 23k miles to 98k miles without a single fault. It would do 45mpg with roof bars/bike carriers on - 50mpg if you were careful and took them off. It's a bit of a mongrel with VW making it for nearly 10 years as an Audi and then a Seat so the later Seats were their 3rd revision of the design and had no faults to speak of. Too old for the London ULEZ and they use the infamous dieselgate engines, but for all the NOx they chuck out, they at least do it reliably.

2 years ago I bought a 3 year old Yeti with 13k on the clock for £12k. Gives me around 55mpg on my 15k a year for work. It's just gone through 43k total this week, if I do this for another 2 yrs then I will be happy. Gets about 32mpg when towing the caravan as well. Worked out well for me going down this route rather than a company vehicle, mind you we don't even have a policy as there are only three of us in the business.
Fits all my work stuff no probs, can fit the towbar carrier or roof rack for the bikes. All the seats in the can be removed, turns into a mini van space.

You could also consider any of the current Volvos (not the V40) if you're doing a lot of motorway miles.

I use the Pilot Assist self-steering thing on my V60 for about 98% of my drive to work. A-roads and motorways all well handled by the computer.

I don't trust it further than I can throw it but in terms of the difference it makes to a long journey it's mind-blowing. Your capacity is free to look a long way down the road and in traffic jams it'll pootle along with hands and feet off the controls.

Anyone else struggle with the reality that we live in a world where people have to drive 20,000 miles a year to go to work?

Honestly, I wouldn’t take the job. Or, if it really is a fantastic job then I’d look to move closer within a few months.

I missed that this was the commute. I would concur. That's like 40 miles each way. Two words, second word "that."

Anyone else struggle with the reality that we live in a world where people have to drive 20,000 miles a year to go to work?

I rather expect that for a lot of people this may change in the near future.

But yeah, it's the nature of the beast sometimes. When I was younger I've had jobs where I've had to commute from East Lancashire to the wrong side of Warrington or the centre of Manchester, it was 2-3 hours of my life every day assuming there hadn't been a smash somewhere (and, y'know, M6). It was hell. But I wasn't earning enough to move closer to work and tech jobs are thin on the ground in a slowly dying old cotton mill town. It was either sucking it up or embarking on a career asking people whether they'd like fries with that.

Fortunately I'm in a position now where so long as I've got a phone and an Internet connection I could work from the surface of the moon for the difference it makes. I used to have to go into the office as I was mentoring apprentices and my job had a large practical component. I changed roles maybe 18 months ago and both of those factors have been removed so I work from home now, and if I do have to go into the office for something it's like 10 minutes' drive away.

I do not miss the long commute, not at all. When driving South now I often find myself thinking "wow, I used to do this every day, I must have been mad." The only way I'd entertain that notion ever again is if it was viable by train and even then it'd have to be a bloody good job. A little while ago I got headhunted by the CEO of a large (1,600 staff) well-known company that I probably shouldn't name, but over in Leeds. I reckoned I'd basically have to double my salary in order to pay for the extra hours, cover transport costs and still make it worth my while. He said that wasn't out of the question. I politely declined anyway in the end (though it's a nice bargaining chip to have in my back pocket...)

It's not ideal, but also not economical to just up sticks and move close to work every time you move jobs, particularly with a family in tow.

I missed that this was the commute. I would concur. That’s like 40 miles each way. Two words, second word “that.”

It's actually 100 miles each way 2 days a week. Not sure that makes a huge distance but at least it's not every day

Christ on a pogo stick. How long's that take at rush hour?

Only you can say whether it's acceptable / sustainable to you, but I wouldn't. What are you going in for, something essential or because that's just what's expected?

My commute used to be exactly 60 miles each way. The vast majority being dual carriageway and motorway. Base commuting mileage was 600/week, but I'd often have to go to another site - 78 miles away. I used to go in very early (6AM) when the kids were tiny, then late (9AM) after dropping them off at school when older. It would take 75 minutes, each way, with the shortest trip home (ahem) 52 minutes and the longest trip there 6.5hrs (fatal fog accident on the M40 led to closure).

The downside was always leaving the office late and driving home knowing it would take 75 minutes to get home. I now hate driving btw!

But a well-chosen, economical but unfashionable car can be cost-effective. My capital, running and fuel costs were covered by the monthly allowance.

Precisely what I was about to ask.

if I was spending 3 hours a day in a car (pretty much 20% of my waking life), I’d probably splash out on something I wanted, rather than just getting the cheapest thing I could.

Also, this.

There’s a school of thought which says that cars are merely tools to get you from A to B. Presumably these people also view houses as something to keep the rain off and consider things like wallpaper and artwork to be a wasteful extravagance. Look at that poser with his fancy-schmancy “carpets.”

If you’re doing 30k/pa that’s, what, two hours a day every working day assuming an average of 60mph for ease of maths, 4 hours per day at an average of 30. Why would you not want something that’s a nice place to be?

This, houses for courses but avoid stigmas and generalisations.   I've done the same with my 320d touring Auto.   Its a great motorway cruiser, I can get all my bike and camping gear in it and - dare I say it -  the leather smells generates a level of calm for me.

Yes, there are bigger boots, faster engines, less contentious badges and general whataboutary, but I like it and its serving me well. Plus I paid 2/3rds of the price of a standard car for a loaded ex demo 1yo just before the release of the current model.

I’ve done the same with my 320d touring Auto

I still miss mine in xDrive guise. Fantastic car once I ditched the run flats.

It’s actually 100 miles each way 2 days a week. Not sure that makes a huge distance but at least it’s not every day

Actually that's a shed load better than doing less every day imo especially if they're not consecutive days.

Days in the office would be flexible so no need to do 2 on the trot, although sometimes I would have to

Not read the thread but remember that cars do not 'wear out'. Shocks wear out, engine mounts wear out, wheel bearings wear out etc. The cheapest way to get good comfortable motoring is to buy a car, keep it, and pay attention to it IMO. And when you do replace bits don't get the cheapest stuff just because it is an old car. For example mine was feeling crashy and rubbish on rough roads compared to new cars, then I replaced the shocks with new quality parts and it felt like a new car again nice and plush.

If you don't keep a car running well with good parts it'll end up feeling crappy, and you'll begin to dislike it and want a new one.

I'd be tempted to do consecutive days and stop over somewhere cheap with that kind of commute.

+1 for that.

And my bike would be coming with me to sample the local riding.

I still miss mine in xDrive guise. Fantastic car once I ditched the run flats.

yep, mine has 18” NRFLT Pilot sports, the other demonstrator was a carbon copy yet with 19” run flats.  I chose deliberately.

The other time I enjoyed such a car was as a passenger in a Mercedes e class.  It just wafted along eating up the miles, with the interior being a bit more classy than mine, although I prefer the BM drive.

If you don’t keep a car running well with good parts it’ll end up feeling crappy, and you’ll begin to dislike it and want a new one.

Our 2008 Kuga family car feels 10 x better with a new set of tyres even   One of the shocks is misting, and will Mrs K now redundant any plans of a new car are out the window for a bit, I bet 4 new shocks would make a ton of difference.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">
My overall plan is that I keep the BM for my work duties, and that the Family car will in time be upgraded to something nicer to take Mr and Mrs K beyond school runs, but the Kuga will run until it almost dies.  It’s a cheap fix with a Pug diesel, Haldex 4wd and enough scrapes that makes it less of a worry.</span>

Anyone else struggle with the reality that we live in a world where people have to drive 20,000 miles a year to go to work?

In my line of work yes, but the construction industry does it a lot - as my Mate said to me years ago "I've asked them to build more stuff nearer my house, but they never listen to me".

70 miles a day is pretty shit, but longer commutes are often on motorways and even when it's bad you can average 60mph it's 'only' what, 35mins each way? My short commute inc School Run is about the same. When I worked in town and took the train it was about an hour.

I know guys who take a 3hour train ride into London a couple of days a week, I know a guy who commutes to Oslo once a week.

Anyone else struggle with the reality that we live in a world where people have to drive 20,000 miles a year to go to work?

Its a good question I is/was a travelling salesman, and with the current experience of COVID19 its easy to see MS Teams replacing a lot of my mileage.   I bet there's a lot of reps like me thinking its not so good to be committed to PCP/Lease for a flash motor now.

For context - I drive >50k miles a year self employed so no allowance or financial incentive to buy anything specific

My advice would be to buy something you really like sitting in/looking at - All other considerations will eventually go out the window

I've had a run of Mini Clubmans and my last one was sold on at 175k miles - they're not particularly comfortable or quiet or even economical (50mpg ish) I just really like sitting in one and If you're doing that for most of your working day it helps.

I had a breif stint (2years) in a Volvo V60 and it was perfectly capable but completely numb to drive and in the end hated it - Fuel costs you can calculate, but the reality is - You put X£ of fuel in every X number of days - but you'll resent pouring it in a car you hate and not feel so bad if you love the thing.

Well as an update I've had a chat with them and looking like 1 day a week in the office with another couple month as a compromise, so more like a 1.5 days a week average into the office. That drops the commute to 15k plus any business mileage after that.

More palatable and they've confirmed there's no restrictions/stipulations on what car I can have so thinking more about something a bit older that has done a lot of depreciating and just adding miles on to it.

I bet 4 new shocks would make a ton of difference.

Yes. On mine, the rear two were misting but the fronts appeared fine. But the new ones were way more supple, possibly because they are gas filled. Not sure if the original ones were also gas filled but if they were, the gas pressure drops over the years which might've explained why replacing shocks that weren't visibly leaking oil improved the ride so much. They suggest reaplcing shocks at 7 years regardless, which seems plausible if they're gas filled.

Anyone else struggle with the reality that we live in a world where people have to drive 20,000 miles a year to go to work?

Yep. Seems bananas and not something I'd want to do. All that time spent trundling up and down motorways. Not so bad this time of year but I'd not cope during the winter sat in long, rainy and traffic jams with thousands of brake lights glaring at you for hours on end.

Anyway, on a more positive note - I'd go for the older, comfortable and reliable option. E class is a good shout, I bet you can get a decent E220d saloon for decent money (non-AMG spec for cheapness and comfort). I'd also budget to upgrade the radio to carplay, either through a new head unit or a software upgrade to the built in system. I know these things are available for E60 BMWs etc, and would seriously improve the long-range comfort and bare-ability of 35k miles per year whilst not pouring money down the drain.

There do seem to be a decent number of E class saloons around, but all start at a reasonable mileage (circa 70k and up). I know that it used to be that a 100k car was towards the end of it's life, but is that still the case these days?

Would I be a fool to buy a 10 year old car with 100k on the clock already (assuming fsh and decent condition), or does that buy me something that with regular servicing will go on for a lot longer without any big bills?

Trying to avoid hijacking your thread @slackman99, but I had similar questions re. mileage.

We’ve just relocated, bought a new house closer to family but I’m staying in current job. Now need to buy a second car (we managed with 1 car within the family previously).

My commute isn’t anywhere near yours, it’s exactly 60 mile round trip on flowing A roads, so not a problem really. Around 40 mins each way.

What I was looking at something like a Mondeo, a nice comfy cruise and room in the boot for bikes/dog/kids crap etc.

Getting to the point…for my £3k(ish) budget, the cars are all around the 100K mark. My thinking is, if it’s got full service history 100K on a 10 year old car isn’t too bad?

We have a nearly new Dacia Stepway, it's not nice to drive on longer runs. Wife can have that back!

Offer to buy your soon to be ex company, company maintained A3?
Carry on using it?

There’s a school of thought which says that cars are merely tools to get you from A to B. Presumably these people also view houses as something to keep the rain off and consider things like wallpaper and artwork to be a wasteful extravagance. Look at that poser with his fancy-schmancy “carpets.”

If you’re doing 30k/pa that’s, what, two hours a day every working day assuming an average of 60mph for ease of maths, 4 hours per day at an average of 30. Why would you not want something that’s a nice place to be?

Colin the C-Max would disagree until he got knocked out on Saturday 🙁

Not by any stretch a 'nice' interior, just grey plastic and a radio, but I was commuting 70miles a day in it and at it's worst commuted from Reading to Preston twice a week for filming blocks. Bought for £5k with 30k on the clock, written off at 139k.

I did the same trip in the OH's fiesta and TBH didn't notice much difference other than the fan doesn't work (and it was a hot summer!).

Anyone else struggle with the reality that we live in a world where people have to drive 20,000 miles a year to go to work?

That's average in america IIRC. I think they spend about the same as us on fuel, but fuel is half the price.

Getting to the point…for my £3k(ish) budget, the cars are all around the 100K mark. My thinking is, if it’s got full service history 100K on a 10 year old car isn’t too bad?

Probably in the realms of rolling a a dice. Most car's don't go wrong, there's thousands of moving parts though so there'll always be something that wears out.

The upside of a ford is the parts are generally cheap.

Would I be a fool to buy a 10 year old car with 100k on the clock already (assuming fsh and decent condition), or does that buy me something that with regular servicing will go on for a lot longer without any big bills?

I'd say yes. Buy something newer, with some warranty, but unfashionable. By the time you've run it for 75k miles, depreciation will mean it's worth little anyway and the difference to the trendy must-have airport shuttle will be minimal. I once bought an older Audi A6 estate with high mileage but FSH, etc. It was a financial disaster! Never again.

Use your budget for a deposit on a newer car with outright purchase using a bank loan (finance is cheap at the moment). Above all, for commuting, you want reliability and predictability for servicing and consumables.

Anecdotal, i know, but when i asked around the office about buying something reliable, most people said go japanese. (150 people in my ‘office’)
I’d buy a car with 10y and 100k under it no problem, but it would depend what it was.
If you’re buying a car to cruise the motorway it has to be able to do that effortlessly.
Japanese or korean would be very high up my list.
I’d also want cruise control, and steering wheel controls for the audio, comfy seats, and a Diesel engine.
So, japanese, not a tiny car, diesel, not poverty spec.
I also agree strongly with the posters above who say it is worth doing reasonably big jobs on older cars, it still ends up cheaper than buying new and throwing away as soon as it’s paid for.

There do seem to be a decent number of E class saloons around, but all start at a reasonable mileage (circa 70k and up). I know that it used to be that a 100k car was towards the end of it’s life, but is that still the case these days?

When I was in a very similar position to you I bought a V6 TDI A6, ex-lease with 90k on the clock. New it was £40k, I paid £10.5. I traded it in for £2k three years later with 175k miles on, having paid for nothing but tyres, fuel and regular services. The car in traded it in for was another A6, this time with almost 100k on, which I kept until it had 203k and still got 2k trade-in. Similar costs, although I did have one big bill of £800. When I added in the MAR I was well ahead of anyone who had taken a company car (we could choose car or allowance), and I'd had a much nicer car. There are few better places to be on a 100 mile drive in the winter, in the dark and the rain, than an A6.

Of course, you can get unlucky and end up with a big bill - that's life really.

So I’m just finishing up a job where I could either get a company car or sort out a lease myself. I ended getting the company car due to if something goes wrong it’s the company that has to get me back on 4 wheels and carry on working and making them money. I ended up paying some of my own money (extra £100 a month) to get the model I wanted (seat lean fr 2.0 diesel 150bph DCG over the se 1.6 diesel 116bhp with no toys. Other guys did pay extra to get Audi A3 or even a4 models which I know got even more expensive). In the 4 years of driving it it’s just clocked on to 90k. My thoughts were when ordering this car was to potential buy it at the end of the lease so worth specing it to what I wanted (which I will be buying it for commuting to new job though I though it would be worth buying for second car/other half). Also with doing 20k a year I wanted something that was comfortable to be in and make driving easier (which it certainly does with the built in satnav and a bit of poke for the motorway and auto). The only other issue that I wished I’d thought about was company car tax that went with it which to be fair I would of got stung with even with the standard car (first 6k of wages are taxed so don’t have the 12k tax free limit). The new cars available to lease have moved away from seat and Audi to a real mix bag of Toyota, bmw, and ford with a push for electric, hybrid or petal which would make the tax cheaper as well as extra money added by me in the first place.