car choice and parking in London

[jamena]

I should hopefully be starting a job in Reading (near the M4/A33 crossing) in a few months and will have to commute from where I live in London, over near KingsX. Crazy thing is that a season ticket (Paddington-Reading) on the train is likely to cost me more (+/- £4500 ?!) than running a small car ... and a car would be useful at other times. I'm\thinking as low a group as possible to start with as I have not taken out insurance myself before (been added to other peoples though but I don't think that counts?).

What car would you lot recommend for daily commuting, economical on fuel, cheap to run, easy to maintain? So far a Renault Megane R reg is what I was recommended as a cheap (grp 1?) car that wouldn't be too bad a drive?

Secondly - has anyone here any experience of renting cheap(ish) parking in London? I live near Angel/KingsX and figured the drive from mine to the M4 would be the nastiest part of the journey, so if I could find a place to leave the car nearer to the M4 and tube it to the car that might be the best compromise.

Advise on car choice (cheap to run, insure and maintain etc being the main criteria) and/or london parking hire much appreciated

[arbitor]

fiesta would be perfect, 1.25 looks nice is cheap as chips to insure and goes ok too

http://www.forum-auto.com/uploads/20...re_final_4.jpg that shape nice little car, and just about everything on it cost less than 50 quid to replace too

[b0redom]

Get a diesel.

That's gonna cost you a FORTUNE in fuel - looks like a ~ 90 mile commute / day, plus you're going through London in rush hour, plus you have congestion charge to pay.

Alternativly, move house!

I was doing a 120 mile round trip commute and mine was all motorway - everything is fine as long as there's no accidents - if there are you're stuffed!

[jamena]

That's gonna cost you a FORTUNE in fuel - looks like a ~ 90 mile commute / day, plus you're going through London in rush hour, plus you have congestion charge to pay.

hence the parking idea. Where I'll be working is just off the M4, it's getting to the M4 that might prove to be a pain. Moving is not an option for a while yet. I live outside (but on the border of) the congestion charge and can avoid it for now. Bear in mind the train will cost minimum £20 per day. fuelwise if I get 30mpg (assuming a more efficient car but bad traffic) that's around 8 miles per litre, so say 10-11l for a 90 mile round trip, ...about £10 per day?

get a car and pay a fortune in fuel or don't get a car but pay a bigger fortune on train tickets...

[schmunk]

Congestion charge of £8 per day and ~£25 per day for parking in zone 1 may make the train look a little more attractive...



(although Kings Cross is just outside the CC zone)

[b0redom]

Plus a couple of quid for the tube ride home.

[jamena]

Congestion charge of £8 per day and ~£25 per day for parking in zone 1 may make the train look a little more attractive...

thing is I want to park (outside the CC as I live outside it and can avoid it!) overnight in London, not during the day so if anyone knows of people who rent a space and commute in to london (i.e. leave their space empty overnight) that would be what I am after...

Over the weekends I can park near home using a residents permit, it's the drive across London everyday that a carparking space over on the west side of the city nearish the M4 would help eliminate.

[Rev_Hill]

TRAIN!!!!

Speaking from experience I would not even attempt to do that journey every day in a car.......unless you are leaving your house before 6:00am and not leaving for home until after 8:00pm.

I think you need to add some other factors into your decision making such as how stressful your journey is. I stuck at driving for a while but the train journey is a lot lot better. (even if I was taking the elise)

REV

[J4MES]

and how much parking will cost, at both ends...

my wife works in Reading, and if she has to drive there (like when they close Basingstoke station where she normally catches a train) she has to park-and-ride or pay ££ to park in Reading..

and Reading ain't fun to drive in and out of...

I think the train may prove a little more expensive, but well worth it (it's £170 ish a month for the missis, but she'd rather do that than drive all the way)

[jamena]

Company car park should be free so Reading end not a problem.

If I parked near home I believe I could get a residents permit for something like £95 for the year so pretty much neglegible. Downside is the drive across london from the M4 to near KingsX. It'd be earlyish in the morning (0730?) going out West but rush-hour (1800?) coming East into the city.

What I want is to either find someone who commutes in to London from the West who I could share a space with (as I'd only need it nights) or someone who has driveway space they don't use etc. I am aware that parking in London is not cheap but the parking lots round here on the East near the city fill up during the day but empty during the night. What I need is to find a place that wants to sell parking rights overnight cheaply ... if that sort of place exists!

[jamena]

I think the train may prove a little more expensive, but well worth it (it's £170 ish a month for the missis, but she'd rather do that than drive all the way)

From what I've read I'd be paying the princely sum of between £375 and £460 for a months travelling on the train

[J4MES]

Fair one... Can I ask what you're going to do?

[jamena]

Fair one... Can I ask what you're going to do?

travelwise I'm thinking I will try the public transport route first (my better half and I will be pooling our travel costs which is very nice of her ) and then perhaps try it by (rented) car for a week or two to see what the drive is like.

jobwise I am going to engineer exciting stuff

[Nemeliza]

I was in a similar predicament last year where I spent a year travelling from South East London to Bracknell (next to Reading)

A daily train ticket cost me £8.80 (has now gone up to £9.40 now) *Note i didnt have to travel though Zone 1.

When i drove i was clocking up around 40 miles each way so 80 mile round trip which took ~90 mins each way - the train also took ~90 mins.

My car gave me around 300 miles per £35 tank so it cost me around £47/week in fuel (400 miles/week) to drive - the train cost ~£45/week.


Pros (Car)
Comfy, get my own seat, radio/stereo, warm, no annoying people talking loudly on fones, no smelly people sitting next to you

Cons (Car)
Tiresome after a while if you dont have suitable car, other costs (insurance, tyres, service, MOT, depreciation, initial cost, interest on any finance), traffic accidents, increasing fuel prices

Pros (Train)
Can sleep, can read book, doesnt require attention

Cons (Train)
Strikes, cancellations and other delays, increasing ticket prices


As you can see the fuel / train costs were pretty much identical so i made use of both.

[BenW]

I thought you only paid the cc when you went IN to London, not out of london? If thats the case then you wouldn't have to pay it (as long as you arrived home after the charge stops).

Something like a toyota aygo diesel could be worth a look unless you're after something that will crunch miles nicely

[vicar]

You can travel across London i.e Angel > kingscross> Euston so long as you don't deviate no congestion charge to pay. Check out tfl.gov.uk for routes and info

If you leave home around 6.30am you shouldn't get stuck in traffic. Arrange with your boss to arrive at work early and leave early, that way you can beat the rush hour. If not joy, get the train.

Either way use a car for a week and public transport for a week and see which one you prefer.

Hope the above helps you in makeing a better informed Choice.