Buying a known but not ideal car? (Golf TDI / ULEZ / city car content)

[The Cardinal]

I have a 2013 VW Transporter (camper-converted) and a 2018 Audi S3, which serve our current family needs well. My wife doesn't drive the van.

We live in a city centre, just on the very edge of a new low emissions zone. Soon, many of the van's journeys will become chargeable at £9 a pop (it's Euro 5).

At the same time, our kids' activities and possibly a new school run mean we are likely to do more urban driving, which is hard on the S3. I'm also doing more care visits to my parents, which is a 100+-mile round trip.

So, I've been thinking of buying a small car and keeping the van for camping and leisure trips, with the S3 doing longer distance stuff. One of the three vehicles would be stored in a local lock-up at any one time, a short walk from the house.

I was all set to get something for ~£5k, like a VW Up. However, I've been offered my father-in-law's 2014 Golf GT. It's a nicely spec'd car, 80k miles with full history and likely at trade price of around £5.5-6k because its cosmetics aren't great... But it's a non-ULEZ-compliant 2.0 TDI 150.

Should I consider the Golf over a ULEZ-compliant but much more basic city car? Despite being Euro 5, it could still be useful if driven carefully around the clean air zone boundary and, unlike the van, my wife would actually drive it.

Golf +

- known car, much nicer thing than an Up, trade price
- already has a few scratches etc
- have S3, my legs or bike for city centre
- could sell at cost / small profit for the foreseeable future

Golf -

- clean air zone issues
- no easier to park than the S3
- won't use it much on long runs, leading to possible DPF issues
- higher repair costs than a city car

Your views? Thanks

 

[Bigjase88]

I wouldn't want to pay £9 a day so that would steer me away from the Golf

 

[The Cardinal]

The idea would be to use it around the edges of the zone - a lot of our family sporting activities etc are south of the zone.

But yes, the risk of either straying into the £9 zone or having to plan things around is it certainly a concern.

I'm just trying to figure out if that outweighs the drop in quality etc that you get in going for a simple city car for a similar price!

 

[toooldforboyracing]

Pass on the golf, get an A1 sized car or smaller if the passengers can fit into it. These emission zone runs aren’t that long one assumes, so the sacrifice in comfort is made up with the saving on time and £9 charge every time you stray into the zone

 

[Bigjase88]

The idea would be to use it around the edges of the zone - a lot of our family sporting activities etc are south of the zone.

But yes, the risk of either straying into the £9 zone or having to plan things around is it certainly a concern.

I'm just trying to figure out if that outweighs the drop in quality etc that you get in going for a simple city car for a similar price!

Tough call as it is certainly a much nicer place to be than a Volkswagen UP.

What about relocation

 

[The Cardinal]

Pass on the golf, get an A1 sized car or smaller if the passengers can fit into it. These emission zone runs aren’t that long one assumes, so the sacrifice in comfort is made up with the saving on time and £9 charge every time you stray into the zone

The zone would get in the way of lots of local trips and anything north of where we live. At the moment, I use the van as our second "car" for 100-milers to visit my parents - but the CAZ will mean a big detour unless I use a non-chargeable vehicle. So, realistically I'll use the S3 more.

My wife won't drive the van around town, so taking the S3 means she''s car-less while I'm out for half a day. Basically I'm trying to decide whether a non-ULEZ Golf would still be of value in these circumstances.

You're always buying something second hand when you buy a second hand car, to state the obvious! In addition to being a nicer car, the Golf is known to me and it smells of the kids' grandparents rather than some random person's farts. Maybe I should just up my budget and get a nicer city car!!

 

[toooldforboyracing]

COVID pending, would some spend on an Uber be a viable alternative? I’ve got some friends in Chiswick who are impacted the same way, and most have adjusted their use and become familiar with Uber as an interim solution.

 

[paul2kl]

City car would be my choice over the Golf, to save costs and not have to use Uber.

 

[jdp1962]

Even though it's a known quantity, I'm struggling to see what problem the Golf is the solution to.

 

[The Cardinal]

^ That's probably the conundrum in a nutshell.

I have an illogical liking for that Golf, but haven't been able to find a logical use for it.