In May this year, I changed jobs, which meant that my 80-mile a day commute dropped to zero (working from home)

However, it hasn't worked out, so I'm going back to my old job. Thankfully, they've moved offices so now it's only a 55 mile round trip per day.

So - here's my dilemma...

1) Commute by Coupe every day:-

Total cost per annum (fuel, insurance, servicing, tyres, MOT, repairs) - £6,800pa - travel time about 40 mins each way.

2) Buy a diseasel:-

Buy a diesel to commute with and keep the Coupe for pleasure only (this will reduce the costs on the Coupe - for example the insurance will drop) - £6,500pa (total for both cars) - travel time about 40 minutes each way

3) Commute by train:-

Keep the Coupe for pleasure and mix it with the great unwashed every day - £3,500pa (£2,500 for the Coupe and £20 a week for a rail season ticket) - travel time 1h45m each way

So - what would you do?

Im currently doing option 2.

I do however find myself, when not driving the Coupe for long periods of time asking myself why I keep it. A quick drive and polish soon brings me round though. Thankfully the other half is very much on side for me having an expensive weekend toy in the garage.

Do you have the immediate budget to buy a daily hack? How is that factored into your costs in the above?

Bangernomics option 2 = clean coupe, feeling VERY special.

How often would you use the coupe if you got a diesel commute car?

I've considered it but frankly I rarely 'go for a drive' so would worry I'd just end up driving a diesel everywhere and preserving a coupe in the garage.

If the cost is not an issue is has to be option 2.
I would certainly not entertain option 3 unless I really had too...hate travelling by train (and is so time consuming)

Either 1 or 2.

I was using the coupe daily for a similar sort of commute although all b roads so quite good fun. I've got a Saxo VTS (so long as I dont crash I'll be ok!) now which is also reasonable fun but a hell of a lot cheaper on fuel.

Even with the considerable cost saving, there's no way it's worth the extra journey time using the train.

If my coupe hadn't gone pop then I'd still be using it....

Nigel,

I'd probably go for option 2, though I do agree with RusH when he says not driving the coupé for long periods makes you question, why keep it? I’m not really getting the use out of mine and I contemplate selling it every other week. I’ve even done up a ridiculously detailed “for sale” ad along the line of CarlT’s ads of yesteryear.

Anyway, I was commuting 32 miles a day (round trip) in the coupé which took about 20 mins each way. Now I drive 130 miles per day which takes 1hr 15mins each way.

I got a 2001 diseasel 307 HDi which is very slow but very reliable, very uncool but very comfortable and it gives me 50mpg. I’d expect to get another 3 years of driving out of it.

The coupé is now on classic car insurance and costs £288 for 4,500miles with an agreed value etc.

Put it this way……for you…..

Train costs £1,040 per annum and you’ll spend 3hrs 30mins a day on it.
A diseasel running 50mpg will cost you £1,794.22 @ £1.38/litre and you’ll spend only 80 mins a day in it.

So it’ll cost you £754.22 more to take the car but you’ll save 2hrs 10 mins every day in commuting time or 23½ days a year not stuck on a seat beside a stranger.

That’s 23½ extra days a year you have to yourself to spend polishing the coupé, eating pies, picking your nose and flicking it at the tv, scratching yourself from the comfort of your couch, etc, etc etc…

It’s all good

I must admit I detest travelling by train, but if cost is the issue, the only sensible issue is No.3

But, but, but......twenty-three-and-a-half-days extra commuting time per year

I used the train for six weeks in April/May and it saved me a load of cash but it was not a pleasant experience.

The outward journey was bearable, as the train was deserted when I got on it and I just sat and watched some iPlayer content or ready a mag/book

However, the return journey was awful - crammed and rarely on time. I should think it was a weekly occurrence for me to miss my connection at Birmingham and end up having to wait an additional 30 minutes (making a 2h20m total journey time)

There is another problem....

I already have another Coupe (the Broomie 16v in my sig) - there's no way that Wifey will entertain me having three cars, so if I go for the diseasel, I'll have to sell the 16v, which I'd rather not do.

I'm going to ask Leighton if he can get hold of a switchable Eeprom, so that I can use normal unleaded for my daily commute, with reduced boost and ignition advance.

Why not mix it up, use the train on the queiter days and then use a combination of the Coupé's throughout the week. It will not only keep the individual cars milage down but will give you the best of each option.

That's what I try to do with mine. Ford Focus used Monday through to Thursday and then drive the Coupe on the Friday and over the weekends (except to Sainsburys for obvious dent woes).

I put option 2 into practise for a short-while, and wished I'd done it sooner!

Not having to reply on the Coupe everyday was great, and having 2 cars meant that if 1 developed a fault I had a back-up.

The Coupe needed less maintenance as driven a lot less, and felt stupidly quick after pottering around in an old runabout.

It also meant I had a car for putting crap in, which I didn't care where I parked, supermarket dings or how dirty it got.

Sell the 16v, and then it depends on budget for what you replace it with. Cheap enough and you can treat it as a throwaway car.

If I decided to get a diseasel, I'd want something like an Alfa 156 or at a push, a 147 or at an extreme push, a Punto JTD

Im running a Stilo JTD and it gives me a very nice return of 50+mpg..

No brainer Nigel. Option two.

Shame you'll have to sell the 16v but in fairness your better half is probably right, three cars into one person doesn't really go - unless money is no object. Your journey doesn't sound too bad and there are no parking issues, so it's rude not to.

Public transport is more bearable on a busy commuter line where the service will generally be spot-on - but even then there will still be days when the only thing it can be relied on is to have you ripping your hair out.

I can't rely on public transport. I have started cycling so save loads of miles. I will be getting a branded car for my business which means my coupe will be a weekend car which will be amazing once I can put the coupe on classic insurance.

I don't think your saving by having 2 cars is huge. Is it worth it?

I may be on my own here, but I think Option 1. You obv enjoy driving and enjoy driving the coupe, the cost is only slightly higher than running two cars and I think you'd happily pay £300 for the smile you get from blipping the throttle in the coupe and riding it out of a nice corner. It's not all about cost, but also enjoyment and happiness. I would not consider the train, unless I really had to and before that point I think I would sell up and move house or change job - 3 hours travel a day does not allow you much down time. Work to live, not live to work and all that.

Oh and surely you need to do all you can to get to 1,000,000 miles in a coupe -- what is it now, 300,000 and counting?

There's more costs involved in 1/ Nigel, compared with 2/. you park somewhere, the car gets a ding, or generally needs cleaning. The Coupe, you will treat with whatever it needs. Whether it's a dent that needs pulling out or a partial respray. The diseasel you will care less about.

As you know I also have a 147 JTD 16v, Ti edition, that was tuned to 175bhp. It's faster in traffic than the Coupe (you're always in the rev sweet spot with diesels) and it's frugal enough (7.5 l/100km with spirited driving), it's a lot of fun to drive (double wishbones), very well balanced and fantastic seats (YES, better than the Recaro's) if you get the Ti edition. I've have great fun in the 147 at Spa and it's been my reliable companion for 6-7 years now, now at 200.000 kilometers. The only weak point is the suspension which requires some new parts frequently (drop links and lower 'bones at the front, arms at the rear) and if you do a lot of short distances you might need a new MAF every now and then. Turbo has lasted until now with no problems spotted (tuned since it was new) and the MAF was replaced after Joke used it to commute a daily 4-mile intercity crawl for 8 months.

Generally, the 147 is higher quality than the 156. You will NOT be disappointed. It's one of the best diesels around.

Same here, Option 2 with Stilo jtd, but more like 45-48mpg.

It is a good pairing

Buy a moped

life's too short not to enjoy it, option 1 all the way

And yet you've still got your coupe???

Option 1 for me. Your not saving that much by having the diesel as well (a pound a day?) and the commute will be more interesting in the Coupe.

It'll cost you approx £16.90 a day to commute in the coop (80 miles @ 29mpg @ £1.35/l).
It'll cost you approx £9.95 a day to commute in a diesel (80 miles @ 50mpg @ £1.37/l).

That'll save £1,807 a year (5 days x 52) so if you buy a diesel hack for around £1,800, it'll have paid for itself in just one year!

I do agree that if you're getting a diesel, you're gonna have to lose one of the coupés.
Either that or buy the diesel coupé at Solo Italia

Don't forget that using the Coupe less is likely to mean that you'll start having more problems with it (based on my experience at least)!

Worked near faultlessly as a daily driver, and been in a sulk ever since I went for option 2.

No way I could stick option 3 though (the problem with public transport is the "public" bit!), so it would have to be 1 or 2 for me.

i know!! madness isn't restricted to scots you know

I'd do option 1, and potentially alternate the Coupes to keep the milage down on both? (but shares the risk of dings on both). Daithi it's 55 miles per day which reduces the savings.

I'm going to try Option 1 for a while and see how I get on.

The problem with Option 2 is that whilst the fuel savings are obvious, they are mostly eaten up by the fact I'll need to tax, insure, MOT and maintain the diseasel hack.

I'm also acutely aware that one of the reasons my old Sprinty lasted as long as it did was because it was used a lot (don't forget the Sprinty's engine is now in the Moonie - it's done about 220,000 miles now)

I think I'm going to get some sound insulation and make the Moonie just a little bit quieter, so the commute is a little gentler on the ears

TBH, I'm leaning towards option 1 anyway, as the savings of running a diesel and the Coupe just aren't great enough AND it would mean getting rid of the 16v, which irks me somewhat

Option 2 for me, much like I do (without the stinking DIESEL bit!).

Here's my winter commute: Punto 8V MkII 2001:
http://www.garaget.org/?car=108840

Very cheap in buying, insurance, cheap in fuel (nearly half of the Coupe).

Still! Italian, stylish, always starts.

LPG convert the 16v?