New daily driver <£9k

[BMWZ4MC]

I'll be driving all year round, and I had considered an x-drive 3 series, but dismissed it as theres potential for more to go wrong, tyre wear etc.

However, considering my local councils previous gritting performance (they still probably don't look at weather forecasts properly )so x-drive or quattro might be back on the cards.

You’d make better progress in a 2WD with winter tyres than a 4WD with summer tyres. I found that out when trying to drive on Exmoor in my RS4 during the “Beast-from-the-East”. I slithered down a steep hill that had been polished to a glass-like finish by farmers in their tractors. I had no directional control or ability to slow down, so I was fortunate to stop parallel with and adjacent to the kerb. I had to abandon my car where it stood for a few days. I wasn’t alone, someone in a Discovery had the same experience with a less dignified ending and needed to be pulled out of a hedge by one of the farmers.

 

[NS66]

Maybe a slightly contentious suggestion, but what about a Honda CRV with the 2.2 diesel?
A friend has had a 2010 model for 3 years and over 70k miles. Aside of a leaky injector and PAS pump (separately) it has been utterly faultless.
Actually drives quite nicely too.

Ive had a fair few of these in the past as company cars - generally reliable but do consume oil and 40 MPG at best.

Personally I would go with BMW diesel and just dont bother going to work if snows forecast!!

 

[mmm-five]

You’d make better progress in a 2WD with winter tyres than a 4WD with summer tyres. I found that out when trying to drive on Exmoor in my RS4 during the “Beast-from-the-East”. I slithered down a steep hill that had been polished to a glass-like finish by farmers in their tractors. I had no directional control or ability to slow down, so I was fortunate to stop parallel with and adjacent to the kerb. I had to abandon my car where it stood for a few days. I wasn’t alone, someone in a Discovery had the same experience with a less dignified ending and needed to be pulled out of a hedge by one of the farmers.

Hence X-Drive with all-seasons or winters on mine...although 4WD and winters will not mitigate driving like a loon in bad weather

 

[JonVR46]

Ive had a fair few of these in the past as company cars - generally reliable but do consume oil and 40 MPG at best.

Personally I would go with BMW diesel and just dont bother going to work if snows forecast!!

I don't think the Honda is for me. Not too good on fuel either.

Hence X-Drive with all-seasons or winters on mine...although 4WD and winters will not mitigate driving like a loon in bad weather

Haha brings back memories of putting 2 3ft x 2ft flags in the boot of my Opel Manta just to get out of the driveway

 

[mmm-five]

Haha brings back memories of putting 2 3ft x 2ft flags in the boot of my Opel Manta just to get out of the driveway

To be fair, I've never been stuck on summer tyres in the Corrado VR6, e34 M5s, or Z4MC...but there have been conditions where I've been trundling along at 10mph just to be safe.

Some times the correct answer is simply not to travel.

These photos are from the same year I bought the Z4MC, and I got home from London to Liverpool in all that - mercifully the roads were almost empty due to the weather.

...and these are the photos from another year, that my B&B sent me that made my decide to work from home instead of travelling to Basingstoke for work that week...

 

[BMWZ4MC]

To be fair, I've never been stuck on summer tyres in the Corrado VR6, e34 M5s, or Z4MC...but there have been conditions where I've been trundling along at 10mph just to be safe.

Sometimes the correct answer is simply not to travel

I was on call and had a trauma patient with a hip dislocation waiting for me in the emergency department seven miles away.

I planned ahead - a quick flick of the theatre drape and the windscreen was free of snow. Of course, five minutes later I was stuck, but that wasn’t poor planning it was due to the deficiencies of Audi and Good Year!



My mate came to pick me up and he drove his Subaru Forester up the hill I’d just slithered down without any difficulty, coffee in hand. He’d just got back from visiting his parents in Switzerland and knew the value of winter tyres.

That’s the only time I’ve been stranded, but I did drive 80 miles of the M4 mostly at 20mph on one occasion, also in a 4WD Audi that couldn’t cope with snow (225 TT). I was overtaken by trucks travelling at ridiculous speeds that were heavy enough to gain traction, but whose drivers hadn’t considered how they would stop if needed.

I had to coax my E46 Compact to work in darkest Kent in heavy snow because I was on call. Without an LSD, any loss of grip required a lot of effort to get moving again. When I wanted to go home a couple of days later, I had to dig the car out of 20cm of snow with my hands.

 

[BMWZ4MC]

...and these are the photos from another year, that my B&B sent me that made my decide to work from home instead of travelling to Basingstoke for work that week...

Looking at the font for the pub name and the advertising hoarding, I think they were trying to stop you coming so sent you an AI-generated snowy pub scene

 

[mmm-five]

Looking at the font for the pub name and the advertising hoarding, I think they were trying to stop you coming so sent you an AI-generated snowy pub scene

This was well before AI images were around, but it’s probably because I used Photoshop’s upscaler to make it bigger, as I only had the very small photo they’d sent via MMS.

 

[BMWZ4MC]

This was well before AI images were around, but it’s probably because I used Photoshop’s upscaler to make it bigger, as I only had the very small photo they’d sent via MMS.

Perhaps Photoshop applies a similar algorithm when filling in the missing data.
I was starting to wonder if you’ve been replaced with an AI bot

 

[Pondy]

I was overtaken by trucks travelling at ridiculous speeds that were heavy enough to gain traction, but whose drivers hadn’t considered how they would stop if needed.

That's the scariest thing about driving in snow IMO. Lorries just carry on regardless as they get decent traction but can't stop!

However, due to climate change, we won't have to worry about snow anymore in the UK. It was rare before; soon it will be tee-shirt weather in January!

 

[Zed Baron]

After experiencing snow the first year of having the E89 I bought another small car for running around in the winter. I bought a Toyota IQ, front wheel drive and 0 road tax. It was absolutely brilliant in the snow, danced around Range Rovers, getting to hills with a queue of stuck cars and then whizzing past them all, sold it 2 years ago for £1k more than I paid for it. Would love another one as a project but they are getting old in the tooth now, we have a new Skoda 4wd now and thats great to drive.

 

[Mr Tidy]

You’d make better progress in a 2WD with winter tyres than a 4WD with summer tyres. I found that out when trying to drive on Exmoor in my RS4 during the “Beast-from-the-East”.

I'd agree with that. The Beast From The East was the first time I drove a 2WD BMW with winter tyres in snow and it was a revelation so I've been fitting them every winter since. It felt almost as safe as Summer tyres on a wet road!

Personally I'd be happy with a 330d, but then I may be slightly biased as my daily is a 330i.

Looking forward to seeing what you get in the end.

 

[JonVR46]

Quick update...........

Looking forward to seeing what you get in the end.

Quick update for you Mr T..........

I've looked at a few cars these last couple of weeks, been on a few test drives, and settled on a Skoda Octavia vRS 2.0 TDi 6 speed manual.

I've found a very good example. 2 owners. Full main stealer Skoda service history. New clutch and dual mass flywheel in Dec 2025. Immaculate wheels with matched Bridgestone tyres (my first box to tick ) It comes with a 12 month warranty too.

I'll add some pics once I collect it

 

[JonVR46]

Picked up my new daily today.

It's slightly higher mileage than I would've liked, but for the price, full main stealer service history and its excellent all round condition, I really can't grumble.

Very happy with the way it drove back home, a steady cruise at 70 on the motorway returned 52mpg, which is spot on.......especially as I've gone through all the paperwork, abnd I've found a rolling road printout, and its been tuned from 181hp to 217hp

Thanks to all of you for your viewpoints, and recommendations

 

[Mr Tidy]

Picked up my new daily today.

Congratulations.

I like the Octavias, and yours is a great colour with a power hike as a bonus!