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Running A Car Costs
Hello there, I wondered if you kind people might give me a bit of help. I am a new 35 year old driver and I have purchased a vauxhall corsa 1.0 club for my first car. With it I got 12 months MOT, full service. The information I am looking for is what to budget each month to maintain it, I don't mean petrol and running costs. Next year when my insurance, tax, mot, service etc is all due I would like to be able to pay for it all for the next 12 months rather than having to pay monthly for my insurance like I am now.
So I was wondering if people could give me a good idea on what they set aside each month to cover maintaining a car plus if it needs the odd repair.
Thanks for reading.
So I was wondering if people could give me a good idea on what they set aside each month to cover maintaining a car plus if it needs the odd repair.
Thanks for reading.
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Comments
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Well how much is the insurance and tax? for this year. Use that figure as a start. Maybe add on top £125 for a service and maybe the same again for potential repair. Possibly add a further £100 to be on the safe side and divide that by 12. Save that amount each month to cover it.0
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£30 a week would cover £1000 insurance, road tax, MOT and a service plus around £200 for any repairs.0
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Hi
First of all, well done for passing your driving test. :j
I would say £75-£100 a month should be about right. I am saying this and thinking £500 for the insurance ( My sister-in-law, when passed her driving test last year, she has got £3800 Toyota Yaris, 1.0L, insured fully comp. for £470, parking on a public road and she is 29 yrs old... ) £120 tax ( or about that if your car is post 2001 model). £50 MOT test fee. The rest should be more than enough to cover the annual service and potential repairs, if any.
Get youself a blue-tooth hands-free set, if you don't have one already. You don't want any point on your licence espacially not during your first 2 years. There is one on Offer this week from Lidl on Thursday for about £12.
Do not forget the timing belt of the engine, if your car has got one. It should be replaced as a part of the service every few years. If your car has a history showing when the belt has been changed before, then check when it will be due next, if not, budget up to £175 to get it replaced at the earliest possible chance as it might cause big engine damage if it snaps, resulting in a huge repair bill.
One more thing to consider, is to buy a Haynes manual specific to your car. You can get one from Halfords for £18 ( Check it on ebay as well, you might get it at a fraction of that price). It will tell what to do when, and in the unlikely event that you need to get the car repaired, you will have a rough idea what is involved when you take it a mechanic.
Buy yourself a small air compressor ( There is on on offer in Nettoe this week for £5) to check the tyres' air pressure regularly to keep them inflated at the correct level to keep yourself safe and save money on petrol ( under-inflated tyres cause the car to use more petrol)
When you start the car from cold, go easy on the petrol pedal and don't race the engine beyond 2500 rpm till the engine warms up a bit after 1 or two miles.
I can't think of any more at the moment( it must be getting late for my brain!)
I will add more if remember other things to consider.
Enjoy your driving and be safe.
P.S. I apologise if the above come across patronising, it is not, I would rather mention it if there is a chance you find it useful.Be nice, life is too short to be anything else.0 -
Does not sound patronising, thanks for the advice, the more advice I get the better.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply everyone:)0 -
To be prepared for the worst case scenario, for example lots of repairs needed at once or an expensive repair like head gasket, or clutch, it would be a good idea to have maybe £300-£400 set aside. And if this is the sort of value of your car, if your car needs expensive repairs, it could be used towards a replacement car.0
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Thunderbird wrote: »Get youself a blue-tooth hands-free set, if you don't have one already. You don't want any point on your licence espacially not during your first 2 years. There is on on Offer this week from Lidl on Thursday for about £12.
I've only been driving just over one year and have a hands free but never used the phone or ever had the handsfree in the car with the intention of using it. Apparently research shows that calls made with handsfree are very nearly as likely to increase the chance of an accident as much as holding the phone. Of course if you absolutely *must* make calls a handsfree helps avoid fines etc, but I see no reason people need to drive *and* be on the phone.
Good advice, it also shows what is involved in servicing and how regularly each thing should be done. Sometimes they're reduced on Amazon.co.uk too. They sometimes pop up in charity shops but they're generally for the older cars.Thunderbird wrote: »One more thing to consider, is to buy a Haynes manual specific to your car. You get one from Halfords for £18 ( Check it on ebay as well, you might get at a fraction of that price). It will tell what to do when so that in the unlikely event that you need to get the car repaired, you will have a rough idea what involves when you take it a mechanic.Thunderbird wrote: »Buy yourself a small air compressor ( There is on on offer in Nettoe this week for £5) to check the tyres' air pressure regularly to keep them inflated at the correct level to keep yourself safe and saves money on petrol ( under-inflated tyres cause the car to use more petrol)
I have one of these and all it did was make a loud noise and let my tyre down, had to swap the wheel and buy a proper footpump for a fiver from wilkinsons. Probably just a case of bad luck for me.
It's also worth checking that the tyres, including the spare are all legal (the tyres on the car should be if it has 12 months MOT). It can even be worth practicing swapping the wheel so you feel more confident when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere with a flat tyre. In general, handbrake on, first gear. Remove wheel trim if present. Slacken the nuts slightly with the car on the ground. Use jack to raise wheel off ground using correct jacking point. Undo nuts fully and remove wheel. I tend to leave the top nut till last and support the wheel while undoing it, and undo the nut by hand at the end. Put wheel on, do nuts up, lower car to ground and tighten nuts quite a bit - but don't be too over enthusiastic.0 -
To be prepared for the worst case scenario, for example lots of repairs needed at once or an expensive repair like head gasket, or clutch, it would be a good idea to have maybe £300-£400 set aside. And if this is the sort of value of your car, if your car needs expensive repairs, it could be used towards a replacement car.
I was going to post the same. Once you get reliant on the car, and that happens very quickly, you will not want to be scratching up for the repair bill to free your car from the garage if something goes seriously wrong, £500 repair bills are only too common.
Also if you can possibly get yourself into the position of having saved for your next car by the time you need to source one, well, thats a lot stronger position to be in.:beer:I like the thanks button, but ,please, an I agree button.
Will the grammar and spelling police respect I do make grammatical errors, and have carp spelling, no need to remind me.;)
Always expect the unexpected:eek:and then you won't be dissapointed0 -
Hi and thanks for the replies all. Regards using a mobile phone whilst driving with or without a headset, I am dead set against it. I do not answer my phone while driving. I either pull up somewhere safely or wait until reaching my destination and ringing the person back or if its inportant they will ring back.
I feel strongly about this as I remember getting hurt on a bus because there was a car in front who was talking away on his mobile phone and driving irresponsibly resulting in the bus driver having to do an emergency stop. I hurt my back.0 -
I have one of these and all it did was make a loud noise and let my tyre down, had to swap the wheel and buy a proper footpump for a fiver from wilkinsons. Probably just a case of bad luck for me.
I have got one of these and it is fine. I must be lucky then
Be nice, life is too short to be anything else.0 -
One more thing to consider, is to buy a Haynes manual specific to your car. You can get one from Halfords for £18 ( Check it on ebay as well, you might get it at a fraction of that price).
buy through amazon........ just got mine for under £14.... brand newsmile --- it makes people wonder what you are up to.... :cool:0
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