Car costing us a fortune advice what to do???

mummytofour

in*the*red wrote:

Hi
DHs opinion as he says that we've had lots of work done to it now so it should be ok,

Ignore him!!! my dh said the same and the car cost more and more, I forget how much we paid out in the end it was a few yrs back, but even so it hurt!

jcr16

my hubby said that. he had an escort rs turbo. we spent hundreds on it, and still had prob's. the final straw was the turbo going. and he then realised it was a money pit and not worth it. so we sold it and cut our losses.
i understand it is a man think. but us girls usually have the most sense. and we can make the men usually see our way of thinking. u just gotta work on him . hehe. he'll see sense in the end. my hubby gets fed up of my nagging and just gives in , in the end.

car_chick

Hi again,

If you do pay the £850 at least its only £200 more than the repair bill. In regard to your next car I work for a Toyota dealer and they service all imports and UK cars and there never seems to be any delay for parts.

I of course will say tread carefully whatever you buy but Toyota Estima, Lucida and Emina are all Previa-like. Uk wise Toyota Picnics are fab and 6 Seater.

Don't forget there are no VT rights with a loan, so haggle for a really good finance quote and consider it if its good.

Auto Scuderia, Long Ashton, Bristol. Was franchise dealer 3 years ago now import specialist, should have good knowledge/experience.

Biffa

I'll never EVER understand the logic in going to the main dealer for servicing or repairs. I have a P Mondeo that's done 108k, 22 of which have been my doing in the last 12 months. I paid £900 for it. So far it's had 2 tyres at £25 each, a secondhand cat which cost £65 (fitted by myself) and a cambelt change when I bought it (NOT done by myself!). I can do the basics, like fitting exhausts, brake pads etc etc, and rebuilt the front of Hubby's mondeo lastyear when he had a shunt, despite being 5ft4in, 10st and female - hubby hasn't got a clue about cars. I definetly agree about getting the cam belt done - they should normally be changed every 60 - 80k depending on the make and model, so either way should be done. I'd give the car back as soon as you can, find another £500 and pick up a half decent motor on ebay. Have just seen a V reg Mondeo auto finish for £300, although it needed a new bonnet and bumper. Sadly funds were lacking so couldn't afford to buy it, otherwise would have gladly spent another weekend rebuilding another mondeo!

dunc_2-2

in*the*red wrote:

Wow, the prices for the Estimas are low, I'd never have considered doing something like this but come to think of it my brother imported their Honda CRV so maybe that came from Japan too. Do you end up paying lots of extra fees on top of the advertised prices though, it looks to good to be true!

there are quite a few extras for shipping from japan & import duty & making the car road legal for the uk (it has to have an SVA test, kind of like a super mot) & registering it in the uk but the agent can sort all that out
they were v helpful & up front about what was needed, there was no hidden costs.
we got them to do the lot & I think it added about 2k to the price as advertised but it still worked out cheaper than buying in the uk
one thing to consider is insurance, it is slightly more expensive than for a uk car so check it out b4 you buy

cheers, dunc

in*the*red_6

Thanks so much for your advice everyone, I'm not going to rush into anything until I'm really sure it's for the best, the car's working for now and if we do buy another I'll research this time to make sure we get a good deal and a good car!

ITR