Sold my Car!

Emmzi

gratz on MS car... my clio ran for years and years and was fab, hope yours is the same!

Are you going to give it a name? Like "Martin the Motor"?

Cantdance_2

craigp wrote:

James I thought I'd have to shell out loads for my MOT,the sierra before I sold it cost me £500 to get through and I bought the citroen without an MOT and it cost me £65 last year and £30 this year

Well I do hope you're right... I got the car from my parents so I can always ask them what it's had to have done over the last few years!

As for a name... good question! Never named a car before... :rotfl:

James

NickToye

Did you have to put some of your own money in to pay off the finance, because i presume the car had depreciated quite abit from when you first took on the finance?

I'm only curious because I have a £164 finance per month on a VW Golf, and I was considering downsizing.

Cantdance_2

Well, the situation was:

I owed £5485 on the car still, and the garage's trade in price was going to be £4800.

They told me they would then put it on the market at £5795, so I knew that was the figure it was worth. I put it up for sale privately at that price and didn't get any interest until someone pointed out to me that you need to try and sell it for less than the garage's price otherwise there's no advantage to the buyer!

So I put it up for £5,485 privately and reduced it week by week until I got a bite at £5195.

So, yes, I had to pay about £288 out of my own pocket (well, from my HSBC Credit Card anyway...)

You may find it's only possible to do if you have a couple of hundred quid to make up the shortfall.

James

LookingAhead

I have a Renault Clio! it's very old though so it has costed me a bit recently but it was all stuff that would have "gone" over time anyway.....up till then it was brilliant. You will love it.

NickToye

Well I may go back to the dealer and downsize to a Polo, I do need a car for security, if it was the 1800's i'd settle for a horse, but times change.

crosb286@aol.com

Well done, by cutting your outgoing costs it follows that you will increase your available income to reduce debts. I am a money adviser and often find that clients do not know how much they are actually spending as they are afraid to write outgoings down. There is a website that will take you through the whole process . https://www.debtline-online.co.uk. Hope this helps!

scootermacc

Well done. Now the next step = getting rid of your car altogether!

I'm serious - I did.

I appreciate it depends on your circumstances/location, etc. but think carefully about when you need the car, and for what.

Think of the lost £'s in MOT, repairs, depreciation, tax and insurance, even on a car you owe no money on.

When I gave up my car, I owned it outright (like you do now), but it was still costing me around £100 a month over the course of a year. And that was the cost before I put any fuel in it!

At the time I was massively in debt (£24k+) and the extra cash was desparately needed - it was a tough decision, but over the course of 2 years not using a car played its part and helped me through it.

Here's some things to think about:

Commuting: Can you cycle/walk/bus/train/carshare with work colleague? (I started cycling, and am much fitter now!)
Shopping: Ditto. And use online delivery from Supermarkets for all the big stuff - you'll also be surprised how much your shopping bill drops this way too as you avoid all those unnecessary luxuries!
Going out: taxis may seem a luxury, but if you only go out a couple of times a month (depends on your lifestyle!), its still cheaper than running a car.
Weekends away: plan in advance and benefit from the Virgin advance bnooking offers.
When you absolutely positively need a car (what for?): hire one. If you do this less than once a month, its still cheaper than running a car.
Car clubs: there are a number of car clubs round the country, both rural and city based, where you pay a very low amount to have use of a car when you want one. There are some restrictions and its not as convenient as a car otuside your door, but its unbelievably cheap, even when compared to running an older car like you do now.

Giving up your car is a very tough thing to do, but I found it quite a revelation. I'm fitter, calmer, happier and have £100+ a month in my pocket.

If you want inspiration think about what your life was like before you could drive or owned a car. When I was a student I didnt have a car, and went everywhere on foot, bike or bus. Was I happy back then - maybe its just misguided nostalgia ! lol

if you're doing <5000 miles a year, do you really need the car?

Hope this inspires you a bit. Take it or leave it.

nemmernossage

We're seriously considering getting rid of our car. We haven't been able to use it properly since the end of Jan as it's poorly and we don't know what's wrong with it. Now the tax, MOT and insurance has run out and we don't have a clue how much it'll cost to get it back on the road! So BF has figured out that we'll be about £75 a month better off without it, which is enough for us to just rent a car for a long weekend every so often We think that's what we're gonna do, as we both have push bikes and work in town so we don't really NEED a car. BTW our car is a Fiat Panda VERY cheap to run and I would recommend them to anyone!

linds

:j
Congats on selling your car and for having an extra 450.00 every month.

Just wanted to say Well done and keep it up

Linds :T