New Car (Scrappage)? Should I bother?

danielson81

Hi there,

I wonder if I could pick your brains.

I am debating whether to get a new car or not. Basically I have a 15yr old Fiat Cinquecento which qualifies for the scrappage scheme discount. The car works fine (touch wood!) but has had a few things that needed replacing over the 5 years i have had it that I expected, ie brake pads, clutch cable, exhaust, new radiator fan etc. It only has 60k mileage so I think there is some life in the old dog yet!

Ive been looking at the Hyundai i10 and can get it for £5100 with the scrappage discount and I can afford and get a loan of £5000 @ 7.7% APR and pay £120 a month for 4 years. (£760 cost of credit)

Should I keep the reliable Fiat till it dies, it could be next month, it could be in a few years then get a cheaper 2nd hand car, or just go for the new car at £120 a month for 4 years?

Any help appreciated, my Dad keeps pestering me about it!

flyingscotno1

danielson81 wrote: »

Hi there,

I wonder if I could pick your brains.

I am debating whether to get a new car or not. Basically I have a 15yr old Fiat Cinquecento which qualifies for the scrappage scheme discount. The car works fine (touch wood!) but has had a few things that needed replacing over the 5 years i have had it that I expected, ie brake pads, clutch cable, exhaust, new radiator fan etc. It only has 60k mileage so I think there is some life in the old dog yet!

Ive been looking at the Hyundai i10 and can get it for £5100 with the scrappage discount and I can afford and get a loan of £5000 @ 7.7% APR and pay £120 a month for 4 years. (£760 cost of credit)

Should I keep the reliable Fiat till it dies, it could be next month, it could be in a few years then get a cheaper 2nd hand car, or just go for the new car at £120 a month for 4 years?

Any help appreciated, my Dad keeps pestering me about it!

Up to you really- you should or could also consider the Fiat Panda, which is the Cinquecento replacement and a nice car- they are doing them for £6K, but don't think you get scrappage on that one- only the £7K ones, but I don't know.

In the end you'll probably never get £2k for your car again, and with an old car (I have one not in scrappage) you never know when something expensive pops up and you'll be left buying a new second hand car.

Only you can tell if it is right for you but you need to act quickly as you might regret it if a component fails in January.

danielson81

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

In the end you'll probably never get £2k for your car again,

Thanks, I think that will be swaying it!

Fuzzyvision

I purchased a Toyota Aygo Blue having always bought second hand/ auctioned cars I was incredibly worried about the expense.

However as the poster above states you can pretty much guarentee a good 5 years trouble free whereas my old 14 year old fiesta went wrong constantly.

I settled and bit the bullet on the following grounds

Aygo yearly tax £35 (was £160ish)
3 years no MOT (saving approx £200 - £300)
compared to my fiesta the Aygo does a further 100 miles for the cost of fuel saving me roughly £500 per year

so I looked at it like this

Aygo Blue cost £7600 (all aygo models were quoted in the scheme so base model is approx 6500)
less scrappage £2000 = £5600

in 3 years I will have saved in fuel mot and tax costs £2175
the resale cost of the aygo blue after 3 years (trade in) will be £4900 (parkers guide)

so only having paid cash £5600 it will depreciate just £700 for me in real terms

so take off the £2175 in savings, not including the repair/parts welding and stress of my fiesta its was a no brainer.

add to the the new car feeling!

Awsome!

Apologies if this was long winded but it made sence to me

Lol!

AdrianHi

Better be quick as the scappage cash is running out and delivery times are long (months last I heard) for the i10 and similar cars popular on the scrappage scheme. Need to be sure you won't get caught out and loose the scrappage bonus - i.e. get it guaranteed at time of order.

AdrianHi

Fuzzyvision wrote: »

I purchased a Toyota Aygo Blue having always bought second hand/ auctioned cars I was incredibly worried about the expense.

However as the poster above states you can pretty much guarentee a good 5 years trouble free whereas my old 14 year old fiesta went wrong constantly.

I settled and bit the bullet on the following grounds

Aygo yearly tax £35 (was £160ish)
3 years no MOT (saving approx £200 - £300)
compared to my fiesta the Aygo does a further 100 miles for the cost of fuel saving me roughly £500 per year

so I looked at it like this

Aygo Blue cost £7600 (all aygo models were quoted in the scheme so base model is approx 6500)
less scrappage £2000 = £5600

in 3 years I will have saved in fuel mot and tax costs £2175
the resale cost of the aygo blue after 3 years (trade in) will be £4900 (parkers guide)

so only having paid cash £5600 it will depreciate just £700 for me in real terms

so take off the £2175 in savings, not including the repair/parts welding and stress of my fiesta its was a no brainer.

add to the the new car feeling!

Awsome!

Apologies if this was long winded but it made sence to me

Lol!

Good one, I do this sort of calculation myself and it shows that the difference between old and young cars is not as big as you think, especially if you do average or moe (10K+) miles a year. Sometimes buying a younger car can save money.

Hintza

Fuzzy I agree, I like your style. My only gripe would be if you relied on the trade in value in Parkers to make your decision. I think I would err on the side of caution, unless of course I was just trying to justify it to the missus, then it would be top book......

Hintza

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

Up to you really- you should or could also consider the Fiat Panda, .

The 1.1 can be had for less than £5k. Personally I think you are better going for the 1.2.

danielson81

Thanks for all your replies, I think I will go for it. The Hyundai dealer near my parents said they could get one for October, whereas the one near me said it would be in January and they couldn't guarantee scrappage discount. I also looked at the Panda, but it was pretty basic, however the car itself was nice. The Hyundai seems better value and has a longer warranty.

Gettheebehindme

I purchased a Toyota Aygo Blue having always bought second hand/ auctioned cars I was incredibly worried about the expense.

However as the poster above states you can pretty much guarentee a good 5 years trouble free whereas my old 14 year old fiesta went wrong constantly.

I settled and bit the bullet on the following grounds

Aygo yearly tax £35 (was £160ish)
3 years no MOT (saving approx £200 - £300)
compared to my fiesta the Aygo does a further 100 miles for the cost of fuel saving me roughly £500 per year

so I looked at it like this

Aygo Blue cost £7600 (all aygo models were quoted in the scheme so base model is approx 6500)
less scrappage £2000 = £5600

in 3 years I will have saved in fuel mot and tax costs £2175
the resale cost of the aygo blue after 3 years (trade in) will be £4900 (parkers guide)

so only having paid cash £5600 it will depreciate just £700 for me in real terms

so take off the £2175 in savings, not including the repair/parts welding and stress of my fiesta its was a no brainer.

add to the the new car feeling!

Awsome!

Apologies if this was long winded but it made sence to me

I've just found your posting and it could not be more apposite to my situation. I've got my own N registration Ford Fiesta through its MOT and now need a replacement via scrappage. Common sense says I must go for an automatic as the hips are awful now!

I had plumped for a Toyota Yaris, mostly hopefully less underbonnet trouble than my Fiesta in the long run. When all is added up, I would be paying £10.160 for a semi-automatic Yaris (£35 RT).

I somehow see the Yaris as a car on the same level as a Fiesta. I'm now thinking I should seriously consider the Aygo instead. I've more or less rejected a Fiesta automatic as too expensive and not in the £35 tax band - if I'm talking scrappage/new car. Maybe I should get a nearly-new Fiesta (fully automatic!) and forego the scrappage?

What I am interested in, Fuzzyvision, is have you adapted well to the lack of bootspace and semi-automatic transmission (if you haven't bought the manual)? All things being equal, would the Yaris have been a more obvious choice?

I haven't had a drive of the Aygo - only a Yaris - and found the slow(semi- automatic) gear changing rather a shock compared to my clapped out Fiesta (Fiestas drive like a dream IMO). The Aygo has the same gearbox as the Yaris. I'm told I'll just get used to it!

Am I wrong to have equated the Fiesta to the Yaris? Was I not comparing like-to-like?

hewhoisnotintheknow

it sounds like a good car, keep it and put what would be the repayments of a finance deal into savings