Downsizing car - any advice??

Eriberri

I'm thinking of downsizing my car, in an attempt to reduce some costs, such as tax, probably insurance, etc. This has got a bit long!

I currently drive a Ford Focus, 1998-S reg, with just over 52,000 miles on the clock. Its a 1.8 and most of my motoring is done locally, with occasional trips down the motorway (but not far, Liverpool-Manchester), sometimes further but only 1 or 2 times a year. There is no finance on the car (I have never taken out finance on a car and wouldn't wish to start now!), so I own it outright - no problems there!

I am a single mum of 2, having the car makes life easier and I think logistically, with one at school, one at nursery, and me at work, not having a car would be really difficult, so I don't want to get rid of the car. I am pretty confident about buying a car, I've not bought a complete shed/no-hoper (yet!). I do have a couple of mechanics who could help me out as well.

I am thinking of getting something like a Honda Civic - knowing that Honda's are incredibly reliable. I *think* if I got a 1.5, would that put me on the cheaper car tax or not? Not sure to be honest but if anyone knows, that'd be great!

My other problem is the logistics of doing this! I don't have the money to buy even a cheap car outright, without selling my car. And if I sell my car, I then have the logistics of getting around while wanting to buy another car! I know I probably wouldn't get the best deal if I went to a garage/trader and said "here's my car, I want that car - give me the difference!" - so advice on sorting out the logistics there, if anyone can!

Sorry for the long post!

Erika

rdwarr

If you like your current car and it's behaving well then I'd be tempted to stick with it. You're likely to lose money doing a swap and it would take ages to recoup that in savings.
The Focus will hadly be depreciating at all now and is still amongst the best in its class.

balsingh

rdwarr wrote:

If you like your current car and it's behaving well then I'd be tempted to stick with it. You're likely to lose money doing a swap and it would take ages to recoup that in savings.
The Focus will hadly be depreciating at all now and is still amongst the best in its class.

I agree. If you look after the Focus, it is good for well over 100,000 miles. There are other to consider too ... you mention a Honda. Yes, they are very reliable cars BUT they cost more to service than a Focus and also when thing do go wrong, they are much more expensive to fix.

The current trend for saving money seems to be LPG conversions. A £1500 investment will half your fuel costs .... beats giving money to a trader!!

Eriberri

If only I had the money to do the LPG conversion! I'd have to sell the Focus to pay for it..................;)

Thanks for the input. Will keep pondering for now! :T

ArsenalFC

How about a ford fiesta 1.2 or 1.4. It will be cheaper on insurance, tax and petrol. It'll also be relatively not so expensive to service too, like your current car.

The problem is as you've already highlighted, you need to sell first before you buy and also cannot do without a car in between.

tomstickland

You sell the first car and then hire the cheapest car you can find for a week or two whilst you buy the replacement.

Or you buy a car out of the paper with some MOT left on it for a few hundred, use it and sell it on afterwards.

JBsplit

i would also look at the fiesta or corsa, your 1998 1.8 focus will be heavy on fuel compared to one of these.. personaly i dont rate ford much..

take a piece of card and a piece of board nail it together to make a ford.!!!!!

Eriberri

Thanks everyone. Am still pondering about what to do! I'm not terribly speedy on decision making for things like this! I get my car serviced by a local mechanic, so wouldn't expect my service costs to increase huge amounts, though would probably check with him first anyway.

I appreciate the input though! Its often hard making decisions on your own!

Erika