Need a car for new job - cheap car or bad finance?

twinkisno

Sorry if someone has already posted something similar - I had a search and couldn't see anything.

I have just accepted a new job - one that pays more than my current one but does not offer a company car (my current job does).

So, I need to purchase a new car within the next 3 weeks. Unfortunately, the reason I am leaving my old job is because they gave us all pay cuts and I was finding it difficult to meet my payments on bills - so I'm pretty sure my credit rating is now dire. Using estimators, I reckon it's probably around the 650 mark.

I have no CCJ's and haven't had any threatening letters - just a few late payments and some bounced direct debits.

My partner and I already have one car, but will need a second as we work in opposite directions from one another. There is no bus service to my job and It's too far to cycle (30 miles each way). My parents have very kindly agreed to lend me £1000 to pay back when I can - the question is how I use that. I think I have 3 options:

1. Buy a car for less than £1000 and hope it lasts a year or so.
2. Get finance with a £1000 deposit (in the hope that it looks better) but be prepared to take on a high APR.
3. Get finance with a £1000 deposit in my partners name or as a joint thing. Would this get me/us a better rate?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated - I don't want to buy a wreck of a car that costs more to fix than replace but it doesnt need to be anything fancy.

Thank you and sorry for the long post!

NeverAgain_2

No right or wrong answer.

I would look to buy something with a longish MOT for between £500 and your budget.

A few Nissan Primeras and Almeras here:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/nissan/postcode/nn168lq/radius/1500/fuel-type/petrol/maximum-age/up_to_10_years_old/price-from/500/sort/priceasc/price-to/1000

Anything Japanese in reasonable order stands a good chance of being reliable.

Gordon_Hose

Credit score is worthless.

A few late payments and bounced DD's shouldn't affect you too much. Depends how late the payments were and whether or not they recorded it to the CRA's. Have you checked your credit file to see what's on there?

If you do indeed have credit so bad you can't get car finance, I'd recommend getting a cheap car over an adverse credit loan/finance agreement with massive APR's.

Alternatively, if your partners credit is good, get him/her to get the finance as he'll get a better rate.

Just so you know, not all sub-£1k cars are rotters that pack up after a few months. Granted some are, but if you're careful you can get a bargain. My T-reg Escort TDi cost me £550 and is still doing the 500 miles a week commute without missing a beat!

Kilty_2

What's your annual mileage? What kind of driving?

With a £1000 deposit I'm currently financing a brand new Kia Picanto on a 3 year PCP for £75/month. Was approved for finance frighteningly easily, too.

Hintza

Buy a cheap car for the first 6 -12 months at least while you get your feet under the desk.

A frend of mine asked his boss wether it was safe to buy a Porsche and was told no worries. He was made redundant within the month so be careful.

Kate._3

Hi I am having a similar problem, without any money for deposit. I have just checked my credit rating and it is 550 i have no ccjs or late payments although i have a default. Does anyone know if i would be able to get car finance?
Sorry for butting in
Kate

Gordon_Hose

Kate. wrote: »

Hi I am having a similar problem, without any money for deposit. I have just checked my credit rating and it is 550 i have no ccjs or late payments although i have a default. Does anyone know if i would be able to get car finance?
Sorry for butting in
Kate

You had a CCJ in the other thread you created...

twinkisno

Thanks for the replies!

I will need to drive it on business but the company will get me a hire car to drive longer distances if I want - i.e. if I had to drive a 600 mile round trip one day I would probably use the hire car.

It'll probably need to do around 20,000 miles a year and not be tiny, but Kia Picanto size would be fine (the other car we have is actually a kia picanto!)

Hintza - point noted!

I may go and have a chat with a dealer at the weekend and just see whether they are likely to approve me for a finance agreement. I certainly wouldnt want to borrow more than around £5000 though. Thanks again. x

Hammyman

I'd find an old MK1 or MK2 Mondeo. Not the prettiest of things but there's plenty around and they're as cheap as chips both to buy and repair. My wife's 10 year old one had no problem doing a 600 mile trip in a day at the drop of a hat.

mikey72

Old peugeot 106 1.5 diesel cost us less than £500.
It had 90K miles on, and we've done nearly 50K in three years.

Kate._3

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

You had a CCJ in the other thread you created...

Look, I thought I had a CCJ, obviously I haven't, according to my credit report. What's hard to understand mate? You seem to have me down as a story teller and it's wasting my time.

I thought I did, because a few years back I had a court order, for whatever reason, according to my credit report, I don't.

Anyway, it's the points system I'm interested in. I have a score of 550, which I'm assuming is not good and I would like to know if anyone else has checked their credit score, come back with a similar score, but still got credit for a car.