How long before I lose NCB?

lisyloo

for the cost of cars these days it's easy enough to pick something up cheap on eBay

Cars are indeed cheap.
Unfortunately the combined cost of car, fuel, tax, mot, servicing, repairs, parking, breakdown cover and insurance is not so cheap for a lot of people.

scheming_gypsy

lisyloo wrote: »

Cars are indeed cheap.
Unfortunately the combined cost of car, fuel, tax, mot, servicing, repairs, parking, breakdown cover and insurance is not so cheap for a lot of people.

no, but his problem was that he couldn't afford to buy the car. I'm assuming he could afford to run his old one but not replace it outright. So the costs you've mentioned are no more than the costs he'd be paying if his last one hadn't gone to the permanent car park.

Norfolk_Jim

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

no, but his problem was that he couldn't afford to buy the car. I'm assuming he could afford to run his old one but not replace it outright. So the costs you've mentioned are no more than the costs he'd be paying if his last one hadn't gone to the permanent car park.

Quite. I could run a car that was paid for (just about) but theres nothing in the pot to replace it.
We insure our cars in case of loss but I guess apart from fairly new cars (and I don't know whats in those warranty offers) it isn't possible as far as I know to insure for uneconomic repair risk.

Collegue in the office suggested E-Bay but is it really safe to buy a car from e-bay? I've bought a few "bangers" over the years - seldom got a lot of value out of them, but then I'm not particulary good at cars.

scheming_gypsy

Pretty safe, I've had a few off there with no issues and a couple with issues. One needed a clutch and the other had a problem i was pretty sure it had anyway but both seemed to be priced for it.

If you want something cheap and cheerful just search by distance so you can look over it before bidding and see what he actually wants for it. If you're just looking at transport while you save then it's going to be hit and miss anyway, although scrappage price is quite good at the minute so make sure it's cheap and heavy just in case.. lol

lisyloo

It can be a false economy buying cheap cars.
It can be down to smart buying, but some of it is just down to pure luck.
I think it's risky, but then you have to consider what the other options are.

Norfolk_Jim

At the moment the other options are the bus - but thats a thread for the debtfree board

scheming_gypsy

get a heap off eBay... it'll be better than the bus no matter what!!!

lisyloo

I don't know what you're buses are like. Whether they are convenient or relatively cheap, but I'd say get the bus and save short term, especially if you don't have much knowledge about cars.
My nephew keps buying rubbish cars on loans and they always go wrong before he can pay the loan off.
He's just getting himself into more and more debt.

Up to you at the end of the day because as you can see you have two ends of the spectrum of opinion here, but we don't know what your journey/costs are like.

You could also try a liftshare database.
You can look for other people going the same way as you at the same times.

A further option is a small motorbike/scooter - should be very cheap to run and you have the convenience of personal transport then.