Which car would you keep?

Keith

How about...

Hand back the Mazda and use the BMW over the winter, if the wife is going on maternity she's unlikely to be using the car to go that far so it should last until March, pending a decent MOT result.

Meanwhile, you'll be banking the saving from the Mazda.

Once it gets warmer, then start to consider the need for another car, you may find that for the first 3 months of life with baby you only spend time at home, at friends or parents with little energy to go on long walks miles from home or weekends camping.

By the time baby is 4 months old, you'll not have added a great deal of miles onto the BMW, the Mrs will be close to returning to work and you can start to consider the options available but with £1400 in the bank from the payments her employer.

maxheadroom

Dont forget in when th child is 9-12 months old then you go up a car seat, and they only get bigger.

Is there a penalty if the interior of the mazda is damaged by vomit, getting pram in and out etc.

If that were me do as above stick with the beemer, minimise its use as able and save the rest for new vehicle when it expires.

Paul_the_Painter

It is September! Almost....

Do the MoT now, so that you know where you stand. If it fails on something expensive, you've got a few weeks to drive it around to say goodbye!

But you'll also know that you'll be using the Mazda from now on.

If it passes, and everything else looks fine, I'd keep it. With a new baby the £220/month will be more useful, and there is no real reason why it shouldn't be reliable through the winter. Most winter unreliability problems are dodgy batteries, or lack of a good charge into the battery, a weekly charge in the winter certainly helps!