TheCarStore

tritoch

Hi everyone.

Firstly, I apologise if this is in the wrong section but I think this is the right place

I am looking at buying a car on a monthly basis. My income, coupled with the rent and living expenses for myself and my partner leaves me with sub £100 per month spare for a car.

I was looking around and happened to stumble upon The Car Store www(dot)thecarstore(dot)biz.

Looking at this, I know the contract length is 5 years but it still all seems too good to be true. I was hoping to find someone who's dealt with the company before but having searched through the cobwebs of the net, I decided to come here for some advice.

Does anyone know if the company is legit and whether or not this is some sort of scam. £19/week (£76/month) just seems too good to be true.

Thanks in advance for any help.

P.S. Sorry for the unhelpful attempt at a link but as a new user I am unable to post them at present.

[Deleted User]

£12 a week over 5 years for a 2007 poverty spec 1.1 Clio. The car will be 9 years old by time you finished paying for it.

rodenal

I agree with the above - you would be better looking at a new 107 - if they havent changed the offer these were coming in at about £6k and worked out about £100 per month. From memory deposit was around £500ish. If you could stretch to this it would make alot more sense than buying a 5 year old car and having to pay for the maintenance (warranty with new car) and tax (107 should be free or worst case £35 a year) on what you have already looked at.

Reckon it was pcp so in theory you have a lump to pay after 2/3 years - but for £500 deposit I'd be handing the car back and taking another.

The sums might be off now but it's something worth checking out

tritoch

I have a good credit history so I'd be getting the 7.8%APR. I understand the vehicle will age but I can't see myself selling the car quickly anyway. I'd be getting a cheap run around which I'll have and as soon as my partner's passed her test, it'll become hers and I'll get myself slightly bigger. Either way, we'll be holding onto the car for a while.

One of their adverts states:

thecarstore.biz wrote:

Typical Example:
Total Cash Price: £3200
Interest Rate: 7.8% APR
Term of Loan: 60 Months
Monthly Payment: £64
Weekly Payment: £14.77
Total Payable: £3840

I don't usually get things on finance but I have to get a car now and I don't have the money to buy one outright.

Is there another company you'd recommend instead, or maybe I can't see it but is this actually a bad deal?

P.S. Above Poster, I don't have the £££ to put down a deposit. TheCarStore apparently doesn't need a deposit.

Cheers.

Kilty_2

Bearing in mind there will be very little warranty with such a car, you'll be responsible for any repairs for the vast majority of the five years you're paying it off.

I think you'd need to be mad, personally.

Why not just buy a runner with MOT for a few hundred quid ?

If you say "I don't have £x00" (<£500) then you can't afford to run a car anyway really when a tank of fuel is at least £45 for a small car, insurance, etc etc.

When I bought my brand new Kia Picanto I could've had it for £100 deposit and just over £100 per month, so brand new isn't out of the question but if you're so short of cash then I doubt any form of debt is a good idea.

rodenal

If you don't have a deposit now its probably all the more incentive to save for a few months, then you're experiencing what it will be like to pay for the car loan at least.

Your available income worries me a bit, we have in the region of 1000 to 1200 a no the free before spending (and before whatever else inevitably comes up, as it always does) and I sometimes struggle to find the disposable cash to do bits and pieces to my (paid for) car, and that's with me doing 90% of the maintenance myself

gilbert_and_sullivan

Agree with above, you do not have enough spare cash to consider getting into any finance deals, shady or otherwise.

Save for a few months and buy something unfashionable such as a Hyundai Accent or similar, peanuts to buy, reliable, just as cheap as anything else to run and throw it away if it breaks down badly.

When you have little (and arguably when you have much too) you don't want to pay any interest if you can possibly avoid.

Buy in haste repent at leisure.

tritoch

Unfortunately due to family circumstances, We have been going to and from on the train which costs us £40 each way, each weekend. So we're spending £320 a month at present getting to and from. (Which is why I'm unable to put down a deposit).

It will work out cheaper for me to spend sub £100 each month on a car, and fuel will work out to about £160/month. All in all I'm looking at £260/month. (I already have insurance on the car I sold 2 months ago, so I'll just transfer my insurance over.)

That now being said, I cannot afford to get us there and back by train, so buying a car again will be my only option.

Hopefully that clears things up a bit. A car is needed and I appreciate everybodys concern, but under the circumstances, I have no other option.

rodenal

The sums don't really add up for me tbh, if you're struggling to pay £320 a month train tickets I'm not sure how paying at least £260 a month will be any better? Your fuel could be more than you think, what average mpg are you basing that on? Also what happens if (when) your insurance company want £20 just in admin fees to change the policy and then charge an extra £100 for the year to insure the new car - could happen quite easily as you're part way through the policy.

Lets say your new car needs a service, £40 minimum - what if it needs two new tyres? £100 for 2 reasonable tyres maybe slightly less. When it needs taxed how will you pay for that? what about when the policy is up for renewal?

It *might* be better to take out an overdraft of £500 and buy a runner, then pay that back over 5 months at £100 - at least then by the time your insurance is due for renewal, mot etc is due you'll not have the burden of payng for the car every month. If it dies you'll likely get the majority of your money back too. If the newer car dies (catastrophically) in 6 months time you'll be left trying to find at least £600 to supply and fit a new engine

Kilty_2

Some daily rental firms do cheap weekend deals (Enterprise spring to mind) - worth looking at and if it's cheaper than getting the train you can save the difference to buy a cheap runner?

tritoch

So the general answer is to either get a cheap runner or to look into car hire.

I guess that makes more sense. Thanks very much everyone, I'll see what I can find now

Cheers.