Shall i sell my new car?! Advice please!

stinky985

Hi i am a divorced father of 2, 35 and bought a new car (SAAB 9-3) in november 05. I love the car.
My dilemma is that although i do business miles (40p a mile) that will cover most of the running costs, it is still a struggle monthly to make ends meet. i have Inland Revenue debts landed on me for Child TAx Credit to pay back as well as a couple of credit cards and overdrafts i need to pay off. Therefore i am thinking that i should bite the bullet, and try and buy a smaller car (i dont NEED large car really!)
Thing is i have not got any money (though am trying to save a bit to help) and i would need some to downsize.
I cant decide what to do or what would be best! somedays i think sell mine privately and buy a car on my newest 'emergency' 0% for a ywear credit card then pay it off when i sell the saab. not sure if thats sensible or even possible!
any ideas/advice/tellings off would be welcome!!
thank you

Storm

I would say sell the car & buy a smaller one about the same age or a bit older 2nd hand rather than another new one - that way you can't be tempted by the cash sitting around.

Try for one that's in a low tax bracket, diesels get more miles to the gallon than petrol, and hopefully your insurance might go down too.

If you're finding it hard to make ends meet post up a SoA of all your income & expenditure & people can see where you can cut back in other areas to ease the cash flow

Bluediamond

Well done for realising that the car is a luxury and that you actually don't need it. I think that you know the answer already but it is just making that step. Last year we bought a top of the range Audi Sport and it was great. Then we woke up to ourselves and realised that we had no spare money and were working for the credit cards to be paid etc and that was only minimum instalments. We got payplan on board and then binned all the stuff that we did not need. Fast car was the first to go. wnet back to dealer and bought a runaround that was six months old and a diesel too for extra savings >
was paying £251 a month now paying £121 a month and thats is not including £24 month saving on insurance and road tax costs £50 a year not £191.
Need I say anymore......you can work that one out.
yeah the neighbours asked why we downgraded and I was proud to tell them that I needed to save the money so the car went.
You could see the envy on their faces as they were cleaning their hot hatches that they bought to keep up with the rest of the street !
I had the balls to do it and they probably want to but want to save face. Thats what it boils down to some times I'm afraid but I look at it like this..
Flash car vs less stress and more money in the bank.
Great innit ! ! !

stinky985

well what i should have said it was new to me not brand new! ( i wish!!)
What i have to weigh up is the loss of the money (about 1000-1500). against any potential savings. Though obviously i need the least amount going out every month!
Not the biggest amount i agree but it is to me! The saab is nearing a big service too and i would prefer not to pay out for that but put a bit of extra money towards a smaller one.
If i trade it in i will obviously get less for it and would need to pay out something more whatever, but i wont have to worry about selling it and potentially having 2 cars!
Or i sell it privately get a bit more money, but have nothing but a credit card to buy a car with (or suppose could get loan and pay off early) and run risk of actually selling it.
Dilemma!!

Ps what is a SoA?!

tomstickland

Cost of car and how good it is are as strongly related as most people think. Same with speed and cost.
Yes, lose the deadweight of a new car and buy something a few years old.

stinky985

thanks for responses so far.
Just to re-iterate tha the saab is a 2000 car so is not new.
What i would like to do is pay a bit more (using my work expenses) to but a slightly newer, smaller car so that i save on all fronts, with some realiability.I intend to spend max £1k more. got to this figure by previous garages not being interested unless i was spening money not swapping or selling to them!

lynzpower

what, am I right in thinking you want to sell the cart you have and spend MORE on the next one, even though its a cheaper car?

A soa is a list of income/ expedniture/debt, read southern scousers sticky first time posters

stinky985

um yes?! thing is i cant be without a car as i need it for work and my kids (divorced so not giving any reason for me to get more grief from ex!)
Could buy another one but then have 2 cars with no guarantee that can sell one have now. If i got another one i got nowhere to keep one i have and it wont be insured and therefore potentially very risky! does that make sense?!
Basically i am out of ideas of what to do and how to do it?!
(Nice pic by the way and congrats on being debt free!)

sanfrancisco

I don't understand why you are making this so difficult.

How much will you get for the car? Check Autotrader.

Sell the car.

Bank the money.

Buy a cheap reliable car for sub £1000. There are millions around.

It really boils down to whether you want to get out of debt or not. What do you want?

stinky985

sorry no its not that simple!
first off i should mention that my mum gave me the money to buy the car i have now and so therefore techincally i am not losing anything. good on her that she see's i am an idiot and is not disowning me! Infact just off the phone to her she said get a smaller car and that its all down to me. Fair enough and spot on!
Now i cant afford (the risk of) such an old car for not being able to do my job or taking my kids in a safe car. Thats me being anal i know but the job thing is important!
I need a car to last a few years and a sub £1k wont and i think a false economy!

this is more an exercise to reduce outgoings, enabling me to pay off a bit more of my debts but also to be able to live and have a life. At the minute i am paying out all my money on the necessities, with virtually nothing to get me out the house. and i need that !

tomstickland

Yes, but buy one for £2-3K and you can buy a reliable and safe unit. Mondeo for example. Or Fiesta/Corsa/206 etc.
Cars are very reliable, don't con yourselve that you MUST have a newer one because it'll be more reliable etc.
I like to run cheap old BMWs, lots of fun and cheap to run. My car is 16 years old and I don't lose any sleep over reliability. I've run it for 2 years with no problems.