What can I do with this rubbish car...?

chrispyphillips

Wasnt really sure where to post this as there is no dedicated board to vehicle sales and wants etc, so hope someone can help.

Me and the Mrs have just moved in together, but before we got together she had already purchased a Ford Ka direct from the dealer (should I have been with her at the time we certainly would not have :mad: )

She bought it in 2004 and I think will be paying it back until 2009 (i'm sure its a 5 year plan) paying £140 p/month. As I now drive the car also, and have insured myself on it, I thought it only fair that I help her out and pay £70 p/month into her account (even though I probably wont use the POS half as much as her!). Needless to say I am majorly begrudging this cost!!

EDIT: I just worked this out, making the cost £16000! That is misleading, but what she tells me! I'll find out how much exactly she pays and when it will end as I think the car was only £5000, no more than £6000 new but I cant be 100%

Is there anything we can do to get rid of it and get a better deal? Anyone know of any good places that could help out. If we sold the car privately, whatever money we raised would probably go towards paying the remainder of the cash off (and its not a great motor, only has an FM radio and CASETTE player - who would even buy it) and we wouldnt have anything to put toward a new car (new being 2nd hand even, not necessarily factory new). We dont have any money saved to put toward a car, so all we have really is this heap of rubbish! Dont get me wrong, theres nothing wrong with the performance of the car, I only slate it cos I hate Ford's, and even more so Ford Ka's! As far as the car goes, its in perfect working order, she doesnt ever stray above 70 when on the motorway (I am a different story however )

Any help would be appreciated, but I do notice that these boards are not exactly trawled through every day by great numbers of people so I hold out miniscule hope!

Thanks

greyteam1959

First thing I would do is get yourself a good calculator !!!
5 years = 60 months x £140 / month = £8400 not £16000
Why not have a look at the Carcraft website you might be able to do some sort of a deal on there.
Depends what you are after....they offer a 2 year parts and labour warranty on all their cars.....
Or what about a new Kia ?? now giving a 7 year warranty on some if not all their new cars

peterg1965

You need to find out what the settlement figure on the loan is, then find out how much the car is worth. From there you can work out your options. What sort of finance is it, personal loan? manufacturers finance (Ford)? If it is Ford go in to the dealer and ask the what you would get as a trade in and they can tell you how much is outstanding on the finance.
There is a market for Ford Ka's, especially at 4 years old, they are great first cars - cheap insurance etc. I would say all is not lost.

chrispyphillips

mervyn11 wrote:

First thing I would do is get yourself a good calculator !!!
5 years = 60 months x £140 / month = £8400 not £16000

:think:........ :wall: :wall: :wall:

Cheers, my calculator was broke!!!

I'm sure its still not worth that much! Eejit!

peterg1965 wrote:

You need to find out what the settlement figure on the loan is, then find out how much the car is worth. From there you can work out your options. What sort of finance is it, personal loan? manufacturers finance (Ford)? If it is Ford go in to the dealer and ask the what you would get as a trade in and they can tell you how much is outstanding on the finance.
There is a market for Ford Ka's, especially at 4 years old, they are great first cars - cheap insurance etc. I would say all is not lost.

Thanks guys, at least its what I wanted to hear! I'll have to get her to get the paperwork out and root through it. My only cos getting a car that is at least a bit of a step up from that piece of crap! But encouraging stuff!

Just spoke to casio, still under warranty so calculator being replaced for free :doh:

DavidHM

Look at the Carcraft threads on here before even vaguely considering going to them. Clue: they'd buy the car off you for £500 and sell it to you for £6k...

Roughly a 2003-03 Ka with low to average mileage would be worth about £2,800 privately and £2,250 as a trade-in. If she paid £6,000 for it three years ago at 14.9% APR (which would give the correct monthly payment if no PPI) she was ripped off but then you knew that already. Three years into the finance agreement there would still be £2,900 owing.

I agree with Peter - it's a very saleable car and a CD player can be picked up for under £100, so it's a non-issue.

If the car is on a "conditional sale" agreeement then you should be able to hand back the car as it is without paying off any finance balance - so there's no need to get the garage to clear what you owe and load it onto a new deal. If your girlfriend is attached to the car she could borrow £2,900 and get her monthly payment down to £129 - saving you each £5.50 a month, which is a start.

If you decide against keeping the car you'd be better off handing the car back than trading it in (if you can) - you might get very slightly more for it than you owe by selling privately but not as a p/x (or if you did you'd have had a bigger discount).

If you went car shopping with the same monthly budget, you would have about £7,000 to go with if you were willing to take the loan out over five years - probably not enough to get you something new enough to satisfy your girlfriend and inspiring enough for you, but it depends what you both like.

Keith

I hope you are happy with your next car.

18 months ago, we had a Ka3, I moaned about it a lot, but it was a lot of fun especially when being thrown around.

Since it was written off at 65mph, a crash both passengers walked away from, we've paid 9k for a Megane, had a corsa, mondeo, and finally bought another Ka.

Looking back, our original Ka is probably the most reliable car I've ever owned! And was also a lot of fun, the Ka is slow above 65 but it maintains my clean licence, and in bendy country lanes it keeps up with most traffic.

Good luck with your next vehicle, we are now looking to replace the Ka, but I can't find a car which I'd happily get rid of it for!

chrispyphillips

DavidHM wrote:

Look at the Carcraft threads on here before even vaguely considering going to them. Clue: they'd buy the car off you for £500 and sell it to you for £6k...

Roughly a 2003-03 Ka with low to average mileage would be worth about £2,800 privately and £2,250 as a trade-in. If she paid £6,000 for it three years ago at 14.9% APR (which would give the correct monthly payment if no PPI) she was ripped off but then you knew that already. Three years into the finance agreement there would still be £2,900 owing.

I agree with Peter - it's a very saleable car and a CD player can be picked up for under £100, so it's a non-issue.

If the car is on a "conditional sale" agreeement then you should be able to hand back the car as it is without paying off any finance balance - so there's no need to get the garage to clear what you owe and load it onto a new deal. If your girlfriend is attached to the car she could borrow £2,900 and get her monthly payment down to £129 - saving you each £5.50 a month, which is a start.

If you decide against keeping the car you'd be better off handing the car back than trading it in (if you can) - you might get very slightly more for it than you owe by selling privately but not as a p/x (or if you did you'd have had a bigger discount).

If you went car shopping with the same monthly budget, you would have about £7,000 to go with if you were willing to take the loan out over five years - probably not enough to get you something new enough to satisfy your girlfriend and inspiring enough for you, but it depends what you both like.

GREAT comments David, thank you very much! A few possibilities! We're finding it hard to afford a new TV at the moment, so a new car may be pushing it, but we'll check out our options. 3 years ago my mum and I were paying £140 (£70 each) for a brand new Toyota Yaris, and its one of the best, most reliable 'cheaper' cars i've ever had the pleasure of driving, so if we could get rid of this POS i know there are deals out there on finance plans that are similar to what we are paying now, I just dont want to drive that car around anymore!

Keith wrote:

I hope you are happy with your next car.

18 months ago, we had a Ka3, I moaned about it a lot, but it was a lot of fun especially when being thrown around.

Since it was written off at 65mph, a crash both passengers walked away from, we've paid 9k for a Megane, had a corsa, mondeo, and finally bought another Ka.

Looking back, our original Ka is probably the most reliable car I've ever owned! And was also a lot of fun, the Ka is slow above 65 but it maintains my clean licence, and in bendy country lanes it keeps up with most traffic.

Good luck with your next vehicle, we are now looking to replace the Ka, but I can't find a car which I'd happily get rid of it for!

Sounds like your model was a far better spec than mine Keith! Not having a CD player is not the be-all and end-all of the car, I know they can be bought, but its the car I wanna get rid of as I have many problems with Fords, on many levels. I agree with the handling though, you can chuck the little thing around corners, but its a right gas guzzler, and it feels like driving an tin of beans on wheels! i cant even see the speedo as the steering wheel blocks most of my view, so instead of glancing, i have to actually *duck* to read it! its a death trap waiting to happen! (plus its a girlie car innit!?)

I was a bit weary of the car craft route, as my Dad has taken cars there and got part-ex and trade in deals and has never been totally satisfied, and they have never given him good deals, but it was all he could do as it was all he could afford! it may have to be an option, but hopefully we can go without doing it.

Thanks for the help gents, the paperwork is coming out this weekend!! :T

Clive_Woody

When my car was written off, I was given a Ford Ka as a hire car. I was not impressed it was awful. It was a 1.4 that had no power, but burnt petrol like there was no tomorrow. It had no power steering, no electric windows, no CD player, no air-con.

I now have a nice shiny new SEAT Ibiza on a 3 year 0% finance deal, it is a 1.9TDi Sport and is great to drive, doesn't get through much fuel and has all (well most) mod-cons.