car versus public transport?

homer_simpson

Im trying to 'pack' all the cash I can into the last 3 grand I owe. Long story. Not the cleverest or most efficient money saver but I do try to save rather than spend just now. My arranged repayments equal £50 a week before everything else (dont drink smoke,gamble, go out or even clohes shop) ,am on minimum wage. 2 teenage sons who no longer really rely on me being 'taxi-driver' . The car is p-reg toyota 1.8 , so uses reasonable bit of petrol, inurance , 6months tax was £118.
We stay in the country, nearest town 7 miles and larger town 28 miles with bus link only but roughly hourly. A recent bus trip from Perth to Stirling for 2 cost £23. Local service quotes a Unirider ticket (student, so I qualify ) as £55 for 4 weeks (weekday). I originally was going to scrap the car as it needs work done estimated £500. But since im no genius Im not sure of the better/more efficient option , scrap the car ? Use public transport or keep the car? Is there any 'data' on this? Some kind of comparison study? Or just the (maybe obvious) common sense option that I stupidly dont see?- cheers

brightonman123

any smaller (cheaper) cars for sale, locally?

homer_simpson

sorry, mistake there- insurance is £36 a month

homer_simpson

possibly yes, but am inclined to use the money required to buy a car to pay towards debts , even then am indecisive.

Billy-no-Money

Always a difficult one, if it weren't for the £500 repair bill I'd say hang onto the car because by many people's standards your running costs are pretty low - what's the repair?

The trouble with buying a replacement car at that level is you don't know what will be wrong with it - and there's usually something, otherwise a true bangernomics adherent would have hung onto it.

What regular or daily journeys do you undertake? If you're doing the seven mile trip every day then cycling might be an option, especially if it's backed up by a bus service - but of course there's a cost in buying a bike, lights, waterproofs etc which can soon mount up. I'm guessing the roads are rural and therefore fast, so reluctance is understandable - but if you're put off by the effort / fitness needed bear in mind most people can go from zero to reasonably fit in a month or so.

My advice - if you have somewhere off the road you can keep the car, then SORN it and park it up for a month or two while you save up the cost of the repair. If you find that it's actually not too bad getting around then you can get rid of it later. If you're a student you've also got a couple of months without needing to get to college / uni so maybe this is the right time.

Notmyrealname

Living in the country like you do, a car isn't a luxury but an essential requirement.

Tobster86

Just an option for me to put on your table; depending on what's wrong with it, get a Haynes manual, some tools, and the necessary parts?

I started fixing my own car from being in desperate situations financially and do not regret it at all. Now I do it out of enjoyment.

Fixing your own car probably costs about 10% of what it would cost to have a garage do the work. This is a significant money saver that I'm suprised doesn't seem to get the credit it deserves here.