new car needed but already in debt, help!

fridgeracer

hello all.

i need some advice on whether what i am doing (below) is a good idea or not. ive made so many mistakes with money in the past few years and im once again having to go into further debt, but im determined to not make old mistakes.

i am a courier, and use my own car to deliver parcels. i might get between 1k - 1200 a month.

recently i was using a skoda octavia estate, diesel, to do the job. i was paying out 220 a month on fuel, and 235 or so a yr on tax

i wanted to change to a more compact hatchback that is 30 yr tax and good enough mpg to give me x1 fuel tank per month. 45 litre tank costs about 60-65 in diesel. i did that buy going for a 2002 clio, i part exchanged skoda for 500 and paid 715 for clio on credit card.

i have x2 credit cards both at 2000 available credit. the car turns out from renault servicing, has a partly broken fuel pump and metal pieces floating around in the fuel system and the injectors are all ruined. costing 2300 to repair, and quoted 1800 from independent garage. also, leaking sunroof - such bad luck. the bloody dealer wont help either cos aparently he doesnt need to help or give a warranty on a car im paying for in cash / part exchange less than 1000.

so now, i have no car to use to do my job. i need another 1.

ive found a citroen C3 with just 54000 miles, 2003 model. does not need cambelt change until 100K miles. full service history and 1 lady owner. no crashes no stolen, clear on HPI check. new MOT given as part of deal. RAC free breakdown cover for 6 months and a 3 month warranty on anything with the car. its 3250, but i managed to get dealer to take my clio for 400. i checked online everywhere for scrap rates and i could only get 200, so i thought 400 was a good deal.

so i have to pay 2850. i am considering this by maxing out 1 credit card, and having the remainder on the other card. problem is i am already in debt with a 5500 loan with my bank, where i pay 212 per month and that will end in 3 years.

including that loan, and my living costs (which are as cheap as i can get them to be) i have to pay out per month 1170. 1 credit card has 9 months interest free on purchases and also 15 months on balance transfers at 0 interest. the other card is older and the interest free periods for both balance xfer and purchases is up, so the interest is standard 21%. this older card will have the remainder of the balance to pay car, the other new 1 will have it maxed at 2k so i can avoid the interest for the longest i can.

so finally... if you consider my situation i am in, and consider my living costs, and my already outstanding debt and the fact that my only job right now is a poxy little courier with my own car - which i desperately need to have working in full order to be able to make my living work, somehow.... is this the right thing to do? am i blind? am i making a big mistake buying a c3? i need some insight from someone else who has been here before and managed to get out of it, or is currently in the same situation.

i am so worried that i am going to end up burning out, but at the same time i really need this bloody car. can someone please help me! thanks.

somethingcorporate

Can you not get a cheaper car?

We got a 04 plate, 1.6v megane with 60k on the clock for £1,850 from a dealer. There is no need to spend twice as much on a car, especially when you are trying to get out of debt.

fridgeracer

i could get 1 cheaper but that involves me driving around the country into different areas.

i have been ripped off before from trade sellers and it certainly does not help if i have to drive back and ditch my working day and lose money to be earnt from my job.

the one i found is being sold in my local area just 2 miles away from me. so i dont spend anything to get to them and get that car compared to driving somewhere else and wasting money on fuel.

my area is bournemouth, and i know down here - cars are more expensive but i simply cant afford to stop work for 1 day, i dont get any paid holidays, if i dont work i dont get paid which will damage my ability to pay all my living costs for the month.

i do agree with you, cheaper car would be the better option but i spent 5 hours on auto trader yesterday through the night and that was the rock bottom cheapest i could get down here. the upside being it is very local to me and if anything is wrong, i can swap cars with my parents and use my 3 month warranty. not only that, down here most other cars at around 60K miles are far more expensive that 3250 at that reg plate or newer, so to get it at 2850 with 200 extra for my clio than a scrap yard would give me, i thought i was on the right path. but of course if im still wrong, tell me, i need as much advice as possible.

KTF

Why are you looking for a small car when you have to carry boxes, etc around? Wouldnt an estate be better like one of these?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201246492351582/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/2000/body-type/estate/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/bh125bb/radius/10/page/1?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201212114586999/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/2000/body-type/estate/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/3/radius/10/postcode/bh125bb?logcode=p

I assume you have the correct business class insurance on top otherwise you may not be covered if you have an accident whilst out delivering.

fridgeracer

i did have an estate, octavia.

even if it was a diesel, the engine size and stop start at least 80 times in the space of a 4 hour courier trip on the area i deliver in gave me 30mpg, even though it says it will give average 53mpg IF you drive it normally i.e. town trips from A to B. Not trips like i do from A-Z x2 or even x3 per day.

those ones you linked are not ideal because they only give 500 litres extra space with the seats down than the C3. the insurance group is too high, and the tax is too high. i am able to do the job perfectly in a C3 - the stuff i deliver is mostly shoes and clothing brands, all packets and smallish boxes. all can fit in a car like the C3, which gives me enough mpg for filling up once a month provided i cover no more than 23 miles per day (which i dont) 6 days a week, and costs me little insurance and peanuts tax. a bigger car like an estate that you linked would of course be more ideal but... i dont think there is such thing as a 1500-2000K estate that gives you 30 a yr tax and 55-60mpg in town with 80 stop and starts all day long. if there was, id be buying that instead of a hatchback.

my rate is also 60p a parcel, 30p extra for collections, and some depend on weight - i.e. heavy stuff is £1. i have to minimize all monthly car costs to be able to get enough money back to make a living doing this particular job.

as for the insurance, yes and no. i get charged 40p a day by the company i work for which covers me for 3rd party in the event of an accident. it makes me legal, but if i screw my car up i am ruined of course. risky job i know and im trying to quit it for something else but until that day comes i have no choice

fishybusiness

I'd check the reliability record of any car I would potentially buy.

Newer does not mean more reliable.

For example, our Toyota Avensis is as reliable as the reports suggest, the Alfa I recently sold was as much trouble as reports suggest, and it was 5 years younger.

For the miles you do, and the mpg you want, anything with VW diesel, for ex Skoda, will do the job.

Full service history is almost compulsory to have piece of mind that a car has been looked after.

To summarise, FSH, check the reliability index, newest not always the best.

fridgeracer

fishybusiness wrote: »

I'd check the reliability record of any car I would potentially buy.

Newer does not mean more reliable.

For example, our Toyota Avensis is as reliable as the reports suggest, the Alfa I recently sold was as much trouble as reports suggest, and it was 5 years younger.

For the miles you do, and the mpg you want, anything with VW diesel, for ex Skoda, will do the job.

Full service history is almost compulsory to have piece of mind that a car has been looked after.

To summarise, FSH, check the reliability index, newest not always the best.

cool thanks.

this 1 does have FSH, and i checked around on what people say about the citroen 1.4 HDI engine and it's one of the most reliable european engines around. the car itself was not mass produced like the 2002 clio i have is, and the biggest hole in the wallet would be the timing belt but this does not need it until 100K miles which is what the manufactuer book says.

i agree that a VW or skoda would be better but those are cars i cant afford the running costs for. only a new VW even used costing around 6k and the eco version would give me the MPG i need and the tax i need, but i cant fork out that amount of money.

HappyMJ

At 60p a parcel I'd be considering quitting the job. You say you get £1,200 a month so that's about 2,000 deliveries. Assuming a modest 1 mile between drops means you'll be doing about 2,000 miles a month. It's hardly enough to cover your expenses. I would estimate about half of your monthly income would be going on fuel, car tax, insurance, car maintenance and loan repayments for the car. It isn't worth it. You would be better off not doing the job, not having the car and the expenses associated with it.

fridgeracer

HappyMJ wrote: »

At 60p a parcel I'd be considering quitting the job. You say you get £1,200 a month so that's about 2,000 deliveries. Assuming a modest 1 mile between drops means you'll be doing about 2,000 miles a month. It's hardly enough to cover your expenses. I would estimate about half of your monthly income would be going on fuel, car tax, insurance, car maintenance and loan repayments for the car. It isn't worth it. You would be better off not doing the job, not having the car and the expenses associated with it.

true, i do want to quit and find something better but as it stands right now if i do quit i will lose everything. money must come in every month to pay for stuff.

its not 2000 miles, its 500 or less. i can deliver 100 parcels in a day in just 4 and half hours. the area is so small that i never cover large amounts of miles and my house is close to where i pick everything up from. ive survived somehow since april haha!

thanks for reminding me though, i do need to find something better. what that is, im lost at the moment. im thinking of HGV driving.

Stooby2

You might also want to consider consolidating your debts into one loan, that will be far cheaper than credit cards interest rates.

mattyprice4004

I did multi-drop owner driving a while ago in my Rover 45.

Even though it was a 2L TDi engine I still got about 40mpg doing the same style driving and distance.

Dropping 3 grand on a C3 seems mad when there's so much out there for less - that car was awesome and cost £550.