So, when I'm discharged, what changes?

rossireps

our first car was £150 and did us a year,ok was a while ago but surely you can get something for £1k?

Grumpy_Shunter

alastairq wrote: »

Like bankruptcy, much depends on how much research, experience and thought goes into it, which decides the outcome.

'luck' has zilch to do with it.
Blind faith? it will undo you in the end.

The expenses in life occur when one becomes reliant on the skills of others?
Agree. good job I don't rely on anyone.

I have never been disappointed with any of my cheapo cars.
You must be easily pleased.

And if, like millions of new cars, I happen to 'break down' on a journey, I pay, annually, a modest sum to be hoicked back home on a beavertail...or be repaired.
Likewise.

There really isn't anything on a car that is impossibly expensive to repair or replace.
Disagree. That would depend on the individuals financial state of affairs and the part to repair/replace.

If one is intent upon bumping along the bottom of the economic pond, one must be prepared to be relatively self-sufficient......or have a skill which can be bartered?


But...if the very worst does happen, what [financially] have I lost?

Certainly nothing as far as depreciation is concerned.
Your short-term ability to get to work/comute

Everything automotive has a scrap value.....so even with that, it is simply a case of going out and buying another.
So by your reckoning, if someone is BR, on the bones of their !!!! they just go out and get another one? what fluffy world do you live in !!!!!!?

Even though there is an inconvenience factor, simply keeping one's 'finger -on-the-pulse', as it were, minimises that inconvenience.

No Sir...luck plays no part in it at all.
It does, and it will.


Like, making the best out of bankruptcy?

Br is just a temporary !!!!! situation. Still a malleable one though.

Mouse1812

I'd be careful about spending more than £1,000 on a car before discharge. It could be seen as an "after acquired asset" and taken off you.

MikeJO

Paid £850 for my twelve year old Peugeot 206 on Ebay exactly a year ago (1.6i Roland Garros, the most fun-to-drive car I've ever had). So far it's cost me a new tyre and then a bulb to get it through its MOT in September. Done 7/8,000 miles without even having to top up the oil!

The more research you do the less you have to rely on luck.

Lou67

Our life hasn't changed at all since AD in Nov 2011. Our bank still won't let us have anything other than a basic account, we can't get a catalogue and my hubby was turned down by capital one for a credit card a few months ago. We obviously still have a bad credit record, and we're worried that when we leave our private let in the summer (which we will have to because we won't be able to afford it when our daughter leaves home for uni,) we won't be able to get another place; because any private landlord is going to check the credit record.

I am hoping that any potential new landlord actually just goes on our previous tenancy, and sees that we have paid the rent early every month, and kept the place immaculate.

It's good though, that we can earn whatever we want without the fear of the OR slamming an IPA on us. That is a big worry for many I think. Who wants to be lumbered with one of them?! Also of course; the creditors cannot ever get any money out of us now that we're discharged. We could win a million quid and we wouldn't have to pay anything. *THAT* is the main positive of being discharged: well, that and not being able to get lumbered with an IPA.

Oh re: cars, ours is about 19 years old now, and is probably worth less than £500, but it WAY more reliable than a 3 year old car we had about 6 or 7 years ago. That broke down about 3 or 4 times, and this one NEVER has, in 3 years. (touchwood)

alastairq

To the OP...as I said, luck has nothing to do with it...either when planning and going through BR, or obtaining and running a car well under £1000!


My last car cost £350. It came with nearly a year's MoT, and some VED too....because it had a 1.3 petrol engine, and ...although made last century, benefited from modern EFi, etc...it returned a regular 46-49mpg's.

VED was modest, and MoT's [several in my stewardship] meant either a straight pass, or nothing worse than new number plates, or a windscreen [insurance job]

It was easy to maintain, and received an entirely new braking system whilst I had it, all done 'by-the-side-of-the-road'...[oooh, less than 50 quid for new front brakes?]

Something like 80k miles went on it whilst I had it....and it only got replaced after an elderly lady drove full tilt into it whilst it was parked.

It suffered virtually zero damage, however, the insurance claimed any repair to be uneconomical.

Given the offer they made [which it wouldn't have sold for]...I accepted, waved it bye-bye [having relieved it of it's new battery, some new sensors, etc]....and bought another car this time a smaller hatchback of the 4 lettered kind.

Whilst the present one is 'newer', and probably considered to be of 'better technology/street cred'....it isn't a patch on the old one....once the warmer weather is here I will pass it on, and revert back to the older make.

I was offered a hire car during the insurance claim.

Not that one was needed, I still drove the old motor until the day they took it away.

Every car is capable of letting one down, no matter how new or old or expensive.

With regards to 'getting to work?'

Well, simply do what you do when you find you have a flat tyre, or it won't start.

Either fix it, call recovery, or contact a mate to give you a lift.

'Tis easy.


My old Volvo [of the baronial size] gave me almost 160k miles of mostly trouble-free motoring...£500 off ebay too. Oh how I miss it's carrying capacity?
Yes, it broke down now and then, over hte years....largely due..not to the car or its maker...but to the 'add-ons', like duff batteries, clutch, tyres etc.

I just got on and fixed it....

Unlike a colleague at work, complaining about his brand new motor, that, out of the 5 weeks he's owned it, it's spent three weeks back at the dealers.


But, if bumping along the economic bottom, even a washing machine repair becomes do-able with a little research, and some bits.


If one can take one's financial affairs/mess into both hands and deal with it
, then owning and running a cheap motor is child's play by comparison.

And yes, I do bring some considerable professional knowledge to bear when dealing with 'things driving'...

SteveABC

I kept Sky (basic package), mobile phone contract and gym membership during my BR (now discharged).

I'm half way through my 36 month IPA. None of the above were "allowable" in the eyes of the OR, but with very careful budgeting and cutting back in other areas, I've manged to keep them all.

Lou67

SteveABC wrote: »

I kept Sky (basic package), mobile phone contract and gym membership during my BR (now discharged).

I'm half way through my 36 month IPA. None of the above were "allowable" in the eyes of the OR, but with very careful budgeting and cutting back in other areas, I've manged to keep them all.

Really? Our I & E had a sky package, and two mobiles and internet and pet insurance and all sorts, and it wasn't questioned. Ours was in Nov 2010, so not too far away from when yours was by the sound of it.

alastairq

Oh, BTW...another aspect of AD is.....we were all one year older!

SteveABC

Lou67 wrote: »

Really? Our I & E had a sky package, and two mobiles and internet and pet insurance and all sorts, and it wasn't questioned. Ours was in Nov 2010, so not too far away from when yours was by the sound of it.

No two ORs are the same, I suppose?

I've really cut back the food bill by buying supeermarket value brands. God, I must have eaten so much horse this last year or so!! :eek: