New, nearly new or older - please help me choose!?!

lindsaygalaxy

My car has finally met it's end. It s 12 years old (nearly 13) and needs new brake pads, front and rear sensors and the abs system/ pump is failing. The garage told me it will start getting very expensive so they would probably recommend not getting it fixed. Oh, the electic locking has also gone and it unlocks itself at random times.

We have decided to replace it BUT we are saving for a house deposit. I have previous por credit so a good deposit is key to us.

Having only 1 car won' t work for us. We moved into a house owned by a family member with reduced rent which is further away from the children's school and work. I leave for work early and OH takes them to school.

These are the options we have come up with. I think I would like an Astra as they are not too big but big enough for us to go on family days out/ away. OH has a very small car so not practical to take away. Also the parts are cheap if anything did go wrong.

A new astra is currently £12995 - £199 a month, 0% for 5 years. They give you £5k for your old car to make it this price ~(mine is worth about £300).

A nearly new astra. 6 months old, 4000 miles, £10500. £179 a month for 4 years then an optional final payment. 5.9% apr.

A 2 year old astra, 29000 miles, £159 a month for 5 years 0%.


HELP! I will only do about 6000 miles a year. I have looked at lots of other cars but not keen on any others. Though I don't mind the Hyandai i30. My car tax on this car runs out in 6 days and I really dont want to renew it (£140 every 6 months).

Thank you for any help and advise!

motorguy

Bearing in mind they now look into your finances now quite significantly for a mortgage, i would be aiming to avoid a loan altogether. A £13,000 loan against you will put quite a dent in your credibility

You seriously dont need a £10,000-£13,000 car to do 6000 miles a year.

You could buy a very acceptable car for £1,000 that will easily get you through the next couple of years until such times as you've bought your house and know exactly what your outgoings are.

Putting it in context, heres really what you're saying "my car needs £300 spent on it, so instead of paying it, i'm going to borrow £13,000"

worried_jim

^totally agree. All you would be doing is taking £13k off whatever the bank would be willing to offer you for a house.

lindsaygalaxy

Thanks Paul.
I have tried to convince the OH of that but we have had 2 older cars and both have ended up costing a fair amount - it has really put him off.

I have checked the new affordability calculators and we can see get the required mortgage if we need a loan for a car.

rexmedorum

lindsaygalaxy wrote: »

My car has finally met it's end. It s 12 years old (nearly 13) and needs new brake pads, front and rear sensors and the abs system/ pump is failing. The garage told me it will start getting very expensive so they would probably recommend not getting it fixed. Oh, the electic locking has also gone and it unlocks itself at random times.

We have decided to replace it BUT we are saving for a house deposit. I have previous por credit so a good deposit is key to us.

Having only 1 car won' t work for us. We moved into a house owned by a family member with reduced rent which is further away from the children's school and work. I leave for work early and OH takes them to school.

These are the options we have come up with. I think I would like an Astra as they are not too big but big enough for us to go on family days out/ away. OH has a very small car so not practical to take away. Also the parts are cheap if anything did go wrong.

A new astra is currently £12995 - £199 a month, 0% for 5 years. They give you £5k for your old car to make it this price ~(mine is worth about £300).

A nearly new astra. 6 months old, 4000 miles, £10500. £179 a month for 4 years then an optional final payment. 5.9% apr.

A 2 year old astra, 29000 miles, £159 a month for 5 years 0%.


HELP! I will only do about 6000 miles a year. I have looked at lots of other cars but not keen on any others. Though I don't mind the Hyandai i30. My car tax on this car runs out in 6 days and I really dont want to renew it (£140 every 6 months).

Thank you for any help and advise!

12995 is the normal 'on the road price' for the basic model. I doubt very much you'll get 5k off of that but if they did offer you that it's a steal! (That would be 7995 after your trade in).

AdrianC

By "older", you mean £10k on a 2yo car...? (and that sounds overpriced anyway, relative to the 6mo old car, probably to pay for the "free finance")

£3-4k will get you a choice of ~2007ish Astras or similar. PLENTY of life left, and if you pay cash and put your £200/mo back into your savings, you'll have your deposit back in 18mo.

Oh, and for 6k.yr, don't even _think_ about being seduced by diesel's promises of fuel economy. Nor would I let the threat of the tax renewal rush you into a purchase. Remember, you can cash in any unused months of tax.

lindsaygalaxy

The new astra is a not basic model and £12995 after trade in (18k originally). I don't think we are likely to go for that one.

My car isn't very drivable at the moment so for half term week if I don't have a car it's going to be a problem.

If I go for a £3-4k car is the astra a good buy? Would something else be better?

motorguy

lindsaygalaxy wrote: »

The new astra is a not basic model and £12995 after trade in (18k originally). I don't think we are likely to go for that one.

My car isn't very drivable at the moment so for half term week if I don't have a car it's going to be a problem.

If I go for a £3-4k car is the astra a good buy? Would something else be better?

Assuming you dont do starship miles i'd be going for a petrol Astra or Focus.

Always the conundrum though - you could end up paying close to £200 a month over three years including interest, when you could get a brand new car for £200 a month (albeit over 5 years) interest free.

Hard to know.

accidentalspender

I'd seriously avoid borrowing for a car. We have 2 cars: one is an '03 Honda Civic 1.6 petrol bought a year ago for £1k. Utterly trouble free, 44-48mpg The other is a '54 Honda FR-V 2.0 petrol, bought 6 months ago for £4k. Again, completely trouble-free & does 33-38mpg.
Spending a lot of money on a car is fine; it's your money to spend how you want. But I'm afraid you can't spend more in order to save money, especially given the low mileage you cover.

lindsaygalaxy

Im booked in to see a 2006 Astra, 26k miles from a dealership for £5k, hoping to get a bit knocked off if I can get them to take my car! The more I think about spending all that money on a car the more it fills me with dread. The worry is the car having hidden problems and spending more money out, but they would be paying out £200+ a month on a new one anyway!

AdrianC

lindsaygalaxy wrote: »

Im booked in to see a 2006 Astra, 26k miles

8yo, incredibly low mileage? <warning: stereotype beyond this point> One little old lady who's now given up driving, probably had all four corners resprayed several times after parking bingles, never had the engine get properly up to temp, and the clutch has been slipped to death.

Ignore the mileage. VERY low mileage use is worse for a car than higher mileage.

from a dealership for £5k, hoping to get a bit knocked off

About £2k...

The more I think about spending all that money on a car the more it fills me with dread.

<scratches head> But it's about a third of what you were considering spending yesterday...