Car dilema...any Ideas?

klare_2

Hi everyone been ages since i last posted but have been reading regularly,...

I just wondered if anyone can think of anything i havent,,,,

I have a car that is literally on its last legs/ wheels, I had to pay £600 to get it through its last MOT and even then the mechanic said this was gonna be the last year really and i needed to think about changing ( and it feels awful to drive) ..i have had another mechanic look at it just to make sure.
I had to borrow the moeny for that off my mum.
I HAVE to have a car for work , I have an hours commute ( there is no public transport) and i also need the car during the day to do my work, ( there is no option for help off work,,,benn down that route) and there is no option to change employers... employment is very bad in this area and I have got a good company who are funding me to take professional qualifications ( and i love my job and its the only thing that keeps me sane)

I have looked at new cars, for example these little super economic cars and i could afford the monthly payments but its unlikely I would get the finance passed ( have defaults but no ccj's ) and if I could get one of them i would prob at least half my current fuel bill which is approximate £160 a month but would still be able to claim back the same amount of travel expenses from work

I dont have anyone that i can borrow from and its starting to look like my only resort is going to peole like the dreaded YES car credit.

It would take me months to save up enough to buy something equally unreliable and quite frankly I dont think my nerves can take much more of that kind of driving.

Has anyone out there got any more suggestions, or come up against a similar situation but managed to work around it.

Thanks
Klare

immoral_angeluk

Yes car credit are actually defunkt now. We had no other option as we were in a similar situation and in the end got credit from welcome car finance at 24.1% :eek::mad:
Have you anyone you could lend some money off to get a cheap run around?

For the record we're really happy with our car. It's an 03 rover 25 which only had18k miles on it when we bought it. Purchase price was £4995 but we'll end up paying nearly 8k for it with the finance._pale_
Talk to me after the MOT on the 4th and I might tell you a diffrent story though.. :rotfl:

LizD_2

Any chance of a company car? Could they buy one and you buy it back from them?

Car Club any good?

http://www.carplus.org.uk/

How about buying one on lease?

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/loans/carchoice

Can you borrow one from friends/family?

HTH

OliveOyl_2

For years I had cheap banger after cheap banger.
Then I worked for a car dealership and took the plunge and took out a loan. (fortunately at that time I could get a cheap loan, but I did stretch it over FIVE years)
It was the best thing I ever did financially! I bought a one year old Japanese car and my repayments added up to less than I had paid in servicing and repairs each year!

I LOVE that car, and it is nearly ten years old and still drives beautifully. I had made friends with the guys in the workshop and one of them services it cheaper £100 p.a. (I'm going to have to mention the name -Toyota.) It is SO reliable.

Storm

Without knowing your full situation it's difficult to give solid advice, i.e. how stretched your budget is already, how long before the next MOT is due, what you might get scrap value to put towards a new car etc.

Have a look at your credit file before applying for any finance - if the defaults were quite a long time ago you might be able to get a better deal than you think on a loan - esp if you've always kept up payments to one bank they might look on you more favourably.

The other option would be a scooter, which is likely to be cheaper - but this depends on whether your work mileage includes ferrying lots of stuff or people around!

On a different note - have you claimed back any extra tax relief on work mileage your eligible for? If you get less than 40p a mile you can claim this back (mine was about £50 this year for 6 months work mileage!)

klare_2

thanks for all the answers so far....

car club sounds a fab idea, never heard of them before but wouldnt work for me, they arent in my area ( am in lincs in the back of beyond) and i do need a car all day every day ( hopefully lincs will eventually move into the 21st centuary)

Borrowing money, nope there is no one, i already had to borrow £600 to get it through last MOt in March this year and i cant ask her for any more

MOT runs out in March but im starting to get scared driving the flipping thing,...my OH says its not as bad as i think so prob a mix of bad car plus my increasing paranoia,, but as i said I HAVE to have a car for work and i have had so much time off work cause it has let me down.

Petrol / tax, i am very lucky ...we get 51 p a mile at our company ( i work for a good firm) but they dont provide company cars for anyone less that director, and thats not negotiable

the personal hire contract I have been looking at and have beenoffered a deal i think is good - citroen vibe for 110 a month plus vat,,,
just never done anything like that before and ama bit nervous, dont know much about it.. its a three year commitment, nothing to show for the money ( but i would have 3 years stress free driving, no mot and no tax and cheap fuel!) ,, but i didnt know what the credit scoring systems on those things were like, how strict they were.. i can give them wage slips and company reference.

Its just so frustrating when i have spent enough money on this nasty car when i could have been paying for something nice and new and reliable, and cause of the credit thing i cant get myself in that position.

apples101

A good run around should cost about £1000 these days.

have a good look in auto trader and you can see a few goos ones in your area.

would it be possible to save up over a year?

evab_2

Sorry to butt in, Storm whats the form needed to claim tax relief on mileage as I got confused when I looked at the Gov wesite. I get about 25p per mile and travel constantly for work. Thanks!

klare_2

this one that i have was a ' good run around' and its been a night mare, i have no mechanical knowledge ( does knowing were to put the water into the windscreen wiper washer thing count) and I just dont want to take the gamble, cant afford to!

I do almost 20k a year milage and i need more than a good run around, hence the need for something new, and fuel economical...
does anyone have anymore experience or knowledge about the personal hire that you do over 3 years and then hand the car back etc.
I have looked at the web sites had a quote etc but would love to hear of anyones personal experiences.

Thanks

rayday2

Is there a motoring board on here, just wondering if they would know more.

joeblack066

Could you tell me where you were offered that deal from, I'd like to take a look at it. Thx!