Car finance advice odd financial situation

fred246

There seems to be a little lack of logic here. If you are driving a car which you have had from new that is now 14 years old you should have some idea of the pattern of running costs and repairs. Surely you haven't suffered a rubbish unreliable car for the last 10 years? Surely your current car has been reasonably reliable from year 3 to 14? You just need to find a second hand car which is looked after in the way you have looked after your car from new.

somethingcorporate

I've never paid more than £2k for a car and have done over 100k miles in the last 8 years. Broken down once due to a battery going pop which was fixed in a jiffy by reliable breakdown cover. My current car is 11 years old and just flew through it's MOT with a single advisory on a rear tyre. It's cost us less than £200 a year to keep on the road and does 40mpg.

You're trying to convince yourself on problems that simply don't exist. Buying new cars is not MSE hence on this website you will get no support for it, especially in your current financial situation (carrying debts, defaults, student wife with intermittant income).

If your mechanic friend was half-decent they would tell you what a reliable car looks like. Also, have a look around the motoring board, plenty of examples of people buying brand new cars that have all sorts of issues.

If you are DESPERATE for a new car have you considered leasing?

takman

My current car is a 13 year old vauxhall vectra, has done 175,000 miles and is still on its original gear box and clutch. It does 52 MPG on average and i can get over 60 MPG when travelling up country on an extended trip. it only cost me £1500 3 years ago. So older cars can be cheap and very economical. I've just put it through MOT and all it needed was 2 drop links which cost £40.

You may be able to find a newer car with a lower running cost than mine but once you factor in the cost of finance then it will cost a lot more.

If your not confident about cars then you should do some research and learn about them so then you don't get ripped off. Cars are very expensive things and alot of people who think they are mates with their mechanic end up getting ripped off.

NP_ME

Thanks for the advice everyone. It's a shame the thread became about used cars (funny considering all but one of my cars were quite a few years old) rather than my original question, but it was interesting nevertheless.

Neoshoegal

I'm amazed at how takman manages to get a better MPG after 13 years than the manufacturer gave for this car. Would you care to elaborate on how you achieve this?

I'm really happy for all of you people who have had luck with old second hand cars, but not all of us have been that lucky.

My first car was a 12 year old Volvo, 55K miles on the clock, full service history, one middle aged female driver. I paid £1000 for it (paid the same for the insurance on it as I was a young driver). On paper it looked like a good car. Within one week of owning it, the clutch died. This was while I was hundreds of miles from home in a remote area with not a lot of options of garages. The whole thing ended up costing me another £750. I owned that car for a year and got rid of it out of misery. It kept having to go in for repairs and I must have spend nearly £2000 in that year, on top of the purchase price.

I was lucky to come into a bit of money and bought a new car, no loans. I know that car inside out, I know every noise it makes and when it's making the wrong kind of noise. I've had it for nearly 15 years now. It's on its way out and I'm looking to replace it.

For a while we also owned a second car as we needed one for work. We couldn't afford a new one. Bought a 5 year old car with 100K miles on the clock, full service history for £4000. Again, within a short time of owning it things went wrong with it. We kept it for 6 years, with the help of our trustworthy mechanic. But even so with all the maintenance and repairs it needed in those years, we easily spent another £3000 on it. A lot of the things that went wrong with were age related. In the end we got rid of because we whenever it made a slightly different noise, we got nervous and with stressful jobs we needed peace of mind. So to those of you alluding that old cars are just as reliable, that's just nonsense.


Yes, I managed to keep one car from new for over 14 years, there are several things coming up which will cost more to repair than the value of the car. With the experiences I've had (and knowing the experiences of several people around me) I know my peace of mind is worth a lot to me. One of the worries I have now with buying a second hand car is not knowing why someone got rid of the car. Maybe they genuinely don't need it, but maybe even though it looks okay on paper, it's actually a lemon. Not knowing that will always play in the back of my mind. I would love to be able to buy a new car again and spend the next decade or more with it, but it's unlikely I'll be able to afford it. So I'm looking at nearly new cars, cars that belonged to the dealership for a while for example.

I've spent the past 6 months weighing up all the pro and cons of new versus a few years old versus cheaper cars of 5 years old or more. I have spreadsheets detailing all the costs and how high an interest rate I could bear. The new or nearly new cars are so much more economical in the long run. Not only that, they are so much more environmentally friendly, which is another thing none of the old car lovers here have acknowledged. But I guess people in debt shouldn't care about that? Being green is a luxury.

Seriously, I am disappointed in this forum. Very few here tackled the OP's question and just went on a judgemental diatribe about how he shouldn't buy a car. Different people want and need different things from their cars. Live with it.

So to get back to the OP's question. Here's what I would do. Move the debt, if your partner is okay with doing that. I wouldn't want a default on my credit history for a second longer than needed. If her credit is good, she may be able to get a 0% deal or a life of the balance. And as long as you set up a good payment system to pay of more than the minimum that should help. But that's just my humble opinion.

takman

Neoshoegal - The manufacturer's figures for MPG for my car are:
Fuel consumption (urban)35.8 mpg
Fuel consumption (extra urban)58.9 mpg
Fuel consumption (combined)47.9 mpg

I have an app that records all fill ups and costs for my car since I have owned it. In the last 1079 days I have averaged 49.29MPG. I also own a caravan which I tow so this has brought the average down a bit.
I achieve this by driving reasonably economically and making sure I regularly service the car using high quality oil and parts. These figures are definitely 100% accurate because my on board computer and my app both show the same results.
So good MPG is definitely achievable from an older car. It has needed repairs such as new rear springs, new drop links and bushes, brake pads, vacuum pipes . But this is to be expected from a car that has done 175000 and I considered this when negotiating the price when I bought it.

You said that you bought a car and a week later the clutch died. Usually their is some warning that a clutch is on the way out so I'm surprised you didn't notice when you bought it. Then you said it cost you £750. I had a new clutch on my landrover because it was starting to slip and it cost me £150 parts and labour. If it had completely gone while I was up country the AA would have towed me home. So owning an older car will be expensive if your going to be paying £750 to have a new clutch. That's why it's important to learn about cars so you don't get ripped off. A car is usually the second biggest purchase people make but they then make no effort to learn anything about it and end up getting ripped off.

You say your disappointed because people are saying don't buy a new car. Well this is a money saving forum so people are obviously going to advise what's the best course of action to save money. The OP and his partner are in debt and have struggled with debt I'm the past. I think it's irresponsible to suggest that a £9000 car is a necessary purchase. When that amount could solve all their debt problems.

Nebulous2

Neoshoegal- The point we've been trying to make, maybe too gently for you to understand, is that £9k or £15k appears to be out of the OPs reach. We haven't been saying he shouldn't have one - but that we have serious doubts about whether he can afford it.

A nice shiny car is attractive, goodness knows I've had a few myself, but they are a lifestyle choice. They aren't an economic choice, or a green choice either.

As I said earlier if my car lasts me 4 months it will have cost less than someone buying a new/ nearly new car. Beyond that and I'm in profit - every single month.

Neoshoegal

takman, are you always this unpleasantly patronising?

So you are achieving MPG that's better than the manufacturer says, nice. Are you only doing extra-urban long distances in Norfolk? I challenge you to get that MPG stuck in traffic in the hills of Sheffield.

Re: £750 for the clutch. That was the cost of the whole affair, not just the repair. And as I already to, yes it was a rip off, but as I said, no other options of garages nearby. What options did I have? No there was no warning with the clutch in this case. It just suddenly stopped.

The OP mentions a string of bad luck, being made redundant, insurance refusing to pay out and the recession hitting his wife's business too. Bad things happen and that eats up a cushion of savings. Doesn't mean they are irresponsible with money.

I never said I was disappointed that people aren't saying "buy a new car". I'm disappointed that people didn't answer his question and immediately got on his back regarding his choices for a car. Maybe there's a bit of vanity in wanting a new car. So what? Maybe he spends his days on the road for work and wants a bit more comfort and security. Is that so bad? Sorry, but if they've been struggling for a while and are now back in a position that offers more financial security with his work, I'm sure they're doing the math to see what they can afford a month.
Some of the attitudes here were more poor shaming than anything else. "You're in debt, you don't deserve anything nice".

Dandytf

Try Moneybarn for car finance

andyfromotley

Neoshoegal wrote: »

Some of the attitudes here were more poor shaming than anything else. "You're in debt, you don't deserve anything nice".

What a load of codswallop. Poor Shaming!! Rubbish.