First car at 28 - Under £1000 all in challenge - Bristol - Please help!

JobDilemma

Hello wonderful people who always give really advice!

TL;DR: Need a cheap car with insurance and tax e.t.c all in under £1300 in Bristol to see my Dad and help with taking family up to hospital/hospice ASAP

I'll put it simply. I'm 28, passed my test in Jan (just before I went travelling, turns out it was a good move) and desperately need a car to be able to go back and forth between where I live, where my Dad lives(an hour away by car, 1hr30 by bus, no train station), and the hospital/hospice (a little further away) where he will be getting treatment for terminal lung cancer.

As mentioned in another thread I've come back early from travelling in Central/South America. As I was planning to travel, live, and work out there and had to rush back, the funds I allocated for emergency housing/rent are now nearly gone

Good news is that I got a pretty decent job (if you read the other thread I did turn down the bank job for a number of moral and other reasons) and will be getting paid on the 18th of this month. I'll be getting around £1300.

I am super great at saving money on food, not going out at all right now, have a cheap gym membership to keep me occupied and keep my mental health on track, and have a very cheap place to stay for the meantime, I have pretty much all of that £1300 to spend on a car, insurance, tax e.t.c

If any of you have any good recommendations for a reliable and cheap car that would be around £800, or what you might think I'd be able to afford (including tax/insurance/other things I have no idea about) then any and all advice would be appreciated. I don't know much about cars or any of this malarky and I really don't care about what it looks like.

I'm assuming that I'll be looking for something on gumtree locally, maybe a ford fiesta or similar 1.0 to 1.4 engine size.

ANY suggestions and help about what to look for, where to find a car, what to check when I go and see the car, and how to get cheap insurance and other stuff would be amazing, and any good guides or sites too. Checked a few but they're all focused on students with parents who can help them or getting people to buy a new car. Thanks!

Next month: Finding somewhere to stay that isn't on a fold out bed :rotfl:

captainawsome

If I was in your position of look no further than a mk1 Ford Focus, 1.6 or 1.4 petrol. Fairly solid cars, cheap parts and any garage can find there way around them. Will get a decent one under £800 quite easily. Pay your insurance monthly as that might just eat up all your £1300 if you pay in one go.

forgotmyname

Can you get insurance for less than £1300 never mind all in for £1300?

LandyAndy

Dark matter rides again?

JobDilemma

Insurance may be high but if I added someone else as a main driver I'm hoping it would go down a fair bit? This is sort of what I'm asking as well

Prothet_of_Doom

http://www.gumtree.com/p/vauxhall/vauxhall-astra-sport-16v-twinport-/1127771316

Last week, I blew the engine up on my honda accord, and decided that I'd buy an astra, the astra in the above link. I ended up paying £950 plus I obviously needed tax of £180.

Because I've had 3 x mk3 astras, 5 cavaliers and my son has an astra, which is almost the same.

He's 22, and last year (at 21) he paid £700 Fully comp with no NCB, although he passed his test at 17.

It is this sort of average, in fact mediocre car I'd be looking at. Unfashionable with boy racers, and young people, likely to have been owner by families, but importantly LOTS for sale.

AdrianC

JobDilemma wrote: »

Insurance may be high but if I added someone else as a main driver I'm hoping it would go down a fair bit?

Will that somebody else BE the main driver...?

It might be worthwhile you looking into membership of local car-sharing clubs.

Herzlos

It might be cheaper/quicker to look into getting a long term hire car than buying, at least until you get the chance to save up. Having only had your license for 8 months that might not be possible, but on the flip side insurance is going to be high anyway. Potentially means you'll only be spending £300-400/month to get going and you can hopefully have the car within a day or 2.

How regularly are you going to be making the journey?

forgotmyname

JobDilemma wrote: »

Insurance may be high but if I added someone else as a main driver I'm hoping it would go down a fair bit? This is sort of what I'm asking as well

Yeah it may go down from £3000 to £1800?

dannyrst

forgotmyname wrote: »

Yeah it may go down from £3000 to £1800?

At 28?

At 20 (5 years ago) I had a Clio 182 and my insurance was £1300 fully comp.

I thought age counted for more than NCD?

jimjames

JobDilemma wrote: »

Insurance may be high but if I added someone else as a main driver I'm hoping it would go down a fair bit? This is sort of what I'm asking as well

If they're not the main driver then that would be classed as fronting and could cause the insurance company to cancel the policy or refuse a claim.


Depends what type of car you're looking for but VW Golf would be in that price range as would Ford Puma and could get a bargain car for that amount.