Can I afford a car?

londonTiger

with motors you should really leave some money fo contingency. Can you afford to be in limbo if the car you buy has complete failure and you have a lump of metal in your drive/garage and seller refusing to take it back.

You are budgeting with a very optimistic projectition that the car will buy will be in perfectly working order and not need any work and also there wont be things like road tax/council parking/breakdown cover/servicing to buy.

If you are really tight for cash any one of these things could crop up and then you'd in a bad place.

You shuld have a couple grand extra cash lying around on top of your budget.

forgotmyname

You could give them tips on saving money on their car insurance.

Cirias

Just to add to the advice here. Even if you apply for a 20 month 0% credit card, you probably won't get that amount. You may end up with 6 months at 0%, and you wouldn't know that until you'd applied and they'd searched your credit history. Every time you apply for a card, it leaves history on your file. Just be sure before you base your future finances on the assumption that you would get a 20 month 0% deal, that you factor in the possibility that you may not get that deal.

racing_blue

Yeah, you can afford that. Ford KA great little car. And I think the way you are approaching it is perfect. So much better than looking at jam-today monthly payments.

Vroom

Littlebirdie

Cirias wrote: »

Just to add to the advice here. Even if you apply for a 20 month 0% credit card, you probably won't get that amount. You may end up with 6 months at 0%, and you wouldn't know that until you'd applied and they'd searched your credit history. Every time you apply for a card, it leaves history on your file. Just be sure before you base your future finances on the assumption that you would get a 20 month 0% deal, that you factor in the possibility that you may not get that deal.

Hey, yeah thats a really good point - I just assumed I would! My credit rating is quite good however so I would hope that I would have a good chance

Littlebirdie

racing_blue wrote: »

Yeah, you can afford that. Ford KA great little car. And I think the way you are approaching it is perfect. So much better than looking at jam-today monthly payments.

Vroom

You seem to be the only one saying this! I'm going to wait to pay off my overdraft but I hope to do this way when I ave paid it off although do it over 12 months

Cash-Cows

~Beanie~ wrote: »

What about road tax or whatever its called now?

This may help:

http://ipayroadtax.com

arcon5

Cash-Cows wrote: »

This may help:

http://ipayroadtax.com

Help who with what exactly?
Looks for a forum for sexually frustrated cyclists

racing_blue

Littlebirdie wrote: »

You seem to be the only one saying this! I'm going to wait to pay off my overdraft but I hope to do this way when I ave paid it off although do it over 12 months

Let me put it another way. If you need a car, this will likely be the most affordable route. As long as you don't buy a wreck- however Ka's are simple little cars. If it drives OK, and hasn't a lot of rust, and has MOT, that sounds fair for £800.

The pre 2006 Ford Ka was a lovely little motorised box on wheels. The 1.3 Luxury has a special place in my heart with its leather seats and brooding she-gangster menace.

Say you run it for 3 years. The depreciation would cost £25 per month, less whatever you could scrap if for at the end.

You can fill her up for £35 and drive for 350 miles. So your fuel cost is based around that.

Tax - £185 for 12 months, pay this up front for best price. It works out at £16 per month.

Servicing, MOT, repairs- an unknown. If you are not doing huge miles, and are looking after it, and it has a simple life- then you may get lucky. I'd budget another £800 over the next 3 years - £25 per month.

Insurance, painful, but you'll have to pay it if you want a car. They don't come much cheaper to insure than a Ka. £65 per month you say. And of course you will be building no claim history for future discount, so lets call it £50 per month over 3 years.

Back of a packet of sanitary towels, that adds up to about £150 per month all-in.

You say you are currently spending £110 per month on transport. So it maybe comes down to whether having a car will increase your productivity by £40 per month, or make your life £40 per month better in some other way?

Scrounger

racing_blue wrote: »

Tax - £185 for 12 months, pay this up front for best price. It works out at £16 per month.

Ka 1.3 Tax is £145 for 12 months - £12/month equiv.

Scrounger