Free Car or Save up to buy one

lcfcstephen

I have been offered a car for free (through a family friend, nothing dodgy!) It's a 2004 VW Diesel Golf and would cost me around £1750 to insure. At the moment I do not have a car and am starting to save up for one.
The issue is that I don't think they want me to have this car forever and the insurance and running costs will east most of the burget (£250 a month) I'd set aside to save for a car. Do you think it's worth taking the car (it will make my life a lot easier) and then try and save some more towards the next car, whilst reducing my insurance premiums (I'm under 25 and the insurance would have telemetrics) Or should I hold out for a while saving up to get a car of my own?
How much would you reckon I would need to save up if I was saving to get a car of my own? In my head with a brief look online I was thinking £2,000 so that I can get a newish car whilst still having five doors and a decent sized boot.

facade

Why don't they want you to have the car forever?

Do you need a car? I presume so or learning to drive would be a pointless expense.


If you save for 12 months and buy a car, it will still cost about the same to run, your first insurance is always expensive.

Can't you accept the car, and keep it SORN'd on your drive until you pass your test, all the while saving £250 a month, then when you are ready, tax and insure it (try and add an older family member as an additional driver to reduce the insurance premium: you have to be the main driver)

bigadaj

lcfcstephen wrote: »

I have been offered a car for free (through a family friend, nothing dodgy!) It's a 2004 VW Diesel Golf and would cost me around £1750 to insure. At the moment I do not have a car and am starting to save up for one.
The issue is that I don't think they want me to have this car forever and the insurance and running costs will east most of the burget (£250 a month) I'd set aside to save for a car. Do you think it's worth taking the car (it will make my life a lot easier) and then try and save some more towards the next car, whilst reducing my insurance premiums (I'm under 25 and the insurance would have telemetrics) Or should I hold out for a while saving up to get a car of my own?
How much would you reckon I would need to save up if I was saving to get a car of my own? In my head with a brief look online I was thinking £2,000 so that I can get a newish car whilst still having five doors and a decent sized boot.

Two grand isn't going to get you a newish car, probably closer to a decade old than five.

How much do,you think this other car is going to cost to insure, almost certainly won't be a lot less than the golf so factor that into your calculations.

lcfcstephen

facade wrote: »

Why don't they want you to have the car forever?

Do you need a car? I presume so or learning to drive would be a pointless expense.


If you save for 12 months and buy a car, it will still cost about the same to run, your first insurance is always expensive.

Can't you accept the car, and keep it SORN'd on your drive until you pass your test, all the while saving £250 a month, then when you are ready, tax and insure it (try and add an older family member as an additional driver to reduce the insurance premium: you have to be the main driver)

It's more that the expectation of them giving us the car is that we are saving up, the way they spoke and was phrased made it seem like they didn't expect it to be forever, more like a year possibly more.
I don't need a car as I cycle/walk to work, but it would make visiting family and friends a lot easier as well as being able to do other things easier. It is definitely a want, rather than a need, but not a frivolous want. I have already passed my test however. I just haven't had a car since - apart from borrowing one every now and then for short periods of time.
I'm able to insure it now, I can afford the capital expense of it and am just thinking of it in terms of what I would be saving for it.
I hadn't thought about putting an additional driver on it

Norman_Castle

A 2004 diesel golf is worth £1000? In a years time it will be worth £800? In a years time you would hopefully have 1 years ncb and this car to part fund your next car although if this car is healthy it should be as good as any £2000 car.
How long until you are 25 and how much cheaper will your insurance be on a different car?

The real question is do you want the expense of running a car now.

lcfcstephen

Norman_Castle wrote: »

A 2004 diesel golf is worth £1000? In a years time it will be worth £800? In a years time you would hopefully have 1 years ncb and this car to part fund your next car although if this car is healthy it should be as good as any £2000 car.
How long until you are 25 and how much cheaper will your insurance be on a different car?

The real question is do you want the expense of running a car now.

I would expect to give it back to the current owners after this as I know someone else had borrowed it previously. Its another two years till I'm 25. I've only looked at the other car I've borrowed's insurance and that would be more expensive (but it's an older big car with a big engine) I haven't looked at other cars, because I've never known what details to put in as I don't know what car to use as 'my car' when looking.
Yeah, that is the question, though it has been taken care off and so I think it would be mostly okay,
At the moment I am leaning towards taking it because the insurance will be similar in a years time if I got a different car so I wouldn't be any better off. And I would hope that if I took the car in a years time my insurance would have reduced and I could get a similar car of my own.

PasturesNew

If you don't need a car and you've managed without one so far, then any car costing £1750 just to insure is a huge "no no".

If you fancy "better flexible transport" look at electric bikes or mopeds.

Save your money for YOUR car, that you choose, without feeling somebody else has an "opinion" on what you should do with the car/with your money.

lcfcstephen

PasturesNew wrote: »

If you don't need a car and you've managed without one so far, then any car costing £1750 just to insure is a huge "no no".

If you fancy "better flexible transport" look at electric bikes or mopeds.

Save your money for YOUR car, that you choose, without feeling somebody else has an "opinion" on what you should do with the car/with your money.

The issue is that I would think this would be a relatively cheap car to insure - I doubt the cheapest car to insure with me as the driver would be significanltly less than that.
We have managed, but it is very tiring having to depend on public transport, especially with luggage for longer journeys - like when we go across to Sheffield, or down south.

facade

If the car has to go back after a year, and you can manage without, then don't bother.

After a year you will have no car, and no savings (but I suppose 1 years no claims bonus)

If you save your £250 a month, after 1 year you have £3000 to buy a car with.

Trouble is, if you start spending every spare penny you have on running a car, then any repair bills will see it off the road. So you really need to save the £3000, and spend half on a decent old banger, then if it breaks big time, you can scrap it and buy another, or if it needs say a clutch, you can afford it.

Unless you can buy your relatives car for say £1000, then you only need wait 3 months................

lcfcstephen

facade wrote: »

If the car has to go back after a year, and you can manage without, then don't bother.

After a year you will have no car, and no savings (but I suppose 1 years no claims bonus)

If you save your £250 a month, after 1 year you have £3000 to buy a car with.

Trouble is, if you start spending every spare penny you have on running a car, then any repair bills will see it off the road. So you really need to save the £3000, and spend half on a decent old banger, then if it breaks big time, you can scrap it and buy another, or if it needs say a clutch, you can afford it.

Unless you can buy your relatives car for say £1000, then you only need wait 3 months................

I will clear this up with them and see. Because I think that I could afford to save some money whilst using it and having looked it reduces the premiums for insurance quite a bit having a years no claims (over £400 on this car, closer to £1000 on some other cars that I might look at buying)
I will also ask a couple of people if they would be willing to be an additional driver and see how that changes the insurance costs as if this was reduced a bit this would greatly help me out.

knightstyle

If the car stays in their name can you go on their insurance as a named driver? This should be cheaper and will count towards your NCD.