What would you do? or should I not do?

jowee

Hi all, hope you are all well
My car is 11 years old and as such I am preparing for when she finally gives up the ghost and I would like a plan for the near future. I just wondered what you knowledgeable folks would do with the options I have come up with? or maybe suggest better alternatives.

Option 1: I work for the NHS and as such qualify for a salary sacrifice lease car scheme, but instead of walking away at the end of the 3 year lease I thought that I could purchase the car as a colleague has recently done. I know that there is lots of depreciation on new vehicles, however during the 3 year lease I would only be putting fuel in as maintenance, tax and insurance are included. One estimated quote is in the region of £320 per month x36 for a Kia Sportage which seems a lot!! and then to find the balance at end of lease. Obviously there are cheaper alternatives I just picked the most expensive I could go as an example.

Option 2: Save for a decent deposit (I currently have 2k saved) and buy something a year or so old, I'm hoping to get another year out of my current car so I'm in no rush. I estimate having 5k deposit in total saved over the next 12 months and maybe try for 0% APR on the remaining balance over 2-3 years.

Option 3: Wait to see if there are any viable options with the government scrappage scheme if this happens?
PS I'm not one for swapping and changing cars every 2-3 years I tend to look after and keep and like I said I just want a plan.
Cheers all.

Browntoa

I'd look to buy a newish car with a deposit , drive a new car off the forecourt and it's lost 1000's

Jackmydad

Why is it on it's last legs at 11 years, unless it really is high mileage that is?
My old Passat was double that age and at 150K when it went to the great scrapyard in the sky.
It could have been repaired then, but it was an engine out job, the heater had packed up, and I decided to let it go.

wgl2014

Write down the costs and see what suits you best.
£320 a month is not insignificant but if that includes £50 for insurance, £20 tax and £40 maintenance for instance it may start to look more appealing.

jowee

Jackmydad wrote: »

Why is it on it's last legs at 11 years, unless it really is high mileage that is?
My old Passat was double that age and at 150K when it went to the great scrapyard in the sky.
It could have been repaired then, but it was an engine out job, the heater had packed up, and I decided to let it go.

Just approaching 100k and I will be doing monthly 300 mile trips in the near future. I know what your saying though but I just want to be prepared.

DigForVictory

I've never bought a new car, but have been fortunate with being a second owner.
Depending on your mileage & history, it may be worth buying a slightly older vehicle & getting advanced driver training - both of which will bring the insurance down.

Jackmydad

jowee wrote: »

Just approaching 100k and I will be doing monthly 300 mile trips in the near future. I know what your saying though but I just want to be prepared.

"Low mileage" then for a lot of modern cars, although it depends what it is.
Give you time to save up.
I'm in the "get a 12 month old car" camp. Miss out on the original depreciation, but hopefully you'll get many years out of it. :money:

mark1959

A year ago my 14 year old focus needed about £500 to get through it's MOT, and in true moneysavingexpert ethos thought where could I get a car with 12 months MOT for that price. [there's probably a few but you know what I mean]. This year it sailed through it's MOT, so it worked out £250 for the last 2 years. Happy motoring! :cool:

forgotmyname

A well serviced petrol car should do 200k miles and a diesel 300k miles without major work.

Always an exception but in general no reason why they wont do that sort of mileage.

jowee

Really appreciate the replies all, you have helped me decide to try and get as much time as I can out of the old girl. I will address a new car issue as and when I need to. In the meantime a full service is about to be booked in .
Thanks again.

System

jowee wrote: »

Just approaching 100k and I will be doing monthly 300 mile trips in the near future. I know what your saying though but I just want to be prepared.

My Mondeo is on 120,000 and does annual trips to France 900 miles each way in a week with running around in between with no issues. My previous Mondeo was on over 160,000 miles and did the same journey.

Many taxis on airport runs are over 200,000 miles and doing 300 mile round trips no problem.

As for purchasing, I bought my current Mondeo at 2 years old with 38k on and a year Ford warranty left. The new price was £23,000 and I paid just £8500 for it. Other than two suspension bushes at 70,000 miles and this week a new exhaust bracket at 120,000 miles (rest of exhaust OK so they just welded a new one on), it has needed no repairs other than normal service items like oil, filters, tyres, brake pads and discs.