Need a new car while waiting for mortgage completion

JimJimJimmy

Hi guys,

Our car's head gasket has just blown. I'm sitting waiting for recovery as I type this!

The wife needs a car for work and we were going to lease as soon as our mortgage had completed in three weeks. But we need it now. And we're worried that any application for credit now is gonna to affect our file, which could impact our mortgage offer.

I've heard horror stories of people's mortgage offer being withdrawn days before getting the keys to their new house and I really don't want that to be us.

Am I being overly cautious here, or do we really need to wait before we make any further impact on our file?

As always, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

molerat

Doing anything that affects your credit file could cause problems, opening another credit line if your affordability for the mortgage is tight will be a big red flag. It may not be a problem but you will only find out when it is too late. I would avoid the risk.

YorkshireBoy

Needs a car for work, or needs a car to get to work?

JimJimJimmy

Thanks for the replies so far.

Needs a car to get to work. She COULD
train it if needs be. And I'm thinking that's probably what's going to have to happen for a few weeks now

macman

A head gasket replacement should not take more than a few days: even if she uses taxis for a week, it'll be cheaper than leasing!

foxtrotoscar_2

Is car hire perhaps an option?

Fireflyaway

If you can manage without a car for a few weeks that would be my preference. If you really can't, do you have any cash to buy a cheap run around?
I've found that cars are such a gamble. Mine is probably currently worth only about £500-£600 but is perfect for my needs. My friend bought a £12,000 car and is permanently in the garage! What I'm saying is cheap is not always bad. You might find you get on well and then don't go down the lease route and have more spare money each month.

System

JimJimJimmy wrote: »

Hi guys,

Our car's head gasket has just blown. I'm sitting waiting for recovery as I type this!

Fix it.

The wife needs a car for work and we were going to lease

Fix the one you've got, it'll save you a ton of money. A head gasket repair is around a few hundred quid usually and your solution to that at a time where you're going to be spending a load of money on getting a new house is to spend several thousand pounds on leasing a car and being the sap who gets to pay for the largest lump of its depreciation?

cjmillsnun

I would also say either fix it, the head gasket should not take more than half a day unless the head is warped or cracked and needs either a skim or a new head (extreme cases) or if the car is old and not worth it, get a banger with a new MoT and run it for a year.

What's more important right now? The house or a shiny new car?

silverwhistle

I bought a house before I bought a car. Had a clapped out motorcycle and needed a car for DIY materials so bought a £100 banger back in the day. I wouldn't have dreamed of leasing a car and increasing my debt.

When I moved back to this country from abroad I paid the insurance and borrowed a friend's car for a couple of weeks.

Leasing should be the very last solution.