Advice on whether to finance a nearly new car or buy an older car outright

Mumoffourkids

So I have a dilemma and need some advice. My car which is 13 years old broke down again last night. I think it is either the clutch or gearbox which is probably going to be expensive. I am just looking at options as the best case scenario is that my car can be fixed and isn't too expensive.

So the different options are as follows:

Option 1 - fix my car whatever the cost, hope it lasts another 6 months to a year as by then I will be able to save up a reasonable amount of money to buy a newer car. The downside is that my car isn't worth very much and so the cost of fixing it may outweigh what it is worth. I have however, spent some money on it recently so apart from the current issue, it shouldn't need anything else doing in the next year as it has new tyres, new brakes etc.

Option 2 - scrape together what money I have saved, can lay my hands on at the moment to buy whatever car I can, hope that nothing major goes on it and again it lasts a year or two by which time again I will have a decent amount saved up. The car that I bought would obviously be working but for how long who knows. I could end up having to spend out more money on repairs on a new car than what I would have done on my current car.

Option 3 - try and finance a newer car. This may be hard as my credit rating is poor so will either struggle to find finance or have a really high interest rate. The finance payment would obviously be something I would have to pay each month but in theory I should get a newer car with less to go wrong, and hopefully would be cheaper to run than my current car which does cost a lost to run.

So any advice on thoughts on what I should do. The other thing to mention is that my current car is a 7 seater and I really need a 7 seater as I have six kids so need a way to transport them at the same time.

Thanks in advance for any help or thoughts.

Arklight

Without knowing what the figures are for any of this it!!!8217;s impossible to say.

How much can you save / afford to pay on a loan each month?

How much do you want to spend on a replacement car? You say you can save a 'decent amount' but that could be anything from £1000 to £20 grand, depending on your definition of decent.

I wouldn!!!8217;t pay for a new gearbox in a banger. Probably would do the clutch if it runs ok otherwise.

Stoke

Not enough detail, but a clutch or gearbox failure somewhat trivialises the comparison between the two. On most cars, a clutch is a £200 jobby from your local garage. A gearbox is anything from £500 to £5000 and can require specialist parts, expertise not found at your local garage and can even write off valuable cars if the parts are hard to source.

If it's a clutch, go Option 1. You might surprise yourself and find in 12 months the car is still running and you decide to save more to buy an even better one than the car you are considering now.

Option 2? Avoid. It's a dangerous game to buy a car with 100% of your budget (unless it has a very liberal warranty) because you're not accounting for anything going wrong.

Option 3? Also avoid. If your credit rating is poor, then you might find that sourcing a dealer that will give you finance a bit of a task.... and it's never nice to sit in a sales room and be told you're not eligible for something that you want.

Option 4 is bangernomics which is something I regularly endorse..... but only if your gearbox has gone pop. If it's your clutch, get it fixed. If its your gearbox, find a banger with 12 months MOT and run it till it dies. No matter how many people say "yeah but it'll break down in a week", it will always be the cheapest option.... and trust me, it won't break down in a week. However, you will have some spare change just in case you do have a problem in a few months.

Arklight

Yes, find a decent and trustworthy Almera salesman.

Richard53

Mumoffourkids wrote: »

I really need a 7 seater as I have six kids so need a way to transport them at the same time.

You've been busy since the day you chose your username

stator

Repair current car. 13 years aint that old if it's otherwise in good condition

alan_d

If the clutch has lasted 13 years, a replacement should last a similar amount of time.
I've just bought a 15 year old car on 113k miles, to replace a 14 year old car on 256k...
No issues with the age or mileage, just the 'new' one is more fun
Go with option 1. It's very rare for a new car to work out cheaper than maintaining an older one. Think of the payments / depreciation... even if the old one cost £1000/year in maintenance / repairs it would STILL be cheaper !