Lease a car or buy second hand again? Budget £1500-£2000

CupofTea

I came on here about 4 years ago asking for help on choosing a family car and for my needs, a Vauxhall Zafira was recommended. Following suggestions I purchased a 2006 model. 
Recently we've had a lot of problems with it, and this time the coolant keeps leaking (not out the car but down into the bottom thing) despite getting it fixed. We took it back and they told us it is either a small fix or not worth fixing due to the cost. It turned out to be the latter where the replacement part is £400 and then the other bits and bobs to fix it. 
We paid £1500 for the car and traded in our old car too. 
Now we are not loaded and also now have a reduction in income until this ends. However a car is important as all our family live a couple of hours away and we don't have many shops at walking distance. 

I was looking at some cars on auto trader for rent but I really don't know the ins and outs of it. Kind of getting a bit tired of so many repairs. We had it for 4 years exactly so I'm not sure if that is good or not for a 2006 model. 
It seems more expensive to rent a second hand car. 
Has anyone got any suggestions for me please?
3 children, 2 adults and a pushchair.

Edit to add:
We have three small children so that means 3 car seats and also a puschair. No squashing in so small cars will be difficult. 
Most likely will have to be a MPV again. 
I've added a link to a car on auto trader in the thread of one that may be of interest. 

Stubod

That would make your car 14 years old which in the grand scheme of things means it is probably "end of life". When they become more expensive to fix then they are worth it's probably time to "get rid", particularly if reliability is an issue. (Probably worth spending 5 to 600 pounds a year IF it gives you another 12 months reliable motoring as it normally costs more than that in depreciation anyway. Given what you have paid, and the fact you have had 4 years motoring probably means you have not done too badly. (We now tend to buy newer cars, and these can easily lose 2/£3k per year in the first few years due to depreciation).

Problem is that any car that is 10+ years old is going to be a bit of a gamble, so always buy on condition. Also more modern cars are more complex, particularly regarding the electro-mechanical bits. These are fine when buying new, but on older cars repairing them can be very expensive if/when they fail.

No real easy answer to rent or buy, renting may cost more but at least it is a known cost and assume any repairs are covered. Alternatively you may find a "good" used car, (probably best going "private", but take a friend along who knows their stuff).

...you pays your money...etc....

angrycrow

By renting I assume you mean financing a second hand car rather than borrowing one from enterprise.

The repairs on your current car would only cover the cost of a couple of months payments on finance. You also have the headache when financing a second hand car that you are still responsible for repair costs out of warranty. 

Add in that in the current covid lock down it is almost impossible to buy a car you are better having your current car fixed. 

Jonesya

Trouble is that at 10 years a car is getting pretty old and will need things repairing above and beyond the usual servicing and consumables.

Personally I'd buy something younger, say 3 - 5 years old with some manufacturers warranty still to run and I'm biased, but I'd buy a brand which is well regarding for its reliability - Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai ..... despite what some say all brands are not equal and some consistently come out in surveys as being more reliable than others.

Oh and do a bit of research and see which models have engines with cam chains, as these normally last the life of the vehicle and so avoid a costly cam belt replacement.

Ectophile

Jonesya said:

Oh and do a bit of research and see which models have engines with cam chains, as these normally last the life of the vehicle and so avoid a costly cam belt replacement.

They last the life of the vehicle in the sense that if they do ever fail, the car is scrap.

Some engines are known for breaking timing chains.  Most aren't.

CupofTea

Stubod said:

That would make your car 14 years old which in the grand scheme of things means it is probably "end of life". When they become more expensive to fix then they are worth it's probably time to "get rid", particularly if reliability is an issue. (Probably worth spending 5 to 600 pounds a year IF it gives you another 12 months reliable motoring as it normally costs more than that in depreciation anyway. Given what you have paid, and the fact you have had 4 years motoring probably means you have not done too badly. (We now tend to buy newer cars, and these can easily lose 2/£3k per year in the first few years due to depreciation).

Problem is that any car that is 10+ years old is going to be a bit of a gamble, so always buy on condition. Also more modern cars are more complex, particularly regarding the electro-mechanical bits. These are fine when buying new, but on older cars repairing them can be very expensive if/when they fail.

No real easy answer to rent or buy, renting may cost more but at least it is a known cost and assume any repairs are covered. Alternatively you may find a "good" used car, (probably best going "private", but take a friend along who knows their stuff).

...you pays your money...etc....

Thank you for your reply. That explains it all really well. Makes a lot of sense. I think renting is out of the question if we have to pay for repairs. It will cost more in the long term. 
I guess it's time to say goodbye to the car. 

CupofTea

angrycrow said:

By renting I assume you mean financing a second hand car rather than borrowing one from enterprise.

The repairs on your current car would only cover the cost of a couple of months payments on finance. You also have the headache when financing a second hand car that you are still responsible for repair costs out of warranty. 

Add in that in the current covid lock down it is almost impossible to buy a car you are better having your current car fixed. 

Yes you're right. I assumed renting a second hand car would save me money but then I realised it seems like a bad idea. 
We have many car dealerships near us, huge ones and also private car dealers. I think we would be able to source a car as these places are huge and people aren't really going (had a quick peek yesterday). 

CupofTea

Jonesya said:

Trouble is that at 10 years a car is getting pretty old and will need things repairing above and beyond the usual servicing and consumables.

Personally I'd buy something younger, say 3 - 5 years old with some manufacturers warranty still to run and I'm biased, but I'd buy a brand which is well regarding for its reliability - Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai ..... despite what some say all brands are not equal and some consistently come out in surveys as being more reliable than others.

Oh and do a bit of research and see which models have engines with cam chains, as these normally last the life of the vehicle and so avoid a costly cam belt replacement.

Thank you for your reply and advice. Noted! 

CupofTea

I've been sent this link and told it's a good car. My friend has a paid app which allows you to see the history (I need to check the cam belt though) and been told it's a good choice. 
Funnily it is also a 2006 model but not had the same problems as my own car. 
Is this a good or bad choice?
Are there any specific models one can recommend?
I've attached an image to see the car history. 

https://www.expresscarsales.co.uk/used-cars/honda-fr-v-2-0-i-vtec-sport-5dr-west-bromwich-202003078144423

CupofTea

And this is the problem with my current car:

- to repair head gasket on current one which could cost between 300-500.

Martin_the_Unjust

Well you can't go far wrong with a Honda, but that one is going to be costly to run, fuel, tax etc, but if you don't do many miles a year it is certainly one to consider.