The best MoneySaving way to have a car

eamon

I think that the OP has got his thinking messed up. There is no positive investment potential in any vehicle unless it happens to be classic, rare, desirable & in good condition.

Yes you can spend any amount of money, do all the research and find the one that best fits. But ultimately you/we/us are left with a metal/plastic box on wheels that will spend most of its time, parked outside your home, place of work and carpark. Like most of us you live in an urban cornubation. That kind of driving environment has for the last 30 years been getting worse. More traffic, more congestion, more speed limits, more enforcement (good depending on your POV). Yes inside the cabin is important and nobody enjoys being anywhere that is downright nasty even more so when outside is grim, dottted with traffic control and all the vehicles around you are driven by idiots intent on killing you.

In your shoes I would be more bothered about the utility gained from owning a vehicle. Will your life be enhanced, will you be able to do more of the things that give pleasure? After all that you can then spend time working out how to achieve all the above in a money saving fashion.

dipsomaniac

1.8 zetec engine is very good. Bought a 2003 ford focus a couple of months ago for £200 and have since put 7k on it. It is still worth £200

dipsomaniac

Isn't a car just a tool for getting from a to b? The same as a phone/tablet/pc is a tool for communicating and information

noclaf

dipsomaniac said:

1.8 zetec engine is very good. Bought a 2003 ford focus a couple of months ago for £200 and have since put 7k on it. It is still worth £200

I have the same engine in my 2004 focus...it's a tough durable unit, near 80k now and these engines will easily do double that without a sweat.

Chris4

eamon said:

I think that the OP has got his thinking messed up. There is no positive investment potential in any vehicle unless it happens to be classic, rare, desirable & in good condition.

I haven't got my thinking messed up at all. You have misunderstood, I am not looking for a positive investment. I know it will cost me money. I'm looking to decrease the negative investment. I'm trying to save money, you know, the point in this website... 😉

dipsomaniac said:

1.8 zetec engine is very good. Bought a 2003 ford focus a couple of months ago for £200 and have since put 7k on it. It is still worth £200

Thanks for the recommendation 👍 

[Deleted User]

Can't stand folk who bang on about it being a waste of money owning a car if you only do small miles. They obviously haven't lived in a deprived town in the back of no where with very poor transport links. Having a car is essential.

fred246

I have never ever had any problems whatsoever with engines. Never had one that used the slightest bit of oil. I service my own cars so I know that the oil has actually been changed when I service it and I regularly check the oil level. In the early years I luckily chose engines with good reputations. Lately I have only bought cars where the engine had a good reputation. So check out the 'reputation' of the engine and the gearbox too especially an automatic as they are the most expensive parts. I also avoid newly developed engines and gearboxes with no reputation.

[Deleted User]

Chris4 said:

Deleted_User said:

Waste of money paying £99 x 2 to check over 2 cars. Just buy from a reputable well established trader and you should be fine.

The local reputable dealer to me charges quite a bit over what valuation tools tell me the car is worth. So the alternative is finding something more aligned with its worth and pay £99 to get it checked out. But I probably need to explore more dealers, but as a first time buyer I don't know what to look for. Reviews can be mixed, some say great, others say the car stopped working and they couldn't get a refund. Difficult to know what to buy, where to buy, etc. when not knowing much about cars.

Forget what the valuation tools tell you. A well looked after no expense spared car is going to be worth more than one ran on a shoestring.

Chris4

Deleted_User said:

Chris4 said:

Deleted_User said:

Waste of money paying £99 x 2 to check over 2 cars. Just buy from a reputable well established trader and you should be fine.

The local reputable dealer to me charges quite a bit over what valuation tools tell me the car is worth. So the alternative is finding something more aligned with its worth and pay £99 to get it checked out. But I probably need to explore more dealers, but as a first time buyer I don't know what to look for. Reviews can be mixed, some say great, others say the car stopped working and they couldn't get a refund. Difficult to know what to buy, where to buy, etc. when not knowing much about cars.

Forget what the valuation tools tell you. A well looked after no expense spared car is going to be worth more than one ran on a shoestring.

Fair point, but am I to assume that dealer only accepts well looked after cars and that's the reason the prices are higher? Or they could be mixed and he's just covering the costs for the 6m warranty he offers with it? 

fred246

Dealers seem to expect you to have a car to trade in. You should get a really good discount as a cash buyer with no trade in.