Buy a cheap banger up to £700 or rent a car?

Rsh1

So I'm 21 years young and to rent a car is extremely pricey but I want to be able to drive a car for about a week or two and then get rid of it. Before the end of last year I bought an old Honda hybrid to drive around for a week before then selling it on for exactly what I bought it for, the only problem I had was that the battery conked out on on me before I'd even completed the journey home but it did make it in the end after a little jump start and did enjoy running with it up and down as I love long leisure drives to nowhere, now of course with the current restrictions I doubt it will be for now but just wondered what others thought.

Thanks

AdrianC

At 21, you've got two showstoppers.
First is the upfront cost of buying, insuring, taxing the car you buy, and the cost of the fees and cancellation for the policy for such a short period. There's also the likelihood of having to spend money immediately on maintenance and repairs for a cheaply-bought car, as well as the potential for a loss on resale (or, even, scrapping).
Second is that many rental companies don't like young drivers... for the same reasons that insurance is expensive...

Buying and selling in such quick succession is iffy anyway - potential buyers are going to look at the fact you've bought it so recently, and two questions are going to come to mind - "What's wrong with it that you're getting shot so quickly?" and "So are you a driveway trader, then?"

If you can find a rental firm that'll hire to a 21yo, then I strongly suspect that will be by far and away the least-hassle and least-cost route. 

BTW, don't forget that "long leisure drives to nowhere" are currently out of the question under lockdown restrictions.

Rsh1

AdrianC said:

At 21, you've got two showstoppers.
First is the upfront cost of buying, insuring, taxing the car you buy, and the cost of the fees and cancellation for the policy for such a short period. There's also the likelihood of having to spend money immediately on maintenance and repairs for a cheaply-bought car, as well as the potential for a loss on resale (or, even, scrapping).
Second is that many rental companies don't like young drivers... for the same reasons that insurance is expensive...

Buying and selling in such quick succession is iffy anyway - potential buyers are going to look at the fact you've bought it so recently, and two questions are going to come to mind - "What's wrong with it that you're getting shot so quickly?" and "So are you a driveway trader, then?"

If you can find a rental firm that'll hire to a 21yo, then I strongly suspect that will be by far and away the least-hassle and least-cost route. 

BTW, don't forget that "long leisure drives to nowhere" are currently out of the question under lockdown restrictions.

Thanks! Well with the previous Honda hybrid I bought it had a fresh MOT and was impressed when taking it for a test drive as well as checking over the MOT info online ensuring it had no serious issues. 

It does sound dodgy but it depends on the person I sell to. I also had a lot of timewasters so now I know what to do for next time. The person I sold the Honda too was intent on fixing it up properly and restoring it to its natural look and loved the car. I have to admit I had a scrapping appointment booked but thankfully at the last moment found my buyer.

I'm no stranger to expensive insurance. Earned 2 years no claims through my last car but just interested in a way to get a cheap car for a short time without loosing lots of money especially in terms of depreciation as I realised with my previous car which I had for 2 years its just not worth it. If push comes to shove and I have to scrap getting the insurance back is always handy as I feel like I'm not loosing out on too much.

Yeah I'm well aware that's why I mentioned in regards to the current restrictions I likely wouldn't go ahead until March/ April if the situation improves hopefully. It might help to mention that I also love older cars, just something about them that I enjoy driving and rentals tend to be newer and less enjoyable, plain with no character.

CoastingHatbox

We bought a £500 car for a few weeks in 2019 and even used it for our holiday to Devon. It took a while to find one that was genuine and not already wrecked.

It is a fine option if you are savvy about cars. Depends what contingency you have if it falls apart on you including breakdown cover etc.

The rental option (with appropriate waiver fees to avoid any excess on damage) is probably the least potential for problems/fixed cost approach.

Grumpy_chap

If the OP needs a car for a fortnight and looking to make savings versus car hire, then there is probably no more certainty with a car at £700 than just getting the cheapest car you can find.  If it starts and runs and still has valid MOT, it will probably do the fortnight you need.  After that, either weight it in as scrap, sell it on an auction website from £1 no reserve, or if you are lucky enough to land a good one sell in more conventional ways.

Not sure on the best insurance option.  Maybe day insure?