Used car buying advice

sir_smooch

Hi my name's Alan,

Hoping for some advice, basically my current car which is an 03 fiat stilo 65k miles and is due for insurance renewal on sept 11th, I've had it 3yrs and spent £300 getting it through its last mot and paid £600 for it which is all I could afford at the time, I don't think it will make it through the next without spending more money. 
So I'm thinking of getting something newer, I'm earning more money and could comfortably afford £100pm so am looking potentially at getting something on hp. 
I have been looking at some of the online car apps/brokers ie: yesauto and car247 which seem to have some local options at good prices but I have no experience buying a car this way. I am just wondering if anyone has had any experience or guidance to offer using this method or would I possibly be better getting say a 5k loan, buying outright and then paying that back and scrapping my current car? Any advice is very welcome and appreciated 😊

BOWFER

Problem with getting a personal loan for £5k is that the APR will be rubbish, the good rates don't kick in until £7500.00
So you might actually be better taking £7500!

sir_smooch

 BOWFER said:

Problem with getting a personal loan for £5k is that the APR will be rubbish, the good rates don't kick in until £7500.00
So you might actually be better taking £7500!

Yeah I noticed that some of the monthly  repayments for those I was elegible were slightly higher than the monthly repayments for the cars priced around £4500 I was looking at. 
Trouble with borrowing that much is paying it back within 4 yes 😔

Grumpy_chap

sir_smooch said:

Hi my name's Alan,

Hoping for some advice, basically my current car which is an 03 fiat stilo 65k miles and is due for insurance renewal on sept 11th, I've had it 3yrs and spent £300 getting it through its last mot and paid £600 for it which is all I could afford at the time, I don't think it will make it through the next without spending more money. 
So I'm thinking of getting something newer, I'm earning more money and could comfortably afford £100pm so am looking potentially at getting something on hp. 
I have been looking at some of the online car apps/brokers ie: yesauto and car247 which seem to have some local options at good prices but I have no experience buying a car this way. I am just wondering if anyone has had any experience or guidance to offer using this method or would I possibly be better getting say a 5k loan, buying outright and then paying that back and scrapping my current car? Any advice is very welcome and appreciated 😊

You've probably had your money's worth from the Fiat but, equally, at only 65k miles it should still have some "life" left in it, thought it is approaching end of time age-wise.

What do you think it will need to get through the MOT?  Taking an MSE-view, if it needs £300 then that is equivalent to 3-months payments at £100 pm and you therefore stand to get the remaining 9 months of the year payment free (and can save that money towards a new car).  I use the "3-months" rule in the approach I take to my own car, and it generally works well.  At least you have a known entity, assuming the Fiat is generally reliable

If this is more that you "want" a new car, which is perfectly fine, you may find the cars available at £5k are not sufficiently enhanced from the current Fiat to guarantee avoid unreliability and / or unwelcome repair bills.

What are your motoring needs (size etc.) and what sort of mileage will you be doing?

sir_smooch

Grumpy_chap said:

sir_smooch said:

Hi my name's Alan,

Hoping for some advice, basically my current car which is an 03 fiat stilo 65k miles and is due for insurance renewal on sept 11th, I've had it 3yrs and spent £300 getting it through its last mot and paid £600 for it which is all I could afford at the time, I don't think it will make it through the next without spending more money. 
So I'm thinking of getting something newer, I'm earning more money and could comfortably afford £100pm so am looking potentially at getting something on hp. 
I have been looking at some of the online car apps/brokers ie: yesauto and car247 which seem to have some local options at good prices but I have no experience buying a car this way. I am just wondering if anyone has had any experience or guidance to offer using this method or would I possibly be better getting say a 5k loan, buying outright and then paying that back and scrapping my current car? Any advice is very welcome and appreciated 😊

You've probably had your money's worth from the Fiat but, equally, at only 65k miles it should still have some "life" left in it, thought it is approaching end of time age-wise.

What do you think it will need to get through the MOT?  Taking an MSE-view, if it needs £300 then that is equivalent to 3-months payments at £100 pm and you therefore stand to get the remaining 9 months of the year payment free (and can save that money towards a new car).  I use the "3-months" rule in the approach I take to my own car, and it generally works well.  At least you have a known entity, assuming the Fiat is generally reliable

If this is more that you "want" a new car, which is perfectly fine, you may find the cars available at £5k are not sufficiently enhanced from the current Fiat to guarantee avoid unreliability and / or unwelcome repair bills.

What are your motoring needs (size etc.) and what sort of mileage will you be doing?

It's mostly the fact the insurance is due that has sparked this thought plus I do feel the fiat is nearing that mark of needing major attention though bodywork isn't the best either, rust and mould unfortunately but it's been a great runabout! I know for a fact it needs new brakes, wipers, will need new tyres plus possible attention to the suspension! Not is dues October, a month after the insurance 😬. Looking ideally for a 5 door hatch smallish and economical, I quite like the Hyundai i20's or Suzuki swifts. Again would just like younger slightly more modern interior over what I have now but doesn't need bells n whistles lol... Under 40k miles ideally as I only do roughly 6 to 8k a year I think 😊

BOWFER

sir_smooch said:

It's mostly the fact the insurance is due that has sparked this thought plus I do feel the fiat is nearing that mark of needing major attention though bodywork isn't the best either, rust and mould unfortunately but it's been a great runabout! I know for a fact it needs new brakes, wipers, will need new tyres plus possible attention to the suspension! Not is dues October, a month after the insurance 😬. Looking ideally for a 5 door hatch smallish and economical, I quite like the Hyundai i20's or Suzuki swifts. Again would just like younger slightly more modern interior over what I have now but doesn't need bells n whistles lol... Under 40k miles ideally as I only do roughly 6 to 8k a year I think 😊

If you like the Hyundai I20, look at the mechanically identical Kia Ceed.
Kia has a 7 year warranty and a quick look on autotrader shows your £5k budget would get you a choice of cars with a couple of years full warranty left.
Just make sure it's got a full service history so the warranty is intact.

onlyfoolsandparking

sir_smooch said:

Grumpy_chap said:

sir_smooch said:

Hi my name's Alan,

Hoping for some advice, basically my current car which is an 03 fiat stilo 65k miles and is due for insurance renewal on sept 11th, I've had it 3yrs and spent £300 getting it through its last mot and paid £600 for it which is all I could afford at the time, I don't think it will make it through the next without spending more money. 
So I'm thinking of getting something newer, I'm earning more money and could comfortably afford £100pm so am looking potentially at getting something on hp. 
I have been looking at some of the online car apps/brokers ie: yesauto and car247 which seem to have some local options at good prices but I have no experience buying a car this way. I am just wondering if anyone has had any experience or guidance to offer using this method or would I possibly be better getting say a 5k loan, buying outright and then paying that back and scrapping my current car? Any advice is very welcome and appreciated 😊

You've probably had your money's worth from the Fiat but, equally, at only 65k miles it should still have some "life" left in it, thought it is approaching end of time age-wise.

What do you think it will need to get through the MOT?  Taking an MSE-view, if it needs £300 then that is equivalent to 3-months payments at £100 pm and you therefore stand to get the remaining 9 months of the year payment free (and can save that money towards a new car).  I use the "3-months" rule in the approach I take to my own car, and it generally works well.  At least you have a known entity, assuming the Fiat is generally reliable

If this is more that you "want" a new car, which is perfectly fine, you may find the cars available at £5k are not sufficiently enhanced from the current Fiat to guarantee avoid unreliability and / or unwelcome repair bills.

What are your motoring needs (size etc.) and what sort of mileage will you be doing?

It's mostly the fact the insurance is due that has sparked this thought plus I do feel the fiat is nearing that mark of needing major attention though bodywork isn't the best either, rust and mould unfortunately but it's been a great runabout! I know for a fact it needs new brakes, wipers, will need new tyres plus possible attention to the suspension! Not is dues October, a month after the insurance 😬. Looking ideally for a 5 door hatch smallish and economical, I quite like the Hyundai i20's or Suzuki swifts. Again would just like younger slightly more modern interior over what I have now but doesn't need bells n whistles lol... Under 40k miles ideally as I only do roughly 6 to 8k a year I think 😊

I wouldn't buy a car just because it's under 40K based on what mileage your intending to do, buying a low mileage car is so 70,s and 80,s era. Modern cars with a decent service history and good ongoing maintenance can breeze past 100,000 miles.

My OH has a Suzuki Swift, fantastic car for the money, I don't drive it often but I'm currently in it until I pick my new car up on Friday and I had forgotten just how good of a drive it is.

BOWFER

The Suzuki Swift is a funny car, I looked at one for my daughter as her first car.
The sporty ones look great, the non-sporty ones look like something a district nurse would drive - so dull outside and in.
And they are very high insurance groups, the lowest is group 9 when some of the competitors in the same category are group 1.

onlyfoolsandparking

BOWFER said:

The Suzuki Swift is a funny car, I looked at one for my daughter as her first car.
The sporty ones look great, the non-sporty ones look like something a district nurse would drive - so dull outside and in.
And they are very high insurance groups, the lowest is group 9 when some of the competitors in the same category are group 1.

Yeah I spose it is lol, luckily It's not me that has to drive it (well apart from now till Friday) BUT the most important bit is my OH loves it and as we all know 'other half's' being happy is 99% of the battle.  

sir_smooch

BOWFER said:

sir_smooch said:

It's mostly the fact the insurance is due that has sparked this thought plus I do feel the fiat is nearing that mark of needing major attention though bodywork isn't the best either, rust and mould unfortunately but it's been a great runabout! I know for a fact it needs new brakes, wipers, will need new tyres plus possible attention to the suspension! Not is dues October, a month after the insurance 😬. Looking ideally for a 5 door hatch smallish and economical, I quite like the Hyundai i20's or Suzuki swifts. Again would just like younger slightly more modern interior over what I have now but doesn't need bells n whistles lol... Under 40k miles ideally as I only do roughly 6 to 8k a year I think 😊

If you like the Hyundai I20, look at the mechanically identical Kia Ceed.
Kia has a 7 year warranty and a quick look on autotrader shows your £5k budget would get you a choice of cars with a couple of years full warranty left.
Just make sure it's got a full service history so the warranty is intact.

I do like the Kia ceeds tbh I will have a look, whatever I get though will have to be through finance but yeah I kind of set myself a limit to 5k

sir_smooch

onlyfoolsandparking said:

sir_smooch said:

Grumpy_chap said:

sir_smooch said:

Hi my name's Alan,

Hoping for some advice, basically my current car which is an 03 fiat stilo 65k miles and is due for insurance renewal on sept 11th, I've had it 3yrs and spent £300 getting it through its last mot and paid £600 for it which is all I could afford at the time, I don't think it will make it through the next without spending more money. 
So I'm thinking of getting something newer, I'm earning more money and could comfortably afford £100pm so am looking potentially at getting something on hp. 
I have been looking at some of the online car apps/brokers ie: yesauto and car247 which seem to have some local options at good prices but I have no experience buying a car this way. I am just wondering if anyone has had any experience or guidance to offer using this method or would I possibly be better getting say a 5k loan, buying outright and then paying that back and scrapping my current car? Any advice is very welcome and appreciated 😊

You've probably had your money's worth from the Fiat but, equally, at only 65k miles it should still have some "life" left in it, thought it is approaching end of time age-wise.

What do you think it will need to get through the MOT?  Taking an MSE-view, if it needs £300 then that is equivalent to 3-months payments at £100 pm and you therefore stand to get the remaining 9 months of the year payment free (and can save that money towards a new car).  I use the "3-months" rule in the approach I take to my own car, and it generally works well.  At least you have a known entity, assuming the Fiat is generally reliable

If this is more that you "want" a new car, which is perfectly fine, you may find the cars available at £5k are not sufficiently enhanced from the current Fiat to guarantee avoid unreliability and / or unwelcome repair bills.

What are your motoring needs (size etc.) and what sort of mileage will you be doing?

It's mostly the fact the insurance is due that has sparked this thought plus I do feel the fiat is nearing that mark of needing major attention though bodywork isn't the best either, rust and mould unfortunately but it's been a great runabout! I know for a fact it needs new brakes, wipers, will need new tyres plus possible attention to the suspension! Not is dues October, a month after the insurance 😬. Looking ideally for a 5 door hatch smallish and economical, I quite like the Hyundai i20's or Suzuki swifts. Again would just like younger slightly more modern interior over what I have now but doesn't need bells n whistles lol... Under 40k miles ideally as I only do roughly 6 to 8k a year I think 😊

I wouldn't buy a car just because it's under 40K based on what mileage your intending to do, buying a low mileage car is so 70,s and 80,s era. Modern cars with a decent service history and good ongoing maintenance can breeze past 100,000 miles.

My OH has a Suzuki Swift, fantastic car for the money, I don't drive it often but I'm currently in it until I pick my new car up on Friday and I had forgotten just how good of a drive it is.

I guess I'm just trying to be cautious as I'm not exactly rolling in money or an excess of funds so don't want to end up with something that within a year or 2 I'm having to spend hundreds on so that was my logic but have mostly only ever had runabouts that cost less than a grand! But yeah would prefer low insurance, road tax and cheap to run tbh but enough space to fit me and the 3 kids in 😊