Used car buying advice

Carrot007

sir_smooch said:

 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 😔

If the APR is that much better take the higer ammount then make an overpayment making sure the company reduce the time rather than the payment (and you can always keep overpaying in that case)./

sir_smooch

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.

I'm not massive into aesthetics as long as they have the equipment needed for the use you have for them, didn't realise they would be so high on insurance though! Have seen a nice 09 model though with about 32k miles for about 3 1/2k... 

jimjames

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 😊

None of those are really issues that scrap a car, they are items that are routine maintenance. Every car needs insurance, they all need to have brakes and tyres done from time to time. Wipers should cost you under £20 and are something you can do yourself pretty easily. You might decide to change because you're bored but none of those items should mean your car is consigned to the bin.

If £100 is the budget you are looking at then I'd suggest keeping your car to build up a pot of savings and then get another once you have enough money to not need to borrow as much. 

sir_smooch

jimjames 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 😊

None of those are really issues that scrap a car, they are items that are routine maintenance. Every car needs insurance, they all need to have brakes and tyres done from time to time. Wipers should cost you under £20 and are something you can do yourself pretty easily. You might decide to change because you're bored but none of those items should mean your car is consigned to the bin.

If £100 is the budget you are looking at then I'd suggest keeping your car to build up a pot of savings and then get another once you have enough money to not need to borrow as much. 

It's not a case of boredom, it hasn't really been looked after, it's very weathered and has rust and worn and scratched paintwork is probably In need of a good service to keep it going, I bought it for £600 as it was all I had at the time, I've had it 3yrs and spent about the same on it in that time to get it through the mot's but feel it isn't worth investing the money in now tbh.... But yeah maybe your right and maybe I should just re-insure it and save as much as I can atleast untill the mot is due.. which I know it will fail but then if I change car I will also have to pay admin fee's to have documents changed to a new car! Oh man lol it's so stressfull... 

BOWFER

sir_smooch said:

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.

I'm not massive into aesthetics as long as they have the equipment needed for the use you have for them, didn't realise they would be so high on insurance though! Have seen a nice 09 model though with about 32k miles for about 3 1/2k... 

I've no clue why the Swift starts at group 9.
Maybe it doesn't make much/any difference to an experienced driver.
But for a new driver, as our daughter was, group 9 seemed mental when we could easily get a group 1 car of similar size and engine.

Grumpy_chap

sir_smooch said:

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 😊

sir_smooch said:

But yeah would prefer low insurance, road tax and cheap to run tbh but enough space to fit me and the 3 kids in 😊

You don't say how old the 3 kids are, but a Dacia Sandero could be a good option to consider.  

BOWFER

Grumpy_chap said:

You don't say how old the 3 kids are, but a Dacia Sandero could be a good option to consider.  

I'm a big fan of the Dacia duster, not anti Dacia by any stretch of the imagination.
But the Sandero is a hateful contraption.
A mild cheddar sandwich of a car.

sir_smooch

Grumpy_chap said:

sir_smooch said:

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 😊

sir_smooch said:

But yeah would prefer low insurance, road tax and cheap to run tbh but enough space to fit me and the 3 kids in 😊

You don't say how old the 3 kids are, but a Dacia Sandero could be a good option to consider.  

Well not really kids as such, 2 early teens and a minor 

Grumpy_chap

sir_smooch said:

Grumpy_chap said:

sir_smooch said:

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 😊

sir_smooch said:

But yeah would prefer low insurance, road tax and cheap to run tbh but enough space to fit me and the 3 kids in 😊

You don't say how old the 3 kids are, but a Dacia Sandero could be a good option to consider.  

Well not really kids as such, 2 early teens and a minor 

You might, then, want to find something larger than the Sandero.  The same comment would really apply to the i20 and the Swift.

A van-based car (Fiat Doblo, Citroen Berlingo) might tick all your space / practicality boxes, but I'll understand the fail on the style / desirability boxes.

You might do better to look for something from the size-class up from the i20-class.  Maybe i30, Focus, Golf.  The Focus is quite plentiful, though your budget and mileage target means you'll likely be looking around 9 or 10 yo vehicle so make the decision based on the condition of the car above all else.  For a low annual mileage, petrol will be a better option than diesel.

MovingForwards

I've just done something similar myself as my OH's mom offered to buy us a brand new car (I know it's a privileged position to be in, but the offer wasn't accepted).

Same as you, I knew the old car would need yet another £500+ on it for the MOT / service; I'd already broken my rule and had it welded once. The only things I wouldn't have repaired at the next MOT would be suspension and replace the engine! 

I had a critical look at my old car, all the niggles, dinks, expected MOT bill and mentally added them up. It's not the fact it would cost more than the car was worth, it's just that old car wasn't worth it to me.

For the first time in 20 years I now 'own' something costing more than £1k to buy. Which feels odd, but I do like my 'new' car.

I knew what my replacement car would be, therefore just had to find one. I spent a while searching autotrader and the local dealers / traders to see what they had, compiled a list from the comfort of my sofa and then headed off to the first one (trader), had a look, didn't think the cars were worth the asking price and the hard sell / patronising comments (being told I should buy a big diesel car as when I'm in the office I do 10m on the mway to get in, amongst other things) saw me turn on my heels and drive away to a dealers down the road, which was second on my list.

After looking round the dealers at the other cars of a similar size, while looking for the one I wanted to see, they didn't catch my attention like my original choice did. A deal was struck and I picked it up a few days later, scrapping the old one and getting £150 for it.

Although I've spent the equivalent of 4 runabouts buying this car, I'm saving money as it's £0 tax, better MPG, insurance is cheaper, as are the parts for repairs and maintenance. I also plan on keeping it going for as long as it's viable, as I would with any car.

I've taken HP over 3 years, to keep the payments down, but will have it all paid off in 9 months maximum as I'm making overpayments. Although, I've got enough in the bank to pay it off as I didn't spend more than I had in savings (I know, I'm lucky in that regard).

I did consider a bank loan, borrow more than I needed to pay for the car, to get the lower APR, then repay the extra back. However, I decided against that.

I'm still running a dedicated current account for my car, paying in money each payday to cover insurance, repairs, maintenance, services; same as I did with my old one.

All you can do is look to see what takes your fancy, read loads of reviews, weigh up the pros and cons and make sure you can cover the finance each month.