Used car for as cheap as possible

jocstoke

Following an acrimonious marital breakdown that resulted in me having to leave the family home, I am in urgent need of buying a used car for as cheaply as possible. Once the divorce is finalised I will have a significant amount of funds available le but that is likely to take some time due to how difficult things are between my ex an me. In the meantime I need a small cheap car that is cheap to run and will enable me to take my kids to their various activities. Maximum I can afford is approx £2,000. It won't need to last a long time or anything and know it's not much money at all, is it even possible? I have no idea what to look for, my ex always dealt with all that so I'm feeling very scared and like a vulnerable woman, and I hate that I've become such a cliche. Don't really know anyone that can help me with checking any potential cars either which doesn't help. Just feel lost.

Grumpy_chap

For that type of price level, buy on condition above all else.

Do you have a local independent garage that is recommended and trusted locally?  There would be a lot of value in a trusted garage.

Do you happen to know anyone with a car that they will be selling in the near future?

Ebe_Scrooge

There are plenty of cars available for under £2k, even in the current climate where used prices are higher than they used to be.  The only slight downside is that you really need to be looking at private sales in that price bracket, rather than buying from a dealer.  As such, you have very little come-back once the deal is done.

Autotrader is easy enough to browse online, though the majority of cars advertised there tend to be from dealers.  Gumtree and Facebook are often good places to look.

It's a bit of a gamble when buying privately if you don't have the knowledge to check the car over thoroughly, and don't have a mechanically-minded friend who can help.  Personally I've bought some absolute gems over the years - they are out there if you take the time to look around.

You can get an inspection from the AA or RAC (you don't need to be a member), but they're not cheap.  Do you have any decent local independent mechanics who might be willing to give a car the once-over for the price of a few pints?

In the absence of anything else, a lot of it is common sense.  Has the car been serviced and maintained regularly?  Doesn't need to be a main-dealer service, but a folder full of receipts showing work that's been done can give a good clue.  Is there any obvious damage?  Minor scrapes and dents are to be expected on an older car, but any major damage should be fairly evident.  A check of the car's MOT history online can give a bit of a clue as to what it's failed on in previous years, and what should have been replaced.

Make sure you take it for a test drive (though do check that you're insured to do so).  Even if you're not mechanically-minded, you should be able to check that major things like brakes, steering, gearbox, clutch, suspension operate as they should with no odd sounds or similar.  Check that there are no warning lights showing on the dashboard.  Check that the engine runs at the normal operating temperature (not overheating, not running too cold - there will be either a temperature gauge or maybe just warning lights on the dashboard).  Check things like lights, wipers, windows, seatbelts, heater, radio, tyres, etc. etc.

Sounds like a long list, but like I say there are a lot of checks you can do even without being a mechanic.

Obviously you won't catch everything, and things will wear out - that's to be expected on an older car.  But take your time and there's no reason you can't get a very tidy little car for that sort of budget.

Herzlos

It may be worth trying to price out how much it'd cost you to use taxis and public transport in the shorter term. £2k + tax + insurance + fuel pays for a lot of Ubers.

It may also be worth looking at a longer term rental, that should get you something new/almost new for a fixed monthly rate for, say, 6 months.

mysteryUser

If you give a rough idea of where you are in the country, I'm happy to search out some cars on offer nearby and PM you with some comments on them.

You can search online to find out MOT history which can give you an idea of how well a car has been looked after and if there's been any recent major issues. 

As mentioned above, a longer term rental / subscription could be an option. For example:
You could get a very new small hatchback for £379 per month for 6 months or £329 per month for 12 months. That's a commitment of £2274 or £3948. This particular deal includes breakdown cover, insurance, road tax etc. As long as you don't do huge numbers of miles, the only extra expense is putting in fuel. Being a newer car means they're often the most efficient in terms of fuel consumption too. 

jocstoke

mysteryUser said:

If you give a rough idea of where you are in the country, I'm happy to search out some cars on offer nearby and PM you with some comments on them.

You can search online to find out MOT history which can give you an idea of how well a car has been looked after and if there's been any recent major issues. 

As mentioned above, a longer term rental / subscription could be an option. For example:
You could get a very new small hatchback for £379 per month for 6 months or £329 per month for 12 months. That's a commitment of £2274 or £3948. This particular deal includes breakdown cover, insurance, road tax etc. As long as you don't do huge numbers of miles, the only extra expense is putting in fuel. Being a newer car means they're often the most efficient in terms of fuel consumption too. 

That would be amazing, thank you so much for offering. I live in North Manchester. I've tried searching but find it all very overwhelming so any li ks at all would be so helpful.

mysteryUser

jocstoke said:

mysteryUser said:

If you give a rough idea of where you are in the country, I'm happy to search out some cars on offer nearby and PM you with some comments on them.

You can search online to find out MOT history which can give you an idea of how well a car has been looked after and if there's been any recent major issues. 

As mentioned above, a longer term rental / subscription could be an option. For example:
You could get a very new small hatchback for £379 per month for 6 months or £329 per month for 12 months. That's a commitment of £2274 or £3948. This particular deal includes breakdown cover, insurance, road tax etc. As long as you don't do huge numbers of miles, the only extra expense is putting in fuel. Being a newer car means they're often the most efficient in terms of fuel consumption too. 

That would be amazing, thank you so much for offering. I live in North Manchester. I've tried searching but find it all very overwhelming so any li ks at all would be so helpful.

No problem - Do you know if the Manchester clean air zone is going to affect you? Not sure if you will be traveling within the zone, if so, I guess an old diesel is out of the question...

silverwhistle

I'd second what Ebe-Scrooge says, there are cars out there. At the end of 2020 I sold my 12 year old Hyundai for around £1300 as I had a hankering  for an EV, and as far as I know there was nothing wrong with it, or about to go wrong! A good buy for the learner who got it. A private sale like that is what you are looking for.

jocstoke

mysteryUser said:

jocstoke said:

mysteryUser said:

If you give a rough idea of where you are in the country, I'm happy to search out some cars on offer nearby and PM you with some comments on them.

You can search online to find out MOT history which can give you an idea of how well a car has been looked after and if there's been any recent major issues. 

As mentioned above, a longer term rental / subscription could be an option. For example:
You could get a very new small hatchback for £379 per month for 6 months or £329 per month for 12 months. That's a commitment of £2274 or £3948. This particular deal includes breakdown cover, insurance, road tax etc. As long as you don't do huge numbers of miles, the only extra expense is putting in fuel. Being a newer car means they're often the most efficient in terms of fuel consumption too. 

That would be amazing, thank you so much for offering. I live in North Manchester. I've tried searching but find it all very overwhelming so any li ks at all would be so helpful.

No problem - Do you know if the Manchester clean air zone is going to affect you? Not sure if you will be traveling within the zone, if so, I guess an old diesel is out of the question...

Thanks again for your reply. I live just inside the clean air zone, so would be traveling inside it, although there is a real lack of clarity over what it is going to entail after the original plans due to commence in May were scrapped. The website just says there is due to be a new plan starting in July but has no details over what that will be! Not very helpful at all really, sorry.

jocstoke

silverwhistle said:

I'd second what Ebe-Scrooge says, there are cars out there. At the end of 2020 I sold my 12 year old Hyundai for around £1300 as I had a hankering  for an EV, and as far as I know there was nothing wrong with it, or about to go wrong! A good buy for the learner who got it. A private sale like that is what you are looking for.

Thanks - where did you sell your car, was it through a specific website?