Repair or buy new? 3 January at 5:58PM in Motoring 19 replies 734 views

casperchameleon

Help! My 2010 Renault Clio has to have a lot of work done to it, totalling to about £1200. It’s things like suspension, springs and exhaust, and then smaller things like brake fluid and routine things. 

It still drives but you can definitely notice that it’s poorly. Do I shell out and buy a new car out of my savings or do I pay the money and try and keep it going? I haven’t spent about £1000 already this year on repairs. Used cars are incredibly expensive at the moment. 

I was thinking about buying a 7k Vauxhall corsa (including 3 years warranty) out of my savings from a dealer but the depreciation is weighing on my mind. 

Thanks in advance 

daveyjp

Old thread is still live, no need for a new one.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6413892/hire-purchase-or-pcp#latest

casperchameleon

daveyjp said:

Old thread is still live, no need for a new one.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6413892/hire-purchase-or-pcp#latest

It was on a different issue though - that was was HP or PCP, this one is whether to repair my car or buy a new one. 

Thank you 

Goudy

Your used 7k Corsa could still need £1200 or mores worth of routine maintainace.

It wouldn't be beyond reason any used car could need brakes, tyres, exhaust, cambelt, be due a major service, need a clutch and so on, none of that would likely be covered on a warranty offered by the dealer.

Could your finances take any of those jobs along with the 7k?
Or are you confident you could select a used car that you're sure most of these sort of items don't require attention any time soon or have been addressed already?
If so, it might be worth swapping.

If not, it might be worth planning what your Clio needs immediate attention on and sort those first, then the next and so on.
Tickle it along a while longer. 

Depreciation is relative.
Buy a new 100k car and it could lose 50% or more in three years, that's high.
Buy a car for 1k and it could lose 90% in three years and only worth scrap. OK it's lost nearly all it's value but it's still pretty low when you weigh it up.

Your 7k Corsa would be nearer the lower end of depreciation already so shouldn't be a big worry.
What would worry me is if it's massively over priced.
Used cars are fairly expensive at the moment and there's got to be a large mark up (around 20%) on it for the dealer.
If you are really interested you might want to cut into that mark up as much as possible, but try and make sure any big ticket repairs and servicing are sorted before you part with your cash.

casperchameleon

Goudy said:

Your used 7k Corsa could still need £1200 or mores worth of routine maintainace.

It wouldn't be beyond reason any used car could need brakes, tyres, exhaust, cambelt, be due a major service, need a clutch and so on, none of that would likely be covered on a warranty offered by the dealer.

Could your finances take any of those jobs along with the 7k?
Or are you confident you could select a used car that you're sure most of these sort of items don't require attention any time soon or have been addressed already?
If so, it might be worth swapping.

If not, it might be worth planning what your Clio needs immediate attention on and sort those first, then the next and so on.
Tickle it along a while longer. 

Depreciation is relative.
Buy a new 100k car and it could lose 50% or more in three years, that's high.
Buy a car for 1k and it could lose 90% in three years and only worth scrap. OK it's lost nearly all it's value but it's still pretty low when you weigh it up.

Your 7k Corsa would be nearer the lower end of depreciation already so shouldn't be a big worry.
What would worry me is if it's massively over priced.
Used cars are fairly expensive at the moment and there's got to be a large mark up (around 20%) on it for the dealer.
If you are really interested you might want to cut into that mark up as much as possible, but try and make sure any big ticket repairs and servicing are sorted before you part with your cash.

Thank you so much for this. much appreciated 

cymruchris

A 3 year warranty likely won't be worth the paper it's written on - it'll exclude almost everything by only covering certain items failing in certain circumstances. (You might argue that's better than nothing - but if you're expecting it to cover anything that goes wrong/wears out in 3 years - it won't!).

You know your own car - things wear out - it's at the age where it needs a few things doing, but doing them will likely mean it'll last a few more years.

Personally I'd repair it and carry on  

Goudy

You have obviously got an idea of the costs to repair your Clio, what does it actually need?

Is is poorly as in knocking suspension, rusty springs (they all have them) noisy exhaust etc or is the engine knocking and banging, the clutch slipping or it's jumping out of gear?

With a bit more information, you might get a few more opinions and help.

casperchameleon

Goudy said:

You have obviously got an idea of the costs to repair your Clio, what does it actually need?

Is is poorly as in knocking suspension, rusty springs (they all have them) noisy exhaust etc or is the engine knocking and banging, the clutch slipping or it's jumping out of gear?

With a bit more information, you might get a few more opinions and help.

It’s got two things that it needs more investigation into, namely a noise from the exhillary area and an oil leak in the top of the engine 

the rest area 
- broken exhaust
- broken spring 
- broken track rod end and ball joint 
- needs 3 new tyres 
Which comes to £752 in repairs, but obviously the others need looking into as well. It’s worth mentioning nothing really works on the car I.e. heating, radio etc. 

casperchameleon

cymruchris said:

A 3 year warranty likely won't be worth the paper it's written on - it'll exclude almost everything by only covering certain items failing in certain circumstances. (You might argue that's better than nothing - but if you're expecting it to cover anything that goes wrong/wears out in 3 years - it won't!).

You know your own car - things wear out - it's at the age where it needs a few things doing, but doing them will likely mean it'll last a few more years.

Personally I'd repair it and carry on  

Thank you. It’s driving me mad working out what to do but the anxiety over using all my savings is much worse!

Goudy

The spring and track rod ends are fairly cheap parts, it's labour that would bump the bill up.
Worth shopping around some local garages for quotes.
Worth getting both sides springs and track rod ends done.

There are a few national chains that would fit an exhaust and with a bit of searching you could probably find a discount code.
Same goes for the tyres.
My Misses just asks for money off, tells them see works for the NHS and with a flash of her ID badge they give her 10% off at a certain national fitting chain.

The heater and radio, is that a power issue?
Does the fan not blow on any setting?
Have you checked the fuses?

Noise, what sort of noise, a squeal or a screech. A rumble or a rattle?

How bad is the oil leak?
Do you have to top up the oil by a litre regulary, is it dripping off the bottom of the car or is it just a weep?

If it's a 1.2 petrol, it could be a problem with the dipstick and filler cap.
The filler cap can stick and this can force the dipstick out of it's hole if it's not clipped in place.
There's some good Youtube videos about the problem.

Herzlos

Your 2010 Clio needing repairs + £1200 isn't going to get you anything that isn't in worse condition on the car market.

Financing a newer one will cost you more than £1200 in a year, before any other expenses.

Do you like the car? If so, then repair it and it should be good for a while.
Are you looking for an excuse to upgrade? Go for it.