A Free car: too good to be true?!

emma_lewis84

Hi all,

my sister-in-law has bought a new car on HP this weekend; and has offered us her old car (p-reg ford fiesta) FOR FREE?!?

It is MOT'd, Taxed till the end of the year, we would need to pay for insurance - used the search and came up with Endsleigh (3rd party, fire and theft) for £637.93 p/a...

Could people please let me know what other costs I will incur, I mean the car will be very handy for my little family to geto to shops and to visit my disabled mother in law, but I don't want it to skint us!

I would use it two or three times a week, so wouldn't use loads of petrol?

Thanks!!

Ivrytwr3

P reg Ford Fiesta and £600 + for insurance?????!!!! Is this the best deal you can get? Sounds very high (obviously dependant on your personal details)

Try going through Quidco and give Zurich Insurance a try or another company through them.

emma_lewis84

I've never had a car before, and so my insurance will be higher, I'm also onlt 23, had my liscence for 1 yr only, and live in Salford, parking on street - all these factors mean my insurance won't be cheap!!

Will go onto quidco now...worth a try

Poppy9

Try an insurance broker too. They can often get better deals for those with NCD starting out.

emma_lewis84

what is an insurance broker? how would I find one?
thanks Poppy - sorry, I'm clueless! x

cheap_plastic_spoon

Insurance MOT and road tax you've covered other expenses are servicing (ask your s.i.l. when last serviced +how much tread left on tires)break down cover?(tesco clubcard?)and most importantly furry dice!

emma_lewis84

thanks CPS...
for all I know the car may break down after a month or two, but I'm so excitied at the prospect of having a car, and for free! Whoo!

davetrousers

try confused.com and moneysupermarket for insurance quotes

Poppy9

try www.moneysupermarket.com
www.confused.com


you can also look in yellow pages for a local firm. They saved us a few hundred when we first bought two cars and only had one NCD.

Little_John

Costs of owning a car
The main one is buying it in the first place, not applicable in this case
Insurance everyone has to have it and yes a 23 year old that has held a licence for 1 year its going to cost you a fair bit the car doesnt really matter
Road tax everyone has to pay it and depending on the size of engine and emmisions it shouldnt be too bad
MOT shouldnt cost too much as long as its been looked after.

optional bits
Serviceing, its up to you, I would do it to preserve the life of the car. main dealerships cost a fortune for serviceing an example £301 for my car, the garrage that has been doing it for my dad charged me £160
Tyres, you can get cheap tyres but they often offer poor performance in some way either life span, grip and wet performance. remember these are what keeps your car on the road so try not to scrimp on tyres. I avoid the places like kwik fit as their prices are way ovver the top my tyres from there are £175 each other independant places including the place I get it serviced at charge me about £90-105 so phone arround useing yell.com for local firms.

Other consumables like screen wash and de icer etc can be bought for not very much in supermarkets, halfords often have 3 for 2 offers etc so it doesnt cost too much.
Fuel is the big one, prices are going up and up at the moment Diesle has reached £1.12 a litre round here petrol s about 5p less. buy it fromthe supermarkets to get the best saveing but don't go driveing 10 miles to find the cheapest place or your saveing is eaten up in going there and back.

pealy

Let's not forget that cars do sometimes break and fixing them can be quite expensive. Brakes and clutches are favourites and if you intend to keep the car for any period of time you should be budgeting for repairs.