Cheapest set of no hassle wheels for 3-6 months
Discussion
Hey Lads
Need some advice, going through a tough patch at the moment, in the process of moving house, helping a close (& frail) family member also move and working 6 days a week, and since, when it rains it pours, got my cars MOT coming up in 3 weeks.
Long story short, it's not passing an MOT, I have been planning on botching it to a level that will hopefully get it through (car is uneconomical to fix properly, have been told by a restorer if it gets through an MOT it will be good for another year or two), but just have not had the time, or the weather. Really can't afford to not have a car at the moment, but don't have time to fix up my current car, or shop around for something new. Looking for some ideas for a cheap car, wondering if you guys could offer some advice.
Just need it for 3-6 months, and ~3-6 thousand miles, don't really care for comfort past 4 wheels and a roof (no scooters). Looking at my options:
1. Settle for an imperfect next car, spunk £~2.5k budget on next 'long termer' without really shopping around. Risk buying something I dislike, or that is also broken, deal with reduced budget due to still owning previous car (hoping to be able to reach around £4-5k budget after 3-6 months I will be in a better place financially/time wise)
2. Buy a dog, take a risk on a £500 Micra/Yaris etc, run it until life is less hectic, try make the cash back dumping it back onto eBay or gumtree.
3. Lease, this is mainly what I am looking for advice on, literally don't know the first thing about leasing past paying £150 to get a car on holiday for a week. Also I am 23, so that drives cost up.
Public transport isn't an option due to location & schedule.
So yeah, any advice based on the above options, any idea how expensive a lease would be for 6 months? Not sure where to go for medium term leases. Any 4th option?
Thanks
Caelite
Need some advice, going through a tough patch at the moment, in the process of moving house, helping a close (& frail) family member also move and working 6 days a week, and since, when it rains it pours, got my cars MOT coming up in 3 weeks.
Long story short, it's not passing an MOT, I have been planning on botching it to a level that will hopefully get it through (car is uneconomical to fix properly, have been told by a restorer if it gets through an MOT it will be good for another year or two), but just have not had the time, or the weather. Really can't afford to not have a car at the moment, but don't have time to fix up my current car, or shop around for something new. Looking for some ideas for a cheap car, wondering if you guys could offer some advice.
Just need it for 3-6 months, and ~3-6 thousand miles, don't really care for comfort past 4 wheels and a roof (no scooters). Looking at my options:
1. Settle for an imperfect next car, spunk £~2.5k budget on next 'long termer' without really shopping around. Risk buying something I dislike, or that is also broken, deal with reduced budget due to still owning previous car (hoping to be able to reach around £4-5k budget after 3-6 months I will be in a better place financially/time wise)
2. Buy a dog, take a risk on a £500 Micra/Yaris etc, run it until life is less hectic, try make the cash back dumping it back onto eBay or gumtree.
3. Lease, this is mainly what I am looking for advice on, literally don't know the first thing about leasing past paying £150 to get a car on holiday for a week. Also I am 23, so that drives cost up.
Public transport isn't an option due to location & schedule.
So yeah, any advice based on the above options, any idea how expensive a lease would be for 6 months? Not sure where to go for medium term leases. Any 4th option?
Thanks
Caelite
caelite said:
Hey Lads
Need some advice, going through a tough patch at the moment, in the process of moving house, helping a close (& frail) family member also move and working 6 days a week, and since, when it rains it pours, got my cars MOT coming up in 3 weeks.
Long story short, it's not passing an MOT, I have been planning on botching it to a level that will hopefully get it through (car is uneconomical to fix properly, have been told by a restorer if it gets through an MOT it will be good for another year or two), but just have not had the time, or the weather. Really can't afford to not have a car at the moment, but don't have time to fix up my current car, or shop around for something new. Looking for some ideas for a cheap car, wondering if you guys could offer some advice.
Just need it for 3-6 months, and ~3-6 thousand miles, don't really care for comfort past 4 wheels and a roof (no scooters). Looking at my options:
1. Settle for an imperfect next car, spunk £~2.5k budget on next 'long termer' without really shopping around. Risk buying something I dislike, or that is also broken, deal with reduced budget due to still owning previous car (hoping to be able to reach around £4-5k budget after 3-6 months I will be in a better place financially/time wise)
2. Buy a dog, take a risk on a £500 Micra/Yaris etc, run it until life is less hectic, try make the cash back dumping it back onto eBay or gumtree.
3. Lease, this is mainly what I am looking for advice on, literally don't know the first thing about leasing past paying £150 to get a car on holiday for a week. Also I am 23, so that drives cost up.
Public transport isn't an option due to location & schedule.
So yeah, any advice based on the above options, any idea how expensive a lease would be for 6 months? Not sure where to go for medium term leases. Any 4th option?
Thanks
Caelite
You're perfectly happy driving a complete sNeed some advice, going through a tough patch at the moment, in the process of moving house, helping a close (& frail) family member also move and working 6 days a week, and since, when it rains it pours, got my cars MOT coming up in 3 weeks.
Long story short, it's not passing an MOT, I have been planning on botching it to a level that will hopefully get it through (car is uneconomical to fix properly, have been told by a restorer if it gets through an MOT it will be good for another year or two), but just have not had the time, or the weather. Really can't afford to not have a car at the moment, but don't have time to fix up my current car, or shop around for something new. Looking for some ideas for a cheap car, wondering if you guys could offer some advice.
Just need it for 3-6 months, and ~3-6 thousand miles, don't really care for comfort past 4 wheels and a roof (no scooters). Looking at my options:
1. Settle for an imperfect next car, spunk £~2.5k budget on next 'long termer' without really shopping around. Risk buying something I dislike, or that is also broken, deal with reduced budget due to still owning previous car (hoping to be able to reach around £4-5k budget after 3-6 months I will be in a better place financially/time wise)
2. Buy a dog, take a risk on a £500 Micra/Yaris etc, run it until life is less hectic, try make the cash back dumping it back onto eBay or gumtree.
3. Lease, this is mainly what I am looking for advice on, literally don't know the first thing about leasing past paying £150 to get a car on holiday for a week. Also I am 23, so that drives cost up.
Public transport isn't an option due to location & schedule.
So yeah, any advice based on the above options, any idea how expensive a lease would be for 6 months? Not sure where to go for medium term leases. Any 4th option?
Thanks
Caelite
tter at the moment - worse, a barely-roadworthy stter - so why on earth would you not just do 2?You don't say what your 3-6mo budget is, but I'd guess it's minimal. Even if you do 2, then throw it away for nowt at the end, that's going to be cheaper than any kind of short-term rental.
Having recently picked up a 2.4 petrol Volvo V70 for comfortably under £500 with 9 months' MOT, I'd heartily recommend option 2.
I'm even getting quite attached to it.
Hunt around on eBay for something petrol, naturally aspirated and with a manual gearbox under your budget. Buy the one with the longest MOT and tread on the tyres.
I'm even getting quite attached to it.
Hunt around on eBay for something petrol, naturally aspirated and with a manual gearbox under your budget. Buy the one with the longest MOT and tread on the tyres.
I really, really think you are underestimating how good a car you can get for 2500 pounds.
Try a Honda Civic Type - S 2003 model.
35mpg easy, 40 if you really try.
160bhp Economy V-TEC engine.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Yes, the suspension is rock hard, but it does handle nicely in return.
Try a Honda Civic Type - S 2003 model.
35mpg easy, 40 if you really try.
160bhp Economy V-TEC engine.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Yes, the suspension is rock hard, but it does handle nicely in return.
Cheap shed, always the right answer. And for your budget it will be a nice one too! I've never owned anything above £2k, and all of my cars have been really reliable, with all you really need in terms of mod cons. Just look closely and be careful, and you'll find a sea of wonderful cars for way less than your budget.
swisstoni said:
How much to fix current car? Usually best way.
Could buy another pile of junk for more total outlay.
It's a cheap MX5 with the usual cheap MX5 rust on it, rear arches near prescribed suspension mount, rear sill near seatbelt mount (this bit has been repaired but would need stripped again for the arches). Outlay for repair is more than value of car, for a cheap repair without paint it'd be £300 a side (both need done to different extents) to cut and weld, about a grand all in for both sides with paint, then about £800 in 2-3 years when the chassis legs will likely need done (bubbled, but not holed). As I said, not worth it, fairly confident I can sneak it past a less stringent MOT inspector with a botch and a sufficient amount of dirt in the arches, but I just don't have time to do it before the ticket is out due to aforementioned time constraints, if I get a good inspector then I'd just need to write off the whole car as a loss and toss it for spares. Vehicle runs like clockwork mechanically, chassis strength doesn't appear to be compromised yet (based on fairly large amounts of probing with a screwdriver & ~200miles a week commuting). I wouldn't be driving it otherwise.Could buy another pile of junk for more total outlay.
So, consensus is that leasing would be dumb if looking for cheap? Will keep an eye out for something cheap & reliable, always wee runabouts for sale on my local facebook trade page. I know I can get plenty of car for £2500, Just bad timing I'd rather wait until I can pick something up I like (we are enthusiasts here afterall... right?
). Know the script with what I'm looking for, small Japanese petrol, or a PD (I do have a fetish for old PDs, wouldn't mind having just one more before the LEZ crap hits Glasgow). My only worry would be picking up another stter that isn't roadworthy for one reason or another, which is why I have reservations about going super cheap again. Edited by caelite on Tuesday 28th November 18:38
Option 2.
I bought a Golf GT TDI (MK4 1.9 TDI) for £500 last year. It was perfectly reliable and only needed £200-odd spent on it in the 9 months and circa 10K miles I owned it.
More recently, I bought an E46 320D Touring (a facelift M sport too!) for £500 because the arches have rusted through. I've had that for four months or so, and I think over 5K miles now and it hasn't missed a beat. MOT is due January so planning on getting it through that - as long as nothing major crops up - and then sorting the arches.
I sold the Golf for more than it owed me and I'm hoping to do the same with the BMW as well.
There's plenty of cars out there for next to nothing. Even cheaper than those I have had a load of 6N Polos. I don't think I've ever paid more than £250 for one and all have had long MOTs.
Once you've sorted yourself out, get rid and hopefully break even or even make a little cash; and then you can decide what you would actually like to buy and own.
Worse case if one of these cars ends up being a pile of ste, scrap it or eBay it and you won't be loosing much at all.
I bought a Golf GT TDI (MK4 1.9 TDI) for £500 last year. It was perfectly reliable and only needed £200-odd spent on it in the 9 months and circa 10K miles I owned it.
More recently, I bought an E46 320D Touring (a facelift M sport too!) for £500 because the arches have rusted through. I've had that for four months or so, and I think over 5K miles now and it hasn't missed a beat. MOT is due January so planning on getting it through that - as long as nothing major crops up - and then sorting the arches.
I sold the Golf for more than it owed me and I'm hoping to do the same with the BMW as well.
There's plenty of cars out there for next to nothing. Even cheaper than those I have had a load of 6N Polos. I don't think I've ever paid more than £250 for one and all have had long MOTs.
Once you've sorted yourself out, get rid and hopefully break even or even make a little cash; and then you can decide what you would actually like to buy and own.
Worse case if one of these cars ends up being a pile of s
te, scrap it or eBay it and you won't be loosing much at all.ExPat2B said:
I really, really think you are underestimating how good a car you can get for 2500 pounds.
Try a Honda Civic Type - S 2003 model.
35mpg easy, 40 if you really try.
160bhp Economy V-TEC engine.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Yes, the suspension is rock hard, but it does handle nicely in return.
My family have two of these, neither has ever had a problem.Try a Honda Civic Type - S 2003 model.
35mpg easy, 40 if you really try.
160bhp Economy V-TEC engine.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Yes, the suspension is rock hard, but it does handle nicely in return.
1)2005 from eBay for £700 with no MOT. Passed MOT with no problems, now on 124k miles and did a track day a few months ago. Scruffy but reliable.
3)2004 from a trader for £1400 last month. 95K miles, very tidy 4 new tyres.
Because of my mileage (3000 a month) I ended up buying a 2007 Renault Megane 1.5 Dci for £1200 with 10 months MOT and 62k on the clock. Road tax is £30 and I get 65MPG without even trying. However, not keen on the feeling of fragility that I get from the car. No problems in the 7,000 miles I have done so far.
ZX10R NIN said:
If you're looking for a 2005 Toyota Avensis T4 Spirit with 48k on the clock then message me one of my clients is about to go down the WBAC route so that might tick your boxes.
Apologies for hi-jacking the thread! Where abouts are you? I'm still in the market for a cheap reliable motor.:-)Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff