End of deal: buy or walk away.
End of deal: buy or walk away.
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Discussion

Brandonflowers123

Original Poster:

243 posts

111 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
So my girlfriend has come to the end of her finance agreement.

The car is an Abarth 500 1.4 turbo with 50k miles.

Fiat want £4384 to buy the car.

The way we see it we have two options.
1. Pay and buy the Abarth
2. Walk away and use that money (nothing more) to buy a a second hand car.

Either way we will want to keep the car until it dies.

So what what he the best option? Surly the abarth should do another 50k miles before it see any major problems. (It has been service to the book and has 5 stamps, cambelt, gear oil, brake fluid etc have all been changed).

The risk with the 2nd hand option that it will be difficult to find a car as well maintained as ours. However my GF isn't fussed about buying a nice car. She wants a very reliable car which will get her to work.

Edited by Brandonflowers123 on Friday 16th June 14:56

davamer23

1,136 posts

172 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
What is the car actually worth? If the settlement is less than the market value of the car then it's a no brainier.

Does she like the car enough to keep it?

Whatever secondhand car you buy around that price will have a degree of risk of costing money to keep in good order so is it better the devil you know?

Brandonflowers123

Original Poster:

243 posts

111 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
davamer23 said:
What is the car actually worth? If the settlement is less than the market value of the car then it's a no brainier.

Does she like the car enough to keep it?

Whatever secondhand car you buy around that price will have a degree of risk of costing money to keep in good order so is it better the devil you know?
Yeah she loves the car, hence why she has spent so much on maintaining.

Not sure on the value. But I've seen a local seller seeking one for 5k. It is 2009 and 92k in the clock.

I agree it's difficult to buy a second hand car. It I guess hero ly worry about the ABarth is that it is an Italian car. It will not have the reliability of Japanese car etc.

It's also hard to find used parts. So any problems it's going to be expensive.

Brandonflowers123

Original Poster:

243 posts

111 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
davamer23 said:
What is the car actually worth? If the settlement is less than the market value of the car then it's a no brainier.

Does she like the car enough to keep it?

Whatever secondhand car you buy around that price will have a degree of risk of costing money to keep in good order so is it better the devil you know?
Yeah she loves the car, hence why she has spent so much on maintaining.

Not sure on the value. But I've seen a local seller seeking one for 5k. It is 2009 and 92k in the clock.

I agree it's difficult to buy a second hand car. My worry about the ABarth is that it is an Italian car. It will not have the reliability of Japanese car etc.

It's also hard to find used parts. So any problems it's going to be expensive

lucido grigio

44,044 posts

181 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
No brainer.

Keep,buy the 500.

Mike335i

5,596 posts

120 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
If she loves the car, you can afford it and you have looked after it well, then why would you buy something else?

Brandonflowers123

Original Poster:

243 posts

111 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
Mike335i said:
If she loves the car, you can afford it and you have looked after it well, then why would you buy something else?
I guess it's more of a long term view.

How long will this Italian go on for?

With 4300 you could buy a low millage petrol model such as a Toyota which will out last the abarth.

lucido grigio

44,044 posts

181 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
Brandonflowers123 said:
I guess it's more of a long term view.

How long will this Italian go on for?
No one can answer this,it could blow up tomorrow or last 5,10 more years.

My Fiat is 20yo btw.

kiethton

14,344 posts

198 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
I don't know if you're confusing things here, if not and you're looking at the options for the notional £4,300 you would have beyond the car I apologise

You won't get £4.3k back. You have 3 choices:

Buy the car buy paying another £4.3k and keep it (can sell immediately after if you wish/numbers make sense to do so)
Give the car back
Trade the car against another and roll over any money (difference between what the dealer says it's worth and the £4.3k) so £1k? and top-up to buy another car

KevinCamaroSS

13,498 posts

298 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
Your first question should be to ask your girlfriend what she wants. If she wants to keep the Abarth then that is your decision, which is probably what I would do. If she does not then you start looking. She's the boss!

boyse7en

7,739 posts

183 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
Brandonflowers123 said:
I guess it's more of a long term view.

How long will this Italian go on for?

With 4300 you could buy a low millage petrol model such as a Toyota which will out last the abarth.
Toyotas go wrong too you know. We've got a pair of Avenis Estates that have had a multitude of problems.
They may have a better overall reliability record than Fiats, but you know you have a good Fiat. You could buy a Friday afternoon Toyota

Brandonflowers123

Original Poster:

243 posts

111 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
lucido grigio said:
Brandonflowers123 said:
I guess it's more of a long term view.

How long will this Italian go on for?
No one can answer this,it could blow up tomorrow or last 5,10 more years.

My Fiat is 20yo btw.
Wow you just have really looked after that car.

I guess it's just stereotyping. You know how people say Japanese cars last for a long time.

Hainey

4,381 posts

218 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
My experience of Japanese cars is they are faultless until they go.

Then, they REALLY go. Something new every month to deal with.

davamer23

1,136 posts

172 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
Did a quick search for a 50k miler abarth 500, you can't find them at near that price, buy it. How are parts hard to find? It's basically a Fiat 500. They're everywhere.
It's maintained so should be good for a while yet.

Scootersp

3,740 posts

206 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
Has the car ever let her down?

It's less than £200 a month for 2 more years to drive a car she likes/knows. I'd say 100% keep it and I'd try and keep it a few more years after you've paid it off unless something else really catches your/her eye or circumstances change.

I'm a big Toyota fan but no cars are fool proof and most used cars in that price range will come with at least a couple of niggles to immediately sort out, better the devil you know is never more relevant than now.

You can always sell/px down the line if you get issues or sense them coming, I suspect the two years will fly by with few issues.

Brandonflowers123

Original Poster:

243 posts

111 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
davamer23 said:
Did a quick search for a 50k miler abarth 500, you can't find them at near that price, buy it. How are parts hard to find? It's basically a Fiat 500. They're everywhere.
It's maintained so should be good for a while yet.
Haha it looks like a fiat 500 but the engine, gearbox, rear axle are all different. Even brakes.

And thanks for the advice

Brandonflowers123

Original Poster:

243 posts

111 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
Scootersp said:
Has the car ever let her down?

It's less than £200 a month for 2 more years to drive a car she likes/knows. I'd say 100% keep it and I'd try and keep it a few more years after you've paid it off unless something else really catches your/her eye or circumstances change.

I'm a big Toyota fan but no cars are fool proof and most used cars in that price range will come with at least a couple of niggles to immediately sort out, better the devil you know is never more relevant than now.

You can always sell/px down the line if you get issues or sense them coming, I suspect the two years will fly by with few issues.
It hasn't let me down, but input shaft bearing in gearbox was replaced and the exhaust system. I'm the first year, since then never had any issues. (Haven't driven it in a while but sounds good.)

What price range is good to get a decent second hand car. Then again I guess it's all Lady Luck cos I've known people who have brought 500 pound cars and driven them 10k miles with very little expenditure.

She has been saving each month so she can pay the 4300 instead of borrowing. I think she is just thinking in her mind what else can she buy with the money and how far will it take her.

Defcon5

6,411 posts

209 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
How old is the 500?

It boils down to if you can get a better car for 4.5k than a 90k mile Fiat 500?

I'd wager you could get a 2012ish Fiesta for that with half the mileage, which may well be more reliable, but I'm not sure it's actually a better car

steve-5snwi

9,626 posts

111 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
Go on we buy any car and see what they value it at, go on autotrader, search by age and mileage fro 500 abarths and see what the going rate is. Then decide if its worth buying it and selling it on and making some money. Or if its actually worth keeping and running for 2 more years. Even if it halfs in value its only a £2400 loss in 2 years and paying £5000 for a used fiesta would probably mean its value is closer to £3800 so you would have lost £1200 in a matter of days.

If you both like it and know its history then i'd say keep it.

valiant

12,631 posts

178 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
Option A - keep a car with known history, mileage, good record of reliability, owner lovingly looked after it, owner loves the car.

Option B - buy a used car with supposed reliability, no idea how previous owner looked after it, might have had numerous owners, might have had accident damaged fixed but not declared, could be a complete nail, new owner will always compare it unfavourably to her old car.

No brainer, keep the Fiat.

Had a few Fiats and nothing major gone wrong. Like you a few warranty issues sorted without fuss and provided many years faithful service and the Stilo was the only car I've regretted selling. I'd buy another without worrying. Join FiatForum. They'll be someone on there who'll advise you on all things Fiat. (Was an excellent resource when I had mine, might have changed in the mean time though...)