Auto troubles - Do I keep or sell my shed
Discussion
Hello pistonheads,
Recently I bought a SAAB diesel estate for £1k, give or take. This is our second car. Main user is me unless there is emergency with main vehicle which is new.
The service history was fine, visible condition not great (in and out). Workhorse as people say. Convenient for my short daily commute.
I have invested about £1.5k already in maintenance/repairs. This means that I am now £2.5k in. And I now have a car thats worth … £1k. All 0% credit card.
The car is fine for me to go to work and back and do chores. However to get into appropriate shape to drive the kids around I probably need to spend another grand. This covers steering rack, fumes coming into cockpit (i think front exhaust blowing) and something to do with breaks that is not disc related. I stop fine but feels a bit soft at bottom of pedal.
I wonder if I:
1. Sell the car, suck up a car loan and buy something newer with warranty for up to 8k. Accept im not ph worthy shedder. Have a second family option for emergencies.
2. Live and use as it is till mot and then decide whether to keep or sell. Kids use main car or uber.
3. Do all repairs, accept there is a risk something else goes wrong and potentially £3.5 in hole. Have a family car thats worthy of kids. Keep for 3-5 years per initial plan.
Please let me know what you would do in my shoes. Please be honest, Im not sensitive.
- I have 2 month emergency fund.
- £4k in 0% credit card till next year
- Generally like driving the car
- I started using car for deliveries outside of work, already made £1k that paid my other debt off and got me money for Christmas for kids
Recently I bought a SAAB diesel estate for £1k, give or take. This is our second car. Main user is me unless there is emergency with main vehicle which is new.
The service history was fine, visible condition not great (in and out). Workhorse as people say. Convenient for my short daily commute.
I have invested about £1.5k already in maintenance/repairs. This means that I am now £2.5k in. And I now have a car thats worth … £1k. All 0% credit card.
The car is fine for me to go to work and back and do chores. However to get into appropriate shape to drive the kids around I probably need to spend another grand. This covers steering rack, fumes coming into cockpit (i think front exhaust blowing) and something to do with breaks that is not disc related. I stop fine but feels a bit soft at bottom of pedal.
I wonder if I:
1. Sell the car, suck up a car loan and buy something newer with warranty for up to 8k. Accept im not ph worthy shedder. Have a second family option for emergencies.
2. Live and use as it is till mot and then decide whether to keep or sell. Kids use main car or uber.
3. Do all repairs, accept there is a risk something else goes wrong and potentially £3.5 in hole. Have a family car thats worthy of kids. Keep for 3-5 years per initial plan.
Please let me know what you would do in my shoes. Please be honest, Im not sensitive.
- I have 2 month emergency fund.
- £4k in 0% credit card till next year
- Generally like driving the car
- I started using car for deliveries outside of work, already made £1k that paid my other debt off and got me money for Christmas for kids
My dyi skills are pretty bad. Also no tools or room to learn to fix/maintain.
It does have dpf but i actually do deliveries so often on motorway for 30mns. Judging by smell i had couple of regens.
Previous owner did a short commute so let me know if I can check for pre-existing issues linked to diesel that i wouldn't have captured so far.
Very good summary, thanks. Lessons learned for next time.
It does have dpf but i actually do deliveries so often on motorway for 30mns. Judging by smell i had couple of regens.
Previous owner did a short commute so let me know if I can check for pre-existing issues linked to diesel that i wouldn't have captured so far.
Very good summary, thanks. Lessons learned for next time.
Edited by Blue_star on Saturday 22 November 10:56
paul_c123 said:
2/3 of those faults, while being classed as "its fine for me but not the kids", are actually roadworthiness things which affect other road users if they fail (steering rack and brakes). So I'd say unless they can be magically sorted for <£100 then its not worth continuing with this particular car.
The Saab 9-3 was a great car but as time progresses, all except a very few are showing signs of wear, age, and of course the infotainment is now hopelessly out of date. I've had 2 in the past, for similar money, but I was very selective about what was fixed (they were both roadworthy) so they lost me little - certainly less than £1.5k-2k as you're looking at now. Maybe 200-300 in repairs over a decent amount of time and about 500 each in depreciation/buy-sell costs (one was bought private and sold at auction; the other bought retail and sold private).
Previous owner passed 3 mots, last one a month before I got the car. Should be fine to drive. The guy isnt connected to mechanic *to my knowledge*. Im probably freaking out over nothing as Im used to driving newer cars.The Saab 9-3 was a great car but as time progresses, all except a very few are showing signs of wear, age, and of course the infotainment is now hopelessly out of date. I've had 2 in the past, for similar money, but I was very selective about what was fixed (they were both roadworthy) so they lost me little - certainly less than £1.5k-2k as you're looking at now. Maybe 200-300 in repairs over a decent amount of time and about 500 each in depreciation/buy-sell costs (one was bought private and sold at auction; the other bought retail and sold private).
Edited by Blue_star on Sunday 23 November 08:36
Just to give an update (not that anyone asked):
- I realised the car doesnt have abs. This makes a difference when stopping
- I changed the front tyre. Despite being road legal this made a world of difference on the feel when stopping. Its amazing what £63 tyre can do
Down to 2 things to take a look at mot time. I built little bit of a cash cushion with my second job; £600 does not change the world but feels good to have it saved. Haven't made my money back yet but see how the next few months go.
Regards
- I realised the car doesnt have abs. This makes a difference when stopping
- I changed the front tyre. Despite being road legal this made a world of difference on the feel when stopping. Its amazing what £63 tyre can do
Down to 2 things to take a look at mot time. I built little bit of a cash cushion with my second job; £600 does not change the world but feels good to have it saved. Haven't made my money back yet but see how the next few months go.
Regards
Richard-D said:
Panamax said:
When you put a car in for MOT one of the things they check is that the correct lights illuminate on the dash when the ignition is switched on. If an ABS light is supposed to show and yours doesn't then you've got a problem right there.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Dnq6q1ULZTM
Which is exactly why this sort of thing exists:-https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Dnq6q1ULZTM
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271143841802?_trkparms=...
You really need to use a code reader nowadays to make sure nobody has been unscrupulous. As you say, checking the lights is a good first step though.
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