Car - Bangeromics

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Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
Downward said:
Alfa 147.

Main issue is 2 kids (18 months 4 1/2) who I have to drop off at carers and preschool twice a week and then head off too work (round trip of 12 miles) which I can't do on bike and get to work on time.

Better get rid of it sharpish as in 18 months time it will be worthless. Italian cars are some of the fastest depreciating cars, faster than they are driven :evil:.

Italian cars - break your heart and your wallet :thumbsup:.
 

speccy1

Guest
Crankarm said:
Better get rid of it sharpish as in 18 months time it will be worthless. Italian cars are some of the fastest depreciating cars, faster than they are driven ;).

Italian cars - break your heart and your wallet :cry:.

Are they capable of doing "fast"?!!!!!
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
Crankarm said:
Better get rid of it sharpish as in 18 months time it will be worthless. Italian cars are some of the fastest depreciating cars, faster than they are driven ;).

Italian cars - break your heart and your wallet :cry:.

No truer word! Big on style...but Oh, that rust...

Witness Alfa Suds.
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
Another big plus for choosing a car-derived white van is the feature that they have huge wing mirrors. About three times the area of a normal car, in my experience. The driver's mirror is almost totally redundant because you can see very little out the back. You very quickly learn to use the wing ones all the time, especially in urban traffic, so you are probably a bit more bike friendly than other small vehicles as regards filtering and potential left hook victims.

I'm not sure why I'm writing this actually. The bastards don't even pay Road Tax...FFS ;)
 

BrumJim

Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
Downward said:
Scenario.
Currently paying £400 Insurance and Tax is going upto £235 in October. Using the car less and less now (20 miles a week now from 120) thanks to cycling so just to keep it on the road is £700 per annum inc MOT Plus £150 per year for a Work Car Park Pass.

Thinking of selling up and buying a runaround but needs to be cheap on Tax and Insurance as it'll be sitting on the drive 5 or 6 days per week under £1k.

Any ideas :smile:

Yes, but off to a meeting.
Suggest over 100,000 miles on the clock, diesel, Emissions Cat B. Something like Focus or Astra/Corsa with the small turbo diesel engine (1.6 or 1.3).

Alternatively, look at the economics/availability, and consider hiring. Cheaper if you use the car less than every other weekend.
 

gbb

Legendary Member
Location
Peterborough
Downward said:
Yeah pass is off.
Punto's are nice (Hired one in 2001 brand new) but not sure on reliability ?

Puntos have a problem with head gaskets. One of the girls at work had one...had hers done twice (not in quick succession mind). It is a known problem with them.
Also no power steering on some of the basic models.
That said, she loved the car.
My son in laws mother has one too. Never been a problem in the 3 years she's had it.
 
OP
OP
Downward

Downward

Guru
Location
West Midlands
fossyant said:
Keep it. Had a 147 Selespeed when they first came out in the UK - lovely. Company car though. Bit un-reliable electronics wise.

Yeah but Standing still costs are £700 just to keep it on the drive, It is the best car I have had but we are selling both and getting a Civic Type S
 
OP
OP
Downward

Downward

Guru
Location
West Midlands
I am thinking Clio because the wife had one last car so she would at least drive it (She won't touch the Alfa !) and may pop down to the auctions.
 
Your £700 per year is more like £1700 plus when you add in what the car is losing in value over a year.

Taking each issue-
Car Tax - OK so pre 1973 cars are free but with them comes lots of problems. Decent option is below 1500cc pre 2001 car or up to band F in the 2001 -2006 aged cars. That gets it down to £125 at present rate.
Insurance - your car is in a high band and I am guessing a small engined car will half that cost to say £200. I am only on £230 for a 2L diesel car.
MOT Cost- On a bit of a sliding scale, the older the car- more cost for MOT but then chuck in the equation if you will repair an older car yourself or not.

So just by going down in size and performance you are on more like £400 rather than £700.

Then the last thing is depreceation. Generally if you are down the lower end of the market you can get a car for a bit more than £1,000 but it will hardly lose any value. Once you get below £1,000 you are in the zone where you are probably buying trouble. Also if you get a fairly sought after car (Say a Golf) you will probably sell it for what you bought it for in a couple of years time. I ran cars like that for about ten years and tended to get a bit more when sold than I paid.

Golf Polo Pug 106 206 306 are all cars that will hold value at the lower end of the market. The plus points you are looking at are the same points a new driver in their teens wants so there will always be a demand for a tidy underpowered little car if it has a modicum of street cred.
 
Downward said:
I am thinking Clio because the wife had one last car so she would at least drive it (She won't touch the Alfa !) and may pop down to the auctions.

I would stick to Autotrader and make low offers on them. I think there are a higher proportion of dogs at an auction and you also can talk yourself into getting something to go home with that you may not intend to get (as it looks a bargain).
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
I'd go for some small shoot-box Korean Hyundai/Daewoo kinda thing, not sexy so no appeal to the Barry-boys, probably owned by people who looked after it (i.e not boy racers, but older or lower income people to whom the car was an expensive item, so they took some care with it). They're usually quite well put together if a little basic and the mechanicals are generally OK. Servicing and parts, tyres etc should be pretty cheap too.

This is my thinking for a basic, cheap run-around/learner car for my girls...
 

tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
I would look for well cared for MK2 Golf, preferably the 1.6D. These were excellent cars which can put up 500,000 miles if cared for, very economical and brilliant handling and not as sluggish as they seem once you learn how to get the best out of it. The better specced models were also very refined for long journeys. Gearboxes can be a weak spot but only if badly driven and ensure the engine has been run on good quality coolant.
 

4F

Active member of Helmets Are Sh*t Lobby
Location
Suffolk.
Fab Foodie said:
I'd go for some small shoot-box Korean Hyundai/Daewoo kinda thing, not sexy so no appeal to the Barry-boys, probably owned by people who looked after it (i.e not boy racers, but older or lower income people to whom the car was an expensive item, so they took some care with it). They're usually quite well put together if a little basic and the mechanicals are generally OK. Servicing and parts, tyres etc should be pretty cheap too.

This is my thinking for a basic, cheap run-around/learner car for my girls...

I would avoid a Hyundai though. Bloody parts cost a fortune, in the last 12 months I have shelled out nearly 2 grand on my trajet
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Fab Foodie said:
I'd go for some small shoot-box Korean Hyundai/Daewoo kinda thing,

This is my thinking for a basic, cheap run-around/learner car for my girls...

Oh bet you are going to be unpopular with your girls....have you told them ? :biggrin:
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
fossyant said:
Oh bet you are going to be unpopular with your girls....have you told them ? :becool:

Yep!
I told them that it ain't gonna be sexy! Cheap, basic and functional (just like their Dad).

4F thanks for the Hyundai insight!
 
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