The ACTUAL cost of a car

[Matthew_T]

I passed my test two month ago now and have started saving for a car. I thought that £100-£200 into a savings account would allow me to have enough in one years time to afford a car.
So I would have about a £1500-£2000 budget for one.

Purchase of car: £500 mark
Insurance: Normally about £1500 but depends on the car (can save about £300-£400 if I insure my dad on my policy).
VED (I will try to get a car with some already on): Probably £80 for a small car
Fuel (Depends on how much I will be driving it, which wont be all the time): About £20/30 a week.
MOT: Dont know, depends on what quality the car is in.

Anything else?

So out of the £2000 budget, I should be able to afford a car (if I get a very good deal on insurance).

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Annual service - do same time as MOT
Oil for the engine - check weekly
Windscreen washer - need loads in winter
Tyres - depends on how you drive and what mileage you do to when they need changing.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

If you can get by without then don't bother with a car with that sort of money - sorry to be so blunt but you've also got to count in a separate amount of dosh for anything that goes wrong - and it will for any car at that price.

One of the main advantages of a car is reliability and you won't have that guarantee if you don't keep money aside for repairs; cam belts and head gaskets are major disaster areas at your price range and pretty much total a car given their cost to fix. I'd look into HP for something better or not bother...

Either ride your bike to awkward places instead or use public transport for longer, out of bike range journeys (I know it's generally crap and can be expensive but when you weigh it up with what a car costs and can cost it's a better option). Plus, you're young...make the most of it without the burden of a cheap car - they're nowt but a drain on resources better spent on other things and once you start ploughing money in, it's hard to know when to cut your losses.

 

[Beebo]

With £2,000 - you could spend £40 per week on taxis.
I am seriously considering getting rid of our second car. I can count on my fingers the times we use both cars at the same time. It would be cheaper for me to rent a car when I need one.

 

[EltonFrog]

Cars will keep you poor, if I had all the money I had spent on cars I'd have no mortgage, I'd be retired, and I'd have no car.

 

[welsh dragon]

How old are you. Insurance companies don't like young drivers. Just the thought of a young driver makes them go pale. With a car that only costs that amount of money it's going to spend more time being repaired than it will on the road.if you have an accident you will not get anything because of the huge excess. And you are being very optimistic about the cost of the insurance. Double that, then add the number you started with. Then you may be in the right ballpark. You are an unkown quantity. Insurance companies won't like to insure you because you have no insurance history so you will have to convince them that you are not an indiot. All young drivers are idiots. Even if you aren't. I used to be an underwriter for a large insurance company. The cost of insurance alone will be horrendous.

 

[swee'pea99]

If you can get by without then don't bother with a car with that sort of money - sorry to be so blunt but you've also got to count in a separate amount of dosh for anything that goes wrong - and it will for any car at that price.

Not (necessarily) if you choose carefully.

My car - a 16 year old Golf estate - wouldn't have fetched more than £500 on ebay for the last five years. During which time it's generally cost about £50 to get thru' its MOT (this year was zero, but that's unusual), plus the occasional few quid for bulbs and new tyres and the like (£36 a pop delivered, last time I got some).

Look for lowish mileage, some kind of service history, and a seller who doesn't strike you as an absolute rotter, and you could well get a perfectly reliable Jap/German car for that kind of money. Don't buy fancy, and don't buy French.

I say not necessarily, because you can follow all the above rules (and more) and still come a cropper - it's a risk you take at that price level. But £500 for a reliable runaround? Far from impossible.

Insurance will almost certainly be far & away your biggest cost for the first few years - there's not a lot you can do about that but suck it up & drive careful.

 

[fossyant]

Huge hole in your pocket as a student. Don't bother until you need one. Really.

VED, bank on more like £150 plus as it won't be a super low emission one at £500.

Oh and you will need a fair amount for repairs for an older car unless you really know its history.

Bits of advice, stay away from old French or Italian stuff. Japanese is the way to go.

 

[Beebo]

Cars will keep you poor, if I had all the money I had spent on cars I'd have no mortgage, I'd be retired, and I'd have no car.

Reminds me of this saying:
If I had all the money I've spent on drink,
I'd spend it on drink.

 

[Matthew_T]

I'd look into HP for something better or not bother...

You've got to be at least 21 for HP. Thats from the manufacturer though, I dont know about local car sales places.

 

[Saluki]

I am giving some serious consideration to getting shut of the 2nd car and just driving the Xsara - its the bigger of the two. If we lived nearer Norwich it would be more viable but I am wondering if OH paid train fair in and out, at £7 a day, and took his bike for dog walking, could we get by without his car.

The thing is with cars, you need a slush fund for things going wrong, new exhaust pipes, bits that drop off now and again such as wing mirror after someone passes too close when you are parked etc.
Sticking your parents as named driver on your insurance is a sensible thing to do as long as they are not insuring it as main driver with you as named driver, as that is against the law. Putting them on as an extra driver is fine and very sensible.

Don't forget a little bit for anti-freeze every winter, only a tenner or so but worth every penny.
I would suggest saving longer and getting a better car. If you are getting a car for £500 or so, its likely to be older and therefore more to tax. Our 3 door 1.4l older car is well over £200 a year to tax If you are looking for an older cheap car though, you will not go far wrong with a Daewoo Matiz. We had one for an age and they are cheap little runarounds but a bit leary on a motorway as they are rather light.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Anything else?

breakdown cover.

 

[jazzkat]

Things go wrong with anything mechanical and to be quite honest if something goes wrong with a £500 car you'd be as well to throw it away than have it fixed. Even the cheapest 'back st' garage won't take long to get to a labour bill of £500.
Are you prepared to do that?

Having said that if you know what you are doing and take your time you can get a bargain. I paid £1500 a few years ago for an old mazda 626 with 72k on the clock. It used to smoke like mad for a few miles first thing in the morning (I didn't know this when I bought it) but after that it was clear. I drove it for three years - always passed it's mot and only went because the government wanted to give me £2k on the scrappage scheme to fund a car for the Mrs!

If you can do without a car, save some more and buy something better. I lived without a car for years, it's pretty easy and I'd do it again if it wasn't for my job.
Cars are money pits!

 

[biggs682]

Cars will keep you poor, if I had all the money I had spent on cars I'd have no mortgage, I'd be retired, and I'd have no car.

you and me both

 

[Crackle]

Depreciation. A 2k car will be worth 500 in a few years. The rest has been said:-
maintenance inc. service/MOT repairs (a tyre is what 60 -100 or more, service 200, a catalytic converter 300 if it goes, etc..)
VED
insurance
Breakdown
Fuel

It adds up quickly and 20 or 30 quid a week petrol is not much use, think hard whether you need one. I would have thought a scooter would suit you better.