Car Thread II

[Death's Head]

Can someone give me a rough estimate on how much it would cost me to run a car, including repayments, insurance, tax etc? I'm 26, and can't currently drive. Wouldn't be wanting a new car, or anything remotely fancy. I'll definitely be learning soon, but I don't know if it'll be worth owning a car as I wouldn't drive to work, don't have kids to ferry about etc.

£509 per month.

[smurphy]

Did you pluck that out of the air or is it realistic estimate? If the latter strawberry float owning a car.

[Buffalo]

I'm shopping for a SUV and have got the Honda CR-V, Ford Kuga, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson and the Nissan Qashquai in mind. What do you think is the best?

[LewisD]

Edit: @Smurphy

Depends on the car you want to buy and how many miles you any to drive a year.

The mileage will determine petrol costs, how often you need to change tyres and also your insurance estimate.

My car works out thusly (driving approximately 11000 miles a year):

2005 Honda Jazz (don't laugh) - £2600
Tax per month - £14.00
Fuel per month - £50-£60
Tyres - £70 a wheel, once every 18 months or so.
Insurance for me and the wife - £460 a year.
Service - £40 once a year (supply my own filters etc).

To be honest though, without knowing what car you'll be driving, how many miles per year and what the insurance company will rape you (they strawberry floating hate new drivers) it's impossible to give you an accurate figure.

[Death's Head]

Did you pluck that out of the air or is it realistic estimate? If the latter strawberry float owning a car.

Kind of tongue in cheek because you've given us so little to work with. As you are a new driver, I'm expecting your insurance to be the equivalent of £100 per month, a repayment of £300 per month (this is a pure guess as no idea what you will get or the cost). You then need some money for petrol (I've assumed fairly minimal mileage), servicing and maintenance costs.

[BORbles]

I'm shopping for a SUV and have got the Honda CR-V, Ford Kuga, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson and the Nissan Qashquai in mind. What do you think is the best?

It is between Ford Kuga or Nissan Qashqai, I think.

I'm not a big fan of Kia, Hyundai or Honda to be honest.

[Somebody Else's Presents]

I'm shopping for a SUV and have got the Honda CR-V, Ford Kuga, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson and the Nissan Qashquai in mind. What do you think is the best?

Don't get a Qashqai! You've seen people on Sunderland, right? Would you buy a car built by those people?

If you get the Honda, it will be as reliable as anything you've ever owned. Hondas are strawberry floating bulletproof, and the Honda servicing is really good and very reasonably priced.

[smurphy]

Car info.

Cheers Lew, that's helpful. I doubt I'd be spending that much on fuel, and it'll only be insured for me so hopefully that will bring costs down. Although I'm a new driver as long as it's at or less than £100 a month I think it should be fine.

Kind of tongue in cheek because you've given us so little to work with. As you are a new driver, I'm expecting your insurance to be the equivalent of £100 per month, a repayment of £300 per month (this is a pure guess as no idea what you will get or the cost). You then need some money for petrol (I've assumed fairly minimal mileage), servicing and maintenance costs.

£300 per month sounds excessive. Assuming I got something like Lew's car at around £2500-3000, stick that on a 25 month interest free credit card and it'd probably be costing me £180 or so a month. Looks like it'd be around £300-350 a month. Seems like a lot for how little I reckon I'd use it.

I mostly want to drive so I can rent cars when on holiday, but I'm paranoid I'll learn then forget/have no confidence if I'm not driving regularly.

[False]

In Glasgow you have to pay to park everywhere too don't you? That gooseberry fool adds up, and if you need a permit to park outside your house they are obscenely expensive.

[Buffalo]

Either the Ford, Honda or Nissan then. Boot space is important for all my drums. The Kuga's is bigger than the Qashquai.

[Death's Head]

Either the Ford, Honda or Nissan then. Boot space is important for all my drums. The Kuga's is bigger than the Qashquai.

I like the look of the Kia, but don't know what it reviews like. Don't forget it has the 7 year warranty.

[Wrathy]

my car cost me nothing in payments (parents gave it to me) or road tax (parents pay that) but insurance was about 1k upfront (probably rising this year because I had an at fault minor rear end shunt) or 1.2k spread over the year, 300 a month in fuel. plus additional running costs, this year I've had new front brakes (70), a tyre fix (10) and a new tyre / steering recalibration due to a puncture. (107). I'm 24 and have had a clean licence since I was 17, though only became the primary named driver in jan last year.

owning a car just for the sake of owning one isn't a cheap game, unless you really need it and can afford it I'd advise you to steer well clear.

[smurphy]

In Glasgow you have to pay to park everywhere too don't you? That gooseberry fool adds up, and if you need a permit to park outside your house they are obscenely expensive.

There's free parking at my flat if I can get a space, and I wouldn't really by driving within Glasgow so I'd be fine on that front. Though,

owning a car just for the sake of owning one isn't a cheap game, unless you really need it and can afford it I'd advise you to steer well clear.

Yes, I'm thinking this. At my current estimate I'm probably going to be about £100 a journey. I never realised how cheap renting a car was. I'll probably just do that for whenever we plan a trip.

[Silent Right]

Yeah, leasing does not keep the costs down. It just makes the initial payment lower. Total false economy. If you get a brand new car, you'll be paying for the depreciation one way or another.

My advice for such low mileage: get a loan, and buy a three-year-old car.

Mini Cooper, 59 plate that's done 66k miles and looks to be in great condition - £5k.

I'm seriously considering taking out a loan/borrowing from my dad to get it, but the fear of purchasing privately is nagging in the back of my mind. I see Minis everywhere so I'm guessing they're pretty reliable? I love the look of them, my mum used to have one and it was fun to drive and held its value (that I can remember), but I have this vision of my plonking my £5k down, committing to monthly loan payments and then 2 weeks later the engine dies and I'm left with an expensive paperweight that I can't afford to repair.

Gah, such weakness!

Well, they're ubiquitous so parts and repair should be reasonable.

The best thing you can do is prepare yourself against known faults with lots of research. Check out the forums - the best ones will have a 'buyer's guide' etc so you know what to look for.

But generally speaking, afaik, Minis are great little cars with superb handling and decent engines.

Wat.

Aren't mini's infamous for being unreliable? I thought their major selling point was just the looks.

I had a quick look at consumer reports for 2010 (I'm not sure what year you're looking at but just assumed it was a few years old since you mentioned it was $5000), the reliabilty rating is 1/5, lots of reported engine and transmission problems.

If you want to give me the year I can look it up and post a screenshot here for that year.

[False]

If it's just rental you want why not just rent automatics? Learn properly in a manual, obviously, but autos get rid of the trickiest part of getting into a new car.

[LewisD]

my car cost me nothing in payments (parents gave it to me) or road tax (parents pay that)

Don't post lag... Waitaminute..

[Victor Mistletoe]

Wrathamorph

[Festivus Maximus]

Getting a brand new Aygo instead, £100 a month

[Wrathy]

It's a ten year old Focus which was written off as a cat D when someone brushed the rear bumper last year, I wouldn't get too excited about it

[No:1 Final Fantasy Fan]

Getting a brand new Aygo instead, £100 a month

Cool heard they are pretty neat inside too. Like they have good decent amount of electronics included.Even folding mirrors?
But maybe a bit unstable on motorways when its windy.