Would it make sense to change car without significant "upgrade"?

LirW

I posted a few months back, I'm finding myself in an increasing predicament.
I'm driving an 06 Citroen C3 1.1 petrol, I bought the car 2 years back as a city car.
But we're not living in the city anymore and I find myself doing around 500km a week. Don't get me wrong, the car drives but it's eating me financially because it's simply not suitable anymore for my family's needs. I have to service it every 10k km, it's at a mileage where it would have certain wear and tear repairs and the ongoing cost of petrol is sore. I'm not mentioning tax and insurance now, that's for another day.

What makes it even worse is that we're tight on money because all our savings were eaten up from some very costly unforeseen repairs of our house.

I have such little car experience, especially with buying a car in Ireland (I had cars before but back home where the market is entirely different).

I'm stuck and I really have no idea what to do. Would it make sense to get a cheap Diesel with a larger engine that's the same year or even older? Should I hold out with mine and wait a little bit? Should I look into finance? I really know so little about it, I'd be very glad if someone who knows their stuff could give me some input.

Frankie Lee

Would something like this suit or be in budget?
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyta-corolla-1-4-disel/17437351

Running costs should be very low.

LirW

Something along those lines would certainly be a contender. The only thing I'm always worrying with "old" cars is the insurance, because we're not holding a policy for too long, we're just in our second year without any claims and my partner who's the main holder just about got his license. I'm holding an EU, I'm the named driver but will exchange in the new year.

EDIT: I had a quick look on Chill, we'd pay more insurance for the car than it's worth. Oh dear, that's so depressing.

colm_mcm

You’re probably being a bit cautious with your service interval. Far as I know the recommended interval is 20000 miles or annually.

How much petrol are you actually using?

LirW

A full tank keeps me going for a bit over 650km with my average driving needs. Where I live, the liter is in average E1.38. The car uses a lot, doesn't have the biggest tank either. So I pay around 60 quid per week in petrol.

I had the tires done just a few months ago and a service around 9k km ago. I'm pretty certain the timing belt wasn't changed before I got it, it needs a new battery, the water pump for the windscreen wipers is broken and something at the exhaust came loose that makes a pretty annoying noise.
I think at the moment, no matter what I'm doing I can't win really.
If I'd change to a more economical car, the insurance would be insane. Keeping that car running I'll have a few repairs and it'll continue be economical, but I have it.

Insurance renewal is due in May, it'll be the dreaded 12th year and NCT isn't until October.

colm_mcm

You're getting 40mpg average, tank is 47 litres in a C3.

LirW

Just had to google what MPG is. I'm going usually fast (80 km/h or over) for shorter distances, like 20km. I think I didn't have a single tank that lasted me approx. 800km, 700 would have been the absolute max.
I owned a Diesel and a petrol car before, and I got so much more out of the other petrol. Granted that was a 2011 Opel Corsa and I couldn't take it with me when I moved here.

Idbatterim

if its a 1.1, the tax is nothing on it, E290 I think. The same as if you switch to a diesel... honestly, learn to do the oil service yourself, secondly, you dont need to be changing the oil every 10,000km, thats madness. If its mostly motorway, slowing down from 120-100 would make quite a difference...

you would get the pump for the windscreen washer for next to nothing on ebay or from a breakers I would expect...

Id stick with what you have or go with a leaf if the figures work, barely any servicing costs and nearly free fuel! I wouldnt go with a diesel I dont think! the cost of loan interest, depreciation and fuel on anything that wasnt a high risk car, would probably leave you worse off than now... Better the devil you know.

LirW

Thanks for your answer!

We currently pay 380 Euros tax. I'd rarely go over 100 on the motorway because the fuel consumption would be different but I do my daily ways on rural roads, which is usually around 80.


We are going to renew the tax for 3 months for now because we don't know what's going to happen in the next few months.
I might be back in a few months asking about specific cars.
Also fingers crossed the battery or timing belt won't die on me anytime soon!

Idbatterim

LirW wrote: »

Thanks for your answer!

We currently pay 380 Euros tax. I'd rarely go over 100 on the motorway because the fuel consumption would be different but I do my daily ways on rural roads, which is usually around 80.


We are going to renew the tax for 3 months for now because we don't know what's going to happen in the next few months.
I might be back in a few months asking about specific cars.
Also fingers crossed the battery or timing belt won't die on me anytime soon!

isnt a 1.1 on the old system only E299?

https://www.motortax.ie/OMT/motortaxinfotype.do

LirW

Actually we're paying 180 per half year, so it's not as high, but still that's some tax for a small car.

Idbatterim

LirW wrote: »

Actually we're paying 180 per half year, so it's not as high, but still that's some tax for a small car.

If u go for an emissions diesel, it will probably only save u 90-100 a year. A total irrelevance..

LirW

The tax could be a lot worse, it's a very small engine after all. Yet it's a tiny factor why it's not the most economical car for my needs.
I did the numbers and what would break my neck when getting a new car, no matter which one, would be insurance, because a new policy would be astronomical and in some cases almost the car's value.

For now I'll stay put and see how the market is developing and hope for more reasonable insurance once I'm in the position to upgrade comfortably.

Idbatterim

LirW wrote: »

The tax could be a lot worse, it's a very small engine after all. Yet it's a tiny factor why it's not the most economical car for my needs.
I did the numbers and what would break my neck when getting a new car, no matter which one, would be insurance, because a new policy would be astronomical and in some cases almost the car's value.

For now I'll stay put and see how the market is developing and hope for more reasonable insurance once I'm in the position to upgrade comfortably.

if you are aevic No it frequently, I'd do that myself. It's very simple. Takes me more time to drive to local garage and back than it does to do it myself ...

selectamatic

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2008-skoda-octavia-1-9-tdi-for-sale/17464587

Something like this might suit you op.
Late reg 2008 cheap tax mk1 octavia asking €2250(2k is the most I'd advise paying for these)

Excellent on diesel, simple, cheap, generally quite reliable and maintenance is very cheap (by cheap tax diesel standards). Should suit the sort of driving you do perfectly.

Also they tend to be very easy insure and will remain that way for a few more years due to the 2008 reg.

LirW

I recently did a quote for a 1.6 diesel with 09 reg, was quoted 2800 Euro!

selectamatic

LirW wrote: »

I recently did a quote for a 1.6 diesel with 09 reg, was quoted 2800 Euro!

I got cheaper quotes on an 08 mk1 1.9tdi than a 09 1.6tdi so I wouldn't read too much into that. I'd avoid a 1.6tdi for ye're situation as they have their issues and they're no better on diesel. Also cost much more to buy. As a matter of interest how much was the c3 to insure? Surely transferring that current insurance policy to another car would be the way to go rather than getting new quotes.

The cheap tax mk1's only have appeal from an economic standpoint once things like looks and on-board tech etc are brought into the equation they're a non runner but as a cheap reliable yet pretty young diesel they make some sense.

LirW

Okay, the insurance one in our case is a bit of a tricky one. I'm holding an EU license for a good number of years now and will let it exchange in the new year straight away.
The current policy is in my partner's name, who's a learner and is going to do his test in the next few months, I'm the named driver on it. Otherwise it would have been impossible for me to get insurance because every company but 2 refused quoting me, because I wasn't in Ireland for more than 12 months at that stage and the remaining two quoted me some insane money (around 5k).

In the first year, the car was insured for around 2k, now we paid around 1.1k because of an error on their behalf. The next quote would most likely going to be a sore one, because the C3 is 12 years old when the renewal is due.

selectamatic

whatever way you go about things insurance will be very dear so.

LirW

That's the thing though, at what point would it be too dear?
Paying 3k insurance on a car I bought for 2k? That honestly I cannot afford.
And the last thing I'm going to do is driving uninsured but hell, it's tough.

selectamatic

LirW wrote: »

That's the thing though, at what point would it be too dear?
Paying 3k insurance on a car I bought for 2k? That honestly I cannot afford.
And the last thing I'm going to do is driving uninsured but hell, it's tough.

That's the reality of it now for people starting out it's not right imo but it is what it is.

5k for a car and insurance all in is still better than getting a new/ nearly new car on finance, battling repayments/depreciation and still forking out 2 or 3k on insurance.