Car died. Buying another.

Whispered

We've been driving an old car which we knew was on its way out. Plan was to get to Jan and upgrade by a good bit.

The car broke down this morning and won't start now. He's going to get it looked at for a price on repair but the car itself isn't worth €500 and considering the plan to buy another in Jan, might not be worth it.

Budget 5-7k. What would be the best way of doing this. Hire a car and buy in Jan as planned. Would there be any benefit to that? Are cars cheaper in Jan. I'd imagine with a small budget like ours there wouldn't be a huge difference?

It's probably impossible to get finance this time of year too?

Any suggestions?

mickdw

Whispered wrote: »

We've been driving an old car which we knew was on its way out. Plan was to get to Jan and upgrade by a good bit.

The car broke down this morning and won't start now. He's going to get it looked at for a price on repair but the car itself isn't worth €500 and considering the plan to buy another in Jan, might not be worth it.

Budget 5-7k. What would be the best way of doing this. Hire a car and buy in Jan as planned. Would there be any benefit to that? Are cars cheaper in Jan. I'd imagine with a small budget like ours there wouldn't be a huge difference?

It's probably impossible to get finance this time of year too?

Any suggestions?

Why impossible to get finance?

Alanstrainor

Wait and see what's wrong with the old car. What is it anyway? Year, make, model, engine? It might not be terminal. I don't see why you couldn't start looking for a new car now if you needed it. For the budget you have I wouldn't expect any changes between now and Jan.

Whispered

mickdw wrote: »

Why impossible to get finance?

I figured it'd take a few days for the various checks etc. Considering most places closing for Christmas in a few days and he would need a day or so to find/decide on a car I didn't think it'd be possible.

Whispered

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Wait and see what's wrong with the old car. What is it anyway? Year, make, model, engine? It might not be terminal. I don't see why you couldn't start looking for a new car now if you needed it. For the budget you have I wouldn't expect any changes between now and Jan.

It's a 1.4l corolla. Yr is 99. It's actually a lovely little car to drive but the timing belt has been squeaking a few weeks. He got a mechanic friend to take a look at it and he said would be grand til Jan. Then driving through naas this morning everything stopped. All the warning signals came up on the dash and it cut out.
Battery still working, windows, heaters etc all fine. But it won't start.

Edit: sorry about multiple posts. I'm on mobile and can't multi quote

mickdw

Whispered wrote: »

I figured it'd take a few days for the various checks etc. Considering most places closing for Christmas in a few days and he would need a day or so to find/decide on a car I didn't think it'd be possible.

Under normal circumstances, they dont take long to approve finance so i dont see a problem. Rushing your car choice would be a bigger problem imo.

Whispered

mickdw wrote: »

Under normal circumstances, they dont take long to approve finance so i dont see a problem. Rushing your car choice would be a bigger problem imo.

That's it too. It's the first time we've been in a position to buy a car that's not just the cheapest one possible. We both have different priorities and it would be nice to have time to sit down and discuss the cars. As it is we cannot be without a car so it will be a rush I think

colm_mcm

It's more likely to be an alternator belt squeaking

mickdw

You will have alot of stock to pick from once you get into middle of january with all the new car sales so that would be the best time for choice.
It would be a major mistake just to pick something up in a hurry. Can you borrow any old car anywhere for a few weeks?
I would suggest renting but over christmas would obviously be crazy.

antiskeptic

Buy an old banger and sell it again when you're done.

Whispered

antiskeptic wrote: »

Buy an old banger and sell it again when you're done.

That's what we did this time

Ah no. I think that's what'll happen

selectamatic

A 1.4 corolla has a timing chain so I doubt that's ye're problem.

As colm posted it's most likely the alternator belt that was squeaking which shouldn't be a big job. It may not have been the reason for the car stopping though.

Has the mechanic got back to ye yet?

bazz26

If it's a 1999 Corolla then it would be the older 1.3 litre EFI engine which had a timing belt rather than a chain, however I don't think you would hear the timing belt squeaking. Most likely it's the alternator belt that makes a squeak as mentioned.

kerten

If alternator belt snapped and you continued your drive, your battery runs out juice and engine stops with all the lights on dash coming on.

But there should have been a red battery light in dash if belt snapped and battery wasn't being charged couple of minutes before engine cut out.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Whispered

Didn't hear back from the mechanics yet. He might not have had a chance to look at it. Really really stuck without it!

selectamatic

bazz26 wrote: »

If it's a 1999 Corolla then it would be the older 1.3 litre EFI engine which had a timing belt rather than a chain, however I don't think you would hear the timing belt squeaking. Most likely it's the alternator belt that makes a squeak as mentioned.

Missed the 99 bit that'd make it a 1.3 alright.

Op the 1.3 4efe engine is non interference so again it's not the end of the world if the timing belt did indeed snap.

Ye really need to get onto the mechanic and see exactly what went wrong but it shouldn't cost too much to put right as your corolla is probably one of the cheapest and easiest cars to maintain and fix.