Advice needed: New(ish) car - second-hand, banger, or rent?

New Home

I have to get a car very soon. I don't have a trade-in, at the moment, as someone else will be driving my old car.

I'll be doing a little more than 20,000 km a year with it, mostly commuting to and from work. Now, considering I'll only have less than a month to look for one properly, would I be better off renting one for the first while, maybe in the hope some deals will come up, or would I be better off buying one straight out? And if the latter, would I be better off getting a banger (while waiting for something decent to come up), going for a second-hand "non-banger", or try and buy a newish one straight off? (My last car was a "0 miles" Panda with 73kms on the clock and I got it from a main dealer).

I'm not looking for anything bigger than a 1.2, and I'd rather not get a diesel. Max budget for a new one would be max 12 or 13k (but it'd be great if it were cheaper).

Thanks.

Bigus

Would an electric nissan leaf suit you ? You'd save €2-3 k on fuel per year .

New Home

I wouldn't mind, but aren't they way off my budget? Also, aren't they absolutely tiny?

EDIT: No, not that tiny, I must've thought of a different car. But over €28k new? Waaaaay too expensive.

New Home

Bump.

Squidgy Black

Have a look at the bangernomics thread, you should be able to get something with a small bit of tax and test that you'll be able to shift on again for close enough to what you paid for it, maybe just an extra couple months tax.

At least then you've the freedom of looking for a new car a your own leisure and something to get you around cheap enough.

Also, what's the reasoning behind such a small engine for relatively high mileage?

New Home

Thanks, that sounds like a good idea.

It's just that I've never driven anything bigger so I thought I'd stick with what I know - also, I assumed (but I don't know if it's a right assumption) that a bigger engine would be a bigger petrol guzzler. But please do set me straight if I'm off the mark.

Squidgy Black

New Home wrote: »

Thanks, that sounds like a good idea.

It's just that I've never driven anything bigger so I thought I'd stick with what I know - also, I assumed (but I don't know if it's a right assumption) that a bigger engine would be a bigger petrol guzzler. But please do set me straight if I'm off the mark.

Not necessarily, depends on the type of driving. For motorway and even dual carriageway driving, a bigger engine would generally be more economical than a smaller engine revving high. If you're doing 20k km a year, and your commute isn't stop start driving, a diesel would be an option also and would likely give you better fuel consumption compared to a similar petrol model.

New Home

Most of the travelling would be along windy country roads, little more than boreens (hills, bends, potholes, sheep, and in some parts grass growing in the middle of the road), and a largish town at both ends.

Rows Grower

You might get a good secondhand Nissan Leaf for your budget, as Bigus suggested might be worth looking into.

New Home

Thanks folks.

https://m.carzone.ie/used-cars/toyota/auris


Toyota Auris. In your price bracket as second hand. Toyota reliability. More poke than your Panda for overtaking safely on country roads. Reasonable depreciation. Modern technology. Only slightly larger than your Panda but much better for longer journeys

New Home

Ok, I'm scraping the barrel, here. Any views on this, as a temporary solution while I save/look for something better?

http://www.cassidycars.ie/vehicles/suzuki/swift/mayo/2304352

Shefwedfan

Not sure why you would invest money into a car just to keep you ticking over while you buy a proper cars. Seems like a waste of money to me.

As suggested you could pick up second hand electric in budget but even without looking at that plenty of decent cars in the price range you are looking at. Something older could fall off the road after two week, please note bangornomics fans I said "could"

Which part of country you in?

New Home

Connacht. Getting a half decent car would make a big dent in a quite restricted budget, so keeping something like that for a few months would keep me going, and give me something to trade in. My initial budget of 12-13k was what I had envisaged for a new car or a car with zero mileage, not for a second-hand one.

Rows Grower

Looks overpriced compared to similar on Donedeal so expect it to depreciate rapidly.

You should be checking out Bangernomics if you want a runaround.

Mad_Mike

Rows Grower wrote: »

Looks overpriced compared to similar on Donedeal so expect it to depreciate rapidly.

You should be checking out Bangernomics if you want a runaround.

I had actually started a reply earlier to say the very same thing, but had to head out.

That car is very expensive for what it is, and especially as a stop-gap. A "bangernomics" type car for maybe a grand, would leave you lots of change for tax/insurance/repairs etc until you decide on what your purchase is to be.

Mad_Mike

2006 1 litre Corsa with a few months NCT remaining listed for 600 Euros in Mayo. Surely 500 would buy it, use it for a few months, and probably sell it for the same price again

New Home

Thanks for the advice guys, this is great.