Used car buying advice

Foreign Student wrote:

You obviously haven't got a clue. Stick to a push bike.

To do what you are proposing you need to be an enthusiastic amateur car mechanic (or be very good friends with such). Even so, you will have to pay a fortune for (legal minimum) insurance - I assume you're under 25.

Otherwise, pass your test, wait until you're 25, then buy a low mileage car not more than two years old from a reputable dealer.

Foreign Student gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

There ain't no such thing as a cheap car.

If all you need is _occasional_ use, then hire when you need.

See that last bit? The bit in brackets...? That's the expensive bit.

Very expensive, and often with unreasonable terms. (E.g £600 excess unless you pay an extra £20. £20 extra charge if the tank isn't completely full, extra if it isn't clean, bogus claims of damage.)

There are some "motoring clubs" you can join that let you arrange to collect and return a car from various depots for a reasonable rate - usually you book them on the Internet - I don't know how good they are.

He's a foreign student so probably does not have a UK licence to drive. If an EU national that doesn't matter but from anywhere else his right to drive on a foreign licence is limited.

Cars. Any that has a low mileage and no rust with a long MOT. I bought a 1997 Micra 3 years ago with 40000 miles on the clock. 6 months tax and a years MOT for 500. Turned it in under the scrappage scheme this year cos it was going to need a couple of hundred spent on it.

Expect to pay a thousand for a car. If a young driver expect another thousand a year for insurance at the very least. Running costs depend on the car

You can get runnable cars for 500 quid, but as a new driver you want the smallest, most undesirable, most underpowered car you can find otherwise the insurance will kill you. There's more demand for these so the prices are higher.

Another option (not sure if it works, but worth looking into) is getting an old (>20 years) car and classic car insurance. I don't know if any of the classic insurers will cover new drivers, but they may do. An old car will probably cost more if it's in decent condition, or if you buy one not in decent condition you'll have to do more work to it. With classic policies you won't build up any NCB but you'll still have a car you can drive.

Insurance will be your single biggest outlay, most likely more than the price of the car, so that's really what you want to reduce at all costs. Have a look around eBay for some interesting cars, then stuff the registrations into one of the insurance comparison sites (eg confused.com) to see what it'll cost you. For 'classics' you'll have to get quotes by phone.

On maintenance, one option is to follow the bangerology principle. Buy a

500 quid car, do basic maintenance until it seriously breaks or has some fault you can't fix cheaply. Then scrap it and buy another. It depends how reliable you need it to be (eg if you drive to work, will they get unhappy if you keep breaking down on the way in).

Theo

Theo Markettos gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Alternatively, pick a car from this list

to get the cheapest insurance