[UK] Car conundrum

[esprit-de-lescalier]

I currently have a leased car which costs me £121 / month (a Citroen C1) which I use to drop the kids off at school and commute to work. My current contract ends in April 2015. I only need a reliable 5 door car to do about 6000 miles a year.

I'm a newbie mustachian and am looking for cheaper options! To buy the car I have now would cost me about £6000, far too much.

Looking at buying an old second hand car anything I have any confidence in (breakdown-wise) is going to cost me about £2000 which over a year is £166 / month or more than my current brand new one. I appreciate that I get to keep that car for more than a year, but even over 2 or 3 years it's still only half, plus the added expense of tax / MOT / servicing etc.

So do I renew the lease and get another C1 (or cheaper if I can find it), or take the plunge and pay more in the short term but less in the long term.

[daverobev]

Buy a Focus or similar for 1500 quid, get it checked out by a garage that you or someone you know trusts. Cars are cheap in the UK, no reason to throw money away leasing.

Breakdown wise... that kind of thinking will keep you poor ;) Get a roadside assistance membership, but shop around.

Remember you can drop your insurance to 3rd party and save a bit, too.

[esprit-de-lescalier]

Yeah, that was the sort of thing I was looking at, although I was looking at Hondas and Toyotas. I was always taught that FORD stood for Fails Often Rarely Driven! Although I guess with modern cars, thats less of a concern.

It was the £1200 / year current lease car vs £1500 banger that had me scratching my head.

[Primm]

We got rid of a Ford Laser (1991 model) last year that my son had as his first car. It did >250,000 km. with only the usual maintenance. The only reason he sold it was because the body had rusted due to some unrepaired body dings. We paid $350 AUD for it (about 200 pounds) 3 years ago, and it never let him down. Whoever told you that was unreasonably biased. 

[esprit-de-lescalier]

Ford Laser looks a good car, it's made by Mazda and sold as the 323 here in the UK. Mazda is well thought of over here.

[daverobev]

"Fix Or Repair Daily" is nonsense. Like "Fix It Again Tony"

The Escort and Focus are both highly respected. Nothing wrong with a Civic or Corolla either.

I had a couple of Fiats without many issues. Old Rover 200s or 25s are fine. There are bazillions of good second hand cars in the UK.