Skint shiters - running a car on a budget

[dieselassist]

having a spares car - the twin of the one your running daily about is a huge advantage; space at home here is an issue for me so haven't used this approach in years - it saves a huge amount of travelling to collect second hand big bits... or if your daily gives up at 6pm one evening, busts a hose or rad leaking or whatever, the spares car is there ready to harvest the bits from...

...keeping older cars goin is a challenge here nowadays, as lotta the scrapyards don't keep much above 12 years in the yards; so its a matter of scouring the online selling sites for someone breaking their old heap, n they are never less than 30mins drive away... a spares car, there in the yard cuts out all the travelling/lougging tools about /haggling with a stranger etc etc.

[RoadworkUK]

This thread actually makes me feel ashamed for having just bought a packet of wine gums and gobbled them all up on my way home.

[DodgyBastard]

A spares car and a backup car and a backup car for the backup car usually helps. I used to run old Polo's when I was skint and living on £20 a day from delivery driving. A Polo saloon I had bought for £230 lasted me a couple of years, it leaked a litre of oil per 100 miles so I was always having to buy the cheapest shit oil to throw into it...

 

1991 Polo saloon 86c by srblythe, on Flickr

 

I always had a backup car to fall back on.

[BorniteIdentity]

I think theres a 'sweet spot' (maybe a shite spot) if your target is simply cheap motoring, something thats maybe 10-15 yrs old, with a simple pez or basic (non-common rail) diesel engine, there are loads about that are not rotten and not worn out. On something like that Avensis, most folk who actually wanted to could do basic servicing and maintenance on it themselves, and with a bit of luck you should be able to get several years out of it without any major repairs.

You've described me.

 

8 years ago I was out on my arse at work. Had gone from a good job on about £25k to sweet FA. At the time I had a MK1 Avensis which I just ran into the fucking ground. Eventually it failed its MOT and a bloke came from Dusseldorf with a trailer to buy it!

 

3 years ago when I was going from one mare to another with cars I had an epiphany and bought another Avensis. The full extent of my technical skill is best demonstrated when I change the battery on the smoke alarm. But I got the Haynes... Agreed with myself that no mechanic is a Cambridge graduate and that it shouldn't be beyond the wit of me. This is where Bangernomics began for me.

 

I'm no Edd China... But I can drop the oil do the filters and even changed the relays on my 190 the other day. (!)

 

If I can...anyone can.

 

And Avensi (plural) rule. Now on 176000 with nothing other than routine maintenance.

 

I'm here for a few reasons. 1) I'd rather spend my money on the kids. 2) The connection to my youth and happy times is played out through my cars. 3) New cars make me nervous.

 

I now earn more than I ever imagined I would... But am keeping it real. Money shouldn't change you. I'm also aware that it's all cyclical... I'll be on my arse soon enough.

[sierraman]

I've used part worms in the past but now I don't tend to use them as the price of them makes them a false economy. Again for the brakes, brake pads are hardly dear are they? I paid £14 for the last set...

[Sigmund Fraud]

I've driven shite for many years - sometimes out of necessity, sometimes out of choice.

 

Mr.Peel mentions a £700 budget, and I think that's more than enough for a reliable, safe daily driver that is completely devoid of style* or prestige*.

 

Buying on condition rather than reputation is always a wise choice - you're far better off with an "unreliable" car that has been looked after rather than an "indestructible" one that has been driven to the ground.

 

Running costs should not be underestimated. Luxobarges are amazing, but if you commute 100 miles a day (like yours truly) there's no way in hell you can afford the fuel costs and parts prices. Larger, better equipped cars are also more complex - so there's far more stuff to go wrong.

 

Garages around here charge £65/hour - I don't make anywhere near that at work, so I do my own maintenance. You don't need to be Gordon Murray or have access to a fully equipped workshop to do an oil change or to replace a set of brake pads. Most routine jobs can be done on your driveway with a basic toolkit.

 

Parts prices vary enormously, and so does their quality. The old saying "buy cheap, buy twice" is often true - but not always. ECP/GSF are good for service parts but for everything else you're better off looking for new old stock stuff on ebay. Scrapyards are hit and miss - you may get a bargain or be ripped off, so you should do your homework before turning up. 

 

There's nothing wrong with part worns, but when a brand new "midrange" tyre off Tyreleader is £20 there's little point in buying a five year old ditchfinder with 4mm of tread.

[rantingYoof]

I think I'm not quite fitting into any category.

 

I'm good at empathy and the various scenarios people have outlined on here that they've had to go through seem exceptionally shitty and if anything it makes me feel very grateful for things. I cannot really say that I know exactly what it's like to be on the breadline and to have my livelihood depend upon the correct funcitioning of my vehicle.

 

I spent the first four or five years or so of car ownership living at home, rent-free, and working as a Stock Replenishment Engineer at the local supermarket. As I wasn't one give a shit about how I looked in terms of clothing, and what with the only other thing I would spend money on being computer games, I spent a lot of my money bouncing between cars, losing a fair old bit on occasion but it never having any long-lasting impacts.

 

Dearly departed relatives have greatly assisted our journey onto the housing ladder (along with scrimping and saving), and we are bestowed with incredibly generous and selfless families/friends that terrifically helped us when we got married and moved out.

 

I am lucky enough to have a job that pays a decent wage, and MrsYoof is able to work hours that suit her. We can save money on a monthly basis, and I try to put a little bit away for car-related reasons. Indeed I am doing this right now as the S60's MOT is due in June, and it's also due a service. I'm trying to get £500 put away in a "glass-definitely-not-full-in-fact-it's-smashed-to-pieces-on-the-floor" approach to this scenario (previous MOT had suspension-rot related advisories and there's no receipt for this).

 

Even if the S60 FTPs MumYoof does not use her car much because of ill-health and I am quite sure I'd be able to use hers. If necessary I can become a Bus Wanker to get to work and back.

 

I've yet to experience proper hard-ship and the thought of debt terrifies me, but if it were to happen we'd muddle through, and god help me I'd probably find some enjoyment in venturing out with a £300 budget to buy a banger, although with added pressure maybe not as much as I think.

 

I sincerely adore(d) every single one of my previous vehicles and, pending a lottery win, I would buy every single one of them back. Or rather, I'd track down identical versions of nearly all of them like some freakish obsessed ex-boyfriend of some description.

 

Having grown up in the 90s and having been able to stand in a car park at the age of four and identify every single car within fifty metres or so, I feel very nostalgic when I see things like Sierras, Cavaliers, older Passats, or anything that makes my memory go "OH I REMEMBER YOU!"

 

And I think this forum's propensity for recycling older tat that other people wish to discard is most admirable.

 

The raffling process here is something I am a big fan of. Someone gets monies for a car they want rid of, they then get rid of it, someone gets a car for under a tenner and can then move it onto a needy family member or person in their life, or sell it on at a discounted rate, make a bit of profit and put it towards their own vehicle.

 

EVERYBODY WINRARS.

[Tickman]

I think I have been in every category.

 

I have all my mechanic skills* from being unable to pay for work to be done. The same works for DIY at home to the extent I have rewired 5 houses for the cost the quote for the first one came in at!

 

I have cherished the 'hand me down' Vauxhall Cavalier 1.7TD and the Toyota Avensis 2.0TD that both came from my Dad and previously his company. 

 

Regards Felly, shit happens, good people get shafted at times. Hopefully this period will be looked back on as 'that was difficult' and no more.

[xtriple]

I will not and never have (well maybe once...) use second hand brake parts. I like brakes  a lot.... I have used second hand oil though on a smoker, no worries.

[Lacquer Peel]

I barely use my brakes so I've substituted the friction material with pieces of dense hardwood cut to size, elm I think. Got to save money somewhere.

[HH-R]

I feel a bit harsh after what I said about my car in the previous page.

 

I do actually like it, despite it being dull, modern, white goods in retail silver. However the graft needed in the past 6 months would have seen it being fragged by anyone else.

[JayW]

The last time I was really on my arse, my Primera ate itself alive and I was left with no wheels living in a place where I absolutely HAD to have wheels.

 

I spent 11 hours in torrential pissing rain hitching a lift from Cornwall to Reading to pick up a slightly needy Citroën BX from (insert name, you know who you are).

 

That car saved my life, home, relationship, job and when things turned around I lavished it with love and parts and money. That was 3 or so years ago and I only just sold it (due to lack of use).

 

 

Sometimes the cheapest hacks can make all the difference to our lives. Right now I'm wafting around in an X300 Sovereign that is 100% gorgeous from the drivers seat (It's a fecking shed on the outside), it cost pennies and has almost not broken in 6 weeks.

 

Money don't always make a good car.

[vulgalour]

Interesting to hear others mention the unpredictable nature of self-employment, a leaky boat I too am in.  One month I'm able to spend lots on getting things sorted out, the next I can barely afford to pay basic bills, let alone the luxury of petrol in the car.  It's a nightmare.  If I had a new car on finance or even a second hand car of say, 7 years or less age I couldn't reliably keep up with the costs of running and/or paying for the thing.  Cheap cars are an absolute must for me, reliability is nice when I get it, though rare, and I grab every opportunity given to me to cut my maintenance, running, repair and storage costs.

 

For the first time in my car owning life everything has come together so that I have a fundamentally good car.  Yes it's needed money spending on it, and it was very cheap and it has a Reputation but it fits my lifestyle and my budget.  That is, until it failed its MoT and I don't have the funds to pay someone else to do the work for me when I myself cannot do it.

 

Some days I would prefer the luxury of a steady wage and a newer car, the ability to pay someone else to look after my car and not to worry about wages and the like but that's not the lot of my generation so much like my grandparents I have to make do and mend with what I've got rather than trying to keep up with, let alone be, the Jones.

 

Here's the thing though, I wonder if the adversity and challenge of owning the convenience of personal transport is the very thing that keeps my interest in it.  Would I enjoy the cars as much if I could just go out and buy whatever I wanted, throw the money at it that it needed and then just drive it as much or as little as I wanted?  I genuinely don't know.

[djimbob]

I had a cunning plan to run Jaguar XJ 40's, and rather than spend money on repairs when the more expensive items failed, I'd just buy another one with a load of ticket on it, scrap the first for spares and repeat ad infinitum.

 

That didn't work for me, as the first of this plan turned out to be a gorgeous Daimler 4l in BRG with equally gorgeous (fern?) green leather interior, with the Insignia wheel trims - top, top spec car, and nothing I bought thereafter would be as beautiful, and therefore a constant let down!

 

Bugger, but this may be a good principle for something like the Kia Magentis Our Lass is currently running (until a sweet XG30 turns up for peanuts!).

 

This was the Daimler in question, it had to go for pecuniary reasons and it was going to need a load of welding sooner or later -

 

 

[beko1987]

Even in employment, I have to be careful what I spend, will probably only just be able to spare £30 for my front brakes, luckily I can sell/refurb a few dysons for a few hundred quid extra. Without that, I'd have wobbly brakes a while longer

[loserone]

I barely use my brakes so I've substituted the friction material with pieces of dense hardwood cut to size, elm I think. Got to save money somewhere.

 

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I had a cunning plan to run Jaguar XJ 40's, and rather than spend money on repairs when the more expensive items failed, I'd just buy another one with a load of ticket on it, scrap the first for spares and repeat ad infinitum.

 

That didn't work for me, as the first of this plan turned out to be a gorgeous Daimler 4l in BRG with equally gorgeous (fern?) green leather interior, with the Insignia wheel trims - top, top spec car, and nothing I bought thereafter would be as beautiful, and therefore a constant let down!

 

Bugger, but this may be a good principle for something like the Kia Magentis Our Lass is currently running (until a sweet XG30 turns up for peanuts!).

 

This was the Daimler in question, it had to go for pecuniary reasons and it was going to need a load of welding sooner or later -

 

 

 

 

That is quite lovely. Most XJ40's are rank to my eyes, but the colour and the wheels make it look special.

 

It reminds me of the early eighties when I would sneak into scrapyards and sit in old Jaguars - Mark II, 10 and early XJ's. 

[Isaac Hunt]

For some folk, running on a budget is a "must do" and fair play to them. I started doing up junky old push irons when I was a lad, hours of work for little profit.

 

Then the habit spread to Mopeds. Motorbikes and finally cars. By this time it was habit forming and turned to 'classics' to get the "fix" not offered by company cars.

 

Tried to pass the habit onto the kids, running old motors and fixing them using bits from down the local yard, kids don't seem keen and just want to buy newer stuff although they are grateful of the 'fix with second hand bits' when things like gearboxes go bang even if they grumble when that have to help "don't know why we don't just take it to a a garage and get a new gearbox fitted"........."oh yeah, how much change you think you gonna get from £100 then........"

[Lord Sterling]

I don't really have a "budget" as such on running a car, more I just spend what I can on what is needed. Often when I've taken a car on, I've usually got a few hundred to spend so get what is needed done straight away and run it until something blows up which on an older vehicle would be more likely than not. It's then things get difficult financially.

 

I've been lucky in having had the parts to hand and learning myself on the job which isn't always helpful when you need the car for work/running around. There has been a handful of times where I have ended up on the bus/walking/taxi/catching lifts because I can't use the car due to waiting for parts or running out of time/talent to fit them.

 

Recently, with the Sterling, had it not been for the BMW coming along when it did, I'd have forked out for a new radiator and a gearbox flush and refill which is the very least it needed.

 

Thankfully, with the invention of the 'net, you can get the right part fairly cheaply in a handful of days, Ok, not as convenient as shlepping to the local motor factors and chucking some coin at them for the part you need (if they had in stock) and yes, there is the risk that the part may get lost/damaged in post or simply not work, but at least the home mechanic is not yet discouraged.

 

In a sense, I guess I've been lucky in knowning a good garage/mechanics who'll do jobs for my car ailing cars on credit and knowing people with the rights parts when I need them.

[Negative Creep]

With my impending redundancy (date still unknown) the last thing I can do is be messing around with cars, but I don't have the skill or tools to do a lot of things myself. Therefore, I have adopted the bulletproof strategy of just hoping it doesn't go wrong. After all, old Rovers are known for their reliability.........

[catsinthewelder]

My first few years of driving were quite stressful running a 5 year old Renault in the sticks that generated 4 figure garage bills when I was earning less than that a month.

 

The last few years have been a lot easier running older stuff without stress as I could always cycle to work in event of FTP.

 

I'm off to buy a part worn for the Disco tomorrow as I've got to go to Hereford anyway and it's not like I can buy it a new tyre for less than £50.

[Junkman]

If someone is really skint, and doesn't run a 405, I can't bloody help him.

[Tetleysmooth]

I'd draw the line at a secondhand timing belt. On second thoughts.....

[Pete-M]

My Merc was under a grand to buy about 15 months ago. I've done about 10000 miles in it, and it's cost me about £350 in repairs. I budget for £500/year on average to keep it tip top, but there's always a chance that something that'll cost a couple of hundred quid will strike. It snapping a wishbone tonight was a good example. I'll spend £100 on a new OE replacement from the local motor factors instead of £30 for a used one because the used one will be about the same age as the one that just failed. This car gets used for traveling long distances and if the wishbone failed on the autobahn instead of on a speed bump two miles from home I wouldn't have been able to recover it home myself. It would cost a lot more than the extra £75 it'll cost me for a new one.

 

This isn't everyone's situation. I choose to drive a huge old Mercedes instead of something much more sensible like a Focus or whatever. The Mercedes is going to need more expensive bits and they'll be a bugger to fit. That's how these things tend to be. Which is why I tend to fit OE spec bits for suspension etc. Fit it once and hope it lasts as long as the original (which may have done 189000 miles for all I know).

 

Nothing wrong with using scrapyard bits for plenty of things, if my car didn't have any long trips planned it would be getting a scrapyard wishbone. I don't have time tomorrow to go scrapyard searching or waiting for ebay etc. I'll get one ordered tomorrow from the factors or even M-B if necessary and the car should be sorted by the afternoon. Provided nothing else has broken.

 

I run old cars because I'm too tight to even consider a new one. The Merc was probably £35k in '99. If it dies tomorrow I'll lose under a grand, but I'd much rather keep it going for a long as I can. Even if I spend a grand a year on it it'll cost me less than the depreciation on a £99/month Fiat 500 or Peugeot 208 or whatever, and it's a hugely more useful bit of kit.

 

I've pretty much always ran cars this way. Initial purchase price is just the beginning, that's the start point. It's not a reliability payment when you're paying a grand for a huge old motor. It's merely the joining fee for what comes next. That's when the proper bills start. The Autoshite aspect for me is keeping these old barges going when all the others are heading for the bridge.

 

Autoshite, for me, ain't about the absolute cheapest running costs. For me it's keeping the cars going that's the important bit. That way people see cool old cars, and I get to enjoy driving something a bit more enjoyable I own rather than a Peugeot on the never never.

[eddyramrod]

What's a budget?  I've never earned enough to have one of those...

[stripped fred]

I choose to run older cars as I find them much more interesting and less complicated than newer ones. They have more character and i like to see how long i can keep them going. All my cars have big mileages but are pretty reliable because I don't skimp on servicing. I do weigh up every penny I spend on them though and will buy secondhand parts when needed. Not usually brakes or tyres though but I would if they were in good condition.

 

I see it as a challenge running an older car. It helps that I have more than one that is road legal and I know I am fortunate in that. Probably costs less than a new car overall though. I hate depreciation as it really is throwing money away. A girl at work was talking about how her and her husband are going to trade in their 8 year old focus for a nearly new Nissan Cashcow as the focus needs new brakes and is becoming 'unreliable'. She was hung up on mpg and cheap road tax and I tried to explain the biggest cost is depreciation but I don't think she got it. She was also looking for a diesel buy only does 10k a year.

[PiperCub]

^^ Same here. Have had several friends in the last year singing that tune too. I try to tell them that repairing/maintaining the older car will save them more money than they will ever save (wrt fuel economy, road tax etc) hawking their souls  by signing up to some finance deal on a new/newish car. They all agree, nod obligingly and with one exception, go ahead and buy a new/newish one. Oh well, it's your money, your business, your problem. 

 

There's also the "Gotta getta fancier car than sibling/friend/neighbour/workmates/people I don't know or care about"/showing off issue to deal with here too. 

[23rdian]

I just like cheap cars. As long as they are generally reliable, I'm not expecting perfection.

 

Even a full on FTP can be resolved by using the bus for a few days.

 

I can afford to run "better" but I like not having to wash or lock them etc (if I decide ICAB)

 

I like that we get the perk of cheap decent used cars in this country. One thing in it's favour. I respect an old workhorse.

 

I like bangers, fnarr fnarr

[Sigmund Fraud]

There's also the "Gotta getta fancier car than sibling/friend/neighbour/workmates/people I don't know or care about"/showing off issue to deal with here too. 

 

I must confess that this does influence my car purchases... I've always taken pride in owning the worst looking car in our work car park !

[Guest Hooli]

A spares car and a backup car and a backup car for the backup car usually helps. I used to run old Polo's when I was skint and living on £20 a day from delivery driving. A Polo saloon I had bought for £230 lasted me a couple of years, it leaked a litre of oil per 100 miles so I was always having to buy the cheapest shit oil to throw into it...

 

1991 Polo saloon 86c by srblythe, on Flickr

 

I always had a backup car to fall back on.

 

 

I had no idea a Polo saloon ever existed.