struggling to know what to do for the best about our car situation at the moment.

driving an octavia laurin & klement which id keep for ever quite happily.
wife is learning to drive and goes to pieces in it, its too big for her right now, she needs an astra sized car til she gets more confident. ive been looking at buying a cheap, small banger for her, then it doesnt matter if she scrapes it, but it means we then have 2 cars and the related costs, when tbh we barely use the one we’ve got.

so, do we just sell the octavia and buy a smaller car for around the same value? possibly sounds the best option, but that brings up another question.

we’re not loaded enough to just go buy another car for a few grand and then sell ours at leisure. im sure many more are in the same boat when it comes to changearound time, so whats generally the best way of doing it?
is it wise to apply for a new credit card that allows you to withdraw money on 0% for a couple of years? in fact does such a card exist or do you have to use the card in shops rather than withdraw money?
loan from the bank and pay it off asap? part-ex at a garage? (but i assume id be a few hundred pounds down on the deal compared to private)

im interested in suggestions please.

thanks

Let her learn in driving instructor cars, and once she’s passed her test, decide then what to do.

If you’re buying a car from a garage, and you’re planning on using a credit card to pay the balance, keep in mind that some will add an additional charge on to it. We got charged 0.025% of the balance to use our credit card.

We paid for the car with credit card 1, then transferred that balance to credit card 2 which had 0% on balance transfers for 2 years. Now paying off credit card 2 monthly, just like you would with a loan.

There was also a charge for the balance transfer, but overall it still worked out cheaper than a bank loan.

Don’t think you’ve got a car problem or a finance problem.

wife is learning to drive and goes to pieces in it, its too big for her right now, she needs an astra sized car til she gets more confident.

It’s a confidence problem.
When she passes her test, hire a LWB Transit with no rear windows for the weekend and have her drive you round all of the 7 Stanes with your bike.
Come Monday morning your own car will be tiny and easy to drive in comparison. Problem solved. 😀

Let her learn in driving instructor cars, and once she’s passed her test, decide then what to do.

not a bad idea, but we’re about £2000 down and a year down the road now, id like to go out more in our car to give her practice. FWIW shes just changed instructor now, she just didnt seem to be getting anywhere with the previous bloke.

We paid for the car with credit card 1, then transferred that balance to credit card 2 which had 0% on balance transfers for 2 years. Now paying off credit card 2 monthly, just like you would with a loan.

sounds complicated, id have to open another card account first which may take some time to process. ive got a couple of cards already with nothing on them, but i just get confused when ive got too many accounts 😀

It’s a confidence problem.

tis true, and theres part of me that wants her to WTFU and just drive it, but then again theres just the two of us now, we dont need a big car, if it helps her out then why not.

just hate having to get of me arse and buy and sell something tho when what we’ve got is fine. if it makes sense to do it tho id like to know the best (easiest) way.

The Octavia is hardly massive. You know if you swap it there will still be a ‘problem’ with the new car and you “didn’t buy the right one” 😆

My two penneth…

If she’s just changed instructor, give it a little while as a better instructor may just be the thing that changes her attitude and confidence. Maybe ditch letting her practice with you until you see some results from the new instructor.