[Closed] Cheapest way to get 3 months motoring

My first thought was to hire, but looking at over a £1K.

So what is the cheapest way to get 3months motoring. Not looking for anything fancy, but something that didn't break down all the time would be nice.

£1k sounds good, insurance, tax and repairs is a decent bill, add in purchase price and some deprecation and your figure sounds like a bargain.

Depending on what no-claims bonus you have available you might find hiring a car 'all inclusive' at £1k/month to be the cheapest option. It'll certainly be the easiest...

Blimey 1k / 3 months almost made me fall off my chair. Running a (number of) bike is so cheap 🙂

Not had a car for ages, but been a named driver on one for over 10 years. Not sure what that means regarding NCD.

[i]been a named driver on one for over 10 years. Not sure what that means regarding NCD. [/i]

not much, I'd imagine unless the policy you are on has the ability to become multi-car with the same NCD?

I'd go and get a couple fo online quotes for 3 months insurance on a Ford Focus and see what comes out.

Cheapest way - buy from the classifieds - when you're done, sell on ebay.

On the classified sellers get bartered down, on ebay buyer bid up. I used to buy vans for around £350 to £500 with tax and MOT, drive them for a year then sell them with no tax or MOT on ebay for within £10 of what I bought them for.

Theres not such thing as a car that won't breakdown. Don't spend all you can afford in the car, have money in reserve for repairs or servicing or even just to buy another rather than swallow a big bill. You can still sell a borked car on ebay for a fair few quid.

Not had a car for ages, but been a named driver on one for over 10 years. Not sure what that means regarding NCD.

shop around on the comparison sites some ask more questions than others and will ask about named driver history and you can get a reasonable discount for that.

try going into a local car hire place and negotiating with them

do you need the car for the full 3 months ?

is it just weekends ? just hire for the periods you actually need to travel ?

Maccruiskeen, what sort of banger can you get for £350..£500?

not that much these days - those days are gone - you can thank the scrappage scheme for that - lot of good cars wasted.

tax and test command a 500 quid minimum anywhere ive looked.

Go to a car auction and see what you pick up. The biggest bargains are the older bigger engine cars that cost a bit to run. Nobody wants them.

Plenty of old Jap cheap cars available for under £1k.

Look at old Accords, Avensis, Corolla's & Micras or Nissan Primera's, Almera's.

Get an old Toyota. Pre-2000 Avensis, the non VVTI 1.8 engine.

DONT get a hire car. I hire cars some weekends If I have to drive from Manchester to London etc. Enterprise is very reasonable however two things, it takes ONE person opening their door on your car in a supermarket or more likely using the corner of your bumper to guage on parking. Then you'll be hit with a circa £600 bill.

I had this- ONE night parking in London, took me alot of T-Cutting to diminish the parking scratch to within their guidelines.

Also - people like Enterprise now have a policy that its excess is PER damage. So 2 areas in 3 months? £1,200 unless you take out the 12quid a day extra charge.

Its too much stress IMO.

Wouldn't think you could go too wrong with this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2000-Honda-Accord-2-0i-sr-a-c-147ps-VTEC-SE-/181246652429?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2a3324700d

dooosuk - Member
Plenty of old Jap cheap cars available for under £1k.

Look at old Accords, Avensis, Corolla's & Micras or Nissan Primera's, Almera's.

and when they were new the cost of owning was most of the cost of driving... add in insurance, tax, test and repairs hire car for even £1500 would be safe and predictable.

Eh, they're some of the most reliable bargains around with little to no running costs. Most are chain driven so no cambelts to worry about.

There's no tax and test if you buy a car with 6mths+

Insurance may not be bad as they're not your usual first cars, so accident stats should be lower.

They're bangernomics through and through. Sell it for what you paid for it 3mths down the line. Buy wisely and the risk of any repair costs is minimal.

Eh, they're some of the most reliable bargains around with little to no running costs. Most are chain driven so no cambelts to worry about.

falacy. i love the misconception that chain drive mean no worries.

So, how about paying more for something, say couple of grand. Depreciation's not going to be much is it?

Not had a car for ages, but been a named driver on one for over 10 years. Not sure what that means regarding NCD.

Drive that one then, and reimburse the owner, maybe paying for their hire car when you are using theirs?

been a named driver on one for over 10 years. Not sure what that means regarding NCD.

not much, I'd imagine unless the policy you are on has the ability to become multi-car with the same NCD?

Insurers seem to have got a bit better on this recently. When my wife (gf at the time) first got own policy, they gave her a few years NCD based on her history.

Don't know what your options are for 3 months insurance. You'll need to check the Ts&Cs on cancelling a 1 year policy.

falacy. i love the misconception that chain drive mean no worries.

We're talking bangers for a 3mth period here. If the OP buys wisely he could buy any of those cars, drive it for 3mths and then sell for no loss. Their only costs would be insurance and petrol/diesel.

You should have loads of choice with a £500 budget for a second hand car with tax and mot. I would try gumtree and ebay.

It’s a lottery as people are getting rid and some might have significant issues but most cars get awful (to drive/look at/be in) way before they are completely unserviceable. You could get a small car with 100k on the clock and find it might do another 100k with the right servicing, whether you or anyone else want to keep them going is another thing but 3 months should be no problem.

I would suggest a Ford Fiesta 1.2 c5/10 years old, loads around and good reliable zetec engines.

Not looked into it recently but you used to be able to insure any car over 10 years old as a classic. Therefore v.cheap insurance. The downside is you don't accrue any NCB but in your case this won't be an issue. Could be worth looking into?

We're talking bangers for a 3mth period here. If the OP buys wisely he could buy any of those cars, drive it for 3mths and then sell for no loss. Their only costs would be insurance and petrol/diesel.

equally as little chance of an issue from a cambelt in that time.

if the chains at chain change time then its got just as much chance of failure as a belt.

I'm assuming you don't have 5-6k to walk into a local used car salesroom, pick up a diesel polo (cheap tax, light depreciation) with adequate tax, MOT and warranty to see you well through the 3 month period, then sell it back to them with a bit of a hit when you're done with it?

if the chains at chain change time then its got just as much chance of failure as a belt.

Maybe, but I'm thinking not. You hear of a lot more belt failures than chain failures.

Anyway, we digress...back to the OP's question...I don't think they'll be much better on offer than the Accord I posted above with FSH, long MOT & Tax and a new cambelt for < £600.

oliverd1981, yea stumping up money like that isn't really an problem, I'm happy to look at the cost rather than the outlay. What sort of hit would I be taking by selling it back to the same garage?

I'm assuming you don't have 5-6k to walk into a local used car salesroom, pick up a diesel polo (cheap tax, light depreciation) with adequate tax, MOT and warranty to see you well through the 3 month period, then sell it back to them with a bit of a hit when you're done with it?

If you're trying to buy and sell a car with little to no depreciation, buying it from a dealer and then selling it back to one is not the way to go.

Where abouts are you UrbanHiker....I've not long had a new work van and my old car is sat there after just having the gearbox rebuilt...could do a mega hire deal with you 😉
PM me if interested

thats because belts have a time based failure mode as well as a milage - people like to ignore the time and just work on milage.

agree on buying from dealer and selling - youll likely get half your money back at that sorta price

gumtree is your friend.

thats because belts have a time based failure mode as well as a milage - people like to ignore the time and just work on milage.

So therefore proving that buying a used chain driven car is less to worry about than a belt driven one.

so what milage is your cut off for a chain drive car then ?

can you tell what a worn chain sounds like over a normal engine sound ?

ive got 3 chain drive engines - one of them sounds like an orange 5 going down a set of stairs - its sat on a pallet in the garage - was easier to change the engine than change the chain.

if you buy the right car a belt and tensioners is 60 quid and fitting about the same if your paranoid.

my go to car in this situation would be a 1.9 XUD pug 306. poverty spec so little to go wrong - itll be rusty im sure and rattle but that engine will go and go and go and go some more belt and tensioners is naff all but on a 3 month use car i wouldnt bother - if it dies id scrap it - the XUD engined cars can be had for peanuts.

so what milage is your cut off for a chain drive car then ?

Now we're going down a different line of questioning, but it depends on the car and the price paid. I happily paid £1300 3mths ago for an 05plate Mazda 6 with 118k miles on it with a years MOT. Hasn't cost me a penny in those 3mths and can't see it doing for some time (had 4 recent Pirelli tyres, new pads and discs all round etc. prior to purchase).

if you buy the right car a belt and tensioners is 60 quid and fitting about the same if your paranoid.

And that's not something you want to be doing (and is unnecessary) if you're looking for 3mths cheap motoring.

UrbanHiker - Member
Maccruiskeen, what sort of banger can you get for £350..£500?

POSTED 21 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST
trail_rat - Member
not that much these days - those days are gone - you can thank the scrappage scheme for that - lot of good cars wasted.

tax and test command a 500 quid minimum anywhere ive looked.

The point is - it didn't matter what they cost initially - for the period of ownership they cost £10. My point was about where to buy from and where to sell if you want to own something for a short time. How cheap you buy is up to you, just get something that is sufficiently depreciated that its value is pretty much static over a 3 month period

DONT get a hire car. I hire cars some weekends If I have to drive from Manchester to London etc. Enterprise is very reasonable however two things, it takes ONE person opening their door on your car in a supermarket or more likely using the corner of your bumper to guage on parking. Then you'll be hit with a circa £600 bill.

I had this- ONE night parking in London, took me alot of T-Cutting to diminish the parking scratch to within their guidelines.

Also - people like Enterprise now have a policy that its excess is PER damage. So 2 areas in 3 months? £1,200 unless you take out the 12quid a day extra charge.

Its too much stress IMO.

If think you're going to hire a car for more than two days in any year get your own personal excess policy - basically your own annual version of the cover the hire co is selling you on a daily basis. Costs about £30 per year and will take care of the excess due on any mishap, should one occur.

I stand correctedin my orthopeadic shoes

I was in lassie from works car last night - 51 plate 2.0hdi with 160k on the clock . Bought for 400 quid with tax and test till february - when shes getting a new car.

Bought at auction

Wnt pass its next mot - rear axels shagged and the dash has warning lights like an xmas tree but it runs

Maccruiskeen, what sort of banger can you get for £350..£500?

I bought an x reg 2 litre Honda Accord with 54 thou on the clock and a FSH for £400

I bought a 52 plate Alfa 156 2L twin spark for £560 . A small amount of rust but it all worked , 1 years MOT as well.

In answer to the OP's question.
Firstly get insurance quotes . As technically a new driver it might be the cost of the insurance is eye watering.

If you can find a policy for less than say £300 ( 3 mths ) then look for a 10 year old ish small car.
You dont state your weekly estimated milage so that makes it harder to say derv or petrol. Either way , small engined small runabout and a little odd ball . Mazda2 , Seat Ibiza or Arosa , maybe Citroen Xsara ( gopping but 306 platform )avoid Renaults as they are rubbish. Nissan Almera for example, ugly and cheap.

Try and get one with 9mths + MOT , and maybe 6mths road tax .
Its getting harder to find them due to the combination of the scappage allowance and the cost of fixing anything that requires garage time and stealershit parts.
The price of scrap metal means alot of cars are simply crushed rather than fixed at the sub £700 value. Scrap car and use funds towards another rather than cambelt + water pump plus MOT or Scrap car instead of putting in clutch and dual mass flywheel=alot of ££££.

The price of used cars has gone up a lot in recent years. I think it's true of all second hand items with the ease of advertising across the internet, but there's a lot of bargains about still.

Bigger cars go much cheaper than small cars at the bottom end of the market. In fact you can have something really quite nice if you don't mind the fuel bills and insurance costs.

The stress of buying used cars is something I hate immensely. There's always that chance of getting a lemon. But, I have to say, I have bought things ranging from £200 to £700 and they have always lasted years. They tend to develop a few annoying rattles and squeaks with age, but actual repairs have been minimal.

The best thing about buying a sub 1k car, is that you can sell it 3 months later for the exact same price you bought it for.