So, my mother and stepfather are coming to the UK – four months, they have arranged a house (and vintage car) swap with a couple in Kent. But they need what they refer to as a “modern car” to get about in while they are here. I am based in Scotland.

They have asked for my help (e.g this is and will continue to be my problem).

They are in their 70s. My mother won’t be driving. Their current idea is to buy a Suzuki Swift and sell it again after four months. (the my problem bit). They have NO idea how expensive car insurance is here compared to Kiwiland. I suspect in their position it will be brutal.

Has anybody ever done anything like this ? I think hiring/leasing will be far less hassle and fraught with danger.

And I have already asked why the house swap deal can’t include a modern car – the swapees don’t want to include their new BMW in the deal. Seems a bit miserable !

The Swift might not be such a bad idea ….. But you buy it … and when the time comes put down stepF as a named driver

Some relatives from OZ borrowed my motor for a number of weeks last year, can’t remember the exact cost of insurance but it really couldn’t have been that much as I can’t remember it 😀

Hmm good thinking – I might call my insurance company and ask for a quote on that basis. As I have accepted this will be my problem I guess I may as well go all the way – keep my name in the will etc.

Just remember that if they prang it it’s your insurance that will be taking the hit over the next few years.

Are you talking about getting a new car? If so, this might help:
carwow.co.uk/best/cars-with-free-insurance

Thanks sharkbait – I will look at that.

I am actually thinking about getting a new car for myself towards the end of this year, so that could be an option, I get a new car and give them mine for that period.

The Swift might not be such a bad idea ….. But you buy it … and when the time comes put down stepF as a named driver

Fronting (google)

Go for the Salford Solution. Just rob one, put false plates on it, drive it around for a while, then torch it! 😀

There are some short term lease specialists who might be able to help.

I would also phone up a couple of car hire people – chains and local ones to see whet they would do for the period – with only one pick up and drop off / cleaning they may well do a good deal.

Have a friend who comes to UK for a few months at a time, he rents cars but has found there is a sweet spot of around 3 weeks rental after which they put up the price. So his solution is to rent from different companies, if you do this in advance it can work out reasonably cheaply.

Call some hire companies and you might be surprised, longer term hire can be pretty cheap. All the majors (Avis, Sixt, Enterprise, Hertz, etc) offer monthly pricing. If you can be flexible, maybe changing car midway, then even better.

eg. Thrifty offer Hyundai i10, Fiat 500, Ford Fiesta for around £250+VAT per month. You need to arrange your own insurance though.

Thanks guys – I would rather push them towards rental, as I reckon they will lose at least £1000 on any buy/resell deal, and it will not be my fault when it all goes horribly wrong.

If you are going to buy a car then I’d be looking at a ‘bangernomics’ £400-£500 car with as much mot as you can. You will probably get most of the purchase price back selling it on with 4 months less mot.
When we were looking for a cheap run around recently there were loads of Suzuki wagon R’s and Fiat Seicentos with 10-12 months mot under £600 they would be reliable and (relatively) cheap to insure.

My brother is coming from NZ for three weeks this summer. We looked at loaning family cars, insurance was daft money when they discovered they are not UK resident.
They looked to rent tiny car, squeeze the family of four in. An advert on the (I think Arnold Clark) rental site offered them a VW T5 Shuttle, for less than the Corsa… Three weeks rental is about £400(!), although they did book a good few months back…. Worth a haggle at the least.

I would hire a car for the first 3 weeks. Ask them to calculate how many journeys and the mileage they will use the car for the rest of the time (once the novelty of holiday travel has reduced) then do the maths.

Once you realise how few miles one 70year old guy will do, you can switch to taxis and trains for longer journeys for the rest of the time.

We had to do this for my cricket club, for an overseas pro a few years back.

In the end a club member had a banger they sold to the club for the purpose and then bought it back after the season, but at one stage rental was definitely the best option, using a local firm and not being precious about what car to rent, they offered one that was coming to the end of its rental life and in need of sympathetic refurbishment which enabled the firm to make some money out of something that was basically an almost valueless asset to them.

You may be surprised if you’re prepared to call around the local firms and branches.

Yeah, bangernomics for a couple in their 70s is a great idea 🙄

OP: get them to rent from here – http://www.thegaragecarrental.co.uk/car-hire-croydon/

Cheap. Not all showroom fresh like Hertz but perfectly decent. Breaks down? Their problem, not your parents.

What angeldust said ! I am not putting my elderly parents in a banger. I emailed today for details re budget and suggested they go on gocompare, they can believe them about the cost of car insurance in the UK for a non UK resident 70 year old with a heart condition. I have already explained that it is a legal requirement here.

That link looks useful, thanks konabunny.

I am leaning towards rental, but need to come up with some verifiable figures. I think I might also need to explain the population density of the south of England, and that public transport links are excellent compared to Kiwiland.

What angeldust said ! I am not putting my elderly parents in a banger.

The term “Bangernomics” gets used a lot, but doesn’t necessarily mean you’re actually buying a clapped out old banger. Just a car that can be bought and run very cheaply compared to much newer vehicles.

I’ve had a string of very reliable cars in the past, all bought for sub £1k. I’d suggest that £2k will buy them a VERY nice little Renault Clio, Ford Fiesta or the like, and that in 4 months time it will probably have lost all of about £200 in value (if that in honesty), cost very little to run, and will have been totally reliable in that period. My GF got £2400 for her 1.4L Mk5 Golf 2 years ago (having owned it 2 years and paid £2800 for it) and it was mint! That car would probably be £2k now, and Golf’s sell same day on Autotrader if they’re in good nick (we had 5 people queuing to buy it).

Wouldn’t even entertain buying new, unless you got a guaranteed but back price at the end of their stay of only about £500 less than the asking price of the vehicle…

Kiwi insurance isn’t too bad vfm, no personal injuries as the ‘state looks after you’ – so there’s a minimal payment to the gov.

Then you ‘choose’ to pay third party etc as it’s optional (but unwise)

End result is car insurance is not expensive. They’re in for a shock, and will spend a lot on an annual policy, then cutting it short

The car is the least of the annoyances, because if you pick well it’s easy to shift on

I don’t know about the Kiwi state looking after you – one could argue that ACC is a giant compulsory personal liability scheme.

Yes, I have suggested they sit down with a stiff drink when they look at car insurance costs in the UK !

I drove around from age 15-25 on third party, fire and theft insurance for about $5 a month. Ah the good old days. A friend of mine backed into a Holden Commodore – she had no insurance, he sued her for the costs and was awarded recompense at a rate she could afford, about $2 a week, she is probably still paying him.