Buying a car - wait for 'ideal' or compromise?

[newcarprobs]

Yes I know, first world probs...

My car gave up the ghost end of last year (major engine problem, old car so not worth repairing). I was planning to replace but then lockdown happened and I put it on hold for a while.

Currently I am able to borrow family member's car at weekends (if/ when they are not using it) to do my weekly shop. For other local journeys I tend to walk if the car is not available but of course that restricts me in terms of distance - my limit is about 3 miles each way, and of course in what I can carry. I'm WFH so I don't need a car daily. However I'm also in a relationship with someone who lives 180 miles away, and who I see fortnightly. At present that involves him coming to me, unless I can borrow a car for the weekend. However now I WFH I can work as easily from his house as mine (he can't work remotely) so it would be nice to go up there for longer periods etc. But I can't borrow a car then. I could hire one but there are no hire places near me, and the cost at the nearest ones is pretty high, about £150 for 3-4 days. So based on this - and because I can't rely on borrowing a car forever, I've decided to replace my car.

As I'll be doing a lot of long journeys, my intention was to get a diesel, plus cheaper road tax etc, in fact what I'd ideally like is a slightly newer diesel version of my old car (which was a pleasure to drive). I don't want to spend a huge amount of money, I'm looking at about 3k. However I also don't want anything too old (10 years max).

Problem is that there aren't that many diesel versions of that car for sale (there are 100s of petrol models, but diesel on Autotrader there are currently only 5!) Not only that, but all of them are at the opposite end of the country. I've been looking for weeks and although one or two new ones have been added in that time, they're still 2-3 hours away from me.

I've therefore started looking for other cars - with the same criteria, just other makes and models, and have found a couple that - although still not that close by, are within an hours drive (they're actually only about 15-20 miles away but it involves going across town). But they're not the car I really want. However I'm not sure how long I might be waiting for my perfect car to come up locally, and be the right price/ age/ mileage as well

So the question is do I wait for the car I really want (which might take months to come up locally), or buy something local which fits the bill and is available now but isn't the model I really like?

How often would you be making the 180 mile journey? Apart from that do you usually do short journeys or long ones? Just thinking about the diesel requirement.

Have you looked at other websites apart from Autotrader? ie the used car section of the manufacturer of the car you ideally want? Local car sales places?

Some dealers will transport a car to their showroom for you from another one in their chain, I have done this in the past, bought the car sight unseen because I had driven the exact same car but more expensive version and the sale was then subject to a test drive. I believe Ford do this, mine was a Citroen.

If you feel like you really need a car, you’ll have to compromise. If it’s just that you want one, and a particular one at that, you’ll have to wait (and may as well do so).

Think of it like finding somewhere to live. If your lease is running out and you don’t have any short-term options, you move into the first clean affordable flat you can find. If you can stay with your parents for a few months, you can be choosy.

I would probably be doing the 180 miles once a month; in family members 1.3 petrol car it cost £60 in petrol last time, my partner has a diesel and the return journey costs him under £40 so it would save a fair bit to get a diesel. Other journeys would be local, so 10 miles max once or twice a week.

I've looked on a couple of the national sites like Arnold Clark etc (with a view to getting it transported etc), however most of the cars tend to be rather newer and outside my price range, and none of my ideal model either.

It's frustrating because at least one of the cars that is for sale which is the model I really want looks pretty good (decent price, reasonable mileage etc) but it's a fair distance away - it's with a garage who offer a delivery service but for a car of that age I feel I really need to test drive it first, check for any issues etc, which I can't do because of the distance.

if you're travelling alone, for your 180 miles journey rail might well be not much more expensive than driving, especially if you're able to book in advance and/or off-peak.

you could start getting groceries delivered?

etc.

I wouldn't get a diesel if you're only doing journeys over 10 miles once a month! Unless that's 10 miles all on national limit roads!

The train journey involves multiple changes and takes about 4.5 hours; I have travelled by train in the past however I'm not keen to do so currently especially as part of the journey involves the Tube. The cheapest I've ever managed to get a return was about £35-40 so would be comparable to the diesel cost.

I could get shopping delivered, I have done occasionally, but it feels more like a temporary solution - and that realistically I do need a car of my own. I'm fortunate that I could (just about) afford to buy a new car, however that feels to me like a massive waste of money hence looking for a more budget alternative that still gives me the flexibility of having a car without relying on family member's goodwill.

No way would I be buying a £3k diesel in your situation. The small savings are likely to be wiped out by expensive repairs. A small naturally aspirated and preferably Japanese petrol engine would be the ideal choice.

The 180 mile journey would technically be twice a month - once going there, and then anything up to a week later returning home.

@bethany39

I wouldn't get a diesel if you're only doing journeys over 10 miles once a month! Unless that's 10 miles all on national limit roads!

^This

You won't actually save money if you only doing one long trip per month as it costs you more when you put it into the garage.

Up earlier this year I was doing 80+ miles round trips to work at least 2 times a week. I changed from a diesel to petrol as I calculated that actually with the extra maintenance costs modern petrol wasn't any more expensive to run.

What car did you have before?

It sounds like you’re possibly in London?

Another issue to consider is that a nearly 10 year old diesel car will probably not meet the larger ULEZ that’s coming in next year. Euro 6 diesel emissions standards only started in 2015.

Luckily I fall just outside the expanded ULEZ zone (just rechecked to be sure!) so that would not affect me - unless it is further increased at some point which I guess is always possible.

I don't think you can rule out petrols based on the care you borrow and your partner's diesel. The efficiency on modern petrols is excellent and diesel costs more per litre typically. Plus you might get some resale value in future with a petrol bit diesel really is on its way out.

To add, what's the quoted mpg difference between the diesel you want and the petrol equivalent?

The car I borrow is a small 2019 hatchback; my partners car is nearly 10 years old, larger and has a larger engine too (either 1.7 or 1.9, can't remember) - if I bought a petrol I'd be looking at something up to 10 years old, and realistically it would be less fuel efficient than the car I borrow.

£60 for a 180 (x2?) journey is massive. I topped up my diesel Fiesta with £10 at the weekend and drove 332 miles which was half a tank.

I don’t actually care about cars, but I do like my Fiesta. It’s a 1.8 I think. I would get what I can get for my money and what I want it for I wouldn’t hold out for a particular model/brand.

Compared to my old car I save £20 a month as no tax, the tank is £40 to fill not £70, the insurance was lower by about £150.

(Which I appreciate means nothing in the grand scheme of things!)

I don't think £60 for a 360 mile round trip in a petrol car is typical. I have a 3 YO Skoda Fabia estate with a 1 litre petrol engine and a motorway trip of that distance would cost me £35-40. I don't drive slowly or particularly efficiently either.

I'd probably look at the petrol version of the car you're interested in.

Look on ebay and gumtree too, many smaller traders advertise on there and NOT autotrader.

Having had a petrol version before (albeit older) I know it's not particularly fuel efficient, and I would expect it to cost at least as much for the return journey as the car I borrow, given that the engine would be bigger (petrol versions are usually 1.6, the diesel version is 1.4), the tax would also be £150+ more per year (the diesel variant is only £20-30 to tax).

I have looked on ebay etc however again there wasn't anything local really.

if I bought a petrol I'd be looking at something up to 10 years old, and realistically it would be less fuel efficient than the car I borrow.

From your figures the car you borrow seems to be doing about 32mpg. Either there’s something wrong with the car, your driving style or your figures. You should easily be getting 40mpg+ from a 10 year old small petrol. At 40mpg it would cost around £48 for a round trip of 360 miles.

A petrol Yaris would be ideal BTW

Well I can only go by the petrol I put in, there was quite a lot of stop start traffic on various sections so that may have been a factor. Also google tells me the journey door to door is actually just over 200 miles each way rather than the 180 I said.

I wouldn't feel comfortable driving that distance in anything as small as a Yaris if I'm honest.

Actually I've realised I was thinking of an Aygo not a Yaris, sorry! A Yaris is a similar size to the one I borrow, a little smaller than I would like but not unacceptable.

That said, no Yaris in my area on budget either (excepting ones with 100k mileage).

Car sales are very strong right now imo. Personally I think due to a combination of furlough and bounceback loans. I suggest waiting until December and dealers will be falling over themselves to find you something suitable.