Do you think my family should help to pay for this?

[Alwayshappensattheworsttime]

Live abroad and car has broken down, expensive to fix and will take a while most likely, so we’re without a car.
Dh has a motorbike so can get to work and I can walk to school with dc and to the shops. I work very part time but can perhaps get a taxi to there sometimes.
Parents due to come to stay this weekend for a while and my sister the next day (won’t be staying with us)
Usual thing is I pick and drop them all off at the airport and we go out in the car places most days as places not that near/easy to get to
Looking at car hire prices and it’s pricey for us and not sure we can afford to pay that and getting the car fixed. Having a real stress about it all as don’t want to ruin peoples holidays and be sat at home or trying to get buses everywhere and asking them to get taxis from and back to the airport
Dh said he thinks they might prefer to have a hire car whilst here (for me to) and might not mind paying for it, but I don’t know, I don’t want to ask this of them as they are guests

What would you do?

They’ll need to get a hire car and split the cost between all of you.

Speak to them.
They're your family and you're close enough that they come and stay with you.

Just text them. What would you all reference taxis and busses or do you want to hire a car?

That's it. No drama needed.

Yes - check with them first, but I think they should help out with the cost if you hire a car.

Tell them your car is kaput so you can’t collect them.
You are letting them know so they can either hire a car or organise taxis.
if they want to hire a car with you as named driver you are happy to do that 🤷🏻‍♀️

@PSEnny Theyre used to not paying anything though and I drive them around. They pay for their flights to come to us

Give them a heads up that you'll all be using public transport because your car is broken and needs an expensive fix. Either they'll offer to pay or they'll have to get the bus with you.

If you can afford it, I'd say I had paid for a taxi for them from the airport (they might also offer to pay that).

I wouldn't be paying at all if I was OP. She is managing fine without one. Ans hosting them. If they want one they can pay for it.

Who pays for transport when you go visit them?

Just ask them. Surely you are close enough that it won’t cause offence or an issue. Just explain you don’t have a car at the moment and they are welcome to hire one, which you can use to collect/drop off at the airport but otherwise it’s relying on public transport, walking or taxis.

@Zonder They would just pick us up at the airport as we do them

You say sorry i can't pick you up my car is off the road
And let them make their own way

so you pay for their food / alcohol and outings as well as provide accommodation?

if so, this is your problem… not the car

They wouldn’t be paying for the hire car for them to drive as they won’t drive where we are so would be for me to drive them

They can still pay for it or reimburse you…

which is what they should do…

@GreatGateauxsby No, we split food costs at home and they pay when out

I'd just say sorry folks the car has broken down and it's going to take all our spare cash to fix so I'm afraid it's taxis and public transport this visit unless you hire a car.

Just send them a text
”Hi all, sorry to say our car is currently out of action. We’re saving for the repairs but what do you want to do whilst you’re here? We can use public transport or if you want to hire a car I can recommend some places to contact. Let me know what you think. Looking forward to seeing you!”

Tell them you're sorry but no car / lifts available this visit. They can either hire a car or get pubic transport. You're managing without one, this is their problem to sort I think.

Okayyyyy so I don’t get why you can’t say

”my car is kaput so i can’t collect you.
I’m letting you know now so you can decide whether you’d rather pay to hire a car for me to drive during your stay or if it’s easier to just organise taxis from the airport yourselves.“

They will need to hire car and as you'll be driving it around you would chip in a portion of the cost. Maybe they are happy to take buses etc though.

Just tell them you don't have a car at the moment so they will need to get taxis and public transport places. Or, they might find it easier to hire a car. That's it. It's down to them. I wouldn't offer to pay or contribute. If they get free holidays and lifts normally they need to decide what works for them this time. If they ask you to contribute say you can't afford to as you are getting your car fixed.

Not sure where you live but you could try hiring a car from the UK? We lived abroad in a very touristy area and it was cheaper to arrange car hire (I think maybe Hertz or Enterprise) through Virgin Holidays on our UK license than to hire one through Hertz/Enterprise on our overseas license. $$$ cheaper. You might need a VPN to do it but it was worth the cost of the VPN.

Our set up is usually similar to yours when we/ relatives visit each other. The host is picking up and taking guests around. Some time ago I was your relative in this situation. We came to visit my sister and her car broke down. We paid for its repair. Another time they couldn’t pick us up because of work commitments and we went by taxi. I think you can’t expect always follow the same model. Its life and life is never rigid. Just let your relatives know about the situation and tell them that unfortunately you don’t have enough money atm so the choice is theirs. Then they could choose what to do.

It's a one off, you couldn't help your car breaking down.

IMO I'd pay for the car hire especially if I'm expecting you to drive me around.

I think that they have had plenty of free holidays, which is very lucky. So paying for a hire car shouldn’t a big deal for them in the circumstances. Just keep it simple - ‘so sorry, our car is broken and we can’t get it repaired just yet. You will need to arrange a hire car’