To want a new car? Not brand new.

[LoveMyGirls]

I brought my car in 2006 for £200 I have spent quite a bit of money on it but as it is nearly 20 years old that was to be expected.

It's always been a bit unreliable but as we are skint I've put up with it, usually bad in the winter anyway.

4 times in the past 3 weeks it has had to be jump started, the battery has been charged overnight etc

I need a reliable car, I'm a childminder with quite a few nursery / school picks up's all within quite a tight time scale and no way of walking with 3 children under 5 and making it anywhere near enough in time.

If my car lets me down and I lose customers it will cost a lot more than it would cost to buy me a car.

The only way we could buy a car is to use the overdraught/ credit card which is already quite bad.

Ideally we would wait until we have paid off the credit card, overdraught and saved up for a car. I know DH needs another car too as his has problems too.

After putting up with this crap car for the past 3 years AIBU wanting to buy something else?

No, definitely not, especially if you need it to do your job.

Have you looked into the scrappage scheme? If your car is 20 years old, then it might be worth your while looking into this while we still have it - you don't need to buy anything fancy, look at some of the less mainstream car marques such as Hyundai (I have an I30 and it is fab!), Kia, and so on. Skoda as well are relatively cheap but the cars are based on the VW platform so are well built and reliable.
Do your research - look at tax bands,fuel efficiency to look for a cheap to run car.

I think you need to sit down and work out how much it will cost to keep your current car running, it sounds expensive!

My car wouldn't start again today, DH has now put the battery on charge.

do you need a new battery or alternator maybe?

The battery isn't that old, maybe 12months?

YANBU.

I had a 1991 Peugeot that just kept going until about a year ago when little faults all multiplied and we finally gave up with it. If it was wet & cold the choke got confused and it stalled everytime you touched the brake until it was fully warm - soooo annoying. Also, DD was learning to drive and it was impossible for a new driver to manage.

Hope you manage to sort something soon.