Our car has failed its MOT and isn't worth repairing. It was too small for us anyway (3dr micra) but we've got used to not paying out every mnth on a car loan.
Parking's a PITA where we live so I need something which is as short as possible but has 5 doors and 3 'proper seatbelt seats' in the back. We have and 8 and 3 yo atm but are planning another.
I'm scared of buying at an auction or private sale as niether me nor DP knows how to check if it's in good working order.
I'm thinking of something between 5-7 years old as anything newer would be too expensive and would just get wrecked by the kids.
I want to consider the long term costs (fuel consumption, cost of parts) as well as price. Resale value doesnt matter as we'd probably keep it until it pack in just like current car.
I'm loathe to get a car loan from one of the dealers as my last one charged 15% APR interest which worked out as 42% over 5 years but I dont see how we have much choice. Also I dont want to get sucked into a long term loan that doesnt give me the flexibility to pay it back sooner if I can afford to.
We have £1000 available on a 12 month c/card we could use or we could afford up to a max of £150pcm loan (pref under £100, though).
Any suggestions on make/model?
Are these figures realistic?