Need a reliable, cheap car for 1 year

[Mum2020]

Hi all,
DH might take a job in the middle of nowhere, so he will have to drive there. I have to get myself a reliable, cheap car. This job contract is only for a year and we will be relocating to Germany after that. Please can I ask whats the best way to find a cheap car that will run reliably for a year?

Is it worth buying a 3-5k newer car so we have a decent car for this 1 year and recoup some money when we sell - ending up spending only £1000 or £1500 ?

or shall I get some ebay old cheap car for £500-£1500 and just scrap it when we go?

I would ask for some local recommendations for a good second hand car place and then pick up something for around £1K with long mileage. I would even have a chat with them and see if they'll be willing to purchase it back from you once the year is done.

Otherwise, if you don't want a bit of a banger, I'd look into leasing.

Sorry, long MOT. Not mileage.

Have you looked into leasing? If it's only for a year you'll save yourself the hassle of having to pay for any expensive repairs if you buy a crap old car.

thanks Veronica and Cloudymelonade

@Cloudymelonade: I did look up leasing options, but they all seem to be 36+ months contracts.

How many miles a day. I'd try and pick up a pre 2005 diesel with a long mot for under a grand. Something like a Skoda Octavia or VW Passat if you're doing distance

We were in similar position, got a Ford Mondeo estate from our mechanic for about £600, it had about 170k on the clock & a year’s MOT. It lasted 18m so did what we needed!

About 6-7 miles a day average. Just for after school activities and occasional school runs in bad weather.

Is it ok to buy a car from ebay if it has long MOT? if there is anything wrong with the car, it would have surely come up in the MOT?

we got our second hand car from autotrader its easier to search than ebay.You can select under 70 thousand miles,average mpg 40,exclude cat s,c,d,n,petrol and get it from a trade seller.Yet still find one for under 500 if you make those selections you should be ble to get something half decent plus a lot of trade sellers have warranty

We've also just done this. Last week we picked up a 2002 Volvo for £700 - MOT until next Feb. 130k on the clock, but we're hoping it'll do us a year.

I only buy cheap under £1000 cars, current diesel Picasso was bought for £600 4 years ago with 100,000 on the clock now does 151,000 and still sailing through MOTs etc.
Previous Peugeot 406 gave up at 252000 miles over 100,000 put on by me.
An MOT is only really the structure of then car and no guarantee its any good, better to pay a garage a couple of quid to give it the once over before you buy

I did look up leasing options, but they all seem to be 36+ months contracts

Plenty of 12 month lease deals available if you google them. Higher monthly rates than leasing for 3 years but still doable. A new car for a year without the hassle of selling it. A small runaround will probably work out at around £130-£150/month.