Where to buy a car?

Yep the 1.8 does about 35-40 mpg which is a bit painful compared to the old diesels I had , but the engine is chain drive and bullet proof - Mazda derived I think and found in a few cars .
Think I do 8k max a year so £1200 of petrol, so another 10 mpg not going to make a difference to me ..

Okay then nerds - our 2006 mini one's clutch went yesterday. Is with the garage for a look see - but having had a new exhaust, spark plug and coil pack this year (about £1.5k). unless its a really cheap fix (which seems unlikely). I think we may need to call it. So, what to do..

We have 2 kids, live in the burbs, car gets used mostly for short runs 2-3 days a week max, 2 longer trips in a month out to chilterns etc and 5-6 bigger trips per year down to south coast or devon.

We aren't car people really (although my wife loves the mini). I don't really want to do bangernomics as breaking down on the way to devon is no fun (as per this year).

I would like a hybrid at least now (unless someone tells me it's not actually any better than a small petrol). we cant plug in because no parking close enough to house.

Mini One has just about been sufficient space wise (with addition of roofbox this summer) but a little more boot space would be a help. The burbs suck for traffic . parking so smaller the better really.

I'm looking at PCP things for the honda jazz (23k onr) or corolla hybrid (£30k ish)

We have 1k in savings in all the world, could maybe stretch to £300 quid a month in payments.

Yes i've suggested going car free or getting cargo bikes - but burbs lyf necessitates driving several children to some ringroad trampoline park hellscape or similar at various points. And we do like to dress up like cunts in our barbours and have a nice walk in actual nature from time to time.

Thanks in advance. I don't even drive FFS.

Okay then nerds - our 2006 mini one's clutch went yesterday. Is with the garage for a look see - but having had a new exhaust, spark plug and coil pack this year (about £1.5k). unless its a really cheap fix (which seems unlikely). I think we may need to call it. So, what to do..

The cheapest option will likely be to fix it, tbh. Given you've spent what you have on it anyway, you may as well. Everything else will cost more money and be more faff.

Really, no one posted this thread? https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/371457/

mini one's clutch went yesterday

Idk if you know, but clutch failure is a know issue on these. My folk recently replaced the clutch on my old 2010 one... well its theirs now. Anyway, it now drives like new and of everything that could go, it's not something that I'd expect to indicate further failures.

However, it wasn't cheap. £2k from BMW iirc maybe £2.5k all in.

However, with 2nd hand car prices what they are, inflation and being time poor I think you're probably better off either getting it repaired or buying new on finance.

The corolla is big BTW.

interesting - thinking back we've probably spent £2'100 at the garage on it in the 4rs we've had it so 525 p/yr. So let's say we do spend another 1k fixing the clutch and nothing major goes wrong in the next two yrs that's sort of fine and waaaay less than monthy re-payments of £300 or whatever on a new vehicle.
But then if something else goes wrong, at what point do we say enough is enough.

Thing is we were lucky this time and it broke down just round the corner. This summer it conked out on the way to devon and sat in the garage all week being fixed. Which limited where we could go and was (a bit ) stressful in general. So there is a real consideration here about having a car that is less likely to conk out and fuck up another significant life expenditure area - ie. Wife was angling to drive to france in the summer ,

Mini clutch is expensive as you have to disassemble large bits of it for access IIRC. What is the mileage? if less than 100k I would prob get it done. But there aren't just 2 options of bangernomics and 30k on a PCP deal. £5k would get you a decent small car e.g. Hyundai i20 with 62k miles that I have literally just picked at random https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212312858567?include-delivery-option=on&make=Hyundai&radius=1501&model=i20&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=5000&price-from=4500&postcode=hp143bn&sort=relevance&page=1&percentVehiclePriceDeposit=true

or forum favourite Honda Jazz https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301042935224?price-from=4500&price-to=5000&make=Honda&radius=1500&include-delivery-option=on&model=Jazz&advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=hp143bn&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&sort=relevance&page=1&percentVehiclePriceDeposit=true

just checked and it's 2003 and done 140k miles.
we had my BIL's corolla in NZ for a couple of weeks - seemed quite good.
We'll see what the garage says anyway.

Top stuff ta!
Having read a bit - it sounds like its a hydraulic issue rather than the actual clutch assembly. Guess we'll see .

agree that there are lots of gradations between bangernomics and committing to monthly PCP - but if your £cash budget is limited there aren't many good hybrid options at the lower end of that spectrum yet (at least, ones that haven't been minicabs in a former life), especially with the recent hike in 2nd hand prices. on the reliability/insulating from unplanned major expenditure question, there's always an element of risk but all the recommendations above are sound and free from major known issues, or big 'planned' bills like needing their belts/water pumps replacing at x00k miles- Nissan Micras (I've had two), Honda Civic/Jazz, plus Mazdas (current one hasn't missed a beat except for a £50 screenwash pump).

Thanks - yeah - good point about hybrids and minicabs. just found a 2019 corolla with 95k miles on it - £15k. Looks fine but I suppose would be asking for trouble compared to petrol with less miles for less money.

Cars are so shit.

Reading this conversation reminds me why I've tried to avoid owning a car, absolute money pits. And PCPs are such a great way to pull people that cant afford things into unsustainable debt.

But there aren't just 2 options of bangernomics and 30k on a PCP deal.

True. But the thing is the options in between are risky, often not great VFM, and very time intensive.

Eg a mate got a Corolla hybrid and one of the battery cells was fucked. It took forever to resolve with the non-name dealer and going to Toyota was cost prohibitive as their policy it to replace all cells.

Also Sheppz lives in London so all those theoretical high motorway milers people suggest you buy just aren't easily accessible.

That said 2003 / 140k is getting on a bit for a 1.4(?) engine (or was it still 1.6 then?).

My gut says replace the clutch if its manageable, then start putting some money aside for a replacement car in the next 1-3yrs.

It has reminded me that I need to get our car serviced, as the increased in used car prices makes looking after your car a lot more important.

I think ours is now worth at least as much as it was 4yrs and 30k ago.

but it's my shed building money :-(
What i want to know is how the nw burbs are awash with flash cars - everyone is driving audis, mercs, bmws, lexus etc - not unusual to see a second car porsche or jag out front for the weekend golf club run.

I don't really want to do bangernomics as breaking down on the way to devon is no fun (as per this year)....

I was in a similar position exactly a year ago when my old banger (Citroen c4 Grand Picasso - apparently the worst car they ever made ever) cost me £££s to try and fix before I decided (too late) to cut my losses.
I replaced it with a Honda hybrid (11 plate and 60k miles). Costing me under £200 a month on finance atm which is manageable. Not an exciting drive but running costs are low. £10 tax a year and super reliable.
It is nearly too big for our needs (no dogs or kids) but I'm starting to really enjoy hassle-free car life again.

Tell me about it. I swear 1/10 cars around me are e class coupes.

I think a big part of it is that's just what some people spend their money on, same with Sky or spenny mobile contracts. On the flip side they probably don't have macs, Vitsoe and sit on DFS leather suites.

everyone is driving audis, mercs, bmws, lexus etc

UK car finance debt soars to £40bn

So you are saying that, although you don't like cars, you are considering getting into £30k worth of debt, which is 30 times your life savings, for a new one?

You do you, but that's not a choice I would make!

You can get breakdown cover that includes onward travel so you can still get to your destination

This is the kind of common sense I’m here for. Salute emoji

£6k-8k worth of used petrol Kia with 3 or 4 years left on the warranty feels like the lowest cost/risk to me. Shouldn’t depreciate more than £1000 a year over 3 or 4 years and fixed for free if it breaks.

Or Toyota now warranty stuff for 10 years so long as it’s serviced by a Toyota dealer on time every time I think. Google the small print but a 6/7 year old main dealer serviced Auris for £6k is all the car an ego-free man could ever need.

Clutch fork , slave cylinder, clutch kit , oil + sundries , 6hrs labour. £883.
Worth £35o in scrap.
Bleughh

£883

£117 change from your savings. Result! :(

Worth £35o in scrap

But once fixed worth somewhere between £1-2k

Eg
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144884817323?

My 2p is still to fix and run for a few more years then see where the market is.

In your opening brief you established that the car suits your requirements. The desire for a new car was driven by the cost benefit of spending up to a grand on this car.