14000 miles a year - spec me a car - £500

Will Gill

Will Gill

Will Gill

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
56,696
Location
Cornwall
Ignore the fact I'm posting this and consider me a brand new poster,

"Hi Guys,

I have just landed a new Job which involves a 70 mile a day commute, currently I catch the train which costs me £226 a month but I don't enjoy it so was thinking about buying a car. I have £500 to spend on one, what car should I buy and are there any things I should look out for given the distances I have to drive?

Random fact 1 : In two months time (after probation) I will have £400 a month disposable income,

Random fact 2 : I live right next to one train station and a short work from the second

Thanks for your help in advance"

Honest posts please, It's for a new lad who I'm trying to point out the error of his ways (currently considering a £450 celica gt!)
 
A £500 car that he can't afford to repair or have break down? If so whatever seems in good condition has Tax and MOT and he's happy with.
Otherwise a Mondeo of WIN surely?
 
Probably take longer by car, train you can at least relax and read/ipod/play with phone, add in insurance, tax, tyres, mot and fuel and the car option is going to cost much much more before you even consider a £450 Celica GT is going to be dodgy and need constant work.

Get the train for now, save money, get the pay rise in 2 months, save more money and then when you can afford it buy a £2500 Focus/Mondeo if he still wants a car.
 
Point out that running a car and traveling 70 miles per day will be more costly than taking the train.

70 miles per day in a car that will struggle to get over 35mpg means that he will be spending:

70m per day/35mpg = 2 gallons per day= ~£12 = £60 per week.

4.5 Weeks in a month = £270 per month

So just in fuel without the insurance, repairs, tax, servicing, MOT and Tyres he's spending more on the car than he is catching the train. Plus I wonder how reliable a £500 car is going to be for that amount of mileage.
 
Just man up Will and when you've got the 911 give him the 5 series and when you want the 5 give him the Porsche keys. Everybody is happy.
 
Frankly I'd happily pay more to use my car instead of a train in most circumstances, but this isn't one of them. He simply can not afford to run a car on his current wages. If he's a young lad the insurance alone will make the cost of the car look insignificant.
 
Keep catching the train until you can actually afford a car?

How can you not be enjoying catching a train but desire to be driving 70 miles in a car that costs £500?!
 
hurfdurf said:
Keep catching the train until you can actually afford a car?

How can you not be enjoying catching a train but desire to be driving 70 miles in a car that costs £500?!
Click to expand...

Whilst I agree on the face of it, the train makes more sense. If the guy does have genuine need for a car outside of work, then killing two birds with one stone (rather than buy a £500 car AND continue to pay for the train) makes some sense.

I guess we need to know if he has real need for a car during his personal time?
 
You can easily get a perfectly servicable petrol mondeo Mk2 in good condition for £500. He needs to do this. £500 is a fine budget if it doesnt matter what car it is.
 
merlin said:
This wouldn't make sense even if he stole a car to get to work in.
Click to expand...

That was my line of thinking, let alone trying to do it on £500 for enjoyment purposes.

Get on the train, headphones on, watch some TV on the way in on your phone or listen to a Podcast, use the time to creep on girls also on the train Vs driving a £500 heap of rubbish there and back each day, probably taking up more time and being less enjoyable and much more effort.
 
cheers guys, I shall let you know if it sinks in, he still seems pretty convinced it's a good idea.

for the record I voiced most of the opinions above (I'm well trained! - pardon the pun)
 
I do 70 miles a day in a L reg fiesta.. pretty refined.



Definitely wouldn't recommend it. I'm lucky that it only takes 40 mins as I work 8-4.15 so miss the rush-hour a bit, I'm pretty close to the dual carriageway and work is right on the junction at the other end. Any more would be depressing though.

It would currently cost me 9.50 on the train as you can't use a 16-25 railcard before 10am, and I am getting 50mpg average on this journey, so it's currently slightly cheaper to go by car. When I started (July) it was much cheaper with fuel being about 20ppl less


I tried the train last summer, but the delays and getting from the station -> work were the issues I had. Apart from that I would probably trade the longer total journey duration by train for the ability to sit on my phone checking the net, or read the paper.. at least then it isn't wasted time.

I will probably get the train when its a bit warmer and if fuel goes up any more; work (placement year) is about a 15min cycle from the station so I don't want to do it in the cold as it's not worth wearing full gear just for a short ride.

He's crazy if work is right near the station though, that's my only real barrier!
 
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If it was me I'd train until I was getting the £400 a month, then get something like an MX5 for around £2k once I was off probation...
 
Ultimately Will, let him have his Celica.

Lessons learned the hard way are the ones that tend to stick in the mind.....
 
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