How do people deal with the buying car/selling car money dilemma?

dirtychinchilla

dirtychinchilla

dirtychinchilla

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Joined
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Woking
Hey guys,

As per the title really, I'm looking to sell my MX-5 as it's not working out for me, and I'm in the market for a different budget car. However, if you don't have lots of cash sitting in the bank, how do you deal with the issue of not having enough money to buy the new car until you've sold the old car? And therefore you can't buy a car because you haven't got the money yet, but if you sell your car then you can't get to work...

What do people do to deal with this?! I have some cash, but then if my car doesn't sell I've let myself in for a big credit card bill.



On another note, I'm hoping to buy an extremely cheap and fairly rapid BMW (>£1,500) - where would be the best place to buy one of these? Saw one on AutoTrader, but it's in Nottingham and I don't think I can really trek up there only to find it's crap, and also don't just have the cash to buy it straight up as I haven't sold the MX-5 yet.

Cheers,

dirtychinchilla
 
Mmm I was hoping the guy I'm buying from would trade, but he wasn't interested in my car. I'd drop the price a tad just to simplify things (if he threw in a full tank of fuel), but I don't think he's going to go for that.
 
wingman said:
This rapid BMW really doesn't sound like a good idea... :)

It's either extremely cheap because it's a wreck, or because it's not far off being one.
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Yeah I know what you mean. If it can do 10,000 more miles, though, that would be fine. I've just checked it here: https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ with the reg (W863 WBT) and I don't really know what to make of what it says on there to be honest!
 
wingman said:
This rapid BMW really doesn't sound like a good idea... :)

It's either extremely cheap because it's a wreck, or because it's not far off being one.
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Not strictly true, it could simply be old.

My 1992 325i saloon was just shy of £1,500 and that was back in 2009 IIRC.

It was old, but it was actually in lovely condition (granted I needed to spend £200 getting the subframe strengthened/welded, but I was aware of this possibility during the purchase).
 
Part of me is thinking, it's a BMW with 70k on the clock, how bad can it really be! There are a few more on AutoTrader which are of a similar price, but much closer. I think those would at least be a more reasonable option than going 2 hours up north!
 
For cars under £1,500 I'd be tempted to look on eBay instead. Autotrader adverts aren't the cheapest and as a result you tend to get better choice on eBay (or even gumtree).
 
Trade it in at a dealer, it's what I did.

Set up a search on Autotrader app with the cars that I am looking for, limit the field to dealers only. When the right car comes up then go look at the car along with yours and haggle for a price.

You will not get as good price doing this compare to selling it private but it also solves the problem of cash flow, plus you also get a bit more legal protection in terms of the new vehicle too.
 
You could get yourself a 0% purchases credit card, and pay it off after your mx5 sells. That would at least give you some breathing space and you wouldn't have to take a low offer because the pressure is on.
 
paradigm said:
Not strictly true, it could simply be old.

My 1992 325i saloon was just shy of £1,500 and that was back in 2009 IIRC.

It was old, but it was actually in lovely condition (granted I needed to spend £200 getting the subframe strengthened/welded, but I was aware of this possibility during the purchase).
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True enough. I was pertaining to the "fairly rapid" element of the sentence. I suppose I had visions of a clapped out 330Ci or a knackered 540i auto with its exhaust hanging down, a curious engine knocking noise with no SH...

The 325i is a probably still an okay middle ground, but that was 7 years ago, I'm not sure I'd want to be owning an almost 25 year old BMW, including and especially when the cash flow changeover of £1,500 is of concern.

Just had a look at the reg, W863 WBT, it's an E46... If I had £1,500 to throw at a BMW I'd probably go for it too.

Jamesyboyjim said:
You could get yourself a 0% purchases credit card, and pay it off after your mx5 sells. That would at least give you some breathing space and you wouldn't have to take a low offer because the pressure is on.
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Good suggestion.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions guys. I don't feel comfortable with the credit card. I have the cash to buy one of these cars outright, but without having a buyer for mine I really don't want to stick my neck out on that cash (it's all my savings). So although I could avoid the dilemma, I don't want to risk it.

I'm glad to hear you guys think such a low value BMW would be alright though. There is another if you're looking at regs - V570 PHJ. I'd appreciate your feedback on the MOT reports.
 
Yeah fair enough! As much as I wish I could afford a brand new car, I don't like them all that much. I like the sort of rough and ready older car :) I've never had an all electric modern car and when I've driven one it's not given me the feel that I like having only ever had older cars.
 
SDK^ said:
This is one of the reasons I choose to lease cars now - it's just so much less hassle !!
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It isn't really is it. There is often a considerable lead time on lease cars and dates slip more often than not. It's your first lease and you've yet to experience the fun of balancing your next lease start with the end of the current one which has every chance of being even more of a ball ache than selling a 1500 quid MX5.

VW are particularly bad at this but even people who ordered lowly Cactus leases have been waiting 10 weeks with no firm date.
 
^ some people make out buying used cars rocket science...

As said above a 0% credit card, or you could always get a loan and pay it back early?
 
Yeah, I don't get why having it on a 0% card wouldn't be comfortable? I mean, you have the cash there should it all go wrong, but these cards often come with almost 2 years of 0%, so if you cant sell your £1500 mx5 in that time, then its clearly not worth £1500. It's basically a zero cost option that negates the exact problem you're asking about.

However, for a private sale, paying by card might not be an option. So you may have to perform a bit of "card juggling". So find a card with the best cash advance rate, and one with the best balance transfer rate, and withdraw on one card, and swap to the other. Might cost a few % in the end, so not free, but certainly a way to go.
 
xs2man said:
Yeah, I don't get why having it on a 0% card wouldn't be comfortable? I mean, you have the cash there should it all go wrong, but these cards often come with almost 2 years of 0%, so if you cant sell your £1500 mx5 in that time, then its clearly not worth £1500. It's basically a zero cost option that negates the exact problem you're asking about.

However, for a private sale, paying by card might not be an option. So you may have to perform a bit of "card juggling". So find a card with the best cash advance rate, and one with the best balance transfer rate, and withdraw on one card, and swap to the other. Might cost a few % in the end, so not free, but certainly a way to go.
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Given he actually has the cash, it's probably easier to just use it and have a 0% card ready for any emergency spending that the cash would have covered in the mean time.
 
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