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Dec 22, 2013 14:49:26 GMT
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Has anyone got any thoughts on whats the cheapest possible car to own and run? Once my Celica is gone, I am thinking of getting something else next year. Here is my situation, I have a 04 plate relay van, its a modern hdi so drives like car, but its against my garage at the end of the drive, and when I bring my company van home I have to park it on the drive and block my van in. If I need to pop out its a real pain, I have to move my works van, get my own van out, then put the works van onto the drive again. Then when I get back, its the same, pull the work van out, put my own van in, then put the work van back. Now if I am going out for the day, I don't mind doing that, but if I am nipping up the shop for a loaf of bread its an utter pain swapping back and forth for a 5 minute run out. I am having a little while out away from decent cars while I get myself out of some financial issues. But the only way I will get a car is if I can get something that very cheap to run. Working on a budget of £1000 to pay for a tax and tested car, I am trying to work out the cheapest possible car to run. I am thinking do I either, 1 try and find an old tax exempt car for that budget, so zero tax, and classic insurance. Or 2 do I go modern and get something like peugoet 206 1.4hdi which has £30 a year road tax and should do 60mpg. I am not bothered about power or speed as it will just be used for local runs as I have the van and the missus bmw for any big runs out. Anyone got any thoughts on the subject? Cheers  |
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matto
Part of things
Posts: 222
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Dec 22, 2013 15:08:20 GMT
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Bicycle... or motorbike if you have a license.
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micrat
South East
Building a Kanjo styled Cinquecento :)
Posts: 1,176 
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Dec 22, 2013 15:32:28 GMT
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My vote goes to the toyota starlet, I have had 2 now, both under 500 quid to buy, my first became a van for a while, then a b road blaster, then got sold on with 190000 miles and was still going strong, my current one is a mere 125000, runs like new, so easy to work on, massively reliable, 320 miles to a 40 quid fillup, practical...just an honest, basic, cheap car! Old one...  retrorides.proboards.com/thread/128804/starlet-exhaust-splitter-retro-rides |
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Dec 22, 2013 15:46:53 GMT
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Bicycle... or motorbike if you have a license. Yep I have a motorbike license and a few motorbikes in the garage. The problem is I would have to move both vans onto the main road to get a motorbike out, then put them back again. Another option I have considered, is getting a monkey bike, £16 a year road tax and 90mpg, that would be small enough to wheel out of my garage side door and throught the house and out of the front door. |
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Bolf
Part of things
Posts: 507
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Dec 22, 2013 15:49:05 GMT
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Dec 22, 2013 16:38:08 GMT
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. As a lover of microcars (had Isetta, Berkeley T60, Piaggio Vespacar, Honda Acty, Microcar DX125 & RJ125 and currently a Smart Fortwo) I jumped at the offer of a V reg Aixam a few years ago with long MOT & tax for £150 due to gearbox fault. Gearbox fixed easily so tried to run it as an everyday (second) car seeing wife normally nabbed the main car. It was horrible. The engine gave amazing economy and would run on veg oil but everything else was a disaster. Sorry I can't recommend them to anybody plus parts are expensive - even the tyres are special items. Paul H |
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Dec 22, 2013 16:43:24 GMT
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Road tax is one of the things I want to save money on. I don't mind paying a couple of hundred quid insurance, but I hate paying road tax when I use the car so little. Thats why I want something with either low, or free tax.
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matto
Part of things
Posts: 222
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Dec 22, 2013 18:36:47 GMT
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Bicycle... or motorbike if you have a license. Yep I have a motorbike license and a few motorbikes in the garage. The problem is I would have to move both vans onto the main road to get a motorbike out, then put them back again. Another option I have considered, is getting a monkey bike, £16 a year road tax and 90mpg, that would be small enough to wheel out of my garage side door and throught the house and out of the front door.  Sounds like a plan to me |
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Bolf
Part of things
Posts: 507
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Dec 22, 2013 19:27:05 GMT
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. As a lover of microcars (had Isetta, Berkeley T60, Piaggio Vespacar, Honda Acty, Microcar DX125 & RJ125 and currently a Smart Fortwo) I jumped at the offer of a V reg Aixam a few years ago with long MOT & tax for £150 due to gearbox fault. Gearbox fixed easily so tried to run it as an everyday (second) car seeing wife normally nabbed the main car. It was horrible. The engine gave amazing economy and would run on veg oil but everything else was a disaster. Sorry I can't recommend them to anybody plus parts are expensive - even the tyres are special items. Paul H as a lover of massive v8 german cars and rattly 80's j-tin , i had no idea , lol You see enough of them on the road , i'd not be aware of how curse word they are  sorry! |
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Dec 23, 2013 12:23:05 GMT
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A couple of quite anal observations about the OP's problem: I have a 04 plate relay van, its a modern hdi so drives like car, but its against my garage at the end of the drive, and when I bring my company van home I have to park it on the drive and block my van in. If I need to pop out its a real pain, I have to move my works van, get my own van out, then put the works van onto the drive again. Then when I get back, its the same, pull the work van out, put my own van in, then put the work van back. All I see here is a parking problem. You've got a van that's already very economical. You don't say if it needs anything done so I'll assume it's in good working order and road legal. It's blocked in by the works van, which you presumably can't use for personal journeys. The works van is the blocker (literally) to you using your own van. Does the works van need to go on the drive because there's no other parking? Is there no chance of an arrangement with your work to use the van for personal journeys to get around the two-van-shuffle when you need to go out? It's been years since I had a car or van from work so maybe this is frowned upon but I still know loads of guys who do and most of them have their work van instead of their own car. Working on a budget of £1000 to pay for a tax and tested car, I am trying to work out the cheapest possible car to run. Spending cash to replace something you already have on the basis of "spending to save" sounds like some rubbish a government minister would come up with to justify buying some new bombs or submarines. I just don't see how replacing the already economical and paid for van or adding another car to the parking problem is going to help with the overall situation. You've set a budget of about a grand for a new car, could the grand be spent on the garden/driveway to give you some room to get the van and bikes out easier? |
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Dec 23, 2013 13:10:58 GMT
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Battles, my own van, the relay is indeed working and all legal, its a medium wheelbase panel van but fits in most parking spaces so its ok to use for nipping to the shops etc. I bought it for moving my bikes to drag racing events. You are correct, I can't use my work van for personal use. I work for British Gas, so there is no chance of them letting me use it for personal driving, its a long wheel base luton style 3.5 ton van which is why I struggle to park it near my house. It has to go on the drive, I live on a busy main road so its not suitable for leaving the van for more than a few minutes. There is off street parking across the road, sometimes theres room to park the works van, a lot of the time its solid with cars, but I have had complaints from neighbours when I leave the van there, as it leaves them no room to park there own cars after work.
What I should have mentioned is that I run a car too, I have a 1992 Celica. My house is a semi, the 2 vans sit down the side of my house, and my Celica sits in front of the bay window at the front. With both vans on the drive, I have just enough room to get the car in and out past the front of the house. My long term plan is to sell the Celica, and replace it with something that is very cheap to run.
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Dec 23, 2013 13:31:39 GMT
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Battles, I have the day off any nothing to do, so I have drawn a picture on paint My 2 real choices are Sell the Celica, and just struggle with the vans Sell the Celica, and replace it with something thats silly cheap to run The Celica, just swings past the front my house and the work van and out through the drive, neither of the vans will fit where the car is, and there is no scope to change the drive, once the work van is parked, I can't acutally walk down the side and get to the back garden.  |
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Dec 23, 2013 14:44:51 GMT
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Leave works van - at work ! If you use it to go to and from home then you will still be liable for tax on that aspect even though no other private use. If work say it's essential you have the van near to hand then tell them to pay the cost of hiring a suitable parking space. After all why should you provide them with free parking of their vehicle ?
Paul H
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Dec 23, 2013 15:26:27 GMT
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Paul, we do not have a works premises, I am field based, I leave home on a morning, drive straight to customers houses and work there, then come home again. We are allowed to bring the van home and pay zero tax as long as it goes straight home after work and its not used for personal use. I worked in the exact same job at another company for a decade and had the same thing there. We had to sign a tax declaration stating we would drive the van home immediately after work, and if we got caught using the van out of hours it would be classed as a company car and we would have to pay tax on it.
For the last few years I have never minded bringing the works van home. I have nearly always had a pickup or a van of my own at the back of the house which was blocked in, and a car out front. Its only lately its causing a problem as work is quiet, which means less bonus so its getting hard to run a car and van of my own. So when my car goes, thats when my own van getting blocked in becomes a problem.
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Dec 23, 2013 15:31:40 GMT
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Awesome paint skillz!
I see the problem clearly now, I think that your Celica either needs to become your reliable daily driver or needs to make room for one. If access is tight (you said the Celica only just makes it) then a wee tiny car would be a good shout.
Have you got a non-drag racer bike that you could secure in the spot that the Celica currently occupies?
Some cement and a ground anchor would be less expensive that another motor.
You mentioned a monkeybike earlier, have you seen the 'leccy ones?
We've just moved to our first house where we can get cars and bikes into the garden and it's loads closer to my work so I was thinking about an electric monkeybike.
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Dec 23, 2013 15:56:42 GMT
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We had to sign a tax declaration stating we would drive the van home immediately after work, and if we got caught using the van out of hours it would be classed as a company car and we would have to pay tax on it. Leave works van - at work ! If you use it to go to and from home then you will still be liable for tax on that aspect even though no other private use. This is a total bummer. Spoke to a couple of mates on FB who have works vans, this seems to be the norm. The declaration for HMRC is legit and exempts you from the benefit in kind implications of taking the van home if you are field based. One of them says that their fleet manager has confirmed that they are insured all the time so it's only the tax implication that seems to be stopping them using the vans more. Maybe there's a disciplinary implication too? Anyway, sneaky company tactics aside, have you had a look on Gumtree/Ebay for tiny engined cars? |
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Dec 23, 2013 16:08:55 GMT
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The celica is a good car which has never let me down, its that I use it so little its hard to justify having it there. The celica makes it on the drive ok, just needs to be put on carefully, I could get my old jag on too, just had to go in dead straight, then at the exact time, full lock and it would just make it. I really fancy something that will do 50 mpg, like one of the newer 1.4 diesels that has £30 road tax, or maybe a micra k11, which would be be in the under lower old group tax of under 1.5 litre.
I have 2 bandit 1200s, ones for the street, ones for drag, but both are road legal, only prob with those is my insurance says they have to be in a brick built garage for theft cover. It not worth the risk, I would rather play musical vans than risk one of my bikes outside.
Yes I have seen those electric bikes, very clever. My garage has a side door, I can wheel a small bike out of there, through the house back door, and out through the front door. Away down the road without moving anything. I have done it once with a Yamaha XT350 and it was a nightmare, I had to move loads of stuff in the house and my lass wasn't happy. With a small monkey bike, that could go straight out without causing problems.
The insurance policy for my bikes is great, any 5 bikes can on the policy as long as they are over 10 years old, its cheap as chips to ad an extra bike.
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Dec 23, 2013 16:19:18 GMT
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We had to sign a tax declaration stating we would drive the van home immediately after work, and if we got caught using the van out of hours it would be classed as a company car and we would have to pay tax on it. Leave works van - at work ! If you use it to go to and from home then you will still be liable for tax on that aspect even though no other private use. This is a total bummer. Spoke to a couple of mates on FB who have works vans, this seems to be the norm. The declaration for HMRC is legit and exempts you from the benefit in kind implications of taking the van home if you are field based. One of them says that their fleet manager has confirmed that they are insured all the time so it's only the tax implication that seems to be stopping them using the vans more. Maybe there's a disciplinary implication too? Anyway, sneaky company tactics aside, have you had a look on Gumtree/Ebay for tiny engined cars? I don't really mind bringing the van home from work, apart from the blocking in problem. Its extra security on the house, it means no one can walk from the main road to the rear of the house. It also means I don't have to pay to run a vehicle to get to work. If I really pushed things at work, I could probably leave the van in the car park of our call centre and training academy, but this would be shooting myself in the foot, as then I would have to commute across to get the van and pay my own fuel, and then I would also have the hassle of sitting traffic on a morning and an evening, our call centre is set in the middle of the biggest roundabout I have ever seen on the side of Leeds centre. (not even sure if its actually a roundabout to be honest, as its that big) I have seen micro cars but not had a proper look at them. |
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LowStandards
Club Retro Rides Member
Bigging Up The Sum Sum Man Since '99
Posts: 2,642
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Dec 23, 2013 18:49:33 GMT
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I'm really confused with the issue here
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Dec 23, 2013 18:52:21 GMT
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I'm really confused with the issue here The thread has gone off a little with me explaining my reasons for wanting one, but the short question is. What cars for under £1000 are very cheap to run? |
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sorry!
