Are cheap “Runabout” cars false economy?
Not in the slightest, they are by far the cheapest way to be a motorist. Look at it this way: the cheapest cars you can buy new are around £140 a month…. for several years. By the time you come to sell it half that value at least will be gone. If you decide to get another new one, the payments basically continue on. Even a new-ish car on HP will set you back around £99 a month. This comes to at least £1200 a year. For many, more like £2000 or more. This is just the cost of the supposed peace of mind that a new car gives. With £1200 a year in mind, buying a £300 car with as much MoT as possible is only bad if you end up spending more than £1200 total, per year. That’s 3 other £300 cars if the one you have proves unsaveable. You often get the line “Don’t spend more than the car’s worth”. This doesn’t always apply in real life. If you get a bargain of a £125 car with 60k miles and a sweet running engine, then paying out £300 or so when the clutch and brakes need fixing one day is not wr
