Yogibear Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 I have two Australian relatives comming to stay with us for 6 weeks from the start of April. They have looked at car hire and is comming out at about £700 ish all in for a focus type car. The question they are asking is should they buy a £800 car, run it for 6 weeks and then try to sell it before they go for what they paid for it, ish Your thoughts and opinions would be welcome as I can see £700 is a lot of money but I can just see buying a car full of pitfalls?? Fraser Quote
Norman Verona Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 I would buy an Escort or similar. Then leave it for you to sell and send on the money. Have a look at what £800 buys on Autotrader. Quote
Graham0127 Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 Pay peanuts...get monkeys £800 will buy a car but how reliable/roadworthy Hire car will have recovery no doubt. Insurance,,,,,,economy Hire a car......nice and new,clean & most important a backup which will give them peace of mind. IMHO go for a hire car. Quote
pistonbroke Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 Brother in law did exactly that when he stayed for 8 weeks with his family , bought a banger mondeno and actually made a small profit when he sold it , the main problem afair was insurance , can't remeber the details as it was yonks ago but it all worked out a lot cheaper than hiring for the same period so presumably was worth the hassle HTH Quote
Norman Verona Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 Just had a quick look. There's 7996 cars between £500 and £1000. For £1000 asking price you can get a Ford Focus 2003. Quote
pistonbroke Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 If its 700 a week for the hire car its a no brainer , what chance a 8 - 10 yr old ford , current MOT having catospheric break down , even if it doese replacement cost is cheap as chips and if the worst happens scrap values are high Quote
Graham0127 Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 Norman......would you travel 11000 miles for a six week break and drive a £800 Escort ? Come on ......we`ve all made tougher decisions than that. Quote
Norman Verona Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 Graham, in short - yes. Assuming they are not millionire's the £700 they save can be spent on much better things. Quote
Graham0127 Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 They aren`t really going to save £700 though. Buy a banger and unlikely to have road tax. Insurance as tourists may be expensive. Fuel consumption likely to be higher. Then you`ve got to sell it! Great to read your opinions as usual though Norm Quote
Yogibear Posted February 13, 2013 Author Posted February 13, 2013 If its 700 a week for the hire car its a no brainer , what chance a 8 - 10 yr old ford , current MOT having catospheric break down , even if it doese replacement cost is cheap as chips and if the worst happens scrap values are high Sorry it's £700 for the full 6 weeks Quote
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 Interestingly my son is in a near-mirror image position. He is working in Sydney for a year and is looking at buying a car while he's there. He says that a car you'd pay a couple of hundred pounds for here, costs many hundreds of A$ there - more than a thousand in some cases. He has yet to choose one... Quote
Graham0127 Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 Sorry it's £700 for the full 6 weeks Very wise decision I feel................ Don`t ya just luv a forum Really hope they enjoy their stay. Quote
Yogibear Posted February 13, 2013 Author Posted February 13, 2013 Very wise decision I feel................ Don`t ya just luv a forum Really hope they enjoy their stay. They have a mx5 in oz so how do you think my brother in law will get on with the Westfield no top experience Just has to hope it does not rain Quote
Captain Colonial Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 May I ask why they want to have access a car every single day for 6 weeks? Are they likely to be driving vast distances for extended periods if they're staying with you? Can they not hire a small car for 24 hours at a time from Enterprise et al at probably £35 a day, as and when it's needed? I'm assuming you don't have a spare car that they could pay to have themselves put on your insurance. Are they travelling so far or to such exotic places that they can't get there by train on a Super Saver or Rail Pass? Quote
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