A little financial advice please

[macp]

Swmbo and I have been discussing and thinking about this for ages but just cannot come to a conclusion. I thought why not throw it open to the collective and see what they think

So we have a 2002 Fiesta 1.25 with 80,000mls which has ended up (long story) doing all the work of the family run around and work hack for the wife. There are three of us in the family plus two small mutts and although the car copes with being a hack and a commuter its not really adequate for doing the family holidays with all the luggage etc. We spent £400 on it earlier this year to get through the MOT and I reckon it needs another £500 spending on it now. We feel we need a slightly larger car with a slightly larger capacity engine. So go out and buy one I hear you say well we have a small loan of approx £2k which we are paying off with around 2yrs to run so if we took out another loan we would have to refinance to cover the £2k. A £4k car would effectively mean a loan of £6k which we would rather avoid. We do have a small amount in savings which would pay off the loan and maybe buy a cheap car with the fiesta taken in part ex but then we would have wiped out all of our security blanket money.

What would you do ?

Thanks in advance.

[sideways sid]

Don't spend £4k on another car. Part-ex the Fiesta for a £2k Focus. There are hundreds on Autotrader that will do you/her perfectly well until you can afford to upgrade.

[macp]

sideways sid said:

Don't spend £4k on another car. Part-ex the Fiesta for a £2k Focus. There are hundreds on Autotrader that will do you/her perfectly well until you can afford to upgrade.

So if we get £500 quid in part ex for the Fiesta we need to find £1500 for the Focus.

Thanks all for the advice so far.

Edited by macp on Thursday 30th August 16:15

[Speedy1995]

last out the fiesta till the loan is payed off then with the money you were paying out for the loan repayments save that towards another car there are plenty of diesel passats for peanuts but they may be older than the fiesta and have more miles but will give you good fuel econimy . Also have you considered getting a brand new car on finance . Good luck hope it works out for you happy car hunting .

[valiant]

Spend the £500 on doing it up and keep it for another 2 years. You know the car and it's history. If you buy another car for a couple of grand it may well develop issues which may leave you financially worse off.

I'm no prude when it comes to finance but in my humble (and possibly completely wrong) opinion it may be better for you to clear one thing before starting another loan.

Just my 2p worth.

[Fatman2]

As above, don't double up your liability so just wait till you clear one loan before starting again. I, like you, have a loan and also the cash to pay it off but I'd rather pay the interest and keep the liquidity.

80k miles is nothing so the Fiesta should (I say should) go for a whole load more. However, only you know the state of your car so are best placed to know if the £500 is only going to be the start of a load more bills. Hopefull not but I guess you have to weigh it up.

If it makes you feel any better my cars have 86k and 94k and are both still going strong.

[Speedy1995]

My mums 306 has had a back box fall off while doing 40 and has a whole in its bumper and 100,000 miles . It must want to be like the song Live Forever