Decision help

[davidn]

Er, I might be buying a car this week. It's something that Whitney and I have sort of talked about one day getting around to considering for a while, and I've been encouraged to finally get a licence instead of continually relying on the way that Zipcar inexplicably allow me to just drive in the knowledge that I held one in a country that drove on the other side of the road, but I always thought it would be something that would get pushed off indefinitely. This afternoon, though, our neighbour came round to tell us about the plans she had for moving out, and casually offered us her car for "$500 or less".

So... I'm not sure what we should do, now. The decision would have to be made fairly quickly because she moves on Friday, though once bought, the car can freely just sit in our off-road parking space until such time as we're ready to use it. I don't know how the whole process really works in America, but I've sent an email off to the man who does our home insurance to ask what the monthly payment might be likely to be, and he should be able to give me some idea of what I'll need. I hope that I'll get time this week to test drive it and get it looked at - it's a roughly-1985 Pontiac 6000 LE (whatever that is), she says it's been good to her and she's taken it to be checked every six months, and it seems to have worked all right during the two months we've been living next to her, at least.

At the moment, hiring a Zipcar for a full day costs us about $100. So the way I see it, if it goes about five round-trip journeys of decent length before the engine jumps out and all four wheels fall off, then it's already paid for itself - and getting an incentive to finally get a licence will be welcome, as would the ability to go beyond ten minutes' walk away without a ton of planning. It might even replace the bus and train to work if I can get unterrified of driving among people from Boston. And if it doesn't work out, we can sell it on to a junkheap and probably break about even.

Is this a remotely good idea?

Edit: She's actually decided not to sell it after all, so all of this turned out to be a bit pointless - however, thanks for everyone's thoughts, and it was clear that this made us consider it, so that tells us a lot...

Comments

[silvertarna.livejournal.com]

It sounds a good idea - I can't see any way in which you'd lose out of it. Go for it!

Note: above advice is from a Certified Failure At Adulthood and should be treated with caution. Discretion recommended.

[davidn]

Thank you for that, and for the terms and conditions :) I can't really see a way in which we'd lose much, either...

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

All I know is that people have always told me that cars are a money pit, in terms of insurance and gas... but the insurance shouldn't be so bad if it's a car that's being offered for $500, in theory? And the gas costs are purely based on how much you use it, so if you really are comfortable taking public transit and just want it for occasions when you would have rented, that doesn't seem so bad either...

But I've never owned a car, so, m'eh!

[davidn]

That's right - if the insurance is less than $100 per month, then we can easily work it into the budget, and if anything came up for which we would have to put a large amount of money into it, we'd be prepared to just sell it off, not considering it vital to our existence. Although, perhaps we might start actually venturing further out, suddenly being given the opportunity!

[kibet.livejournal.com]

Maybe prices are different in the US, but we could get a car from a decade before for a similar price. That said, I think the Pontiac is meant to be almost like a Volvo, as in they just keep going although in a more comfortable fashion. You will be paying more for insurance than the car.

It may also be a gas guzzler with the age and so you may need to watch out for environmental taxes, if that is something introduced to your area. A car is only as good as the owner, so also judge it on how good the neighbour is.

[davidn]

The petrol was something I was worried about as well, but really, $2.79 per gallon of it would be refreshing no matter how much it gets through. (Although I doubt it has that strange property that the Ford Fiesta used to, where it would somehow use absolutely no petrol at all as long as it was driven at a consistent 70mph).

Still, see the update to the post - the decision has been made for me, but it was nice to get everyone's thoughts nevertheless!

[kibet.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it will seed the idea of a car in your head now.

[davidn]

I think it has - even the fact that we were taking this seriously shows that it's something that we might want to do eventually.

[tamakun.livejournal.com]

I was going to ask what make/model the car is, but after reading through the comments, I kinda made the realization that regardless of what make/model, $500 is an absolute steal for any car that seems to be in - from what you can tell - decent condition. How many miles are on it?

But, as the other commenters have mentioned, the cost of gas and insurance may be high. I pay roughly $100/month in gas and $150/month for insurance, and the gas cost is higher when we take a trip out to the cottage (which is fairly infrequently, but still). But, as you've said, 5 (to 10, factoring in those other expenses) trips instead of using the ZipCar and it's paid for itself.

I have absolutely no real guidance on this myself (I pretty much bought my current car because "it can actually pass vehicles on the highway, it has a built-in CD player, it's blue, and it has a sunroof"), but maybe if one of your local friends knows a reputable repair shop (I know, that sounds like an oxymoron), they could also give the car a once-over once you've purchased it, just for peace-of-mind, which also reminds me that there may be a need to pay for the transfer of ownership, as well.

Actually two more things to keep in mind for costs: your license to drive needs to be renewed every 1-2 years, and you may have to do the same for your license plates, and that's probably $150 for both every year. But your state may vary from Canada's laws.

(...and apparently my complete unobservantness in your stating the make and model above makes me realize just how much I didn't actually seem to read your post. <_>)

[davidn]

1-2 years! My British driving licence expires in 2054. Those are costs that I hadn't considered, you're right - I'm not sure how it works in America (as much as I'm not sure how anything really works in America).

Thanks a lot for your comments and thoughts, I really appreciate them - unfortunately, I have just learned that our neighbour has decided not to sell the car after all, so this entire post was pointless, but it's something to remember for next time :)

[tamakun.livejournal.com]

2054? That is... infinitesimally more awesome than the renewals here. (I even got a fine for driving with an expired plate, that was my mistake, but I honestly thought I had renewed it.)

It's too bad she did reconsider - but obviously much was learned :)

[kibet.livejournal.com]

Don't you have to renew the photo part of the licence though? I think mine needs updated in 2011.

[davidn]

You do... at some point. I can't remember when mine is, but I'm very grateful that it's not every two years!