Comments on: For everything else… there’s overdraft

By: Matt in the Hat

Matt in the Hat — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:14:32 +0000

You do a round-trip to Preston at 300 miles a few times a year, along with the odd trip to Manc and Brum, but roughly how much of that is your 10,000 miles/year? What I mean is how much are you driving around Aber? If you cut out that driving how does that impact things?

Is there a car hire firm in Aber? The reason I ask is that, due to my mum’s good record and (surprisingly) frequent use she has been able to hire a car in Ireland for less than £100. Whilst it would certainly be expensive at first (as they don’t trust you yet) I believe that simply hiring a car for a long trip can become quite cost effective.

That all said you’ve just spent over a grand sorting this car out. It would seem a little silly to abandon it now. ride it ’till it breaks and then see next time.

By: Eskoala

Eskoala — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:16:31 +0000

The only reason car hire isn’t on here is because I tried to get a quote and they have to email me back. Before reaching the grand old age of 25 I couldn’t hire a car from most places. I have looked into it before but often it’s not much cheaper than owning a car. You’re right about the Aber miles, I do hope to cut most of that out and am making some headway in that direction by walking up the hill. I’m pretty sure though that they can’t be more than 10% of the distance (percentage of the fuel use may be a lot higher though!). We actually go to Preston something like 10 times a year, and Norfolk 2 or 3, and various other bits and pieces all over the place.

Finally, the most honest reason I can come up with is that my Dad bought me a car so I feel I have to make use of it! I’ll hang on to it until I can convince both me _and_ him that it’s a good idea to let it go.

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:44:32 +0000

Bear in mind that you got ripped off for parts. It’s not your fault, you’re female, and garage owners rip off females.

If you want to save money, learn the basics of maintaining a car yourself, including oil and filter changes (which is what they do at 99% of services). Get an account with a generic parts supplier (Like Unipart), and buy your own bits. Buy a Haynes manual for your make and model.

If you can assemble a Lego Technic set, you can fix your own car. Your car (the Fiesta, right?), like mine, is old enough that it isn’t totally dominated by an engine management unit, which means that you can do most of the work yourself without having to go through the garage-imposed ’software reset’ once you fix things. And it’s fun. No really, it’s actually fun.

–Jon

By: Eskoala

Eskoala — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:00:02 +0000

I know I did. I’m not going to Kwikfit again. In any case, no, this was the Polo (03, SE FSI) I now have. It does have hefty engine management control, by the look of it. I’m tempted to get an older car and do as you say with that. The thing is that I don’t use it enough to justify owning it. But, I *want* to own it. That’s enough, right?

PS: I used to *love* Lego Technic.