The Hidden Costs of Cheap Cars

Hello guys and girls, how we all doing today? I’m living my best life as always, and I hope you are too!

Today I thought I’d try and drop a bit of knowledge on the car buying process, more specifically, the process of buying a cheap car or you might wanna call it, a dinger, a project, cheap runabout. Either way, we’ve all been there and have either been tempted by or bit the bullet and gone for it. You know the one, it’s on Facebook Marketplace for £800, looks half-decent in the photos, and you’re already thinking about the first mods before you’ve even seen it in person.

But here’s the thing: that cheap price tag? It’s often just the start of a weight reduction journey for your bank balance.

The Price Tag Isn’t the Whole Story

When you see a cheap car, the mindset is usually, “that’s a bargain! What could go wrong?” And to be fair, sometimes you do find a gem. But more often than not, the savings upfront are hiding a list of jobs that someone else didn’t want to deal with.

That £1,000 runabout might need: A £400 clutch, new set of tyres, a service it’s been missing for two years, or forever. Or even worse, something like a turbo or gearbox starting to give up. We all know that list could go on forever, but I won’t bore you with that.

Suddenly, with that bargain of a car, you’re almost 2 grand deep, with a bunch of parts that cost more than the car did. Plus, that’s before you’ve even got onto insurance, fuel and tax as well.

When Cheap Cars Actually Make Sense

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying all cheap cars are a bad move. There’s a place for them and sometimes you get an absolute gem of a find. Whether it be a daily driver or more of a project car to work on.

The key difference? Going in with your eyes open. If you go to look at a car that’s up for £500, and you know it’s gonna need an extra few hundred quid chucked at it to get it going proper, then you’re on the right track. If you buy it thinking it’ll be trouble free and ready to do a European road trip out the gate, well you might just need to give your head a wobble.

Avoiding the Money Pit

Now I did say at the start of this post that I would impart some knowledge and experience on buying a cheap motor and what to do to avoid digging a hole that you’ll need a lottery win to get out of. Well maybe not that deep, but you catch my flow.

Before viewing, or even enquiring have a gander at the MOT history, it tells a story about the past of the car and the types of owners it’s had. If you see lists of advisories and fails. It’s pretty fair to say that it might need some more money thrown at it.

Budget a “repair fund” of at least 30% of the car’s price, this gives you that head start on when things start to go wrong or fixes you need to sort straight away.

Don’t skip a test drive or actually viewing the car, I know these two are pretty common things. But for this kind of budget, make sure you at least see the car.

Last bit of game to pass on, try and do some checks to make sure the car isn’t stolen or cloned. Sometimes this can be easier said than done, but better to be safe than sorry. Also worth looking to see if it’s been involved in a crash, category cars come cheap for a reason, checking repairs is a must.

I’ve had a few beat up daily drivers in my time, some I wish I never sold, and some I’d be happy to forget ever existed. They have this charm about them, almost like an underdog in some ways. We think we will be the person to give it the glory that it deserves, just sometimes it doesn’t work out that way.

So, are cheap cars always bad? Not always, just be cautious and you’ll come out on the right side of things. If you’re thinking of grabbing that bargain you spotted online, take a step back and run the numbers first.

What about you? Have you ever bought a cheap car that ended up costing more than you planned? Or did you manage to bag a proper steal? Let me know, I’d love to hear the wins and the war stories.

Next post? Well since you got this far, only fair for a little teaser. Next weeks post is a BIG one! More personal than I’ve been before, and hopefully it’s got some advice in that can help everyone, regardless whether you’re into cars or not.

Till then, enjoy the ride.

E.