First Motor

[Mythste]

This is properly off topic but I appreciate the opinion of many on here, so, help!

I'm 30, I've lived inner city life for most of my grown up life and last year we (Me and Mrs Mythste) purchased our first house on a commuter line into Manchester. We're almost rural. How chic.

I have no desire to drive, I cycle to work 3 days a week (28 mile round trip) and get the train twice a week. I'm really rather happy with this arrangement. Too many cars is silly, and we all need to make better travel decision making.

However,

1. Mrs Mythste does all the leisure driving, and that's weighing on my soul because I'm a reasonable human - though she would never admit if she did feel that was at all unfair.

2. (more importantly) we want a dog. An office dog. To use public transport or a bike trailer through winter feels a bit tight.

3. I don't want to rely on mtb mates for lifts to trail centres all the time.

So what do I do? I'm bloody 30 and looking at shoeboxes. I'm not putting any real money into it because I don't really want to. I'm not paying many thousands of pounds a year for insurance, and I anticipate that everything other than the drivers seat will be covered in mud/dog detritus/mtb detritus more often than not. £2k budget seems reasonable and even that feels like pushing it.

I've ran a few quotes and anything over 1.2 litre seems to pop insurance into the £1.5k per year bracket so that can feck right off.

Any ideas? Recommendations?

[The Cumbrian]

Have you thought about a small van? You should be able to get a bike or two in the back as well.

[Lazarus]

can you not just driver her car if she does all the leisure driving - I am not sure what the term means tbh.

Secondly getting a car because you are getting a dog seems a tad of an over reaction to me.what if it gets car sick !

Thirdly your first ever insurance is going to sting very very badlly indeed what ever you buy.
I drive a 1.2 3 cyclinder LPG car [skoda fabia it seems to work and I have only fixed things that wear out in 6 years of ownership]- so even less power than petrol
It will cruise at 70 and keep up with traffic so not sure why you need anything bigger- is it going to be a really heavy dog
I do use a tow bar mount for bikes but you could get two in the boot

[Mythste]

Have you thought about a small van? You should be able to get a bike or two in the back as well.

This would be ideal, but something about the van classification seems to bump the insurance for, what I can tell, no reason whatsoever. Happy for someone to point me in the right direction here if there is a right direction, a van would be preferable in almost every way.

[Mythste]

can you not just driver her car if she does all the leisure driving - I am not sure what the term means tbh.

Secondly getting a car because you are getting a dog seems a tad of an over reaction to me.what if it gets car sick !

Thirdly your first ever insurance is going to sting very very badlly indeed what ever you buy.
I drive a 1.2 3 cyclinder LPG car [skoda fabia it seems to work and I have only fixed things that wear out in 6 years of ownership]- so even less power than petrol
It will cruise at 70 and keep up with traffic so not sure why you need anything bigger- is it going to be a really heavy dog
I do use a tow bar mount for bikes but you could get two in the boot

I’m classing leisure as everything we use a motor for that isn’t currently accessible by bicycle or train.

Visiting the family two hours away, going camping and trekking in the lakes, trips to IKEA and similar retail hellholes, etc.

Rightly so about the pooch, but it’s the straw that’s breaking my stubborn back.

She actually has a Fabia 1.6 (I think) but It’s prohibitively expensive for me to be insured on it and unfortunate she uses it as a daily commuter so that takes it out the equation for many of my needs.

[FLV]

Skoda Roomster, 1.2 petrol.

Think the back seats come out so it can be just like a van

[whitestone]

Skoda Roomster, 1.2 petrol.

Think the back seats come out so it can be just like a van

They, the seats, do. We had the 1.8 diesel version. I don't think we had two of the three seats in for over seven years! A bit short to sleep in the back if you are 180cm or more.

[slarge]

Try adding your gran to your insurance as a named driver - reduced my sons premium by around £300 in his first year. You must still be the main driver though

[thenorthwind]

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but once again, I'm going to go "Berlingo". It's a van in as much as you can get lots of stuff in it, inc bikes and dogs (tailgate opens right down to the low floor, so there's no lip for hound to clear), but it's a car on the V5 and for insurance/tax purposes (this is the Multispace I'm talking about rather than the actual van), and speed limit purposes. Also you can buy a 10 year old <100k miles for under £2k which would only get you the rustiest "proper" van with 200k miles on it.

[Cheeky Monkey]

Vans do tend to be pricier (something to do with insurance's automatic assumption they will be higher mileage work vehicles IIRC). As others have pointed out, you can get nearly the same functionality out of several van-like MPV and they tend to fall in cheaper insurance categories (plus they are usually not classed as "vans" so not subject to lower speed limits etc - therein lies another minefield!).

For your first couple of years I'd get the cheapest, most gutless banger you feel comfortable with and just treat it as a way to build up No Claims. Bangers can be had for way less than £2k but they are a risk, particularly if you are not car-mechanically-minded.

Important to accept that a car is a hole into which you periodically throw money, be it insurance, fuel, maintenance, MOT and tax. At the end of it the vehicle will probably be worth nowt. Just the way it is

[Mythste]

Vans do tend to be pricier (something to do with insurance's automatic assumption they will be higher mileage work vehicles IIRC). As others have pointed out, you can get nearly the same functionality out of several van-like MPV and they tend to fall in cheaper insurance categories (plus they are usually not classed as "vans" so not subject to lower speed limits etc - therein lies another minefield!).

For your first couple of years I'd get the cheapest, most gutless banger you feel comfortable with and just treat it as a way to build up No Claims. Bangers can be had for way less than £2k but they are a risk, particularly if you are not car-mechanically-minded.

Important to accept that a car is a hole into which you periodically throw money, be it insurance, fuel, maintenance, MOT and tax. At the end of it the vehicle will probably be worth nowt. Just the way it is

I appreciate the honesty, I'm not car minded but I am mechanically sympathetic so short of eletrical sensors and the like I'd be happy sitting down, researching what's what, and having a crack. I know enough car mechanics who will give me sound advice in terms of what is or what isn't worth fixing.

Van style family motor with a poxy engine it is. Berlingo, Qubo, Nemo, or Teepee. They all seem to be fine, apart from the ones that aren't. Sigh.

It's going to spend its life caked in crap anyway! Wish me luck!

[Lazarus]

Good luck then

I agree with this though hence why i practice bangernomics

Important to accept that a car is a hole into which you periodically throw money, be it insurance, fuel, maintenance, MOT and tax. At the end of it the vehicle will probably be worth nowt. Just the way it is

[johnnystorm]

Worth adding the Fiat Doblo to the list.

[Blair512]

Worth adding the Fiat Doblo to the list.

I have a Fiat Qubo, it's like the Doblos little brother, 1.3 Multijet diesel gives me 50mpg on my 80 mile round trip commute, £20 a year to tax and £300 a year to insure with no no-claims bonus as I hadn't driven in over 10 years. I've just bought a newer replacement as my old one was getting past it @ 120000 miles. I looked at the Doblo to give me a bigger load area but I struggled to find one that wasn't wheelchair converted and I do occasionally put the back seats in to run the bairns about.

[Mythste]

Worth adding the Fiat Doblo to the list.

I have a Fiat Qubo, it's like the Doblos little brother, 1.3 Multijet diesel gives me 50mpg on my 80 mile round trip commute, £20 a year to tax and £300 a year to insure with no no-claims bonus as I hadn't driven in over 10 years. I've just bought a newer replacement as my old one was getting past it @ 120000 miles. I looked at the Doblo to give me a bigger load area but I struggled to find one that wasn't wheelchair converted and I do occasionally put the back seats in to run the bairns about.

Ohh that's really interesting about the converted Doblos! We dont and won't have bairns, but the additional wheelchair space would actually be bang on. They're a bit over budget but they look like they might last a bit longer and be a much better bet for camping/touring in too.

Cracking inadvertant shout!

[thenorthwind]

Worth adding the Fiat Doblo to the list.

I have a Fiat Qubo, it's like the Doblos little brother, 1.3 Multijet diesel gives me 50mpg on my 80 mile round trip commute, £20 a year to tax and £300 a year to insure with no no-claims bonus as I hadn't driven in over 10 years. I've just bought a newer replacement as my old one was getting past it @ 120000 miles. I looked at the Doblo to give me a bigger load area but I struggled to find one that wasn't wheelchair converted and I do occasionally put the back seats in to run the bairns about.

Ohh that's really interesting about the converted Doblos! We dont and won't have bairns, but the additional wheelchair space would actually be bang on. They're a bit over budget but they look like they might last a bit longer and be a much better bet for camping/touring in too.

Cracking inadvertant shout!

Hmmm... I've bought a few Berlingos and always avoided the wheelchair conversions, even though I rarely use it with the rear seats in. I think you'd want to take the ramp out to save space and weight, and imagine that would be hassle in patching it back together to work as a normal load space. I'm not sure how much modification is involved though.

[Mythste]

Worth adding the Fiat Doblo to the list.

I have a Fiat Qubo, it's like the Doblos little brother, 1.3 Multijet diesel gives me 50mpg on my 80 mile round trip commute, £20 a year to tax and £300 a year to insure with no no-claims bonus as I hadn't driven in over 10 years. I've just bought a newer replacement as my old one was getting past it @ 120000 miles. I looked at the Doblo to give me a bigger load area but I struggled to find one that wasn't wheelchair converted and I do occasionally put the back seats in to run the bairns about.

Ohh that's really interesting about the converted Doblos! We dont and won't have bairns, but the additional wheelchair space would actually be bang on. They're a bit over budget but they look like they might last a bit longer and be a much better bet for camping/touring in too.

Cracking inadvertant shout!

Hmmm... I've bought a few Berlingos and always avoided the wheelchair conversions, even though I rarely use it with the rear seats in. I think you'd want to take the ramp out to save space and weight, and imagine that would be hassle in patching it back together to work as a normal load space. I'm not sure how much modification is involved though.

I'm sure I could fashion some sort of removable tray to fill the space normally occupied by a ramp, or even better some functional storage space. I'm not above a project like that!. Or to be honest, keep the ramp as is and look well posh at the trailhead wheeling my bikes out of the back!

[thenorthwind]

Worth adding the Fiat Doblo to the list.

I have a Fiat Qubo, it's like the Doblos little brother, 1.3 Multijet diesel gives me 50mpg on my 80 mile round trip commute, £20 a year to tax and £300 a year to insure with no no-claims bonus as I hadn't driven in over 10 years. I've just bought a newer replacement as my old one was getting past it @ 120000 miles. I looked at the Doblo to give me a bigger load area but I struggled to find one that wasn't wheelchair converted and I do occasionally put the back seats in to run the bairns about.

Ohh that's really interesting about the converted Doblos! We dont and won't have bairns, but the additional wheelchair space would actually be bang on. They're a bit over budget but they look like they might last a bit longer and be a much better bet for camping/touring in too.

Cracking inadvertant shout!

Hmmm... I've bought a few Berlingos and always avoided the wheelchair conversions, even though I rarely use it with the rear seats in. I think you'd want to take the ramp out to save space and weight, and imagine that would be hassle in patching it back together to work as a normal load space. I'm not sure how much modification is involved though.

I'm sure I could fashion some sort of removable tray to fill the space normally occupied by a ramp, or even better some functional storage space. I'm not above a project like that!. Or to be honest, keep the ramp as is and look well posh at the trailhead wheeling my bikes out of the back!

I'm not entirely convinced, but I love a good project so come back with pictures