First Car proposal from parents - advice needed

dara_con

Hi all,

My parents are looking at getting a new car, at the moment they drive an 05 renault. To give a bit of context, I am 22, I live at home, in galway city, I work full time. Only a 15 minute cycle to and from work, 25 minute bus ride.

I have been browsing carsireland for the past couple of months 'window shopping', I've never been serious about buying a car. But after this proposal I am considering it.

They have proposed if I would like to buy the car off them, and they would put that towards the value of a new car.
I could afford it, but not sure if it'll will be money well spent because I know I don't NEED a car, with public transport and my bike I can get where I want to go.

Just looking for peoples opinions on whether this is a good idea.

colm_mcm

So you buy their 05 car from them and they buy a new one for themselves?

dara_con

Yes. That's it. For a first car, I really wouldn't mind the renault.

Toyotafanboi

Doesn't sound like a great "proposal" to you. You don't really want or need a car but your parents will sell you their 12 year old, 190k km Renault and will allocate that payment off their new car.

Atlantic Dawn

You don't mention whether you have a full licence or not but just say you do your looking at I would say around €2500 plus for a years insurance, you then have running costs, cost of car etc on top of that. You don't mention the model of car the Renault is, ideally you would want something below 1.4 litre for starting off in for insurance reasons.

If it was me and I had not got a full driving licence I would instead spend money on driving lessons and pass the test before making the decision to buy a car. Might work out best to go insured on your parents new car (if they let you) for a year to see if you actually need a car.

colm_mcm

dara_con wrote: »

Yes. That's it. For a first car, I really wouldn't mind the renault.

Feck that. If they gave it to you for free maybe, but what's in it for you?

dara_con

I was thinking it a good proposal - in terms of cost and the fact I know who the car is coming from and the condition its been in over the years?

colm_mcm

How cheap is it, and what model is it?


You clearly don't need a car by the looks of it though.

Big Bag of Chips

Do you want a car?

Personally, and it is just from my own experience, I would never touch a Renault again. Especially not one that old. Me and 3 friends all had different Renaults a while back, all around that age, and all cars gave unending trouble.

If you don't need a car at the moment then save your money until you do need one and get something a bit newer, that mightn't cost you much to maintain. Keep window shopping.

dara_con

Yes apologies, I should have stated that. It's a megane. Full licence for less than a year. On my second year of insurance on the car as a named driver.

colm_mcm

How much?

Keeping in mind an 05 Megane is worth around €800. Less to a garage.

Edit:didn't see your reply.

dara_con

Honestly, I would like to have one, but not sure if I would get the most out of my investment. Also, theres the running costs, maintenance etc. Thats the main reason im on the fence.

colm_mcm

I would politely decline in this case.

SmartinMartin

That car is worth max €500, and that's with tax and nct. It is also over 10 years old so in today's insurance climate a first timer will find it almost impossible to get a decent quote. Add to that the questionable reliability of older Renaults. You would be far better off scrapping the Renault and giving your parents a couple of grand towards the new purchase.

Tails142

Do you think you're going to be buying a car in the next couple of months or year? People often keep cars in the family, they will get some money for their car in a trade in or scrappage so by giving you the car they would be out of pocket, it makes sense that you would give them some money for it to offset this. The benefit to you is you know the history of the car and whether it has any reliability problems.

If you are going to be trying to buy a car for around 1000 in the next few months it would be worth it, it can be hard to find a decent car at that price and you might end up spending a lot of time going around viewing cars finding out they're junk despite ads saying they're perfect

dzer2

As you already have use of the family car and are insured on it.Why don't you talk to them and offer 1k towards the new car and let them trade in the megane. This way you will still have use f the car and have contributed to the cost of it. You definitely don't need a car where you live as you have public transport.

There's a lot of personal information in your first post OP that you don't really need to be telling everyone about- consider editing it

In terms of your question, if you DID want to buy a car, would you be looking at that particular car? I think you've answered your own question though; right now, you don't NEED a car.

mcgiggles

I honestly don't think its that good an idea... as previous posters have said, the car itself is not worth much, your parents would probably get more to trade it in or scrap it. If you are happy enough on your bike/ public transport for the meantime then stick with it and put a little money aside from your wages to save for when you do want a car. As one poster said that old a car you could have trouble insuring, also being a young male your insurance could be mental. So you could be paying out a couple of grand every year for a car you don't really need yet, while you could be putting that money in savings to buy a more reliable car when the need arises!  just my two cents  If you feel bad about saying no, just spin them the - well I don't really need one full time right now but I could chip in towards insurance/ tax etc so I could borrow the new car if I ever needed it, ALSO you would get more money for it as a trade in

Suckit

I guess if you have decided to buy it and are looking for a fair price, maybe somewhere between the lower end of these two may be fairest?
https://www.cbg.ie/renault/megane/2004-petrol-silver-saloon-manual-1.6-dublin
https://www.cbg.ie/renault/megane/2005-petrol-silver-saloon-manual-1.4-dublin-1-4212

Water John

Maybe a side track. But do you contribute to your staying at home?
If you do, don't buy the Renault. Wouldn't touch one that old.
Contributing to the new car is quite a good idea.


If you don't contribute to the house, you should make your own transport arrangements.

Roadtoad

Get a really nice new bike, tax break with the BTW scheme.

Masala

Sure they can get €4000 Scrappage on some models!!!

Use the Renault for this and throw them the €1200 for their insurance add-on to put u on the policy!!! Wherever is left... bring them out for a slap up meal and tell them how much u love them ......

( despite them trying to shaft you with a 10 yr old bit of crap!!)

gerard2210

Go online and get some insurance quotes on the car, starting out on your own policy can be expensive. Decide then if its worth it.

Mooooo

If you want a car and this one has had no trouble work away I'd say. If you are lving at home rent free offer that, if your budget for another car is only going to be that much you will be lucky to find anything reliable anyway so take it and use it to build an insurance history in your own name, putting your parents down as named drivers may lower the quote for you. There will be running costs but if you don't want a car fonts take it and let them trade it in.

my3cents

Check around OP and gets some quotes for the insurance before you do anything else. tbh car isn't worth much and nothing if you can't get a sensible insurance quote.