I bought a car for less than a train fare

I bought battered little Peugeot 205 off a friend of mine late last year for the bargain price of £100. It looks a bit like a beaten up version of the car to the right, which is much, much nicer than mine.

Disclaimers: It's not particularly pretty, with a few dents and scratches and failing paintwork. And I had to pay for insurance and get a few things fixed in order to pass the MOT. And of course there will be various ongoing running costs. I'm also painfully aware that it's not doing anything for my carbon footprint and I hope that I offset that somewhat by walking to work. And I also know that spending so little on a car is a potential financial nightmare.

But despite all of this, I've had a dream run with it, apart from one flat battery (my own fault). Mechanically it's very sound and it's doing a great job in driving me around London and its outskirts on weekends. The rest of the time it just sits outside my house.

We've decided to test her mettle and drive to Shropshire to visit the family of a friend of mine. I've just done a quick check on train fares and for two tickets to Shropshire early on a Saturday morning (when we would leave) and returning late Sunday night (when we would return) will cost us £103.40, and that includes having to change trains. We could take cheaper trains at less sociable hours and with more changeovers but that would be still be around £90.

OK, so not everyone who spends £100 on a car will have such a trouble-free tale of joy but it just goes to show the cost of public transport. I think I got myself a bargain.

- Sascha Hutchinson, This is Money

PS - I bought my insurance policy through Direct Line, which was the cheapest for me - unlike everyone else at This is Money who found Swiftcover were the best.

PPS - Is this really a country that is serious about the going green and encouraging people to use public transport? Decide for yourself:

• Rail fare to rise again to cut overcrowding
• Scale of rail rip-offs exposed

Comments

[Craig McGinty]

You should take a look into the world of Bangernomics:

http://www.bangernomics.com/

http://bangernomics.tripod.com/intro.htm

[UKMoneyPot]

Don't forget to consider the cost of fuel but it sounds like a bargain!

[Neil W]

I don't get the point of this post.

You bought a car with a few issues that needed insuring for £100, and?
Anybody can do that.

You can buy a car a car for less than a tube fare as noted by Jeremy Clarkson et al on Top Gear many moons ago.

[Helen]

I think the point of this post is quite self-explanatory. Have you read the headline? It can be cheaper to invest in a car than to rely on public transport. I think that's a sad reflection on the priorities of this country.