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Tue 30 Sep 2014 22:36

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - ElPedro

Ok so I have a baby on the way and I need a new boiler. I'm planning on selling my 09 fiesta ztec s and I'm looking to spend about £3000 on a new car.

I'm wondering what would be a good idea for a new car? I'm thinking 5 door hatch back.

My mate keeps saying get a mk4 golf 1.9tdi but I'm worried that for £3000 I will get an unreliable one.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, pete

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Tue 30 Sep 2014 22:46

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - elekie&a/c doctor

Doubt if you will get a new car for £3000,but you will get a very serviceable s/hand Focus for that money.No garage ever got rich fixing these.

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Tue 30 Sep 2014 22:55

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - ElPedro

I'm mean used sorry. What modle would you recommend? I would like a diesel.

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Tue 30 Sep 2014 23:06

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - elekie&a/c doctor

Any petrol model.Even the 1600 is a good performer. I would keep clear of any diesel model at this price/age.

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Tue 30 Sep 2014 23:15

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - RobJP

You asked about Golf Mk 4s. Just remember that the last of those are now 10 years old. They are at the stage when they might keep going for another 5 years, or might just die tomorrow.

Do you really want to spend £3k on something like that ? Can you afford repair costs if something major does go wrong ?

They need a cambelt/waterpump service every 70k miles, and in general people sell them when that expensive job is due.

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Tue 30 Sep 2014 23:18

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - ElPedro

That is what I'm worried about. I think it is a no go to be honest.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 00:58

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - Avant

How much extra over £3,000 will you get for your 09 Fiesta? If it isn't very much, there might be a case for keeping the Fiesta and getting some instalment deal for the boiler.

If you've looked after it, this way could be less of a gamble - which buying a £3k car invariably is.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 09:43

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - veryoldbear

Once you have a baby you will be amazed at the sheer amount of STUFF you have to cart around. Buy a big estate, relax and have fun:

www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014092075...p

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 09:49

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - catsdad

Another thought is are you sure the boiler needs replacing? Some maintainers are over keen to condemn old boilers saying parts are no longer available when in fact apart from bits of trim the main "engineering" bits are largely standard and available. If you have any doubt it would be worth getting a second view. I'd use a small independent boiler firm rather than one of the big ones. Returning to motoring I agree with the view that keeping the Fiesta (if you can and its a good one) is the best economic option but I realise your finances may dictate what you have to do.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 12:28

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - HandCart

What's your annual mileage?

Circa 2004-on is a very dodgy decade for diesel cars. If your annual mileage doesn't really warrant a diesel, steer clear of them. Another bill for £1000 is easily encountered.

If you MUST have a diesel, sort of 2008-and-earlier Astra 1.3 estates tend to be in large supply and are very cheap and roomy. And I think many/most don't have a DPF, so that's one potential problem avoided. They're also chain cam, not belt, so provided they have had regular engine oil changes, that's another several-hundred-pounds of servicing requirement avoided.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 12:28

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - gordonbennet

Couldn't agree more with Catsdad, our 20 odd year old Vaillant was condemned as past it and costing a fortune to run by the usual suspects, have found a one man boiler specialist, a Fred Dibnah type fix not replace, who whilst happy for us to spend our loot on a new one, fixed the problem for peanuts and reckons this properly built old boiler will still be going strong when most of the new one would need replacing a second time.

Car wise, you'll struggle to find better value than a Chevvy (Daewoo) Lacetti estate, but if you have a Citreon specialist in your area, don't be too afraid of a (preferably facelift) pre 08 Citroen C5 estate either.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 13:10

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - Cyd

I agree with CD too. Some plumbers (and especially big firms) are often too keen to condemn a boiler.

I'll give you an example. I had an old lady customer who rang me in tears because she had just had a large Gas firm round (of British persuasion too, not some Polish fly by night), who had condemned her boiler because the flue was rotted out.

I got my plumber mate on the job and sure enough the flue was rotten, but with a few well placed phone calls he was able to get a new flue.

Original £3200 quote turned into a £460 job (including my bit replacing the timer unit). Much more palateable.

Get a second, and even third, opinion.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 18:39

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - ElPedro

It is an old Glow worm boiler from the 70's. I have a dorma bungalow and the upstairs radiators have shot it. I have been quoted £3000 for a new combi boiler and 7 radiators. You can't have a shower and have the central heating on at the same time as there isn't enough water lol.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 18:40

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - ElPedro

I will get £5000 for it.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 13:03

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - Cyd

Are you sure selling a perfectly good car to raise capital for a boiler is wise? From an automotive point of view it's a backward step, surely? As pointed out by others, buying older nd cheaper could be buying trouble. Sometimes better the devil you know, especially if it's been a good motor. With some TLC there could be 10 years left in that Fiesta - maybe more.

Have you looked at what it would take to have some sort of credit, perhaps a personal loan from your bank?

Don't forget that if you are replacing an old clunker with a new unit, the new one will be 90+% efficient compared to 50-70 for the old one. thus your monthly gas bills will be substantially lower, releasing funds to pay for the loan?

I've been involved with dozens of boiler changes over the last 7 years and this is one aspect that every customer is always chuffed to bits with, yet it seems to come as a surprise to them.

If it's a straight system boiler swap (one out one in with little pipework change and old DHWC retained) then it shouldn't be costing much more than about £1800. About £65 pcm over 3 years and you should be saving at least £15pcm on gas. Use a local installer - BG are very very expensive.

Have a look at free insulation offers from British Gas too. You might qualify for a top up or even cavity wall insulation (you don't necessarily have to be on any benefits). Get that for free and your gas bill will drop even more.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 15:18

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - HandCart

>>>"the new one will be 90+% efficient compared to 50-70 for the old one"

Yep, provided the new one's condensate outlet pipe doesn't ice-up, and prevent the boiler from running AT ALL, just when the weather is at its coldest. Necessitating lots of repeat callouts of the plumber.
:-(

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 15:25

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - Cyd

In which case, HC, it was not installed properly, nor to regulation.

Did the installer wear spurs?

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 15:53

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - HandCart

Not happened to me (yet) - my local plumber fixed my ancient Vokera for about £45 last year. He's from a very old established family business, yet even he advised me that freezing condensate pipes were (up to last year, at least) an ongoing PITA.

And just about everybody I know who's had one installed has suffered with it. That's why I haven't taken the plunge yet, though my boiler's practically returned to a base-ore state.

I also seem to recall 'Which?'s boiler breakdown break-down putting that issue at the top of their list in their last previous survey - I note it's not so prevalent on theit latest survey, so maybe the boilers or installers have got better ?

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 16:27

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - Cyd

so maybe the boilers or installers have got better ?

It's nothing to do with the boiler.

It's to do with installers using small diameter pipes along complex routes that allows the condensate to move slowly and freeze. As it builds up in layers the pipe eventually becomes blocked. I've installed many pipe warming systems to these to alliviate the problem.

The answer is to run the condensate entirely indoors to a drain point. Or at least as much as possible. Outside, use larger diameter pipe (45mm rather than 22mm) and provide a healthy drop if it must traverse horizontally. Pipe warmers and insulation can be used in severe cases.

One solution I have used with one of my plumbers is to run 22mm pipe inside 45mm pipe and fill the gap with expanding foam as insulation. It just looks like a sink drain then.

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 17:35

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - HandCart

I know we keep dragging this a bit off topic, but, I seem to recall my local plumber claiming that on one exaspertaing installation he'd used 44mm plastic pipe, completely vertical, and it had still blocked frozen.

Ironic isn't it: Make a condensing boiler that is more efficient, and then have to install something extra to warm-up an essential pipe that it uses...

"...if only there was a nearby source of heat..."

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Wed 1 Oct 2014 23:56

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - galileo

During the extremely cold winter we had a couple of years ago, when the condensate pipe froze I cut it just below the boiler and ran it into an old 5 litre container. Emptied every other day and when the weather warmed up reconnected the pipe with aluminium tape. Simples!

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Mon 20 Oct 2014 20:05

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - Bobbin Threadbare

I wouldn't get rid of my car to get a boiler too quickly. You should be entitled to a grant if you get tax credits and as others have said, repairs often are viable. My boiler is about 18 years old and it sounds like a tractor. It's still going just fine! I did find that someone had messed with the valves when I didn't get any hot water upon moving in. I just put them how they should be. I don't advocate messing with boilers but I am used to pressurised systems....

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Mon 20 Oct 2014 22:03

any - £3000 to spend on a car. - dan86

Only 18 the boiler in my parent's house is from the 60s and has never broken down once. All it gets is a service once a year. They don't make them like the used to.

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