I've never been one to spend a lot of money on things if I can help it - give me a good bargain over top price luxury any day!
And when it comes to car shopping - my opinion is much the same!
Last year, we had a bump in our car which - although only a slight impact - was enough to see our poor old car written off.
Luckily for us it seemed that fate was on our side as the accident happened the day before the cars MOT was up for renewal - an MOT test it was almost certain to fail, as it did pretty much every year. In all honesty the car had been a money pit from the start - constantly breaking down the day before long important journeys, always failing MOTs and costing us a fortune to get it through - it was one thing after another from the moment we bought it.
Some would say that this is to be expected if you don't buy brand new, but having seen my sister pay out a small fortune for newer cars only to end up with a string of mechanical problems - I don't agree.
I've looked into the possibility of buying new cars on credit and lease agreements in the past, but as much as I'm sure its lovely to drive a new car - I can simply never justify the cost. To add such a large payment to our list of outgoings for something like a bit more comfort in a car seems silly to me - there are so many other things I'd rather spend that money that the whole family will get more enjoyment out of.
And so, when it was time to replace our car - I stuck to my beliefs and sought out a second hand car.
Buying a second car can be a gamble of course, and when you're shopping for a family car it can be tricky to find something in your price range that ticks all of the boxes.
We did some research into which cars were best for fitting in 3 car seats and found that the pre-2017 Honda CR-V's came highly recommended.
I did some research into the usual issues with these cars via Google and looked into the usual cost of replacement parts - I found that you can get some great deals on spare parts for Honda's with www.motor-doctor.co.uk which was reassuring.
After being certain that our choice was the right one, we managed to find out not too far away via Auto Trader online.
We took my Dad along to view it with us as he's experienced with cars and knows all of the right questions to ask - we managed to get a fantastic deal, along with a 12 month MOT too.
6 months in to owning it, we've had no problems at all with the car - buying second hand is definitely the way forward for us.
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