I'm going to sound so thick...so bare with me and please don't laugh!

Ok. So, I'm going back to uni for my last placement and I need to buy a car. I'm planning on buying a second hand car between £700 and £1000. I'm planning on it being small and not v.powerful.

What I need to know is, how much should I factor in for insurance, car tax umm other things that I don't know about?!

I'm 24 and I've never been the main person on a car insurance thing before...I'm guessing it'll be pretty high? I have no clue about these things and noone around to ask...and no proper PC to look this stuff up on. So if anyone has any ball park figures, it'd be massively appreciated.

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Hi its great having a car,it gives you freedom to go places whenever you want lol....

Re costs...insurance once a yr which you can pay of monthly or once a yr which is a bit cheaper..depends on your age,how old car is and its worth..

Petrol which you buy when you need...road tax is every 6 months or you can buy once a year ,its cheaper to buy it yearly....m.o.t. which is once a year to say your car is roadworthy,which basically means you take it to a garage like kwik fit or a local one etc and they inspect the car for you and charge around 50quid,they give you a certificate which you need to buy road tax with coz if oyu dont have a valid mot you wont get a road tax from anywhere..mot is usually fine unless your car needs repairing then they tell you what needs done to it....if its urgent they wont give you a certificate..or they give you a list of things they recommend you get done soon...apart from that their isnt any other costs unless you breakdown etc which you can join aa ,rac etc..thats about 40 odd quid for a yr..

thats about it ....lol

feel free to ask anything
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Car insurance (depending on your driving history,engine size,age of car,your postcode,level of cover etc) is probably gona be between £400 and £600,coz im guessing you dont have a no claims bonus?you can also get insurance that includes breakdown,wich you will want if you are going to be away from home and an area you know!!
Car tax,again depending on car can vary ALOT.probably set aside about £150 for the year!!
As for running costs,fuel is your biggy really.but that comes down to engine size (again) and your mileage,and where you buy your fuel from!!Servicing can be done for around £100 and like already said,your MoT is just over £50!!
The only other thing you will need to budget for are unexpected costs.ie,something breaks and it cant be driven until its fixed.its always good to have a couple hundred stashed away just in case (unless you have someone who can bail you out at short notice.parents maybe?) coz its no good having the car if its broken and you cant drive it!!!

Don't forget tyres and screenwash and windscreen wipers and oil.....

It really does depend on how much you will be driving and what kind of car you buy. Running costs for my car come in at about £2000 a year.

thanks for your replies everyone it's pretty much as I expected.

My new problem is that I have no childcare to go back to uni and can't find any. Why is life so flippin' difficult?!

It depends on area, age, no claims bonus and your gender for insurance quotes! Road tax goes on emmissions so if you have an older car you pay more and if you have a bigger engine you pay more.
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