The older I get, the more I crave a little bit of luxury. Yes, I love saving money but I also am getting to a point in my life when I deserve a little bit of pampering.
That’s why, for the first time in my life, I’ve invested in a brand new car. However, some things never change and I refuse to pay full price for it. This is how I got a little bit of luxury for less.
I used to have a campervan but I sold it during lockdown because it was sat on the drive costing hundreds of pounds a month in road tax, insurance and breakdown cover.
When I needed to do my food shop I hired a car from a car sharing platform which worked out much cheaper and better for the environment.
That was until I realised there was a way to get a car for free, while my neighbours paid for it. I’ve written about Karshare before as it’s a great way for people like me and you to earn £500 a month for sharing their car with their neighbours.
Lease a brand new car and hire it out
However, what I didn’t realise was that it’s now possible to lease a brand new car and get your neighbors to cover the leasing cost, insurance and petrol. It’s definitely doable as I’ve tried and tested it myself – that’s me and my rescue dog Caramel in my brand new convertible fiat!
When I’m not using it, I hire it out to other people in Bristol and in my first month I made nearly £300 (I expect it will be between £400 and £500 once we’ve got the hang of it).
And that’s with very little effort on my part. Once Karshare has installed a telematics device enabling keyless technology, you don’t even have to be home when someone picks up your vehicle.
What if the car is damaged?
Hirers are fully insured by Karshare and are made to take before and after pictures of the vehicle so if there’s any damage they’ll know exactly who’s responsible. It also knows how much petrol is in the car if someone forgets to fill it up and there’s a handy phone app so that it’s easy to see when the car is booked at a glance.
So far, so good. I would never have considered taking on a lease vehicle before but now that my costs are covered I think it’s a great idea. Plus when it needs to go into the garage, I won’t be the one footing the repair bill as that’s all taken care of under the agreement.
I’m only in month two and am just about covering the cost of my lease agreement, petrol and insurance. The only downsides to keep an eye on are that with lease cars you only have so much in mileage allowance and my renters have been getting about quite a bit.
Also to make my money back I’m finding that it needs to be hired A LOT – which is fine for someone like me who just uses it to pop to the shops – but not ideal for everyone. And that is my story of how I got a brand new car for free. If you’d like to sign up to Karshare to either hire or rent out a vehicle, please use my code as we’ll both get £50 (karshare.com/o/jannett-37844)
More from Broke in Bristol (& beyond):
Are Buymie and Getir food delivery services a rip-off?
