So guys.
I have done lots of research, spoke to a friend who is a mechanic, who's initial impression, like a lot of you was "give me a day or two Ray, I'll look into it and I am sure it won't cost you £2k to fix a bumper and an exhaust". He called around, spoke to a few of his other friends in the trade and came back as I have told him. One mechanic basically said "get rid of it now!" as soon as he realised it is a 08 plate 1.8L Yaris SR. The conclusion he came to is that "get rid of it now".
That was over the weekend/Monday.
And during the past 10 days I have been really keeping an eye out for cars in Autotrader. I actually have had 10 different searches for different cars saved for the past year with alerts so have kept up of what I can get, what price they normally go for. I have been looking for something more comfortable than my Yaris, same if not better performance, and no older than my Yaris with lower mileage (65k).
So I won't get another 08 plate car with 60,000 on the clock, that make no sense to me, even if it's cheaper. That is the idea anyway, I know how sometimes you can find a gem for £5k with 100,000 on the clock and it'll do another 100,000 with no problem…that's not a gamble I want to take, I just like to maximise my odds of a reliable car for longer amount of time for going for a newer and lower mileage car.
Today I have found a Volvo 2011 C30 T5, 16kmiles, 5 Volvo dealership service stamp, 2 owners. Leather, Heated seats, rear parking sensors.
Yup, 16k miles, last service at 15k miles. I have put a deposit down and subject to inspection I think I have my next car lined up.