azekeil

I'm trying to work out what the best thing to do might be. Fancy reading and giving me some suggestions?

I have two vehicles, a motorbike and a car. Here are some constraints and some more information:

I will not get rid of the motorbike.
The motorbike gets around 30-40mpg - really not that fantastic for a motorbike.
I have a car that gets ~20mpg around town, and ~35mpg on long journeys. It's in the top Road Tax bracket and 3rd party insurance costs me ~£300 per year. It's fairly reliable although there have been some issues developing with it which make me want to sell it. I reckon I should be able to get £1000 for it, once I've got it through the MOT that's due soon and got the small amount of rust treated (already planned).
I mostly commute 7 miles each way to work and back. Traffic is light enough that going on the bike doesn't make much difference to the journey time.
Not having a car will be more difficult but shouldn't stop me doing all but the more unusual things I need to do with transport, like take lots of stuff somewhere, or do huge amounts of shopping (which I could get delivered), or use it for DIY trips and home improvements.
I also need to consider that fairly regularly I need to look after two children. Not having a car will limit what I can do with them, but usually we stay at home anyway.
I have considered cycling the commute, but I'm not in any state currently to contemplate that.
I will not buy a car on credit, nor will I buy a new car.
My current finances, plus other limitations means that I can afford around £5000, but I'd rather spend enough money to buy a car that will last a few years without trouble - I imagine around the £2000-2500 mark.
I also have an ambition to own a V8 (for the noise and power), just for a year or so, before the cost of oil and the government price me out of it.
Any vehicle must be reliable and not require regular maintenance - I'm not a car enthusiast and don't want to spend time and money on my car.

I have been considering selling my current car and buying a 2001 model car (this is the year they started grading the Road Tax). I was thinking of buying a Toyota Yaris, which would cost me around £2,500, but mean that I would only be paying around £35 per year in Road Tax, and a lot less on insurance as well (although I should check that assumption). I could go carless for a while, but I suspect I'd want to buy a car before the winter if for no other reason than comfort. Riding can be quite physically demanding too.

However, I see that Road Pricing will probably be coming into force. I don't know how this may affect my plans.

So, what do you suggest I do, and do you have any idea how any potential Road Pricing plans may affect me?