To buy a new car or not?

Yes thats our family car that we've had for many years, this picture was taken when i dumped it in the yard and the last one of it looking nice.
I was driving to our local scout hut and as we went round a slight bend i noticed the oil light came on very briefly. This rang alarm bells in my head but i said nothing and carried on driving to the hut which was only another 3 miles.
2 hours later as we went back to the car i flipped the bonnet to check the levels. The water bottle was not how it should be; it was full to the brim of oil. Yes you've guessed it the head gasket had gone and the car engine is soon to be knackered. I know the engine will run, but the issue in getting back home which is 12 miles is going to be keeping the engine cool with very low oil, and the water coolant will be sluggish moving round the engine. So i disconnected the water coolant hose and drained 2/3 rds of the very thick oily water bottle in some old coke cans from a local bin (this will give the expansion needed in the tank as everything warms up).

I get the kids to jump in the car (my own of course) start the engine and put the heater on maximum and on full blast , all in aid to keep the engine cool. I drive back to my yard 45 mph nice and steady, and we made it thankfully. Above is the picture of when i dumped the car.

Now what do i do?

I have a budget set aside of 7k for a replacement vehicle and what do i do about the broken down car?

I phoned our local scrapped dealer and i would get £100 and they would clear it away for me. Well i was tempted but i did say no as i could see a money making project coming along. 

I decided to strip it and sell the parts.

I have time to do it though i have zero experience. I would strip a part , google what it was and then list on Ebay. I even got 1/2 tank of free diesel for my truck :) and the battery i sold locally on Facebook market place. I would list an item for 30days as its free. i would also reduce the price. If it did not sell then i either binned it or took it to the local scarp metal yard.

The result was i made £1810. The final picture above (i did not remove the engine or gear box ) went to the scrap man as he came along picked it up and gave me £20.

7K for a new car

Im in a dilemma now for do i spend the whole 7k, do i buy a brand new one on very low finance and keep the 7k ? One good friend of mine always drives nice cars so i started asking him about payments etc and he explains his costs just £250 a month.I have to admit it sounds cheap and it would be nice to have something new. But my mind says not to take on debt when you don't need to. I currently have zero debt (i pay my credit card off every month).

A friend from a local garage rang me up and says there's a bargain volvo coming up for 7k and it would suit me perfect. I make contact with the seller on a Sunday morning and we go and have a chat, kick the tyres and have test drive. ( Ive got the 7k in my truck glove box). I'm thinking i could knock this guy down to 6.5 k.

So i ask him (just for confirmation) "how much do you want for this?" he replies "Oooow I'm thinking of around 8.5 - 9 K". 

WTF!!!! im thinking. Now i cannot even be bothered to haggle , so i just say i'll think about it and walk away.

So im chatting to another friend who owns a local garage and im telling him my stories and he turns around "That cars for sale". I look and he tells me its a great car and i can have it for 2.5K . Needless to say we agreed on 2.3K. 

Not taking on debt

 The car has been great and i have £1810 in the bank from my old car plus £4.7 K available left over out of the  7K also now sat in the bank

Conclusion

Im actually in a better position than when i had the first car and the second car really only cost £490 (2.3K -  £1810). My insurance and tax also went down and this new car does alot more miles per a gallon. Im also glad i did not finance a car as the 'good feel' factor is only temporary but the debt would have lasted years. It was well worth stripping the car and the price of scrap metal is very good (£130 ton). I learnt alot about cars doing this and a few tricks of the trade.

I am thinking and i mean just currently thinking of doing a side hustle in spending £400 of the £1810 to buy a car and strip it, im not sure yet.

Isn't there some motto about turning a negative into a positive or something like that?

What car do you drive and why? Have you ever stripped a car before and what was your experience?

Quick side note:
While im putting this post together my wife sends me this: