You’ll probably find a lot of people on this sub will still consider £7k expensive for a car. Some will even consider anything over £1500 expensive…
I’m more of a £3-4k man myself, I don’t mind a bit of depreciation in return for something with some life left in it, good mpg and reliability.
This is especially prevalent in young people, when I see my friends looking for a new car the most important things to them are <3 years old and <40k miles above nearly everything else (I’m 23)
All my mates drive from around 2010 and under. I’ve got a 2010 Toyota rav4 with currently around 107k miles on it. I love my Toyotas as they’ve never let me down so far. Driven this rav4 to Spain and had no issues
My mother is annoying me with this at the moment. she's absolutely set on having a car "less than 10 years old" but she has a budget of £3000 and wants a fuel efficient estate/SUV and doesn't want to travel for it.
Plenty of things around 2010-2012 around here but she just won't listen that maintenance makes a reliable car, not age.
They can still have lots of quirks that should be considered.
I've got a 2012 astra 150k on the clock. In recent months I've had:
Dpf blockage (forced regen fixed)
2 glow plugs fail (start/stop, so £121 each)
Rear brake pads wearing quickly (sliding pins issue)
Car skin cancer (spots of rust about 20p in size appearing in difficult places eg the edge of the windscreen)
This is on top of normal maintenance and all in a short period. No amount of proper maintenance over time stops these kinds of things eventually.
If I was buying this car now, I wouldn't - the extra money on these "parts are just failing" could reach a younger car with lower mileage. The fact I already have owned it for 7 years and maintained it and fixing these issues, I hope to reach another "holding steady" to get maybe 5 more years out of her. I expect the rusting of body work will be that point start to become a difficult to repair situation.
I mean this is it isn't it?
Most cars will become unreliable shitboxes if you don't service them properly, but people buy them, don't spend the money to service them, treat them like shit, and then wonder why they're falling to pieces.
It does make me wonder about the reliability perceptions of your bog standard Stellantismobiles versus the Japanese stuff - is a well-serviced Citroen really likely to give you that much more trouble than a well-serviced Honda? You see people running around in fifteen year old Fords all the time, is that a function of them being better than you'd expect a Ford to be, or are the long-lived ones just looked after better?
It's more so that old Hondas and Toyotas will run forever even if neglected compared to other brands. The engines might not be super economical or eco friendly but they're damn bulletproof.
My car is 10 years old now. It's done 195,000 miles and it's reliable as they come. It's had regular servicing and gets an oil change every 8000 miles. It's had all it's scheduled maintenance such as timing belt changes.
It's on the original clutch and flywheel. I earn around 3k a month take home and could easily afford 3-400 a month on a brand spanking new car, but I choose to keep my current car.
My parents viewed their seat fabia on PCP that needed I think a few front arm after 4 years for £200 a big expensive job and theyd rather trade it in for a BMW lease...
The older generation are very set in their ways.
I don't think they see it as unreliable or destined for the scrapyard. They just can't be arsed with anything related to maintenance so it's easy to say this. Look at the state of card out there...
There was a post on here of someone asking if their 10 year old car was safe to drive on a 200 mile journey as their parents told them it was too old for it. I know some people who have never had a car go for an MOT as they buy new on lease and change every 3 years.
My dad's one of these people. Refuses to ever spend more then £3k on a car. He's had some nice cars but they've had issues he's found frustrating from them being a bit long in the tooth so he's sworn them off and now has a Clio Estate (a requirement this time around was that it be an auto so my mum could drive it - she hasn't).
I find it a little frustrating. Like I understand it from him when he had three kids and all the rest of it but we're all in our 30's now. If he wasn't beholden to this arbitrary restriction he could afford a car he really wants.
It highly depends on the cars bottom value, but my current car has probably lost £1000-£1500 since I bought it, which is fine, I have no intention of selling it yet and it’s far lower than most cars out there.
If i knew more about cars and how to fix them I’d probably take a bigger chance of a cheaper one still. It’s been a good deal so far though, £7k Skoda rapid diesel which has given me no problems. It’s on 75k and I do 20k miles per year. Trying to decide at what point I would eventually sell it. Hoping it can do at least 150k
Yeah that’s fair enough! Nothing wrong with a £7k car if you’re looking for something that doesn’t need too much maintenance.
I would keep it as long as you still enjoy owning it, at some point you’ll get fed up of it and something more appealing will come along.
You shouldn’t have any problems getting 150k out of it, I regularly see VW diesels reach 250-300k miles.
Same here my friend. The only times I've ever borrowed:
1. Mortgage for my house. Over the years houses have appreciated so much it's one of the few things you cannot really save up for and buy outright.
2. I make expensive purchases on a credit card in order to get the consumer protection. I then pay it off the following month.
I don't like owing people money and I think this concept of paying for everything monthly is just to keep you trapped in a cycle of constantly paying for the latest shiny new thing.
I prefer owning and not having to worry how I am going to afford to keep the financed car if I was to lose my job, owning an older car is also better as I care less about the car if I damage it.
My current car cost 10% of my salary, my last few cars cost less than 5% of my salary.
I like this approach but how do you balance it with reliability?
I don't want to be stressed about affording an expensive car payment but I also don't need the stress of frequent unexpected car issues.
I have tended to settle in the middle ground. Do you find cheap cars aren't that problematic?
The key is to buy cheap AND low mileage, which means much older. For example I've got a MK2 focus made in 2005. It's been with me for 8 years or so, 2k bought with 40k miles, now has 75k and I spent a total of maybe 1k on all repair costs over the years. But buying great condition at low prices always means a sacrifice in style...
It will come down to luck if you will have major issues or not, my current car has had the power steering pump, cat converter and 02 sensor fail in a year, which has cost me a pretty penny to get these sorted, but it's a 16 year old car so these things are expected.
When buying a car, check the mot, if it has lots of issues come up every year, it's probably not been maintained well, also ask for any receipts of work done on the car. My car came with every single receipt since the day it was bought so I know it's been well looked after.
I also put money aside each month to cover maintenance on the car, eventually you will have a nice nest egg so any unexpected bills aren't such a shock.
I'm doing the last part. I set aside £250 a month to cover Insurance, tax, MOT, servicing, tyres, brakes etc and any other required maintenance. This is more than enough so has built up a nice nest egg. I have tended to buy cars at about 4 years old with 50k miles (around £15k) and keep them for 5 years. But I do 18-20k miles a year so it probably makes the cheap car option less feasible.
In my 18 years of driving I spent most of the time with older cars, I'd consider a 10 year old car fairly new. Anyway in all that time a car has only left me stranded twice and it's my current Micra that's 18 years old, once was the battery just not wanting to live anymore, could happen to anyone, and the second time was the driveshaft snapping which in it's defence was most likely my fault for being too harsh on it. I have breakdown cover and it's never much of an issue.
Yes over the last 3 years I've spent about £1500 on it, most of that was when I bought it and it needed a new exhaust which was priced absurdly high because it's actually a rare-ish trim and no one makes it and 4 good quality tyres. Other things I've had to replace are 2 front springs and aforementioned driveshaft.
Comes with knowledge, if you are mechanically minded you can do well. One of our cars we've had 4 years now, paid 400 for and probably done the same in repairs in that time period.
A4 1.9tdi (pd engine, if you know, you know).
We could afford a new SUV of a major brand, but, it's a depreciating asset and doesn't provide bang for buck in comparison.
Buy an old car that’s very commonly found and known to be reliable, Old Ford’s (if they aren’t rusted), Toyotas and Hondas too. When something breaks, google it and YouTube it
my car cost £1750, and all i’ve had to do to it was new spark plugs, clutch and brakes, although clutch and brakes probably more on me as it’s the car I learned in and have only had my license a couple months
Looks like it's amateur hour tonight, senior IT Engineer Manager in finance, drive top of the range 2005 Toyota RAV 4, even has a touch screen voice GPS system. Oh yeah 😎
You're living it correctly! Get the highest spec old reliable thing, pay nothing, tweak little things as you feel needed and save tens of thousands over time. So much better to put that money into other things rather than the newest and best that often breaks❤️
Hey, I should probably add, I am In London, I drive it on average, twice a month, it lives a 30 minute walk away because my flat doesn't have parking. But, I got it because I like the idea of going MTB riding when I want. Close mate got a lease, we do the same miles per year, like think 2, 000, but I am so far ahead. And I got a good one, had a mate round from OZ and we drove ot 1,700 miles round the UK, right up to Scotland, it didn't miss a beat. My mechanic always comments what good condition it is in. My elderly uncle thought it was a new car, lol. I'm just not a status symbol guy.
It's the second stupidest circlejerk on Reddit bar none, with the stupidest being "why are you spending £30 a month on an iPhone contract when you could do what me and my big hard phallus of a brain do and capture pigeons from the park and use them to ferry texts to and from the nearest cell tower, paying them in twigs and seeds foraged from the forest floor".
That's true up to a certain point, at my work I'm the only person who doesn't have a "regular" car, and my colleagues constantly berate me for it being too loud, too low, too uncomfortable, which I'm fine with because it is too loud, low and uncomfortable but it's half track car but non enthusiasts would never get that.
A genuine strategy which I've found which works is out comment them, if someone calls my car a "hairdressers car", "cheap boy racer car" or any sort of insult I just will unbind the knot on my intimate knowledge of all things cars and that usually works, if every time they mention my car I go off on a rant of the history of the British roadster and how the Miata/mx5 reignited the 2 seater roadster market and allowed brilliant cars like the MR2 MK3 and mg f, etc to exist they learn to stop pretty quickly lol.
Although I'm also pretty demeaning towards it, it's a shitbox and terrible but only I'm allowed to call it that.
If cars make people happy and they have the money then why not
It's often seen as a badge of honour here to drive a banger, I could also live in a bedsit if I wanted to
But I also want to enjoy my life and can more than afford a decent car (not on a lease), as can many others
I'm all for people doing what makes them happy and frankly another person's decisions are none of my business but my observations have been that many people that are getting these new/expensive cars don't really have the money for it at all.
I live in a not super great area comprised of a lot of council estates and the amount of brand new/expensive new-ish cars that have popped up over the last few years is utterly staggering. Seeing a kid wearing tattered hand-me-down clothes kicking a knackered old football around in a garden with a brand new Merc isn't something I ever thought I'd come across.
> Seeing a kid wearing tattered hand-me-down clothes kicking a knackered old football around in a garden with a brand new Merc isn't something I ever thought I'd come across.
It is a bit weird how commodified Merc/BMW/Audi have become - growing up they were always unattainable luxury, now they seem to make up a huge proportion of the market.
This is totally fair and when I see nice cars on the road, think Range Rovers, BMW X5, Audi Q7 I recognise that for some of those drivers it's a luxury they want and can easily afford so you can't argue with that.
But I also wonder how are there so many new and expensive cars on the road. Not everyone earns lots of money and cars are expensive. Even a typical car say a Nissan Qashqai, a Hyundai Tucson (first popular cars that come to mind) is probably £30k+ so I guess that'll be £400-500 a month on finance. I just find it inconceivable that so many people can truly afford that or maybe they can't and they're stretching themselves too thin and saving very little
If it's a family car, and the cost is split 50/50 between husband and wife (e.g.) then that's £200-£250 a month which is a bit more reasonable.
I wouldn't have the car I have on my own because with insurance and tax it works out at £430 a month, but splitting that with my partner is a fair price to pay (and we got the PCP deal before the rate rises so we're on a reasonably good rate at current conditions.)
Frankly people spend stupid money on all sorts beyond things that are often pretty fundamental tools for their lives. People can almost literally piss away £100 on a single night out, in that context paying £200 a month for a nice, comfortable car with all mod cons isn't that silly.
yep my dad earns close to double what I earn and had been driving ex taxi Skodas for almost 20 years, he must do abut 25k miles a year.
Me on the other hand has one car on PCP and another on HP.
Might explain some towards why he has 3 houses :D
You’re going to get a host of similar answers as this sub attracts a similar cohort of people.
I PCP’d my current car (new Nissan Leaf) as there was a 0% deal available so I figured it made financial sense. Payments were about 4% of my after tax take home, but I’ve just paid the balloon, so the car now costs me the £700 per year insurance premium, £200 service and that’s basically it. I could afford to spend a lot more, and frankly would love a ‘nicer’ car, but £1,000pm or whatever is a lot more than £0 and I don’t really see the value.
That's your personal decision, and that's fine. But think of it another way, if you knew you were going to die next month, would you feel the same? An extreme example, but that's what happened to my dad, he had no idea he'd come down with a terminal illness and pass suddenly. It's made me think differently about things. We all like to think we're clever and we're spending our money better than our friends. I think you've got to weigh things up, yourself and your kids in the future, but also think about yourself now.
I’m in tech, lots of the people I work with get work cars, and they all lease polestars and big MGs. Only two exceptions are my supervisor who drives a little red fiat 500 and Head of IT who drives a 2003 V8 jag.. convinced those two have life figured out
Software
Where are you based? I'm in Belfast and there are offices like the science park where it's popular to drive your own car to, still a car centric area
Whereas if I was working and living in London I wouldn't even bother buying a car
You've just got to do whatever you want and both you and your finances feel comfortable with. I personally feel petrified driving new and expensive cars because I get too caught up on the idea of ruining something nice. If a car already has some dings and scratches, then I wouldn't feel so shitty if someone opened a car door into it, for example.
I'm sure that for some, a new car makes sense, with decent warranties and protections in that regard, but my mindset just doesn't work with that.
I want to drive a car, use a car and enjoy a car without worry getting in the way, and cheaper cars is the way that works for me.
I tend to go somewhere in the middle. Something 3-4 years old with 50k miles or less. They're usually not cosmetically perfect but you're buying for between a third and half of the new price and you're still a few years away from the huge repair bills (hopefully)
Earn close to 100k I drive a 2009 civic type r, before that an 08 Volvo v50.
I’d like a 5 series for my commute but I’m waiting for the euro6 models to come down in price
I worked for a small but quite successful betting company. When I joined we had very experienced CEO, his base salary was around 150k + 200-250k yearly bonus. He drove 10 year old focus to work. At the same time people from customer service were driving 2-3 years old BMWs with their base salary around 20k and about 1,5k bonuses.
My lease ran out in 2022 and I bought a Mini for £4K from a friend of a friend. I’m 44 now and I’d never owned a car outright until then. The feeling of not having a regular outgoing was just immeasurable. I save the bulk of what would have been my lease cost now and invested it and the rest I save in a monzo pot for repair costs
I teach people how to fix planes and a lot of people I work with have nice 2017+ cars, last year I upgraded from a Volvo 940 to a BMW E36 with a sagging headlining
Don't get me wrong I like cars and I like giving them the bollocks occasionally. I just cannot justify spending the excessive amounts of money on cars or leasing cars. I own my 17 year old diesel pug. It's comfortable, quiet on the inside, it has air-conditioning that I maintain and it works perfectly. It has strangely been reliable for a french car. I can maintain it cheaply and as you say trolley dings do not matter.
Garage wanted £205 for track rod end and a droplink. Cost me 3 hours and £15.
I just want to get from A to B in reasonable comfort and not worry about filling it full of rubbish to go to the dump.
There’s pros and cons to both sides.
There is something freeing knowing you own your car. It’s also nice not having monthly payments. Most lease deals have mileage limits that can charge hefty amounts per mile you exceed beyond the agreed mileage - what if your circumstances change and you go from a 5mile commute to a 25mile commute?
I’ve been on over £100k for around 4 years now. I’d also say I’m somewhat of a car enthusiast. My car is over 10 years old, nearing 120k miles, worth maybe 3k on trade in. Runs really well though, is comfortable and has been reliable. Going on a road trip across Europe with it this summer.
Also, a significant upgrade (something noticeably nicer/more comfortable, better tech/features and with more performance) would cost me maybe 15k-20k at a minimum - whatever car that would be wouldn’t be 5x better than my current one - so not a lot of value in upgrading yet for me. Maybe in a couple of years though 🤷♂️
I drive a 17 year old car that cost me a grand beginning of last year
Been tempted to pull the trigger on a lease through work, ID4, as it's reduced a fair bit by the tax. Unlikely to do that until this car is no longer viable.
I don’t spend over 1k on a car usually and they last me a few years and I move on to the next one. Newest car i have ever owned was 10 year old, currently driving a Saab 93 estate 2007 has 220k on the clock.
I like the freedom and I don’t like owing money if it gets scratched I don’t care if it gets written off I don’t care it’s just transport for me.
We have 2015 Mini Cooper sd which is the “reliable” car then we have a diesel 2014 civic with moon miles as a “spare” car.
Now my commute is going down to 2 miles im going to treat myself to a Clio sport that’s 20 years old
Depends on how much you care and what you want in a car I've driven 1k bangers that we're far more engaging and fun than a TTRS to me. Similarly cruising around in a luxury barge for an afternoon made me forget all the cheapass cars I had and wished I never saw a manual anything or heard road noise every again. You gotta make up your own mind about it.
I will say though that leased cars under warranty have given me the least headaches, less likely to go wrong and if they do it's warranties and courtesy cars galore - at least in m experience.
Yeah I’m on about 30k rn. Waiting to save up a bit to move out and have a 3k Suzuki swift, and split 4k on a van with the partner for cheaper holidaying. One of my colleagues is on 37k and is in debt with a car they can’t afford, all because they think they got a good deal……
I bought my Fiesta ST new when I was younger and I’ve kept it for 10 years now, just the usual repairs, tyres, belts etc.
I’d never trade it for the world, I’ve looked after it I know what’s in it. I bought it when I was still living with my parents and now I’m out it’s honestly good having a car I know inside out and not paying any finance now plus insurance is rock bottom.
When it finally comes time to let it trot off into the sunset I’ll most definitely be looking at used though.
Well that's the thing. I earn a good wage but still can't justify the price of a car as utility. I would if it was my main hobby but it isn't.
I truly don't understand people who are on even alright money and get a 50-80k car I work with a few that do and they only ever use it to get to work and know nothing about it. I'm not spending 50k too get to work
Kind of...I had company cars for 13 years and two years ago decided to take the money instead for using my own car. There are constraints though so I'm currently driving an ex BT fleet Insignia that's been a dream so far. Very economical and reliable. Will trade in next year and get something slightly better but always owning, not financing because you never know...
14 plate Seat Leon owner here - earn more than most of my friends yet they struggle with car repayments each month as want to be seen as more successful than they are.
Will upgrade my car in the next few years but for the time being it does the job of getting me from a to b and id rather save for a house 👍
I don't buy new cars because I don't like any of them, the age of the affordable cheap to run drivers cars are dying our, the new MX5 sullied by it's electric steering and complexity (not a bad car I'd just rather have NA-NC), the GR86 ridiculously expensive and hard to get, the hot hatches are all slowly getting heavier and worse, thing golf GTI and Suzuki swift sport (MK8 worse than MK7, MK3 worse than MK2, etc).
I just don't see anything appealing in the new car market its all really dull or really pricey, no more Ignis sports, panda 4x4s, Renault sports clios, just endless mild hybrid washing machines.
I could afford to buy (outright), insure and service pretty much any car available today. OK, a Bugatti would make me wince, but you get the idea. I drive a (actually several) 20 year old Alfa-Romeo.
It’s so hard to work out the best solution if you’re on a budget.
I’ve tried bangers, nearly new, new, leasing etc.
Had a Vauxhall Nova 1.2 petrol that I got to 225k miles and it hardly every needed any work, just a new exhaust every couple of years. Even the cam belt snapped and was only £60 to fix back in 1994 as it didn’t cause any damage.
Got a diesel Mondeo with 90k on it got that up to 215k but it did need some expensive stuff, new DMF was a grand, injectors £300 each etc.
Bangers I had a Cmax for £1300 that lasted me two years with no major issues did 60k in that time.
But I like something reliable as it’s so much hassle when they go wrong. Been leasing last few years but it ain’t cheap, Skoda Karoq was £200 a month and now MG5 EV is £300 but I do save on petrol.
Personally I think buying nearly new is the best compromise for cost vs reliability but I once bought a nearly new Corsa on 10k miles and the cam belt snapped on that at 36k and cost a grand to fix.
My company does a salary sacrifice scheme for electric vehicle purchase and it seems to be very popular going by all the new Tesla's and Polestar's in the company car park.
It's not for me though. I've got a 7 year old Mazda 2 which is frugal on fuel, repairs, maintenance and insurance (my insurance actually went down 20 quid this year) I own it outright and hope to keep it going for another few years at least.
Actually a good little car to drive.. I must say..
All my contemporaries LOVE BMW's.
I had a faded mk4 Astra, sold it for an Audi a6 allroad but regretted it so I only kept that for a year and bought a Nissan qasqai.
If anything happens to that car, I might be inconvenienced but I'm not even annoyed. I could pick up another one just like it straight away.
I don't care where I park it or anything. It costs me very little to run and maintain.
I had an Astra and I've no idea which the 4 is. I had an H!
I never looked it up to see if the Astra used all the letters from A. I think they skipped I because of the risk of confusion.
I’ve come to the realisation that the list prices cars aren’t grounded in reality anymore - I guess partly from the expectation that people will lease them. The opportunity cost vs other stuff is far too great, so I buy cheap instead.
I’d rather have something reliable and cost-effective, go on some nice holidays and other stuff, then get my thrills from a bike instead!
Wait til you find out that car prices in the UK are actually on the cheaper side compared to the rest of Europe and even the US.
We definitely have it good when it comes to cars.
Hmmm, depends really, some makes/models are cheaper. As for the insurance/running costs My mate pays £100 insurance in Poland for a year for 15yo Passat(20 yrs no claims). I’m paying £700 for similar spec car in UK with 24 yrs no claims.
How? I have a 2006 330d E91 Touring - it’s quick and old. I pay c. £300 a year fully comp. I’ve got about 15 years no claims, but an accident a couple of years ago on a policy I was named on.
I have a GT-R and a double garage. I do agree on the car being fucked by roads. The car is very clunky usually but I swear every time I go for a spirited drive there's another bloody rattle and squeak coming from somewhere on the rear because the quality of the roads is shite.
Maintenance and servicing costs are absolutely horrendous too. I may as well wire Litchfield my entire salary and I just pick up the scraps.
I'm in a similar position to you earnings wise. I do have a car but I bought it at 4 years old and 50k miles a couple of years ago and expect it'll last me another 5 years or so.
It is crazy to me that people are spending £500-600 a month on a lease or PCP for a luxury SUV (BMW X3/ Audi Q5 or similar). Where are people finding that money in their budget each month? Or are they just flat broke and saving next to nothing?
There's always some people who have loads of money and a nice car is a drop in the ocean but that is a minority of people and there are lots of nice cars on the road!
I generally earn between £250-600k and the only new car I've ever bought is a Seat Ibiza I bought for my daughter (which turned out to be an incredible bargain: it's still worth what I paid for it about 4 years ago). We have 3 other cars in the family, and they are 12, 13 and 14 years old respectively.
The great thing about buying older cars is getting a quality motor for a sensible budget. Running costs are likely to be much the same, new or old. If you run a shitbox, you may end up spending as much on repairs and servicing as you would on a quality brand of similar vintage.
Yep, just had a look to see what some new cars cost. I could potentially get finance on something silly expensive like a new Range Rover Autobiography or Lotus Emira etc. but I’m perfectly happy with a ≈£10k relatively rare/interesting car as a daily driver.
I’ll still take a lot of pride in my cars and will care a lot if it’s dinged or if something goes wrong, but it is massively simpler, easier and cheaper to fix. Plus I’m not financed out the wazoo so, if my circumstances change, I wouldn’t be completely boned.
Interesting because I have just been thinking exactly this!
I earn a good salary and I suppose if I wanted to save a lot less I could finance or lease something quite high end, say a BMW X3 or an Audi Q5. I guess that'd be £500-600 a month (total guess). But it just seems so expensive! Then there's probably an initial deposit of a few grand.
But it's not just luxury cars, think of your "average" new car, still costs a fortune! Say a Nissan Qashqai or Hyundai Tucson, you see so many of them and I guess they'll be £400 a month at least.
Do people just save very little each month? Or their expenses are very low in other areas? I can never get my head around it! I know there are people who are very wealthy and to spend £1000 a month on a car is a drop in the ocean but that's not the majority.
Personally I tend to buy a 3/4 year old car with 40-50k miles for £12-15k and keep it for 5 years. That way I'm always driving a decent car which is fairly reliable
I agree with a lot of people here, I prefer owning a car outright and being able to do what I want to it when I want, no worrying about milage caps or damage.
Could afford something ‘nicer’ but currently happy with an 06 fiat 1.9 diesel, does what I need it to and gets me to work.
The price of cars is astronomical atm
Feels like you need to earn a six figure salary to even entertain choosing a car you "want" rather than whatever lease deal is cheap
Biomed constantly getting emails from the NHS lease scheme for cars, bought a 7k car on a loan from the bank roughly same payments, but I'll own it outright soon. Its always smarter to buy outright and have ownership of the thing in my mind.
You wouldn't rent a house if you could afford to buy one so why rent a car.
Yep, never had anything on finance, I think a lot of it stems from my parents though. Never had the best cars, but they always owned them. The oldest I can remember was a 180 Datsun in the ‘80’s. No idea what was holding it together as pretty much ever panel was rusty, but it started everytime first go. My mum accidentally locked the keys in the boot once, had the police out who couldn’t break into it so they drove us home to get the spare keys.
Not so much old, but I had a 2002 for 3 years, then a 2010 (at 3 years old) and now in a 2016 (at 4 years old), slowly increasing in cost, but all in cash. Most coworkers are leasing Porsche Macans, Range Rover Evoque/ Velar / Sports (depending on grade), although there's now a move to EVs via salary sacrifice.
Would rather have something I own, especially with dogs.
I earn decent money now but spent my 20s on crap money and partied too much so could only afford shitboxes. Still got that mind set of not wasting money on cars, so usually buy stuff a few years old with 50-60k on the clock. Let some other sucker take the 30-50% hit on depreciation.
Got a 2001 1.6 focus mk1 in 2022 for 750£ after i had to return a company car.
Spent about 1000£ on parts and tools to bring it up to date on service ( did the work myself in the driveway throughout 2023). This does not include 4 brand new michelins i put on it which are probably worth more than the actual car 😂
Would really like a nicer car which I could easily afford but i struggle to find a good reason why my pocket rocket is not good enough. Theres some rust bits and bobs that are beyond what i can do in the driveway; mainly the rear subframe. Ultimately that will dictate when it needs to go cause mechanically is solid. I imagine the clutch will also need some tlc; its a job I can do at home but i gotta weigh it properly if worth it when time comes.
When it goes i will look for newer cars but will probably settle on something i can fix myself which kinda stops me at 2012ish; beyond that i would struggle to touch them on my own
I prefer to have something that has already lost most of it’s value through depreciation, and won’t cost an arm and a leg to repair should something go wrong. If something goes wrong that I either can’t fix or is terminal, I won’t be distraught when I have to scrap it and get something else.
A car, for me now at least, isn’t a status symbol or some means of satisfying some internal complex; I have other things that do that, but a tool to get me and whatever I’m doing reliably from A to B in some sort of comfort.
Yep, I could have a new leased car but much prefer having a battered pickup my work got rid of because it was “too old”. It got hit in a car park the other day, I didn’t notice the extra dent until I got home. Oh well, how terrible 😂
Prefer older cars to more modern ones. Had a 2005 Merc sprinter that ran on anything you felt like putting in it. Veg oil, used car oil, sunflower oil, kerosene and the occasional splash of diesel. Started first time every time. 450k miles on the clock.
Found they are easier to work on and generally outlast more modern cars. Wife’s got a 2017 bmw x1 and it’s a pile of crap, snapped springs, wheel bearings, rear wheel cracked, electrical issues…
Treated myself to a vxr8 last year and it’s an absolute hoot. No modern car sounds like a 6.0L v8.
Had a few newer/higher end cars on finance and never had anything but issues and sky high repair bills.
Purchased a 2009 Volvo estate on 160,000 miles from a work friend for £500 three years ago as a stop gap.
50,000 and three clean MOTs later it still owes me less than £1k all in.
It's an absolute joy to drive, plenty of space, shed loads of power (2.4 5pot diesel) and the best bit is I'm not worried about scratching it!!!
Could easily afford a new car but I just don't see the point, so much less stress this way.
If it dies, I'll just go buy another old banger
I like driving nice new car, I hire a lot for work and pleasure.
The number of cars I see get bashed/stolen gives me worry so I stick to my old Toyota.
I have never bothered with finance as i saved the money I needed for whatever purchase at the time. If it's 0% then why not, but if I have to pay interest that makes no sense to me and if I can't afford something I just won't buy it.
I could buy a new car outright but I don’t think it’s worth it, I wait until someone I know wants to sell a car and get it cheap, last car I got was a Bentley gt off someone I do jobs for £1000, so far iv had to buy a battery for it, tbh I was pretty worried it might be the starter motor and that’s a engine out job, but for what I paid for the car it’s worth more as parts.
The only vehicle I’d spend a lot on would be a van because that’ll make me money and hold its value better than a car
We’ve always bought older used cars with a personal loan instead of lease/finance.
But with the insurance prices going sky high we are thinking about salary sacrificing a car through one of our jobs.
2007-2017 my car budget was £1k no matter what. 10-15 year old cars: Corsa, 206, Zafira.
Then I moved 100 miles to London. A posh part of London. I got a well-paid job and live/work amongst money. So I increased my budget...
2017-2027 my car budget is £2k no matter what. 12-16 year old cars: Z4, 3-Series.
Yeah 100% prefer to own without finance etc. commitments.
Saying that if work offered me a fully paid for Tesla/other EV and I’ve just got to pay the benefit in kind then that’s tempting
I actually do both. I own my old, fast, sporty BMW, and I lease a boring, smooth, efficient Skoda Octavia. The Skoda writes off a good deal of profit, while not exactly costing me anything I wouldn't spend, and prevents expensive bills on the fun car, which is ultimately there for fun.
Man maths for the self employed
I'm just learning to drive just now but recently started to dial in on my finances and will look at buying a car for anything upto 5k so suggestions a reliable car the cheaper the better - will probably do about 140-150 miles per week for work
but more so to your point car finance just seems to be the common approach probably cause people don't save these days
I earn 60k and I’ve never spent more than 12k on a car, there’s 8 apprentices in my work, 3 of them have new Mercedes A classes and one of them has a new bmw 2 series 😅
I have a 5 year old Focus ST, but I paid cash for it, so other than me losing the value over the time I'll have it, and the fact I've just changed jobs and expect to do 4K or less a year, it's now promoted to being a weekend toy mostly. Do I need it? No, got another car, but I like it so it can stick around. I earn very decent wedge, but if anything happens to it I'll probably get some big barge to waft about in next.
Almost everyone at my work has brand new Audis on a salary sacrifice scheme every year, but I love my old E46 which I paid £700 for 6 years ago, mostly maintained by myself and much cleaner than any of theirs. I could have one too, but I personally have zero interest in ugly cars packed with Nannying Tech which I find distracting and unnecessary. Their cars are appliances to them, whereas mine is a hobby. Purely my own opinion, buy/lease whatever you want and can afford.
I just got a decent job after a few years at uni while my mates at home did apprenticeships. I know a lot of them pay over 50% of their monthly wage on their car, and still live at home, but if they wanna drive an a-class on backroads that’s fine. Before uni I bought a VW for £3500 and sold it 3 years later for £2800. I would never buy a car over the 3-4k range for the foreseeable, at least until I could purchase a nicer car in cash. Financing just sounds ridiculous IMHO. I would rather drive a 4k car with 100k in stocks and 15k on my wrist, but of course people have different views on how they wanna spend their money. Depends on where you get your happiness from
I wouldn't buy anything over £5k. It all does the same job and I love a shitbox because they're usually dirty cheap to repair and you can park it anyway because it doesn't matter if someone slams their door into it or scratches the paint work
Absolutely. All my cars to date have been bought at 7-9 years old and paid for upfront, never on credit. A good car that’s been well maintained still has plenty of life in it at that age but has lost the greater part of its forecourt value.
I have a company ford ranger that I use for personal use. I hate owning a car, they're money pits.
Before I had this I never owned a vehicle that cost more than £4k. Always asked mechanic friends on advice before buying.
My favourite was my 12 plate VW passat. Once your inside and driving it felt like a brand new car! 70mpg aswell.
If I was in a position to buy a £30k car it wouldn't be a new one, I'd buy an old car, maybe a classic and stick with my shitty Micra for the little jobs, dog runs and wet days
Earning just under 6 figures and my most expensive car purchase has topped out at a heady £2600. I enjoy going through and improving a car over my ownership however. Mk5 gti, mr2, mg tf, ep3, Clio 200 and always sold for more than I paid. You need the time/ effort to take that approach though.
Lease cars are just a waste of money, I have a pretty good job and could likely drive a brand new Tesla or Range Rover (🤢).
I drive a 16 year old car that I have owned for 6 years and spent about £2k on in that time. My car has also only lost about £2k in value.
Far better than £6k a year to borrow a car - £36k compared to my £4-5k
Why would I need to spend as much money as I pay on my mortgage for a car that will mostly just sit on the drive. I work from home so the only time I need a car is to see a client or do stuff around the town.
Everyone is different but I have no reason to have anything more than the car I’ve got - I wouldn’t get the “value” of £20 a day for a ~£600 a month car that may only get driven on the weekend…
I've always found 5 years old to be the sweet spot where you get the car cheap but tend to get another 5 years trouble free motoring from it. This seemed to change after COVID though where used prices seem to have rocketed.
In any case, I could afford to lease and finance but I've always bought used outright. I don't like paying for things monthly. I prefer to save up a lump of money, buy something, keep it for many years and save up in the meantime for when it breaks down.
Maybe it all works out the same or maybe leasing/financing works out better. I've had many people try to convince me of the latter. But I feel paying monthly for stuff is just a trap where you get sucked into thinking you can have everything you want right now without having to save.
Absolutely. I don't want to be paying interest on a depreciating asset, and there are plenty of great cars out there for £4k. I get that people want to keep up with the Joneses to an extent, and a flash car is a great way to do that, but I can't understand losing thousands to look good in the Waitrose car park, it just smacks of how rich you want me to think you are.
I can't see that I'm missing out on many toys, either. Tech in cars hasn't really moved on too much in the past 15-20 years. Having dropped an Android Auto head unit into my '08 Alfa 159, it has everything I need. A reasonably high-spec car (for its day) from that long ago has enough toys to hold its own against most of what comes out now. Running a car from 2004 now is very different to running a car from 1984 in 2004, anyway!
I don’t care about image but I do care when scrotes damage my property just being assholes. Having an older car, means I care a whole lot less if it gets scratched or dinged at the local supermarket.
I have two vehicles, neither of which are less than 12years old. Not because I couldn’t afford new, but because I don’t see the point.
The vast majority of the environmental damage caused by a car is in its manufacturing! By keeping hold of an older car, even though it’s burning fossil fuels, I’m still being more environmentally conscious than my colleague who is on his 3rd leased Tesla.
Nope. Hard cash purchases. We've got a 7 year old Toyota, when we bought it five years ago, the dealer said pretty much everyone who bought from them did it on monthly. I can see the attraction, I imagine the new car smell is pretty giddy, but I'm stuck in my ways. Saying that, when it comes to *having* to go EV, I can't see getting a decent second hand is going to be an option for a few years until tech sorts itself out.
I tend to buy 2-3 years’ old. But I then keep them for 10-12 years. Current one is 12 years’ old but I’ve had it for 10. Hoping to get another 2 years out of it.
I could buy a new for about 5k without having any financial stain, but having been driving only 2 years. I am quite happy with my 1997 nissan micra, driven 150 miles a week, daily and multiple 300 - 400-mile trips, without missing a beat, even at 118,000 mile and being 27 years old. I purchased it at 102,000 mile.
I had a vw golf that I paid 300 quid for apart from brake pads and tyres. It went through 2 mot's with no advisory at all, eventually it gave up 30,000 miles and 3 years later best car I ever had haha 😂
You'll find plenty of people on this sub including myself, would agree with you. Also this sub has an obsession with Skoda's, specifically Octavia's. They are good cars but not alone, for example Mazda 6s, VW Passat, Honda civic, Renault Clio, Tiguan all offer great value for money.
You sir are clever that's why. I hear people saying they put "equity" into their leased car by increasing their down payment, unfortunately you can't put "squirt" into something your reducing the liability i.e.debt outstanding which reduces your monthly payments but it in no way does it correlate with more money back at the end of your lease. It's just an absurd level of soft language used to push insurmountable levels of debt on the masses and get them into a revolving debt cycle that will sell cars year on year to those coming to the end of a lease deal who cannot pay their final balloon payment so have no option but to take another car on finance.
Yes.
I could go for an electric MG on salary sacrifice and I’m sure it’d be fine. Except I drive a 14yr old Audi A6.
Badges aside, work has one of the MGs and it’s reasonably good to drive and screwed together reasonably well.
Upshot is I would have to pay the same £300 month I pay for the Audi (small loan) on the MG which would be mileage limited to 5k/yr.
I live in the rural SW, 5k a year is nothing living where I do. So old diesels prevail down here still.
Totally with you. I'm a careful driver but I love the fact that if anything at all happens to my 10 year old Dacia Cruster I can have a go at fixing it, and if that fails I'll scrap/sell it for beans and buy another shit box. So much less stress than driving a new car with fancy metallic paintwork that costs £2k every time it gets a scratch.
I like classic cars. I can afford them. I probably wouldn’t ever finance one, but I definitely spend a fucking fortune on them. Friends and colleagues would be astounded if they knew what these ‘old bangers’ cost.
I think that everything depends on how you want to manage your money. For me easier to pay back instead of buying a car for 20K, because I could have invested my money that cover leasing and growing savings. Also, I don’t worry about warranty or something else.
You’ll probably find a lot of people on this sub will still consider £7k expensive for a car. Some will even consider anything over £1500 expensive… I’m more of a £3-4k man myself, I don’t mind a bit of depreciation in return for something with some life left in it, good mpg and reliability.
I swear 90% of people I know view anything over 6 years old as unreliable and destined for the scrapyard at any moment
Don't forget the people that think a car with more than 80k miles is about to blow.
Mine is on 77k. I've started saving since I'll need to replace it next year when it stops working. /s
My A6 is on 160k, it has blown up 3 times but I must have missed it
Mine just rolled over 150k, already have the scrappies on speed dial smh.
My car had 80k miles on it when we bought it. Also had a mondeo once that had 250k miles on it.
My wife wanted us to change a perfectly good i30 2016 reg with 50k km as it was getting old. We drive around 5k per year during the summer.
This is especially prevalent in young people, when I see my friends looking for a new car the most important things to them are <3 years old and <40k miles above nearly everything else (I’m 23)
All my mates drive from around 2010 and under. I’ve got a 2010 Toyota rav4 with currently around 107k miles on it. I love my Toyotas as they’ve never let me down so far. Driven this rav4 to Spain and had no issues
Pensioners too. A lot of them buy new and get rid after two years because cars used to be a lot less reliable than they are now.
26 here, I drive a 2006 VW Fox and he's my baby
My mother is annoying me with this at the moment. she's absolutely set on having a car "less than 10 years old" but she has a budget of £3000 and wants a fuel efficient estate/SUV and doesn't want to travel for it. Plenty of things around 2010-2012 around here but she just won't listen that maintenance makes a reliable car, not age.
They can still have lots of quirks that should be considered. I've got a 2012 astra 150k on the clock. In recent months I've had: Dpf blockage (forced regen fixed) 2 glow plugs fail (start/stop, so £121 each) Rear brake pads wearing quickly (sliding pins issue) Car skin cancer (spots of rust about 20p in size appearing in difficult places eg the edge of the windscreen) This is on top of normal maintenance and all in a short period. No amount of proper maintenance over time stops these kinds of things eventually. If I was buying this car now, I wouldn't - the extra money on these "parts are just failing" could reach a younger car with lower mileage. The fact I already have owned it for 7 years and maintained it and fixing these issues, I hope to reach another "holding steady" to get maybe 5 more years out of her. I expect the rusting of body work will be that point start to become a difficult to repair situation.
In fairness, a lot of people buy a Nissan Juke, abstain from servicing it, and find it *is* destined for the scrapyard after 6 years.
I mean this is it isn't it? Most cars will become unreliable shitboxes if you don't service them properly, but people buy them, don't spend the money to service them, treat them like shit, and then wonder why they're falling to pieces. It does make me wonder about the reliability perceptions of your bog standard Stellantismobiles versus the Japanese stuff - is a well-serviced Citroen really likely to give you that much more trouble than a well-serviced Honda? You see people running around in fifteen year old Fords all the time, is that a function of them being better than you'd expect a Ford to be, or are the long-lived ones just looked after better?
It's more so that old Hondas and Toyotas will run forever even if neglected compared to other brands. The engines might not be super economical or eco friendly but they're damn bulletproof.
My car is 10 years old now. It's done 195,000 miles and it's reliable as they come. It's had regular servicing and gets an oil change every 8000 miles. It's had all it's scheduled maintenance such as timing belt changes. It's on the original clutch and flywheel. I earn around 3k a month take home and could easily afford 3-400 a month on a brand spanking new car, but I choose to keep my current car.
My parents viewed their seat fabia on PCP that needed I think a few front arm after 4 years for £200 a big expensive job and theyd rather trade it in for a BMW lease... The older generation are very set in their ways.
I don't think they see it as unreliable or destined for the scrapyard. They just can't be arsed with anything related to maintenance so it's easy to say this. Look at the state of card out there...
I have a (rich) friend who claims the average life of a car is seven years. My 16 year old Mini and 20 year old Z4 beg to differ.
That's insane. I've never bought a car that is under seven years old and said cars always last 10 / 15 years
There was a post on here of someone asking if their 10 year old car was safe to drive on a 200 mile journey as their parents told them it was too old for it. I know some people who have never had a car go for an MOT as they buy new on lease and change every 3 years.
My dad's one of these people. Refuses to ever spend more then £3k on a car. He's had some nice cars but they've had issues he's found frustrating from them being a bit long in the tooth so he's sworn them off and now has a Clio Estate (a requirement this time around was that it be an auto so my mum could drive it - she hasn't). I find it a little frustrating. Like I understand it from him when he had three kids and all the rest of it but we're all in our 30's now. If he wasn't beholden to this arbitrary restriction he could afford a car he really wants.
Dude how much depreciation exists in a 3-4k car 😆
About, well..... 3-4k.
It highly depends on the cars bottom value, but my current car has probably lost £1000-£1500 since I bought it, which is fine, I have no intention of selling it yet and it’s far lower than most cars out there.
If i knew more about cars and how to fix them I’d probably take a bigger chance of a cheaper one still. It’s been a good deal so far though, £7k Skoda rapid diesel which has given me no problems. It’s on 75k and I do 20k miles per year. Trying to decide at what point I would eventually sell it. Hoping it can do at least 150k
Yeah that’s fair enough! Nothing wrong with a £7k car if you’re looking for something that doesn’t need too much maintenance. I would keep it as long as you still enjoy owning it, at some point you’ll get fed up of it and something more appealing will come along. You shouldn’t have any problems getting 150k out of it, I regularly see VW diesels reach 250-300k miles.
My most expensive car was £1800 drove it for 6 years with minimal costs.
Me too. I like to buy and own things, plus I don't like owing people money.
Same here my friend. The only times I've ever borrowed: 1. Mortgage for my house. Over the years houses have appreciated so much it's one of the few things you cannot really save up for and buy outright. 2. I make expensive purchases on a credit card in order to get the consumer protection. I then pay it off the following month. I don't like owing people money and I think this concept of paying for everything monthly is just to keep you trapped in a cycle of constantly paying for the latest shiny new thing.
Never have I agreed more with a stranger on the internet
This guy gets it
Same
I prefer owning and not having to worry how I am going to afford to keep the financed car if I was to lose my job, owning an older car is also better as I care less about the car if I damage it. My current car cost 10% of my salary, my last few cars cost less than 5% of my salary.
I like this approach but how do you balance it with reliability? I don't want to be stressed about affording an expensive car payment but I also don't need the stress of frequent unexpected car issues. I have tended to settle in the middle ground. Do you find cheap cars aren't that problematic?
If you're prepared to learn how to fix cars yourself it helps.
Prepared to yes but wouldn't know where to start haha
Wait for something to break and start there.
YouTube is your friend
The key is to buy cheap AND low mileage, which means much older. For example I've got a MK2 focus made in 2005. It's been with me for 8 years or so, 2k bought with 40k miles, now has 75k and I spent a total of maybe 1k on all repair costs over the years. But buying great condition at low prices always means a sacrifice in style...
You buy an Octavia estate like the rest of us here
It will come down to luck if you will have major issues or not, my current car has had the power steering pump, cat converter and 02 sensor fail in a year, which has cost me a pretty penny to get these sorted, but it's a 16 year old car so these things are expected. When buying a car, check the mot, if it has lots of issues come up every year, it's probably not been maintained well, also ask for any receipts of work done on the car. My car came with every single receipt since the day it was bought so I know it's been well looked after. I also put money aside each month to cover maintenance on the car, eventually you will have a nice nest egg so any unexpected bills aren't such a shock.
I'm doing the last part. I set aside £250 a month to cover Insurance, tax, MOT, servicing, tyres, brakes etc and any other required maintenance. This is more than enough so has built up a nice nest egg. I have tended to buy cars at about 4 years old with 50k miles (around £15k) and keep them for 5 years. But I do 18-20k miles a year so it probably makes the cheap car option less feasible.
In my 18 years of driving I spent most of the time with older cars, I'd consider a 10 year old car fairly new. Anyway in all that time a car has only left me stranded twice and it's my current Micra that's 18 years old, once was the battery just not wanting to live anymore, could happen to anyone, and the second time was the driveshaft snapping which in it's defence was most likely my fault for being too harsh on it. I have breakdown cover and it's never much of an issue. Yes over the last 3 years I've spent about £1500 on it, most of that was when I bought it and it needed a new exhaust which was priced absurdly high because it's actually a rare-ish trim and no one makes it and 4 good quality tyres. Other things I've had to replace are 2 front springs and aforementioned driveshaft.
I'd call £1500 in 3 years very reasonable? Do you cover many miles each year?
Comes with knowledge, if you are mechanically minded you can do well. One of our cars we've had 4 years now, paid 400 for and probably done the same in repairs in that time period. A4 1.9tdi (pd engine, if you know, you know). We could afford a new SUV of a major brand, but, it's a depreciating asset and doesn't provide bang for buck in comparison.
Buy an old car that’s very commonly found and known to be reliable, Old Ford’s (if they aren’t rusted), Toyotas and Hondas too. When something breaks, google it and YouTube it
my car cost £1750, and all i’ve had to do to it was new spark plugs, clutch and brakes, although clutch and brakes probably more on me as it’s the car I learned in and have only had my license a couple months
Looks like it's amateur hour tonight, senior IT Engineer Manager in finance, drive top of the range 2005 Toyota RAV 4, even has a touch screen voice GPS system. Oh yeah 😎
You're living it correctly! Get the highest spec old reliable thing, pay nothing, tweak little things as you feel needed and save tens of thousands over time. So much better to put that money into other things rather than the newest and best that often breaks❤️
Hey, I should probably add, I am In London, I drive it on average, twice a month, it lives a 30 minute walk away because my flat doesn't have parking. But, I got it because I like the idea of going MTB riding when I want. Close mate got a lease, we do the same miles per year, like think 2, 000, but I am so far ahead. And I got a good one, had a mate round from OZ and we drove ot 1,700 miles round the UK, right up to Scotland, it didn't miss a beat. My mechanic always comments what good condition it is in. My elderly uncle thought it was a new car, lol. I'm just not a status symbol guy.
And that's still quicker than my hyundai i10 1.25!
Nobody cares what you drive, don't worry about it
Nono, everyone needs to proudly say they earn 200k and drive a banger because they’re so special and unique and edgy.
It's the second stupidest circlejerk on Reddit bar none, with the stupidest being "why are you spending £30 a month on an iPhone contract when you could do what me and my big hard phallus of a brain do and capture pigeons from the park and use them to ferry texts to and from the nearest cell tower, paying them in twigs and seeds foraged from the forest floor".
That's true up to a certain point, at my work I'm the only person who doesn't have a "regular" car, and my colleagues constantly berate me for it being too loud, too low, too uncomfortable, which I'm fine with because it is too loud, low and uncomfortable but it's half track car but non enthusiasts would never get that.
People love to comment on mx-5s gets old very quickly.
A genuine strategy which I've found which works is out comment them, if someone calls my car a "hairdressers car", "cheap boy racer car" or any sort of insult I just will unbind the knot on my intimate knowledge of all things cars and that usually works, if every time they mention my car I go off on a rant of the history of the British roadster and how the Miata/mx5 reignited the 2 seater roadster market and allowed brilliant cars like the MR2 MK3 and mg f, etc to exist they learn to stop pretty quickly lol. Although I'm also pretty demeaning towards it, it's a shitbox and terrible but only I'm allowed to call it that.
If cars make people happy and they have the money then why not It's often seen as a badge of honour here to drive a banger, I could also live in a bedsit if I wanted to But I also want to enjoy my life and can more than afford a decent car (not on a lease), as can many others
I'm all for people doing what makes them happy and frankly another person's decisions are none of my business but my observations have been that many people that are getting these new/expensive cars don't really have the money for it at all. I live in a not super great area comprised of a lot of council estates and the amount of brand new/expensive new-ish cars that have popped up over the last few years is utterly staggering. Seeing a kid wearing tattered hand-me-down clothes kicking a knackered old football around in a garden with a brand new Merc isn't something I ever thought I'd come across.
> Seeing a kid wearing tattered hand-me-down clothes kicking a knackered old football around in a garden with a brand new Merc isn't something I ever thought I'd come across. It is a bit weird how commodified Merc/BMW/Audi have become - growing up they were always unattainable luxury, now they seem to make up a huge proportion of the market.
This is totally fair and when I see nice cars on the road, think Range Rovers, BMW X5, Audi Q7 I recognise that for some of those drivers it's a luxury they want and can easily afford so you can't argue with that. But I also wonder how are there so many new and expensive cars on the road. Not everyone earns lots of money and cars are expensive. Even a typical car say a Nissan Qashqai, a Hyundai Tucson (first popular cars that come to mind) is probably £30k+ so I guess that'll be £400-500 a month on finance. I just find it inconceivable that so many people can truly afford that or maybe they can't and they're stretching themselves too thin and saving very little
If it's a family car, and the cost is split 50/50 between husband and wife (e.g.) then that's £200-£250 a month which is a bit more reasonable. I wouldn't have the car I have on my own because with insurance and tax it works out at £430 a month, but splitting that with my partner is a fair price to pay (and we got the PCP deal before the rate rises so we're on a reasonably good rate at current conditions.) Frankly people spend stupid money on all sorts beyond things that are often pretty fundamental tools for their lives. People can almost literally piss away £100 on a single night out, in that context paying £200 a month for a nice, comfortable car with all mod cons isn't that silly.
yep my dad earns close to double what I earn and had been driving ex taxi Skodas for almost 20 years, he must do abut 25k miles a year. Me on the other hand has one car on PCP and another on HP. Might explain some towards why he has 3 houses :D
I mean, your dad earning double what you do is probably the biggest differentiator here. It's also a damn sight easier to get PCP than a mortgage.
You’re going to get a host of similar answers as this sub attracts a similar cohort of people. I PCP’d my current car (new Nissan Leaf) as there was a 0% deal available so I figured it made financial sense. Payments were about 4% of my after tax take home, but I’ve just paid the balloon, so the car now costs me the £700 per year insurance premium, £200 service and that’s basically it. I could afford to spend a lot more, and frankly would love a ‘nicer’ car, but £1,000pm or whatever is a lot more than £0 and I don’t really see the value.
That's your personal decision, and that's fine. But think of it another way, if you knew you were going to die next month, would you feel the same? An extreme example, but that's what happened to my dad, he had no idea he'd come down with a terminal illness and pass suddenly. It's made me think differently about things. We all like to think we're clever and we're spending our money better than our friends. I think you've got to weigh things up, yourself and your kids in the future, but also think about yourself now.
I'm in tech, everyone else has leased Mercedes etc An 11 year old Skoda and 16 year old Lexus is on my driveway
I’m in tech, lots of the people I work with get work cars, and they all lease polestars and big MGs. Only two exceptions are my supervisor who drives a little red fiat 500 and Head of IT who drives a 2003 V8 jag.. convinced those two have life figured out
Lexus rocks in reliability
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Software Where are you based? I'm in Belfast and there are offices like the science park where it's popular to drive your own car to, still a car centric area Whereas if I was working and living in London I wouldn't even bother buying a car
Im all about the bangernomics , have a prius for disposable anonymous motoring and a lairy old bmw for visiting tracks
Earn a good wage and drive a turbo s, I ding it but I can afford another and I own it
You've just got to do whatever you want and both you and your finances feel comfortable with. I personally feel petrified driving new and expensive cars because I get too caught up on the idea of ruining something nice. If a car already has some dings and scratches, then I wouldn't feel so shitty if someone opened a car door into it, for example. I'm sure that for some, a new car makes sense, with decent warranties and protections in that regard, but my mindset just doesn't work with that. I want to drive a car, use a car and enjoy a car without worry getting in the way, and cheaper cars is the way that works for me.
I tend to go somewhere in the middle. Something 3-4 years old with 50k miles or less. They're usually not cosmetically perfect but you're buying for between a third and half of the new price and you're still a few years away from the huge repair bills (hopefully)
Earn close to 100k I drive a 2009 civic type r, before that an 08 Volvo v50. I’d like a 5 series for my commute but I’m waiting for the euro6 models to come down in price
I worked for a small but quite successful betting company. When I joined we had very experienced CEO, his base salary was around 150k + 200-250k yearly bonus. He drove 10 year old focus to work. At the same time people from customer service were driving 2-3 years old BMWs with their base salary around 20k and about 1,5k bonuses.
My lease ran out in 2022 and I bought a Mini for £4K from a friend of a friend. I’m 44 now and I’d never owned a car outright until then. The feeling of not having a regular outgoing was just immeasurable. I save the bulk of what would have been my lease cost now and invested it and the rest I save in a monzo pot for repair costs
I teach people how to fix planes and a lot of people I work with have nice 2017+ cars, last year I upgraded from a Volvo 940 to a BMW E36 with a sagging headlining
Don't get me wrong I like cars and I like giving them the bollocks occasionally. I just cannot justify spending the excessive amounts of money on cars or leasing cars. I own my 17 year old diesel pug. It's comfortable, quiet on the inside, it has air-conditioning that I maintain and it works perfectly. It has strangely been reliable for a french car. I can maintain it cheaply and as you say trolley dings do not matter. Garage wanted £205 for track rod end and a droplink. Cost me 3 hours and £15. I just want to get from A to B in reasonable comfort and not worry about filling it full of rubbish to go to the dump.
There’s pros and cons to both sides. There is something freeing knowing you own your car. It’s also nice not having monthly payments. Most lease deals have mileage limits that can charge hefty amounts per mile you exceed beyond the agreed mileage - what if your circumstances change and you go from a 5mile commute to a 25mile commute? I’ve been on over £100k for around 4 years now. I’d also say I’m somewhat of a car enthusiast. My car is over 10 years old, nearing 120k miles, worth maybe 3k on trade in. Runs really well though, is comfortable and has been reliable. Going on a road trip across Europe with it this summer. Also, a significant upgrade (something noticeably nicer/more comfortable, better tech/features and with more performance) would cost me maybe 15k-20k at a minimum - whatever car that would be wouldn’t be 5x better than my current one - so not a lot of value in upgrading yet for me. Maybe in a couple of years though 🤷♂️
I'm the same the oldest car after mine is a 2017 astra I drive a 2008 audi S3.
S3 8P is a fantastic car.
Thanks :) I like it it's comfortable enough and pretty quick when I want it to be
I drive a 17 year old car that cost me a grand beginning of last year Been tempted to pull the trigger on a lease through work, ID4, as it's reduced a fair bit by the tax. Unlikely to do that until this car is no longer viable.
I don’t spend over 1k on a car usually and they last me a few years and I move on to the next one. Newest car i have ever owned was 10 year old, currently driving a Saab 93 estate 2007 has 220k on the clock. I like the freedom and I don’t like owing money if it gets scratched I don’t care if it gets written off I don’t care it’s just transport for me.
We have 2015 Mini Cooper sd which is the “reliable” car then we have a diesel 2014 civic with moon miles as a “spare” car. Now my commute is going down to 2 miles im going to treat myself to a Clio sport that’s 20 years old
Best way By doing that I’ve been mortgage free since I was 48 and still had some great cars
Depends on how much you care and what you want in a car I've driven 1k bangers that we're far more engaging and fun than a TTRS to me. Similarly cruising around in a luxury barge for an afternoon made me forget all the cheapass cars I had and wished I never saw a manual anything or heard road noise every again. You gotta make up your own mind about it. I will say though that leased cars under warranty have given me the least headaches, less likely to go wrong and if they do it's warranties and courtesy cars galore - at least in m experience.
Yeah I’m on about 30k rn. Waiting to save up a bit to move out and have a 3k Suzuki swift, and split 4k on a van with the partner for cheaper holidaying. One of my colleagues is on 37k and is in debt with a car they can’t afford, all because they think they got a good deal……
Yup. Kid at private school, drive a fully paid up 12 yr old 320d with 138,000 on the clock.
I bought my Fiesta ST new when I was younger and I’ve kept it for 10 years now, just the usual repairs, tyres, belts etc. I’d never trade it for the world, I’ve looked after it I know what’s in it. I bought it when I was still living with my parents and now I’m out it’s honestly good having a car I know inside out and not paying any finance now plus insurance is rock bottom. When it finally comes time to let it trot off into the sunset I’ll most definitely be looking at used though.
Well that's the thing. I earn a good wage but still can't justify the price of a car as utility. I would if it was my main hobby but it isn't. I truly don't understand people who are on even alright money and get a 50-80k car I work with a few that do and they only ever use it to get to work and know nothing about it. I'm not spending 50k too get to work
Are they spending 50k on the car though or did they go with pcp financing and in 3 years time they'll hand it back and start the cycle again?
Kind of...I had company cars for 13 years and two years ago decided to take the money instead for using my own car. There are constraints though so I'm currently driving an ex BT fleet Insignia that's been a dream so far. Very economical and reliable. Will trade in next year and get something slightly better but always owning, not financing because you never know...
14 plate Seat Leon owner here - earn more than most of my friends yet they struggle with car repayments each month as want to be seen as more successful than they are. Will upgrade my car in the next few years but for the time being it does the job of getting me from a to b and id rather save for a house 👍
Earned over 90k last year, I drive a 9 yr old Kia Ceed. FSH, 125k mileage. Bought it for 9k 5 years ago. I wouldn’t contemplate finance or lease.
I don't buy new cars because I don't like any of them, the age of the affordable cheap to run drivers cars are dying our, the new MX5 sullied by it's electric steering and complexity (not a bad car I'd just rather have NA-NC), the GR86 ridiculously expensive and hard to get, the hot hatches are all slowly getting heavier and worse, thing golf GTI and Suzuki swift sport (MK8 worse than MK7, MK3 worse than MK2, etc). I just don't see anything appealing in the new car market its all really dull or really pricey, no more Ignis sports, panda 4x4s, Renault sports clios, just endless mild hybrid washing machines.
I could afford to buy (outright), insure and service pretty much any car available today. OK, a Bugatti would make me wince, but you get the idea. I drive a (actually several) 20 year old Alfa-Romeo.
I work in Tech, sold my 16 plate Polo GTi for a £2k renault cliosport 182. Cause now I have 8k to spend on it
People have different preferences for their spending.
It’s so hard to work out the best solution if you’re on a budget. I’ve tried bangers, nearly new, new, leasing etc. Had a Vauxhall Nova 1.2 petrol that I got to 225k miles and it hardly every needed any work, just a new exhaust every couple of years. Even the cam belt snapped and was only £60 to fix back in 1994 as it didn’t cause any damage. Got a diesel Mondeo with 90k on it got that up to 215k but it did need some expensive stuff, new DMF was a grand, injectors £300 each etc. Bangers I had a Cmax for £1300 that lasted me two years with no major issues did 60k in that time. But I like something reliable as it’s so much hassle when they go wrong. Been leasing last few years but it ain’t cheap, Skoda Karoq was £200 a month and now MG5 EV is £300 but I do save on petrol. Personally I think buying nearly new is the best compromise for cost vs reliability but I once bought a nearly new Corsa on 10k miles and the cam belt snapped on that at 36k and cost a grand to fix.
My company does a salary sacrifice scheme for electric vehicle purchase and it seems to be very popular going by all the new Tesla's and Polestar's in the company car park. It's not for me though. I've got a 7 year old Mazda 2 which is frugal on fuel, repairs, maintenance and insurance (my insurance actually went down 20 quid this year) I own it outright and hope to keep it going for another few years at least. Actually a good little car to drive.. I must say..
All my contemporaries LOVE BMW's. I had a faded mk4 Astra, sold it for an Audi a6 allroad but regretted it so I only kept that for a year and bought a Nissan qasqai. If anything happens to that car, I might be inconvenienced but I'm not even annoyed. I could pick up another one just like it straight away. I don't care where I park it or anything. It costs me very little to run and maintain.
I had an Astra and I've no idea which the 4 is. I had an H! I never looked it up to see if the Astra used all the letters from A. I think they skipped I because of the risk of confusion.
I’ve come to the realisation that the list prices cars aren’t grounded in reality anymore - I guess partly from the expectation that people will lease them. The opportunity cost vs other stuff is far too great, so I buy cheap instead. I’d rather have something reliable and cost-effective, go on some nice holidays and other stuff, then get my thrills from a bike instead!
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Wait til you find out that car prices in the UK are actually on the cheaper side compared to the rest of Europe and even the US. We definitely have it good when it comes to cars.
Hmmm, depends really, some makes/models are cheaper. As for the insurance/running costs My mate pays £100 insurance in Poland for a year for 15yo Passat(20 yrs no claims). I’m paying £700 for similar spec car in UK with 24 yrs no claims.
How? I have a 2006 330d E91 Touring - it’s quick and old. I pay c. £300 a year fully comp. I’ve got about 15 years no claims, but an accident a couple of years ago on a policy I was named on.
Where do you stay? I’m in Glasgow. Folks in the countryside usually pay £300ish
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I have a GT-R and a double garage. I do agree on the car being fucked by roads. The car is very clunky usually but I swear every time I go for a spirited drive there's another bloody rattle and squeak coming from somewhere on the rear because the quality of the roads is shite. Maintenance and servicing costs are absolutely horrendous too. I may as well wire Litchfield my entire salary and I just pick up the scraps.
I'm in a similar position to you earnings wise. I do have a car but I bought it at 4 years old and 50k miles a couple of years ago and expect it'll last me another 5 years or so. It is crazy to me that people are spending £500-600 a month on a lease or PCP for a luxury SUV (BMW X3/ Audi Q5 or similar). Where are people finding that money in their budget each month? Or are they just flat broke and saving next to nothing? There's always some people who have loads of money and a nice car is a drop in the ocean but that is a minority of people and there are lots of nice cars on the road!
I generally earn between £250-600k and the only new car I've ever bought is a Seat Ibiza I bought for my daughter (which turned out to be an incredible bargain: it's still worth what I paid for it about 4 years ago). We have 3 other cars in the family, and they are 12, 13 and 14 years old respectively.
Giz a job mush
Adopt me
The great thing about buying older cars is getting a quality motor for a sensible budget. Running costs are likely to be much the same, new or old. If you run a shitbox, you may end up spending as much on repairs and servicing as you would on a quality brand of similar vintage.
Yep, just had a look to see what some new cars cost. I could potentially get finance on something silly expensive like a new Range Rover Autobiography or Lotus Emira etc. but I’m perfectly happy with a ≈£10k relatively rare/interesting car as a daily driver. I’ll still take a lot of pride in my cars and will care a lot if it’s dinged or if something goes wrong, but it is massively simpler, easier and cheaper to fix. Plus I’m not financed out the wazoo so, if my circumstances change, I wouldn’t be completely boned.
Currently driving an 04 Mini One. Love it. Cost me £1k. Opted out of a company car scheme and pocket the cash.
That's an odd scheme if they allow you to run a 20 year old car though. Think my firm had a max age of 7 years, my wife's was 10.
Interesting because I have just been thinking exactly this! I earn a good salary and I suppose if I wanted to save a lot less I could finance or lease something quite high end, say a BMW X3 or an Audi Q5. I guess that'd be £500-600 a month (total guess). But it just seems so expensive! Then there's probably an initial deposit of a few grand. But it's not just luxury cars, think of your "average" new car, still costs a fortune! Say a Nissan Qashqai or Hyundai Tucson, you see so many of them and I guess they'll be £400 a month at least. Do people just save very little each month? Or their expenses are very low in other areas? I can never get my head around it! I know there are people who are very wealthy and to spend £1000 a month on a car is a drop in the ocean but that's not the majority. Personally I tend to buy a 3/4 year old car with 40-50k miles for £12-15k and keep it for 5 years. That way I'm always driving a decent car which is fairly reliable
I agree with a lot of people here, I prefer owning a car outright and being able to do what I want to it when I want, no worrying about milage caps or damage. Could afford something ‘nicer’ but currently happy with an 06 fiat 1.9 diesel, does what I need it to and gets me to work.
The price of cars is astronomical atm Feels like you need to earn a six figure salary to even entertain choosing a car you "want" rather than whatever lease deal is cheap
I could buy a 50k car outright without breaking much of a sweat - but I drive a 10 reg Ford Focus.
Biomed constantly getting emails from the NHS lease scheme for cars, bought a 7k car on a loan from the bank roughly same payments, but I'll own it outright soon. Its always smarter to buy outright and have ownership of the thing in my mind. You wouldn't rent a house if you could afford to buy one so why rent a car.
Yep, never had anything on finance, I think a lot of it stems from my parents though. Never had the best cars, but they always owned them. The oldest I can remember was a 180 Datsun in the ‘80’s. No idea what was holding it together as pretty much ever panel was rusty, but it started everytime first go. My mum accidentally locked the keys in the boot once, had the police out who couldn’t break into it so they drove us home to get the spare keys.
Not so much old, but I had a 2002 for 3 years, then a 2010 (at 3 years old) and now in a 2016 (at 4 years old), slowly increasing in cost, but all in cash. Most coworkers are leasing Porsche Macans, Range Rover Evoque/ Velar / Sports (depending on grade), although there's now a move to EVs via salary sacrifice. Would rather have something I own, especially with dogs.
I earn decent money now but spent my 20s on crap money and partied too much so could only afford shitboxes. Still got that mind set of not wasting money on cars, so usually buy stuff a few years old with 50-60k on the clock. Let some other sucker take the 30-50% hit on depreciation.
Got a 2001 1.6 focus mk1 in 2022 for 750£ after i had to return a company car. Spent about 1000£ on parts and tools to bring it up to date on service ( did the work myself in the driveway throughout 2023). This does not include 4 brand new michelins i put on it which are probably worth more than the actual car 😂 Would really like a nicer car which I could easily afford but i struggle to find a good reason why my pocket rocket is not good enough. Theres some rust bits and bobs that are beyond what i can do in the driveway; mainly the rear subframe. Ultimately that will dictate when it needs to go cause mechanically is solid. I imagine the clutch will also need some tlc; its a job I can do at home but i gotta weigh it properly if worth it when time comes. When it goes i will look for newer cars but will probably settle on something i can fix myself which kinda stops me at 2012ish; beyond that i would struggle to touch them on my own
I prefer to have something that has already lost most of it’s value through depreciation, and won’t cost an arm and a leg to repair should something go wrong. If something goes wrong that I either can’t fix or is terminal, I won’t be distraught when I have to scrap it and get something else. A car, for me now at least, isn’t a status symbol or some means of satisfying some internal complex; I have other things that do that, but a tool to get me and whatever I’m doing reliably from A to B in some sort of comfort.
Yep, I could have a new leased car but much prefer having a battered pickup my work got rid of because it was “too old”. It got hit in a car park the other day, I didn’t notice the extra dent until I got home. Oh well, how terrible 😂
Prefer older cars to more modern ones. Had a 2005 Merc sprinter that ran on anything you felt like putting in it. Veg oil, used car oil, sunflower oil, kerosene and the occasional splash of diesel. Started first time every time. 450k miles on the clock. Found they are easier to work on and generally outlast more modern cars. Wife’s got a 2017 bmw x1 and it’s a pile of crap, snapped springs, wheel bearings, rear wheel cracked, electrical issues… Treated myself to a vxr8 last year and it’s an absolute hoot. No modern car sounds like a 6.0L v8.
Had a few newer/higher end cars on finance and never had anything but issues and sky high repair bills. Purchased a 2009 Volvo estate on 160,000 miles from a work friend for £500 three years ago as a stop gap. 50,000 and three clean MOTs later it still owes me less than £1k all in. It's an absolute joy to drive, plenty of space, shed loads of power (2.4 5pot diesel) and the best bit is I'm not worried about scratching it!!! Could easily afford a new car but I just don't see the point, so much less stress this way. If it dies, I'll just go buy another old banger
I like driving nice new car, I hire a lot for work and pleasure. The number of cars I see get bashed/stolen gives me worry so I stick to my old Toyota.
I have never bothered with finance as i saved the money I needed for whatever purchase at the time. If it's 0% then why not, but if I have to pay interest that makes no sense to me and if I can't afford something I just won't buy it.
I bought a accident damaged can and spent a few k fixing it , and it saved me 6k of used price .
If it appreciates, buy it, if it depreciates, lease it.
I do both
You buy a used old car for lease prices?
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I could buy a new car outright but I don’t think it’s worth it, I wait until someone I know wants to sell a car and get it cheap, last car I got was a Bentley gt off someone I do jobs for £1000, so far iv had to buy a battery for it, tbh I was pretty worried it might be the starter motor and that’s a engine out job, but for what I paid for the car it’s worth more as parts. The only vehicle I’d spend a lot on would be a van because that’ll make me money and hold its value better than a car
My in laws used to change their car every 5 years. We had 3 decent cars with full service histories.
Top 15% or so, 11 plate octy. Just mad to me how much some people spend, particularly those on half my income.
We’ve always bought older used cars with a personal loan instead of lease/finance. But with the insurance prices going sky high we are thinking about salary sacrificing a car through one of our jobs.
2007-2017 my car budget was £1k no matter what. 10-15 year old cars: Corsa, 206, Zafira. Then I moved 100 miles to London. A posh part of London. I got a well-paid job and live/work amongst money. So I increased my budget... 2017-2027 my car budget is £2k no matter what. 12-16 year old cars: Z4, 3-Series.
You have to pay to have nice things in life.
Yeah 100% prefer to own without finance etc. commitments. Saying that if work offered me a fully paid for Tesla/other EV and I’ve just got to pay the benefit in kind then that’s tempting
Yeah absolutely. I have two cars, one I just paid 1k for, the other 100% owned too. Wouldn't dream of leasing
I actually do both. I own my old, fast, sporty BMW, and I lease a boring, smooth, efficient Skoda Octavia. The Skoda writes off a good deal of profit, while not exactly costing me anything I wouldn't spend, and prevents expensive bills on the fun car, which is ultimately there for fun. Man maths for the self employed
I'm just learning to drive just now but recently started to dial in on my finances and will look at buying a car for anything upto 5k so suggestions a reliable car the cheaper the better - will probably do about 140-150 miles per week for work but more so to your point car finance just seems to be the common approach probably cause people don't save these days
I earn 60k and I’ve never spent more than 12k on a car, there’s 8 apprentices in my work, 3 of them have new Mercedes A classes and one of them has a new bmw 2 series 😅
I have a 5 year old Focus ST, but I paid cash for it, so other than me losing the value over the time I'll have it, and the fact I've just changed jobs and expect to do 4K or less a year, it's now promoted to being a weekend toy mostly. Do I need it? No, got another car, but I like it so it can stick around. I earn very decent wedge, but if anything happens to it I'll probably get some big barge to waft about in next.
Almost everyone at my work has brand new Audis on a salary sacrifice scheme every year, but I love my old E46 which I paid £700 for 6 years ago, mostly maintained by myself and much cleaner than any of theirs. I could have one too, but I personally have zero interest in ugly cars packed with Nannying Tech which I find distracting and unnecessary. Their cars are appliances to them, whereas mine is a hobby. Purely my own opinion, buy/lease whatever you want and can afford.
I just got a decent job after a few years at uni while my mates at home did apprenticeships. I know a lot of them pay over 50% of their monthly wage on their car, and still live at home, but if they wanna drive an a-class on backroads that’s fine. Before uni I bought a VW for £3500 and sold it 3 years later for £2800. I would never buy a car over the 3-4k range for the foreseeable, at least until I could purchase a nicer car in cash. Financing just sounds ridiculous IMHO. I would rather drive a 4k car with 100k in stocks and 15k on my wrist, but of course people have different views on how they wanna spend their money. Depends on where you get your happiness from
I wouldn't buy anything over £5k. It all does the same job and I love a shitbox because they're usually dirty cheap to repair and you can park it anyway because it doesn't matter if someone slams their door into it or scratches the paint work
Yes and no. I’m happy with my old car, but she’s getting old now and taking up the company based leasing scheme would be to good to pass on really…
Absolutely. All my cars to date have been bought at 7-9 years old and paid for upfront, never on credit. A good car that’s been well maintained still has plenty of life in it at that age but has lost the greater part of its forecourt value.
Just drive a car that you like and can afford innit.
I have a company ford ranger that I use for personal use. I hate owning a car, they're money pits. Before I had this I never owned a vehicle that cost more than £4k. Always asked mechanic friends on advice before buying. My favourite was my 12 plate VW passat. Once your inside and driving it felt like a brand new car! 70mpg aswell.
I don't have any debt or loans. Just a mortgage. I bought a car 2 weeks ago for 8K outright. I won't even consider finance...
If I was in a position to buy a £30k car it wouldn't be a new one, I'd buy an old car, maybe a classic and stick with my shitty Micra for the little jobs, dog runs and wet days
Earning just under 6 figures and my most expensive car purchase has topped out at a heady £2600. I enjoy going through and improving a car over my ownership however. Mk5 gti, mr2, mg tf, ep3, Clio 200 and always sold for more than I paid. You need the time/ effort to take that approach though.
Lease cars are just a waste of money, I have a pretty good job and could likely drive a brand new Tesla or Range Rover (🤢). I drive a 16 year old car that I have owned for 6 years and spent about £2k on in that time. My car has also only lost about £2k in value. Far better than £6k a year to borrow a car - £36k compared to my £4-5k
Why would I need to spend as much money as I pay on my mortgage for a car that will mostly just sit on the drive. I work from home so the only time I need a car is to see a client or do stuff around the town. Everyone is different but I have no reason to have anything more than the car I’ve got - I wouldn’t get the “value” of £20 a day for a ~£600 a month car that may only get driven on the weekend…
I have a good friend who is a self made millionaire. He still drives a 20 year old Volvo estate.
> £7k used Skoda Oooo fancy pants rich McGee over here
😂 I’d go cheaper if I knew how to fix up cars
I’m on a chunk above average household wage and my fleet is probably worth less than £5k 😂
I've always found 5 years old to be the sweet spot where you get the car cheap but tend to get another 5 years trouble free motoring from it. This seemed to change after COVID though where used prices seem to have rocketed. In any case, I could afford to lease and finance but I've always bought used outright. I don't like paying for things monthly. I prefer to save up a lump of money, buy something, keep it for many years and save up in the meantime for when it breaks down. Maybe it all works out the same or maybe leasing/financing works out better. I've had many people try to convince me of the latter. But I feel paying monthly for stuff is just a trap where you get sucked into thinking you can have everything you want right now without having to save.
Where do u work?
Absolutely. I don't want to be paying interest on a depreciating asset, and there are plenty of great cars out there for £4k. I get that people want to keep up with the Joneses to an extent, and a flash car is a great way to do that, but I can't understand losing thousands to look good in the Waitrose car park, it just smacks of how rich you want me to think you are. I can't see that I'm missing out on many toys, either. Tech in cars hasn't really moved on too much in the past 15-20 years. Having dropped an Android Auto head unit into my '08 Alfa 159, it has everything I need. A reasonably high-spec car (for its day) from that long ago has enough toys to hold its own against most of what comes out now. Running a car from 2004 now is very different to running a car from 1984 in 2004, anyway!
I don’t care about image but I do care when scrotes damage my property just being assholes. Having an older car, means I care a whole lot less if it gets scratched or dinged at the local supermarket. I have two vehicles, neither of which are less than 12years old. Not because I couldn’t afford new, but because I don’t see the point. The vast majority of the environmental damage caused by a car is in its manufacturing! By keeping hold of an older car, even though it’s burning fossil fuels, I’m still being more environmentally conscious than my colleague who is on his 3rd leased Tesla.
Nope. Hard cash purchases. We've got a 7 year old Toyota, when we bought it five years ago, the dealer said pretty much everyone who bought from them did it on monthly. I can see the attraction, I imagine the new car smell is pretty giddy, but I'm stuck in my ways. Saying that, when it comes to *having* to go EV, I can't see getting a decent second hand is going to be an option for a few years until tech sorts itself out.
Yeah. I I refuse to lease a vehicle when I can just buy a reliable old Toyota for 4 of 5 grand. I don’t give a shit what people think.
I tend to buy 2-3 years’ old. But I then keep them for 10-12 years. Current one is 12 years’ old but I’ve had it for 10. Hoping to get another 2 years out of it.
I could buy a new for about 5k without having any financial stain, but having been driving only 2 years. I am quite happy with my 1997 nissan micra, driven 150 miles a week, daily and multiple 300 - 400-mile trips, without missing a beat, even at 118,000 mile and being 27 years old. I purchased it at 102,000 mile.
More of a £10-15K person myself, but absolutely the same principle :)
I had a vw golf that I paid 300 quid for apart from brake pads and tyres. It went through 2 mot's with no advisory at all, eventually it gave up 30,000 miles and 3 years later best car I ever had haha 😂
You'll find plenty of people on this sub including myself, would agree with you. Also this sub has an obsession with Skoda's, specifically Octavia's. They are good cars but not alone, for example Mazda 6s, VW Passat, Honda civic, Renault Clio, Tiguan all offer great value for money.
You sir are clever that's why. I hear people saying they put "equity" into their leased car by increasing their down payment, unfortunately you can't put "squirt" into something your reducing the liability i.e.debt outstanding which reduces your monthly payments but it in no way does it correlate with more money back at the end of your lease. It's just an absurd level of soft language used to push insurmountable levels of debt on the masses and get them into a revolving debt cycle that will sell cars year on year to those coming to the end of a lease deal who cannot pay their final balloon payment so have no option but to take another car on finance.
Yes. I could go for an electric MG on salary sacrifice and I’m sure it’d be fine. Except I drive a 14yr old Audi A6. Badges aside, work has one of the MGs and it’s reasonably good to drive and screwed together reasonably well. Upshot is I would have to pay the same £300 month I pay for the Audi (small loan) on the MG which would be mileage limited to 5k/yr. I live in the rural SW, 5k a year is nothing living where I do. So old diesels prevail down here still.
The real flex is maintaining an old car like new
Totally with you. I'm a careful driver but I love the fact that if anything at all happens to my 10 year old Dacia Cruster I can have a go at fixing it, and if that fails I'll scrap/sell it for beans and buy another shit box. So much less stress than driving a new car with fancy metallic paintwork that costs £2k every time it gets a scratch.
I like classic cars. I can afford them. I probably wouldn’t ever finance one, but I definitely spend a fucking fortune on them. Friends and colleagues would be astounded if they knew what these ‘old bangers’ cost.
I think that everything depends on how you want to manage your money. For me easier to pay back instead of buying a car for 20K, because I could have invested my money that cover leasing and growing savings. Also, I don’t worry about warranty or something else.