sbob – Member

I can’t get my head around people spending so much money on cars, mine have cost me peanuts!

The place I bought my car from wouldn’t accept peanuts….I tried to upgrade them to dry roasted but they weren’t budging.

mine have cost me peanuts!

Have they really? Or does it just feel like that? I was surprised how much mine has cost me. Bought for £5k 6 years ago, it’s needed MOTs, consumables and repairs that wouldn’t be needed if leasing a brand new car for three years. It’s still cheaper, but not by as much as I thought. And I’ve got an expensive timing belt change coming up.

I can’t get my head around people spending so much money on cars, mine have cost me peanuts!

I can’t get my head around people spending so much money on cars bikes, houses, clothes, food, drink, hobbies…. Different people have different priorities. Neither is right, either could be wrong.

I can’t get my head around people spending so much money on cars, mine have cost me peanuts!

Do you really want to drive 1500 miles to the Dordogne and back with two young children, four bikes and a metric ton of luggage in a cheap car?

I wouldn’t want to do it in a crappy car, but I’d do it in a cheap one.

Cheap doesn’t have to mean rubbish.

Whilst I can see the logic in PCPs for many indidvduals something makes me think it’s some sort of giant pyramid selling scheme heading for a 2008 style house price/financial bubble crash.I heard that the average age of UK cars is 6 years-where nearly all new car sales are almost exclusively financed by the PCP financial vehicle(no pun intended),whereas in France and German it’s 8-10 years and in the US 12 years where they don’t really use them ,yet.It’s like the problem of production has been solved but consumption can’t keep up, so new ways to pay for things have to be invented.Surely there will eventually be a saturation point? IANA financial adviser 🙂

Do you really want to drive 1500 miles to the Dordogne and back with two young children, four bikes and a metric ton of luggage in a cheap car?

Replace the destination with Scotland, 3 children and a caravan and that’s exactly what our family did in the 80s.
£500 caravan, £300 car. No problem at all.

We have a 2004 Mazda 6 estate we paid £2400 for with 44k miles on it. That’s half the PCP deposit alone on the same vehicle new (roughly, I did check) and all we’d get would be a few more toys and a choice of colour. For the 6000 miles a year we do in a car it would be pissing money up the wall to get a new car on PCP.
We can afford it right enough but I’d rather spend it on something else like paying the mortgage off early so we can work a 4 day week.
Parking a new car on the drive every other year is just keeping up with the Jonses. The rest of us let you muppets pay the depreciation…… 🙂

It’se the problem of production has been solved but consumption can’t keep up, so new ways to pay for things have to be invented.

Leasing only works because there’s a good market for the second hand vehicles at the end of it. So somone’s buying them.

Parking a new car on the drive every other year is just keeping up with the Jonses.

I was with you up until that point. New and/or nice cars are intrinsically nice things to have. They are nice to drive, nice to be in.

Now you may choose to prioritise other things, as I do, and you may believe people who buy such things are foolish or rich, but it’s not fair to assume it’s always because they are vain enough to want to look posh to other people.

bails – Member

Have they really?

Last car was purchased for £500 and I had it for five years. None consumables spend was £200 over those five years.

Don’t go putting people off PP, we need those secondhand motors. 😆

“Have they really? Or does it just feel like that?“

Only a fag packet calc, but my car stands me about £45/month over the last 40 months & nearly 50k miles. I’m currently doing 400+ miles per week and a lease car would be costing a LOT more.

Last car was purchased for £500 and I had it for five years. None consumables spend was £200 over those five years.

Hindsight is a blessed thing but it isn’t why people spend money on cars. Some people buy piece of mind (and some buy status).

@wrightyson what Mazda have you got, email in profile

Let’s see…

I bought a 4 year old C-max for £6k and have kept it for 6 years. It’s now worth about £1k. Other than routine servicing, I’ve had two big bills of about £800 total (cambelt and suspension arms) that would not have happened with a lease car. Let’s say £1k extra to include MOTs.

£6k over 6 years is £83/ month.

I was with you up until that point. New and/or nice cars are intrinsically nice things to have. They are nice to drive, nice to be in.

Very little better than our Mazda or the Focus we had before it though. We’ve got electric things to press, climate control, cruise control etc and we can drive a 700 mile round trip in comfort.
New cars are less ‘nice things to have’ than they are ‘nice things to show you have‘ and we’re all doing the same speed sitting in traffic anyway. 🙂

Do you really want to drive 1500 miles to the Dordogne and back with two young children, four bikes and a metric ton of luggage in a cheap car?

I drove 400 miles to the Gambia, across the sahara, with all the camping and living stuff (as well as fluids for the car) we needed for 4 weeks, in a car that cost £100 (bought unseen) which I’d chopped the roof off (wanted a tan).

best thing I ever did on 4 wheels..

[url=https://flic.kr/p/zPrEv]towing the blazer[/url] by Hugh Lunnon, on Flickr

geetee1972 – Member

Hindsight is a blessed thing but it isn’t why people spend money on cars. Some people buy piece of mind (and some buy status).

It’s only perceived piece of mind.
When it leaves you stranded at the side of the road, your £20k+ VAG is only as useful as Ken Livingstone at a “Don’t mention Hitler” convention.

Yes, but if you are stranded at the side of the road, you won’t be dreading a four figure bill at the same time.

I’ve been driving 12 years, have always bought cars outright (max £4500) until the current one. I do about 20,000 miles per year, half on work time for which I get 45p per mile.

My last car cost me £2500 in depreciation over 2 years alone, £400 on tax, £100 on MOT’s, probably £500 in repairs/servicing (conservatively) and did about 35-40 mpg. So to run over 2 years (very roughly) £3500 PLUS fuel. Used at least £200 a month in fuel, a further £4800. So £8300.

Currently 12 months into an 18 month business contract hire deal. Small diesel car averages nearly 60mpg, I don’t pay any tax, or repairs, or MOT’s. Mileage stayed the same. £200 per month. So, you can say £4800 if it was over 2 years, PLUS fuel. That’s about £150 a month in this car – so £3600 over 2 years, giving a total of £8400, oh, plus one service, £100 odd.

So I’m what, a hundred quid or two worse off over 2 years (obviously only for that period taking into account depreciation on my old car which would have plateaued), but I’ve got a brand new car to drive around in, and no hassle. Also, it’s not really costing me that (anything in fact) as over 2 years my employer will pay me £9000 in mileage, tax free.

Free motoring. But, obviously, if you had a really cheap, really economical car that wasn’t going to depreciate or cost you loads in repairs you could actually be making significantly. I begrudge paying garage fees for basic servicing and repairs, so used to do it myself, but can’t really be bothered anymore.

The other bonus is that it leaves my cash in the savings account to try and earn some interest on or do fun things with.

if you only spend £500 on a car to start with, you won’t be dreading a four figure bill either – the most you’re out of pocket is £400 (cost of car – scrap value) 😀

I agree with you about the merits of older cars

New cars are less ‘nice things to have’ than they are ‘nice things to show you have’

… but I don’t agree with this.

When I’m better off, I’ll buy a better car. But it won’t be because I give a shit about what people think about it. The opinion of anyone who cares what car I have isn’t important.

It’s only perceived piece of mind.

This is of course very true. It’s much like relative perceived value/quality since these are rarely absolute terms.

My last car cost me £2500 in depreciation

My car has cost nothing in depreciation. It cost money to buy, and it costs money to run. I might get some money when I sell it, but that’s part of a different transaction.

Depreciation is not an out-of-pocket cost.

I get whar you’re saying, technically (pedantically), but it is incidental to, and a monetary factor of car ownership and the running thereof.

I buy car for £4000, two years later I sell it for £1500. Either way the £2500 is no longer mine. It’s comparable financially when considering leasing.

but it is incidental to, and a monetary factor of car ownership and the running thereof.

No I disagree. My car is depreciating, but I don’t have to actually find that money from my salary each month. It’s not a cashflow issue. If I was living out of one huge pot of money then maybe, but I’m not, I’m on a salary.

When you lease you are paying the depreciation out of your monthly salary, but not when you own the car. Yes, it’s the same money conceptually, but it has a different effect on your monthly budget.

There is a concern in the industry that manufacturers are leaving themselves open to a drop in car prices with billions of £ out in rented cars that they still own.

The way I would look at is either they’ve got their sums wrong or you could do better taking that risk yourself.

Yes, it’s the same money conceptually, but it has a different effect on your monthly budget.

Whether you pay the cost of depreciation up front by buying a car outright or over time by leasing does make a difference to the cash flow but you will always pay the cost.

The effect is still the same overall, pretty much.

You either buy a car with cash and spend the ownership period refilling your savings so you can buy another one.

Or you buy on finance/with a loan and pay off a bit of that each month.

Or you lease, and pay that every month.

Interesting that none of the older cars seem to have needed any time off the road, rather than just some cost. That was what irked me about my last car, not the bills just the extra hassle if the car is off the road.

Interesting that none of the older cars seem to have needed any time off the road, rather than just some cost.

I guess the stories we are hearing are all the ‘best case’ ones – for every 15 yr old great car, there will be another that has cost a fortune in repairs. At least with a new car you get at least three years relative piece of mind (says he who has just been quoted £1500 to replace a faulty low coolant level sensor on his 3.5 yr old Audi).

Before I signed up for a lease I created a spreadsheet of cars and running costs. None of those were over £10k so I’m not usually in the new car market.

The leased Civic is costing me £204 per month including two services. That is right in the middle of the spread of cars ranging from a Lexus LS400 costing £22.50 per month over four months and an Octavia costing £450 (with more bills coming) per month over 5 months, next worst was a Mondeo @ £285 per month over 14 months. The Civic is also cheaper on fuel than anything else I’ve ever owned.

The right second hand car will work out cheaper than a lease, but if that packs in after 6 months and you have to buy a new one or throws up a big repair bill it probably won’t.

Watching the deals and jumping on something cheap can mean worry free motoring for a fixed term with a set amount coming out of my bank account every month and running around in a new car.

And PCP is not leasing, that is PCH. There’s no balloon payment on PCH and no option to pay off the balance.

I had a look at leasing & couldn’t believe the cost if looking at something nice eg BMW or Mercedes estates. So it got me thinking. How about buying something, say 2/3 yrs old with a bank loan. Let’s say £20k. Pay the bank loan over say 4/5 years. That way somebody else has taken the new car depreciation hit, your paying off your asset and left with something you own and can sell. Plus if the worst were to happen eg lost job,flog the motor and pay off the loan. Anybody gone down this route?

I know your taking a risk as it’s not brand new. However, realistically these days cars are well made. Just look at how many German cars you see with 100k plus on the clock. All still fetching good prices on autotrader

I know your taking a risk as it’s not brand new. However, realistically these days cars are well made.

As I just said – £1500 for fixing a faulty sensor on a 3.5 yr old Audi here.

but if that packs in after 6 months and you have to buy a new one or throws up a big repair bill it probably won’t

So put the money you save against leasing in a separate savings account. That’ll cover you if there is a big bill, or if there isn’t – bonus.

The effect is still the same overall, pretty much.

Only if you have savings, and if you change the car regularly.

Last car was purchased for £500 and I had it for five years. None consumables spend was £200 over those five years.

Surely 200 quid over 5 years only just covers the cost of the MOTs. What about tyres, oil, filters, brakes, labour etc?

had a look at leasing & couldn’t believe the cost if looking at something nice eg BMW or Mercedes estates. So it got me thinking. How about buying something, say 2/3 yrs old with a bank loan. Let’s say £20k. Pay the bank loan over say 4/5 years. That way somebody else has taken the new car depreciation hit, your paying off your asset and left with something you own and can sell. Plus if the worst were to happen eg lost job,flog the motor and pay off the loan. Anybody gone down this route?

I did the maths on it and for the cars I was looking at (SRi/Titanium spec Astra or Focus) the loan option was a fair bit more than the equivalent lease.

Only if you have savings,

If you don’t have savings then you’re buying it with some form of credit, so you still need to pay that off.

change the car regularly.

That doesn’t change the fact that you’ll need money to buy a new car, whether that’s in 3 months or 10 years.

As I just said – £1500 for fixing a faulty sensor on a 3.5 yr old Audi here.

£2,500 to fix a manifold problem on my A6 identified by sensor and “computer check” by main dealer, then quoted £1,800 as a special offer. Then fixed for £60 by an independent as an actuating lever had “come loose” (the car had recently been served at the main dealer and the indy and I where both agreed that they had caused the problem)

Pete – you do make me chuckle!!

Parking a new car on the drive every other year is just keeping up with the Jonses. The rest of us let you muppets pay the depreciation

As per my thread a few months ago, I’ve always been a car owner.
however, I had the realisation that you only own a car until you sell it (obvz), so once you work out the balance between ‘hard cold maths’ and ‘risk or car going kaput’ and ‘I kinda fancy a new car’ then you can make a choice..

I really like out ten year old Octy, but it did cost a few grand getting the AC fixed a few years ago.
We’re due to pick up our new personal-contract-hire car in a few weeks, and really looking foward to it. You kind of forget that a new care IS a nicer place to be. Yes, you pay for that, but you pay for everything really.

DrP (four day a week worker 😉 )

I had a look at leasing & couldn’t believe the cost if looking at something nice eg BMW or Mercedes estates. So it got me thinking. How about buying something, say 2/3 yrs old with a bank loan. Let’s say £20k. Pay the bank loan over say 4/5 years. That way somebody else has taken the new car depreciation hit, your paying off your asset and left with something you own and can sell. Plus if the worst were to happen eg lost job,flog the motor and pay off the loan. Anybody gone down this route?

I know your taking a risk as it’s not brand new. However, realistically these days cars are well made. Just look at how many German cars you see with 100k plus on the clock. All still fetching good prices on autotrader

This is what I will be doing next, only because I wand something moderately quick. I currently lease an x-trail for £300/month 15k per year. When it goes back after 2 years it will have lost about £15k. I will have paid 8k. No brainer, but it is very car/deal specific.