I have a 45 mile commute everyday, a newborn baby, and a mountain bike.
My current 3dr focus isn’t cutting the mustard, and so we’re looking at something bigger.

It’s all new to me really, so I don’t know where to start. Any advice?

Budget could be anything up to £400 a month for just the car/lease.

Skoda Yeti:
http://www.lingscars.com/Skoda/Yeti/1812388-1.6_TDi_16v_(103bhp)_S_GreenLine_II_Station_Wagon_5dr_1598cc-personal.html#models

Or buy a 5 door focus estate for around £4k

in what way isnt it cutting the mustard .

just a pain to get the baby in the back.

5 door focus and a bike rack. pram in the boot.

Wait 2 months and then buy a £1000 car.

6 months later spend another £2400.

By the end of the year you’ll own over £4k of car with no loan/lease.

in what way isnt it cutting the mustard

too small, too basic, underpowered, dull..

“Wait 2 months and then buy a £1000 car.

6 months later spend another £2400.

By the end of the year you’ll own over £4k of car with no loan/lease.

“

– did someone buy a golf ? stupid car – worst decision i ever made was repairing our golfs steering rack – engine crapped out 6 months later.

A lot of lease deals are priced around the perceived average of 10k miles per year. Given you’re doing 225 miles per week (assuming the 45 miles is a round trip) then you’ve reached your quota without any non-commuting miles. You can get leases with more mileage allowance, but you pay a lot more for them as this affects the residuals on the car.

At the end of a lease deal, you have no capital returned to you, but the nice thing is that you can just hand it back and then get something else. However, £400/month on a personal loan will probably work out in such a way that there would be some residual value on the car, albeit you will have to ensure it is maintained. Using the loan option to buy second hand may work out better for you in the long run.

45 miles each way

I find it hard to believe a s/h car wouldn’t be a lot cheaper than a lease. You’re not paying for new car depreciation (OK so the leasing company doesn’t pay full retail price, but even so), you’re not paying for the profit of the leasing company, you have the option of getting it serviced somewhere cheaper (and better 😈 ) than the main dealers a lease company will use.

Taking into account your commute mileage, assuming you do a 5 day week and adding a bit for personal use, etc, I’m guessing your annual mileage is getting near 25000?

You will struggle to find a decent lease deal with an annual mileage this high and the VAT is a killer on these deals.

My advice go for a nearly new family orientated car from a main dealer, can normally hash out pretty good finance and warrenty deals that way.

It’s definitely a “buyers” market in the car sale industry at the moment so shop around and don’t be afraid of a little haggling!

Leasing is only good if you really must have a new car every 3 years.

Otherwise, even buying new is better. At least you have something to show for it after 3 years.

My advice is a three year old car from a dealer for good finance. As above, dealer backed finance is very competitive now as they need to shift cars.