I can't actually remember ever taking any of my kids to school in a car, doesn't sound very nice for the parent or child.
Classic STW one-upmanship...
Lots of people have to work.
Lots of people have to work in places that are not their child's school.
Lots of people have to drop their children off at the school while they are in the process of travelling to work.
Give over...
You've got 60% of the age life for 20% = good buy, Aracer. 30k a year implies long distances and not much cold running = OK, but some distance related bills will start to appear. I doubt they'll be much compared to the new cost over the next 50 000 miles so you'll still have paid less. It would be nice if the type of vehicle I use depreciated that fast in France. Even a C6 doesn't depreciate that fast here.
Lots of people have to work.
Lots of people have to work in places that are not their child's school.
Lots of people have to drop their children off at the school while they are in the process of travelling to work.
They have no choice in we're they work, live or take their kids to school or how they get between those places?
You give over making excuses for fatties who can't get out of their cars.
I think the real thing is to not be bothered how big or expensive your neighbour's car or house is. What you have is ok. To be alive is ok. Value judgements are dificult. I choose to live where I am for the stunning countryside, the hill and mountainous atmosphere, to be close to my parents and sister and friends. A better job and more money would be a bonus environment. I don't NEED a car to do this stuff
They have no choice in we're they work, live or take their kids to school or how they get between those places?
Well, in a way people have a choice...but this is the similar naive statement raised regarding 'wild animals in captivity' in the book 'life of Pi' - yes, animals and humans have a degree of freedom in their choices, but were not 100% free to roam the planes/streets doing whatever we wish, are we?!
I can't waltz up to a house in an area I can't afford, and simply state "jog on, I'm living here...". My wife can't speak to the head of her speciality school of training and say "I'm not transferring to this hospital next year, cos I don't want to use my car, move me here" (she can try, but is limited by real factors). I could swap my son from school to school year after year, moving home year after year, just to avoid having to use the car to drop him at school/childcare - but for him which would be more damaging to his development??
I can see you raise a nice point, and in an ideal world people could stick to it, but we clearly live in a more complicated situation than that. This comment is on a similar vain to "why are African people walking 8 miles to a well - move closer to the well dammit....!"
(Oh, neither me or my wife have so much of an ounce of fat on us either...)
DrP
I think the real thing is to not be bothered how big or expensive your neighbour's car or house is. What you have is ok. To be alive is ok. Value judgements are dificult. I choose to live where I am for the stunning countryside, the hill and mountainous atmosphere, to be close to my parents and sister and friends. A better job and more money would be a bonus environment. I don't NEED a car to do this stuff
Nails it
We had a pension company visit us to discuss managing our company pension. They turned up in a BMW 7 series. We turned them down on the basis that if that was their company car, they were taking too much commission.
That's really stupid.
Why someone would want to waste 40k plus on a car is beyond me - particularly on some sort of useless tasteless SUV (chav chariot) that's not even any good offroad (e.g. Audi Q3/5/7, BMW X6, X1/3/5, etc).The lives of these people really must be devoid of any sort of interest yet full of inflated self importance.
A friend of mine owns an Audi Q5. It's quite an unpleasant car, with surprisingly little space, and cost a fortune. He has zero interest in cars or driving, and takes the train to work most days. I think it's more a case of money + lack of interest than self importance.
DrP- There will always be exceptions whether real or constructed for the purpose of argument.
The point I am making is taking your kids to school by car should not be seen as the norm, it isnt. Not just for me but for the vast majority of parents who have been taking kids to school with me other the last 3 kids and 15 years.
Not really one up manship either by the normal measures, cars, houses,jobs etc as I have probably comprimised on them all by putting a bit more emphasis on life balance..
Even in your example, your wife has a choice in her career path, it may have been clear cut I wouldnt argue one way or another on the net, but its still a choice.
Good to here your trim btw :), sure you dont need reminding that too is becoming the exception.
The point I am making is taking your kids to school by car should not be seen as the norm
I agree that this is a desirable state of affairs, but circumstances differ between people;
What if you need to use a car for work?
What if you work 6 or 7 miles away from your child's school?
Both school and work start at 9 am...
What if your hours are such that you finish work 15 or so minutes before school closes?
What if you have more than one child, and need to get them both to different schools?
Public transport, walking, cycling are all the best option for individual transportation, but add in transporting children, add in tight time schedules, add in the demands of working hours and it becomes a little less achievable.
re: taking the kids to school - some people do take it to the extreme though. A family live just up the road from us and it must be 5 minutes walk absolute tops to their school.
The route isn't dangerous - out their house and turn left and walk down a small road and not very busy, cross 1 minor road, turn left at the end and they are at school.
Quite often see them being packed in to their Imprezza for a lift there...
Regarding nice cars etc - when I am in a position to afford something I consider nice I will get one. I do 15-20k miles a year and want something that I enjoy...
Cheers
Danny B
We had a pension company visit us to discuss managing our company pension. They turned up in a BMW 7 series. We turned them down on the basis that if that was their company car, they were taking too much commission.
I hope you don't have any serious responsibility at your firm - that's ridiculous!
Perhaps it was their personal car, purchased with some inheritance money? Or maybe they have downsized their house, and had a fair chunk of cash left over?
Perhaps their 3-series company car was having a service, and the garage offered them the 7-series for the day?
(The list goes on....)
Perhaps they also make their clients shitloads of money in the pension funds and the 7 Series is a fraction of a percent in terms of that generated income.
[i]We had a pension company visit us to discuss managing our company pension. They turned up in a BMW 7 series. We turned them down on the basis that if that was their company car, they were taking too much commission. [/i]
Conversely I wouldn't feel that giving money to a chap who turns up in a shed of a motor was a particularly safe decision.
We had a pension company visit us to discuss managing our company pension. They turned up in a BMW 7 series. We turned them down on the basis that if that was their company car, they were taking too much commission
Asking how much commission he takes might have been a more astute approach?
Perhaps they also make their clients shitloads of money in the pension funds and the 7 Series is a fraction of a percent in terms of that generated income.
They actually make shit loads of money by transferring their clients funds to the pension company paying the largest kickback. This is how the whole industry ran for years. The last thing IFAs cared about was the return for their clients!
Most people buy their houses on "finance". It costs a lot more than saving up and buying outright, and if you lose your job you might lose the house. And so on.
Frankly it's up to the individual to make the "save or borrow" call according to their circumstances and perception of risk.
They actually make shit loads of money by transferring their clients funds to the pension company paying the largest kickback. This is how the whole industry ran for years. The last thing IFAs cared about was the return for their clients!
I agree they are overpaid scumabags, but that's not the issue. The idea of negative discrimination based the type of car someone drives doesn't sound too bright.
The point I am making is taking your kids to school by car should not be seen as the norm, it isnt.
I think that depends on the town actually. In Cardiff I rarely see school busses, I think many people drive. The traffic's really not that bad so people don't mind so much.
You get a choice of schools across the city, so some people have chosen ones that are a few miles away. You also have people moving around the city, so their kids may start in their local school but they move for whatever reason and then they have a 4 mile drive or something to school. Then the school catchement is so spread out busses become non viable.
There are still plenty of walkers mind.
johndoh - Member
Perhaps they also make their clients shitloads of money in the pension funds and the 7 Series is a fraction of a percent in terms of that generated income.
Perhaps his car is not indicative of his income and therefore he shouldnt be judged? This is why you never assume how people obtain things. A friend of mine has all most people could ever want, I later found out that his credit payments were with 10p, yes 10p of his salary. Personally I wouldn't want to live my life by repayment to that much debt
In the context of IFAs at the time, I'd say it is relevant. The whole industry was completely corrupt with IFAs just moving clients money to maximise kickbacks (which were paid for by higher management fees on the funds and thus lower returns for their clients). Thankfully the industry has finally been reformed, which will mean that IFAs will almost cease to exist.
Even in the dark days of IFA's being mandatory, they clearly display whet commission they take. Why not look and compare the figures?
Seems to be a lot of sour grapes on this thread. I choose to buy a cheap car simply because I'm not so flush that a 30k car is a realistic option, I can't afford the losses.
Judging people for the car they have implies a knowledge of that person that you don't have and is pure jealousy. I have a lovely neighbour who is the worst driver I know, she has a Q8 and is simply over car'd. She wants a mini but her husband wants his kids safe from her driving. They are both lovely, unpretentious, good people who have the money to buy the things they like - What? (I did suggest a driving skills course)
If it's sackcloth shirts all round, I'm out thanks.
I do however make judgements on peoples driving skills and parking choices, not much makes me more angry than a Surrey wife parked in a disabled spot getting out of the car in her gym clothes.
Judging people for the car they have implies a knowledge of that person that you don't have and is pure jealousy.
A massive +1 for this. It's astounding how many people on these types of threads are oblivious to blatant jealousy.
I was in the pub with work colleagues last week and my 'new' car became the topic of conversation.
Some people ridiculed it. Others defended it and said it's awesome. All of them, whilst knowing me well, had made judgements about me as a direct result of my choice of car. I was really surprised.
The main factor in my purchase decision was not how it looked, how fast it goes, how it "connects to my soul" (whatever that means) but whether it will fit on my drive next to my wife's sensible family car.
It's a 2006 Smart car. And it's ace.
Judging people for the car they have implies a knowledge of that person that you don't have and is pure jealousy.A massive +1 for this. It's astounding how many people on these types of threads are oblivious to blatant jealousy.
I said this earlier and go poo-poo'd by the very people who were oblivious to the jealousy haha
this post made me laugh:
There's a lot of similarity between posh cars and private schools.Anyhow, if anyone wants a free SUV, the trophy wives who park outside my shop while they go to collect their private school kids from the bus stop usually leave their engines running.
This guy doesn't sound bitter at all!
A lot of this thread is highly unpleasant, quite depressing really to think so many of these people are the same as those you might see out on the trails enjoying mountain biking
jambalaya - Member
A lot of this thread is highly unpleasant, quite depressing really to think so many of these people are the same as those you might see out on the trails enjoying mountain biking
...riding Thetford on a brand new 34lb 650b 160mm All Mountain bike complete with 1 x 11 gearing, chain device and dropper.
Some people ridiculed it. Others defended it and said it's awesome. All of them, whilst knowing me well, had made judgements about me as a direct result of my choice of car. I was really surprised.
Try driving a Prius and admitting it on STW!
Most people buy their houses on "finance". It costs a lot more than saving up and buying outright, and if you lose your job you might lose the house. And so on.
Except that a car is a rapidly depreciating asset, whereas my house is worth more than I paid for it.
A massive +1 for this. It's astounding how many people on these types of threads are oblivious to blatant jealousy.
Amazing how many people can't get their head around "if I wanted a flashier car, I would buy one".
I have often wondered the same question as the OP. It all comes down to life choices. I could if i wanted, go and buy a nice car with my savings. But then i have no money for holidays, stuff i can buy on a whim and general financial security. I would rather be me, in my current position, who drives an 03 V40 1.9D sport, who enjoys life, rather than many of the people i see , who will have to have made sacrifices to drive round in a new overpriced mediocre car (that is in truth, worse than my volvo)!
molgrips - Member
Some people ridiculed it. Others defended it and said it's awesome. All of them, whilst knowing me well, had made judgements about me as a direct result of my choice of car. I was really surprised.
Try driving a Prius and admitting it on STW!
Divorcee, finally out of the closet, obviously 😉
Amazing how many people can't get their head around "if I wanted a flashier car, I would buy one".
I totally 'get' that, just as I 'get' people having nice cars, it's up to them. I don't 'get' people being proud of making business decisions based on someone having a nice car, or assuming someone's a tool because they have a personalised number plate.
I totally 'get' that, just as I 'get' people having nice cars, it's up to them.
Of course it's up to them. But I don't "get" why you would drop a fortune on a car when it means having to make significant compromises in other areas of your life. I just don't see what it gains you.
I too wonder about the OP's question
Even if I earned a decent wage I don't know how I'd afford the kind of car I see plenty of people living near me driving around in
They can't all be earning loads, or at least I don't think so or they would live somewhere nicer :p
I'm into cars, so if I had the cash I would definitely buy a nicer car, I just don't know how people have 2 new Audi's or similar on the drive
konabunny - Member
We had a pension company visit us to discuss managing our company pension. They turned up in a BMW 7 series. We turned them down on the basis that if that was their company car, they were taking too much commission.
That's really stupid.
As a company, we actively discourage our reps from choosing cars too fancy for this very reason. The world is full of naïve irrational fools.
Me, I drive a 10 year old Astra estate. Given that I do about 5k a year and its either got messy bikes or messy kids in the back I'm unwilling to spend more on a newer car - I'll run this till it dies.
Obviously, if circumstances changed and I was spending more time in it then a 'nicer' car becomes more of a priority.
People will always spunk their hard earned on things they think are important to them. Different strokes for different folks innit.
We had a pension company visit us to discuss managing our company pension. They turned up in a BMW 7 series. We turned them down on the basis that if that was their company car, they were taking too much commission.
It's funny how everybodies perception varies - about 15 years ago I worked at a Telemarketing company. The MD drove a 911 and he would always go to his client meetings in the 911. The 911 was a sales tool. It showed that he had a successful business. As the saying goes if you want to be successful, surround yourself with successful people! He sold the business a few years later for a couple of million.
The truth was he was paying about £600 per month for the 911 on a PCP, but his clients didn't know that!
I know an 'eco' company, of some standing, that has three Aston's on the books for one of the directors....
In 2012 there were approximately 2,000,000 new cars registered in the UK
1,000.000 were company cars (50%)
800,000 were retail sales (40%) - 80% of these customers borrow the money to buy these cars (ie HP/PCP/bank loan/family loan etc)
200,000 were Motability cars (10%) or 20% of the retail market.
So when you see a new car, remember 5 out of 10 are company cars, 1 out of 10 is a Motability car. Out of the remaining 4 new cars, 3 are funded!
"I've lost count of the number of chavvy looking folk I've seen driving decent motors. Not saying they've not grafted for them, but I reckon a fair few bought council houses on the cheap (discounted) and are sitting on a stack of cash as a result, especially down here in the SE."
Got an ill or disabled relative? You can be eligible for quite a nice motorbility scheme vehicle.
Yes there are genuine cases but lets say you smoke all your life/eat badly. A relative (using your monthly allowance or paying you it) can get say a 20k new car over 3yrs with free insurance, servicing etc all for say 200 @ month Fancy a nicer car? Just pay a contribution upfront..
Almost nobody buys cars north of 50k with cash, it doesn't make sense. All about the finance, innit. You can get a new car every couple of years and not worry about depreciation, MOTs, unexpected bills etc as everything is (or more accurately, can be) built into the rental price. The best deal I ever had was an S65 merc, I think it ran at about £155k list, I got it for 9k down and £1500/month - at the time I was one of those dreadful City types so it was hardly a dent in my outgoings.
Over the years I've driven some great machinery and not had to worry about disposing of a rapidly depreciating asset - instead I've used my cash to invest in other things while treating my vehicles like any other monthly cost, IE phone, TV license, or any other monthly bill.
More reasonably you can pick up a decent Merc or BMW for around £300 /month and replace it with a new one every couple of years. Makes sense to a lot of people.
The absolute best thing about this approach is if you *do* get into financial strife you just hand the car back and take the associated temporary credit hit.
BTW all you lovers of the BMW M3, you can buy a Porsche Cayman for the same money, 2 vs 4 seats but a much better car
I would disagree strongly with this; my last M3 was a far better machine than my last 911 let alone a Gayman. Porsches are overrated in my opinion.
Oh god, this thread's come back to life.
Ready the orbital cannon!
I have 3 old cars, generally not all go wrong at the same time, but just spent 200quid on a bike for my 3 year old.
Only here can I get away with admitting that.
Really, if noone bought new cars what do people think would happen to the price of used ones? Stop moaning and let people enjoy the cars and then buy it off them once it needs mots and things fixing.
To get back to the OP, the answers are fairly simple -
- company car
- leasing
- having enough money to buy one, or if not a good credit rating
- prioritising spending (and thats the important one)
Look at me - I have two cars, a house, a dog, several bikes, shitloads of camera gear and a golf club membership. I eat well and live well. But I don't have Sky TV and I don't take holidays.
Priorities. It's all about priorities...
Got an ill or disabled relative? You can be eligible for quite a nice motorbility scheme vehicle.Yes there are genuine cases but lets say you smoke all your life/eat badly. A relative (using your monthly allowance or paying you it) can get say a 20k new car over 3yrs with free insurance, servicing etc all for say 200 @ month Fancy a nicer car? Just pay a contribution upfront.
So you can get a car by having someone else pay for it? 🙄 What a cunning plan. That's like saying "all you have to do is have a relative who's a premiership football player, then they can buy you a limo with a jacuzzi in the back."
You get £55.25 per week in 'mobility' DLA if you have "severe walking difficulty". Not just because you get a headache every now and again. Otherwise it's £21/week or ~£100 max per month, which might just stretch to a [url= http://officialcarleasing.co.uk/carsearch?a=details&car=177 ]Skoda Citigo 1.0[/url]...
