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Shiny new fast BMW here on lease.
It was a cheap deal, payments are less than 1% of what it would have cost to buy, and I can just give it back after 2 years. In that time, I pay for one minor service and possibly a pair of rear tyres - lease co even pay the VED. I don't think it will cost me any more than the Fabia or Civic (both bought at 6 months old) I had before it.
Less about predictable expense, more than I don't have the time or inclination to be dropping a car off every other month for MOT, or to get something else fixed, or spend my weekends under it. Have done old and cheap(ish) before, it was great when I was single, time-rich, worked locally and had a good mechanic down the road for things I couldn't manage myself.
Most of my mileage is for work, they pay business mileage pretty generously. I don't have a "commute" to pay for out of my own pocket (even when I cycle it's at 20p/mile). Not going into percentages, it's not an amount I lose down the sofa but not a huge dent in our household budget. We only run the one car between us too.
On the flipside, I've never spent more than £900 on a bike (actually, have never bought a "current year" bike either), because I've rarely felt that my enjoyment would be massively improved by spending more.
Really depends how many miles you do. And if you give a shit about what you drive.
We have positioned ourself so that kids walk to school on their own and we both cycle to work.
We were lucky (??!) to inherit an 05 plate 307sw which does about about 20 miles per week in commuting/ferrying kids about bu in the warmer months takes us away 2 or 3 weekends each month. Very occasionally I need to work out of city for a day so may do a 100 mile each way trip.
When driven 'steadily' it will do 60+mpg on long runs and costs 300-500 per year to mot and service. It's a shed inside and out. We could afford to buy and run a 'nice car' but we'd only see any point. It's an F'ing metal box that takes you places to do cool stuff. The money we save on not using the super shed on wheels much is saved in the campervan account...
If I needed a car to drive a lot if miles in now I'd look to spend <£3k on a mid size diesel estate with a decent history. Just don't see that anything more expensive gets you anything other than posing potential.
If you like driving and are happy to spend your money on another hobby then go for it
Edited as kinda agree with subsequent post..
This turned into a d1ck swinging contest pretty quickly.
£500 car per year. Recoup £50 scrap value when it fails the mot. Repeat
This turned into a d1ck swinging contest pretty quickly.
MPV owners have the swingingest dicks. Fact. Especially those with 2 MPVs.
*licks finger, smooths down eyebrows*
cheers_drive - Member
'plyphon - Member
So can someone tell me if I'm being an idiot or not with this decision:
Currently earn around 25k, and I'm 25 years old.
I save a minimum of £500 a month into ISA, and a maximum to date of £1000. Usually it's around £700. Depends on how much I party and treat myself, but I'm getting more and more over material things so generally the trend is upwards.
I'm considering buying a VW Scirocco for around £10k. 2.0L GT diesel variant if I can, 2010 latest. I intend to keep it minimum 5 years.
Is this absolutely nuts? That's almost 50% of my annual, but I have the cash. Or rather I will do in about 3 months or so, depending on how good I am + my current cars estimated £1k part ex.
This will, of course, empty my savings. But I live at home and no kids. So yeah. Insane or?
Would I be better off financing and keeping 5ish grand toward a mortgage?Nah at your age just enjoy yourself. I had a similar wage at your age but didn't save any money - my 20's were spend on rent and pissing it up the wall. I bought a new car at age 25, kept it a few years, would never do it again but don't regret it. As the other poster says - get a petrol unless you're doing over 15k a year.
POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST
Heh. Sounds good to me. I figure I'll still be able to get a deposit within a couple of years with my GF if I spend the 10k now.
I do about 13kish give or take. So on the edge I guess of petrol/diesel . Of course tax is more on petrol also I believe. But I will consider petrol for sure. Extra bhp init
Part exchanged my old one and got a loan for the remainder of the new one. I pay about £200 a month for the loan. It's worth it for having a nice new car which is way more efficient than the old one, I probably end up spending the same as I used to as it's offset by the improved efficiency.
4 cars. Couple of classics, 60's mini, type 2 bay window camper. Old Alfa bought at 4 yrs old for £9k done 120k+ miles worth maybe a grand. Daily is a merc clk bought at 4yrs old for circa 15k Work on a basis of 2.5 per annum depreciation on the fleet. Works for me.
As a percentage of my income, well that's mine to know but its quite quite manageable.
bought our 57 plate altea xl for £4k last year. absolutely gutted to have paid so much tbh, had ratty looking escort/partner vans and a focus before which never let us down and cheap to run - prob combined value when i bought them of £4k over 10 years! don't understand why people want to pay £300+ a month just to have something shiny parked outside, but each to their own
we have a camper too which we've had about 5 years, cost us about £6k inc subsequent subaru engine replacement 2 years ago and fitting it out myself with ikea/smev stuff. so working out about £1k a year plus mot/tax/insurance its best thing we've ever bought
When I used to work in Edinburgh I got the bus everywhere and didn't need a car. When my employer relocated to Sunderland, my gran gave me her '05 Panda as she was giving up driving due to her age.
I used that with enthusiasm for 18 months until it got written off (my fault), but spent the payout on a newer 09 model which featured a 12v socket so was a good upgrade!! 🙂 It suits me as it's cheap to run, tax and insure, and as the ride height is better than a normal car, means when I go to film rallies and drive through forests before and after ~100 rally cars have ripped the roads to shreds it's less likely to rip the floor off or get stuck. I've done 25k miles in 10 months and it's never let me down, and only had a basic service and MOT.
I do have a personal reg which I need an 11 plate car to use it, so that's the only reason I'd change but would have to be a decent small and above all reliable replacement. Would have to save up though, couldn't face getting a car on credit but can see why others do, not an issue to me.
I would pcp/rent/finance a shiny car if it was a money making tool for me..... It isnt
So our cars were bought at 3 and 10 years old for roughly 4 and 2% of my wage.... Cheap cars
Put 200 quid a side each month for running costs and seem to opperate a surplus- but then i do all my own maintainance so not too pricy
How do people afford cars? By not spending the car money on other things I guess. That's how it is for me. And why I've avoided getting a newer car since I got my current one just under 12 years ago.
Mine's now a 120,000+ miler from 2002. It was our second car after about 5 years of me not having one. Thinking back, it probably cost about 50% of my net annual wage at the time (yikes!). I used a personal loan to cover about 80% of the car's cost. Over the past 5 years I figure it has cost about £500/year in parts/servicing.
I think it may be time to get something a bit more up to date. I'll likely go for a PCP-type deal to avoid dipping into savings and to keep the monthly cost down to something not too disruptive. Proportion of income? Up to 20% of disposable income in my 3 am imagination. That may go way down dependent on advice at home and my unwillingness to spend in the showroom. Thinking about it, maybe I should keep my current car and get a new bike instead. Or just save the money.
You know all these car crime statistics? Well someone has to benefit from all these thefts... 😉 just learn to steal a fancy car and you're sorted...
Ergo, I'm the proud owner of a Skoda Octavia TDI for the small sum of a few 'cracking' tools and 160 hours community service...
DrP
For the first time since 1999 I'm not a car owner.
I work from home, live in the middle of town so only need car on weekends. Based on the annual costs here in Oz I can hire a car every other weekend for less. So thats what I'm doing. I get what I want when I need it, don't worry about repairs or ongoing costs or having the wrong car for what I'm doing.
My car is x% of my salary.
Why would I reveal that? Reminds me of the poor STWer who was mauled by revealing he was on 50k and another slagged him off then revealed later on in the thread that he did as little work as possible as did his partner.
No ta.
Hora - but we all know you have more money than anyone here given how often you change bikes. I simply couldn't afford to change bikes as often as you do 🙂
peterfile - Member
That's a fairly bizarre car to be given for work purposes?
What do you do, drive small parcels around the country very quickly?
POSTED 10 HOURS AGO #
I work in design/branding. Apologises if this came over as willy swinging in anyway, I'm very humble in real life and often look at what I have and think how did I get here from colouring stuff in.
Never really thought about our car as a percentage of income....it's not much really as it was only £7k bought with a bank loan. It represented great value for money (E90 339) and has so far been ok; one minor repair to the VANOS. A set of tyres and tax. My car is a company car so costs my BIK plus £10 per month damage waiver.
You can get some really nice cars for not too much cash...anything slightly older with a few miles on the clock and people believe that it'll automatically rape your wallet. They then go and PCP a new / nearly new car and get raped on depreciation and finance costs. One of my mates who seems obsessed with having something shiney and newish tried to tell me that depreciation isn't a cost. Hmmm.
To be honest I don't think many actually buy a car these days. The majority are leased or PCP'd. The latter is a great way to get a new car cheaply, but it traps you in an endless cycle of finance and upgrades.
Willy waving goes both ways - people can be proud of how little they spend or what they can afford. Nothing wrong with either view, people have different values and interests.
Car purchase chain :
At 16K salary, bought a £1K car. Kept for a couple of years.
£3K loan + savings, £5K car. Kept for 3 years.
Trade in + savings, £11K car. Kept for a year.
Sale + savings + share scheme money, £19K car (new!). Kept for 5 years.
Sale + savings, £13K car. Kept for 5 years.
Trade in + savings, £27K car. Kept for 3 years.
Trade in + a little top up, £25K car.
Age of the cars when I bought them was 3-5 years, apart from the new one. The £27K one, 4 years old, cost close to £70K new.
anything slightly older with a few miles on the clock and people believe that it'll automatically rape your wallet. They then go and PCP a new / nearly new car and get raped on depreciation and finance costs.
This exactly, or they try and justify it by saying the newer car will do an extra 10mpg so will be more economical, but spend £££££ thousands just to save a few mpg.
Older cars providing you buy well are normally no less reliable than a new car. Okay they may need a few £100 more in tlc each year but that cost pales into insignificance when compared to costs of lease, finance, depreciation on a new car.
Put it this way, my friends new VW has spent more time in the garage last year sorting various warranty issues than my 13yr old car which went just twice. He also found out in the process just how expensive main dealer service costs are, but being a lease car he's obliged to use them.
Put it this way, my friends new VW has spent more time in the garage last year sorting various warranty issues than my 13yr old car which went just twice.
Ah the extrapolate on incident to help sure up my position....
Sometimes the deals work well for one or the other opinion, everyone is different on top of that whats important to one person is might not be to another. But of course if everyone learned that new cars were a bad buy and went used the used market might dry up...
Mindmap+1.
Totally agree you can get lots of car for not much money nowadays. Plus many new cars you drive just feel generic there's not much between them. The onus is more on gimmicks than the actual car.
I haven't ever though of a car as a percentage of wht I earn. I've always bought a car with what I can afford out of my savings, as and when I need one.
Rover died? Sell it on eBay and drive a banger... Banger died? Buy another one! Repeat.
The pattern got broken when I bought my Passat. I spent 3k on it and it was faultless for four years. Sadly, little things started going wrong this last year and I had to make a tough decision. I traded him in for a grand off the cost of a 57 plate TT which, before anyone says anything, did _NOT_ come with a blow dryer in the back.
Yes it's a ridiculous car with no space for anyone in the back, but every time I sit in it and drive away, I smile. It's lovely. When I can't afford the petrol for it, I'll convert it to LPG.
car purchase price 5% of income. as it's a 'classic' it's nearly 5% a year to keep running, but I am doing 18k a year in it (yes it's an old diesel merc).
Well after yesterday's drive I'm becoming a bit disillusioned. 250bhp doesn't work through front wheels only!!
Will try one more 5 year old Beemer then I'm giving up and will get another year out of my 11 yr old 320d before going round this buoy again!!!!!
I have no quarrel with people choosing to spending lots of money on cars. I do feel a bit sorry for people who are locked into working jobs they hate to buy shit they don't need. You can save an awful lot of money by making do with an older car, it adds up to a lot of holidays, bikes, and years of early retirement...
Put it this way, my friends new VW has spent more time in the garage last year sorting various warranty issues than my 13yr old car which went just twice.Ah the extrapolate on incident to help sure up my position....
Nope, several more examples where that came from, recalls, warranty issues, etc. A new car is no guarantee of trouble free motoring.
If you're buying a 3 year old car often all this sort of stuff will have been sorted.
We bought a brand new German car which cost a fair bit. It was the one and only time in my life I'll buy a brand new car.
However that was 12 years ago, we're still running the car and to be honest I can see us still having it when it's 20 years old. Still a lovely car to drive and overall has worked out pretty cheap.
I am delighted to say though that I'm now in full compliance with Rule 25.
Why would I reveal that? Reminds me of the poor STWer who was mauled by revealing he was on 50k and another slagged him off then revealed later on in the thread that he did as little work as possible as did his partner.
I don't understand why you'd do any more than 'as little work as possible'? Anything else is just wasted effort.
I've only owned one car bought for £7k with a loan when I was earning £28k (first proper job)
It's still running 13 years later....it doesn't lock or have a stereo after some nice chap decided to punch the lock through with a screw driver about 5 years ago. Paint work is bad and it sometimes leaks in heavy rain. But it works. It's MOT is next week and I'm thinking it might not make it. Every time I fill it with petrol I think I've doubled the value of it.
I do feel a little self conscious driving into the work car park, as one of the more senior bods, I park my shed amongst the shiny audis and mercs.
My justification if asked why I drive it (I do get asked...) is I spend the money on bikes which make me far more happy...my bikes are probably worth about 50 times my car!
I work in design/branding. Apologises if this came over as willy swinging in anyway, I'm very humble in real life and often look at what I have and think how did I get here from colouring stuff in.
Haha, no I wasn't having a go! Was just curious why your employer looked down a list of cars and thought "yes, this one will be great for our staff, not very practical and very very fast, it's perfect for work purposes!" 🙂
Our list of cars is predictably dull (A6, 5 series, E class, a few japanese offerings), all with the most efficient engines available, no option to get something like a 535 for example. But, depending on what car class you're in, the cash alternative ranges from £600 per month to £1,750 a month....so no one bothers taking the company car!
Given some of the finance deals available, there are some very, very nice cars in the car park that people have picked up as an alternative to the company cars. For example, you can pick up your 435d on lease for about £500 a month, so even those on quite a low car category could run one for the same cost as taking a company 520d.
I bought a cheap 2003 E39 530i fsh 80k miles in mint owned by a retired guy.
Cost me £2500 2 years ago and I also paid £600 and installed my own LPG system as its a thirsty brute.
Car is full leather with toys and costs me 75p per litre to fill with lpg (60 litres).
I keep half filled with petrol should I not find an lpg garage.
Better to drive and faster than my company '14 Mondeo and my '10 A4.
Bit slippery on cold backroads unless you use winters and parts are not cheap.
I'll keep it till it dies.
Never really understood the car thing. Why spend x% of income on a depreciating means of transport but object to investing in you own health and education. Odd priorities IME.
But then I hardly drive. Last car 1995 plate and still only 56k on the clock!
I gather a lot of cars are bought on credit with monthly payments, whilst at the same time personal debt is increasing and hardly anyone's paying enough into their pension - flash car now, starvation and penury at 65 - yay 😯
Buy second hand for cash if you can, something which is as reliable and comfortable as you need - buying a depreciating asset on debt as about as stupid a financial decision as you can make.
A 3 year old second-hand Ford Focus is as fast as a willy-waving status-mobile in a traffic jam, after all!
Over the years have done all the ways
Financed new and used - around 20-30% of income
Saved few £100 a month of spare income aroun 10-20% of income
But last car was needed in an emergency as I killed the last one and that £800 of spare income after a good month at work around 30% of that months income
I would say save or buy cheap cars as finance on new or used is never worth it
Our pick up, bought out right is about 10% of our (wife's and mine) net salary.
I'm always astounded by my brother-in-law. He and his wife always have nice cars and pretty good jobs. He'll buy a beautiful car (2 years old or so), keep it for a couple of years and sell it on losing barely any money. A8, 530i etc. It's the people at the top of the food chain I can't comprehend. Buy a new A8, sell it two years late for a fraction of what you paid!
I gather a lot of cars are bought on credit with monthly payments, whilst at the same time personal debt is increasing and hardly anyone's paying enough into their pension - flash car now, starvation and penury at 65 - yay
'
Well that's the rub they aren't being bought.... Someone had the bright idea of rather than lower costs to sell them just figuredout a way to get them to be 'affordable' ..