Page 11 | How do lots of people afford the brand new luxury cars ?

Stroganoffo · 2023-02-02T15:24:59+00:00

Keep seeing 22 plate Mercedes, Audi , BMW and tesla, when I was little these were quite rare as only the wealthy had them. Now it seems everyone has one considering the average wage isn't that high and the cost of one is 50k. I have a good wage and still don't want to fork out lots. How are people affording them. Is it all on credit ? Aren't people worried with everything else going up and the cost of living crisis ?.

MrsGhandi · 02/02/2023 17:50

QuertyGirl · 02/02/2023 17:45

What happens to the cars when they're given back?

This seems hideously wasteful

In the case of Volvo they are recycled by making greater use of recycled material, and remanufacturing and reusing parts.`They have something called the Circular Economy and they are not the only car manufacturers to do so.

WaddleAway · 02/02/2023 17:50

QuertyGirl · 02/02/2023 17:45

What happens to the cars when they're given back?

This seems hideously wasteful

They don’t just scrap them 😂. They’re usually sold as second hand cars.

QuertyGirl · 02/02/2023 17:45

What happens to the cars when they're given back?

This seems hideously wasteful

WaddleAway · 02/02/2023 17:38

SilverGlitterBaubles · 02/02/2023 17:34

Having a car on PCP is just another debt to worry about, much more straightforward and financially sensible to own your car, maintain it well and drive it for as long a possible.

For me, owning a car is just another thing to maintain that I have to worry about!

MrsGhandi · 02/02/2023 17:38

There are some very old fashioned attitudes to cars here . I owned my last car for 5 years - paid the money up front , paid for services, tyres etc over the 5 years. I have been lucky in selling it for a good amount due to the shortage of second hand cars just now. I now have a car on subscription which covers everything except insurance and it will cost me approximately the same as my last car when everything is taken into consideration. At the end of my 3 years I don't "own " my car as I will get a new one. I am better off paying my sub of 550 per month than shelling out 55,000 to "own" that. My 55,000 is sitting earning interest instead. It doesn't make sense to buy expensive cars upfront.

ginsparkles · 02/02/2023 17:38

@SilverGlitterBaubles 100% agree. I haven't always been able to afford it, I can now, so I do. If my circumstances changed, so would my car.

WaddleAway · 02/02/2023 17:38

pebbles3004 · 02/02/2023 15:47

I have always thought leasing a car was bonkers. We earn well (over £100k for the household) and would never even think of spending even £400 a month on a car. We have so much else we would rather do with £400! We both have good second hand cars (VW & Seat) and will most likely own them for years to come, until they are costing us money multiple times a year in repairs and upkeep. I don't understand pouring money into something that sits in the driveway or work car park most of the time.

Whereas I can’t imagine the aggro of owning a car. I have no interest in car ownership, I just want something reliable to drive. Leasing one makes far more sense for me. If anything goes wrong, someone comes to fetch it, takes it to be fixed and brings it back, and the cost is covered by my monthly payments. I hand it back after 3 years, before it needs to be MOT’d. We’re all different and have different priorities.

SilverGlitterBaubles · 02/02/2023 17:36

ginsparkles · 02/02/2023 17:31

I lease mine, DH has his as his company car. Neither car cost us a huge amount monthly

I guess it's all relative, for one person £400 pm might be affordable and they can cope with increases in costs but for others this would mean a lot of difficulty.

LimitIsUp · 02/02/2023 17:35

These threads always have the embittered poster or two muttering darkly about living on the never never

SilverGlitterBaubles · 02/02/2023 17:34

Having a car on PCP is just another debt to worry about, much more straightforward and financially sensible to own your car, maintain it well and drive it for as long a possible.

Yarrawonga · 02/02/2023 17:32

I looked at leasing but we are hard on cars (e.g. use them off road) so it was all a bit too risky.

ginsparkles · 02/02/2023 17:31

I lease mine, DH has his as his company car. Neither car cost us a huge amount monthly

WowIlikereallyhateyou · 02/02/2023 17:30

GroggyLegs · 02/02/2023 17:24

After a lease, you walk away empty handed, thousands of pounds down.

This is true, but if you want a brand spanking new car (it matters to some, plus 3 year warranty) with lower monthly payments than a loan and a much smaller deposit, if you factor in the depreciation there's not much difference on most vehicles.

All cars leave you worse off than when you bought them (with the weird exception of second hand after covid). Cars are not an asset.

Example, Audi Estate type vehicle was say £650 per month, new figures to replace like with like £1500 per month. It will mean issues for some.

Original poster

Stroganoffo · 02/02/2023 17:28

I'm quite attached to my shit heap , no road tax to pay , £280 insurance a year , no major repairs £45 for a full tank. I've spent the grand sum of £200 on servicing and tyres. Its got 43,000 miles on it and it had 1500 when I got it. I think I might wait for a couple of years until it needs a major repair then start again.

OP posts:

WowIlikereallyhateyou · 02/02/2023 17:27

GroggyLegs · 02/02/2023 17:24

After a lease, you walk away empty handed, thousands of pounds down.

This is true, but if you want a brand spanking new car (it matters to some, plus 3 year warranty) with lower monthly payments than a loan and a much smaller deposit, if you factor in the depreciation there's not much difference on most vehicles.

All cars leave you worse off than when you bought them (with the weird exception of second hand after covid). Cars are not an asset.

When people come to refinance or take on new leases henceforth they will find a massive difference in monthly costs now due to interest rate rises. This wont get noticed til they come to renegotiate their leases but it will hit and cost of leasing is due to go up massively.

NotAgainFrederick · 02/02/2023 17:25

@Reugny Thanks that makes sense

GroggyLegs · 02/02/2023 17:24

After a lease, you walk away empty handed, thousands of pounds down.

This is true, but if you want a brand spanking new car (it matters to some, plus 3 year warranty) with lower monthly payments than a loan and a much smaller deposit, if you factor in the depreciation there's not much difference on most vehicles.

All cars leave you worse off than when you bought them (with the weird exception of second hand after covid). Cars are not an asset.

YourApplePie · 02/02/2023 17:23

Car leasing is fairly easy credit to get, as if you don't pay they can just tow the car away.

I've been driving the same car for 14 years. It's a shit heap but it costs very little to run and maintain. The idea of throwing £400 a month at renting a car baffles me.

OneTC · 02/02/2023 17:23

Was looking at cars today and saw that G-Wagons (which is what I call my mum's wheelchair) are £220k SECOND HAND. And I wondered how much money you'd need to ever think spending nearly quarter of a million quid on a car was reasonable. Like if you had a million quid you're still not spending quarter of that buying a car so presumably the people that own these are multi millionaires.

FieldsOfRoses · 02/02/2023 17:22

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WowIlikereallyhateyou · 02/02/2023 17:19

Baconand · 02/02/2023 17:11

You may need help with maths. It absolutely is cheaper to lease the cars we have-electric. I’m not interested in driving a polluting shit heap. I have standards!

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What a rude, condescending piece of work you sound.
Why would actually owning a vehicle mean it is polluting or a shit heap? We own electric vehicles and petrol ones, and have something to show for it at the end.

Original poster

Stroganoffo · 02/02/2023 17:18

Blossomtoes · 02/02/2023 16:54

If you’re trading it in for a new one they don’t even look at small defects that a few hours in the workshop can solve. It definitely doesn’t have to be pristine. Our new car is going to cost us £240 a month, it’s hardly eye watering.

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Do you not get stung at the end of the contract? I feel like if I fuck the car up cosmetically oh well I own it but if it's leased you could end up getting charged loads.

OP posts:

FieldsOfRoses · 02/02/2023 17:18

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Reugny · 02/02/2023 17:17

NotAgainFrederick · 02/02/2023 17:14

I know young adults in ordinary jobs who have these kind of cars. There parents just have ordinary jobs as well. So I have no idea.

The young adults have few other outgoings so they spend what they could be spending on rent/mortgage on car payments.

One of my nephews looked into doing this a few years back but instead decided it was more financially prudent for him to just buy a second hand car outright.

Baconand · 02/02/2023 17:15

I genuinely despair at the lack of basic reading comprehension shown on mumsnet.

OP asks a question about the financing of expensive cars. Some people answer that question.

Then dimwits pile in to post absolutely unrelated twaddle about their superiority for not owning an expensive car and that they drive the legs of their £500 car which has absolutely nothing to do with the OP’s post.

Why? Genuinely baffling.