AIBU to spend £20k on our first car?

It is surprising how little you get for £20k these days. A middle of the road 3 year old car would easily cost that or more.

But the thing I am missing is if you are on a £10k a month combined income, shouldn't it be relatively affordable?

Buy on of these - have a bit of change https://www.vertumotors.com/used-cars/?dealershipName=SEAT%20Darlington&mileage=%3A100

I don't think it is unreasonable. However, personally would not do it.

I have always bought cars outright, from savings. For me, this helps focus the mind. Is a £20K car really worth that much more to me than a £12K car?

So far, the answer has always been "no" and £12K is the most I have ever spent on a car.

If I was to frame it as £300 per month v £500 per month I might reach a different conclusion - and have deliberately chosen not to frame it that way.

The bottom line on the balance sheet matters more than the cashflow, once you're out of the woods.

What do you mean tying yourself in again for 3 years? In 3 years it’ll be paid off and no more payments. It’s not a lease

Haha what a humble brag

Depends how much you care about cars. I would personally put as much as possible to the deposit of the house rather than a car which depreciates. We bring home more than £10k combined and we own 40% of our home in London but I couldn’t care less about cars so we bought a used one for £6k and everyone is happy with it 😂

Why on Earth are you getting it on finance and then tying yourself in to the same again every three years?! For looks alone surely.

Earning that much a month you can buy outright. A brand new car loses the minute it leaves the forecourt and is not worth it.

My partner and I have a combined income of 5.5k a month. We just bought a three year old car for 15k. He works in the car industry - sports cars, designs and engineers them, drives at international race events, he knows what he is talking about. For us at home he chooses efficient quality.

Don't waste your money.

I wouldn’t do this. A 5k car will be older and less reliable and cost you more in maintenance.

They earn 10 grand a month. Why on earth would you spend as little as two weeks wages on a car when you can get something much nicer.

Good if you want a new car for 2–4 years and plan to hand it back, but I woulnd't get married to the brand, rather look for the lowest interest rate/cheapest deal.
You can comfortably afford the payments + deposit.
Are you self-employed? If you do significant business mileage and proper records it can be a good tax deductable.

If you make 10k a month why can't you buy it outright?

That’s a large monthly repayment for a £20k car… how long is the term?

Yeah, the point I'm making is that it's a hierarchy of needs isn't it? If you have stable accomodation that you won't be kicked out of and keep for life and are sensibly investing enough in a pension then you have the luxury to make a brand of car 'important'. If not and you are prioritising a particular type of car over being able to secure a mortgage or save for a rainy day/period of redundancy then you're making poor choices (imho). It's the difference between wants and needs. You need safe secure accomodation you don't need a particular brand of car.....

If you have £10 k per month I would buy a car for 4k from one months money. Them save 4k per month for the next 5 months and change it.

That’s £100 kpa or more!

That’s both of them. They take home say, £5k each. Great wage but not really boosting stuff

I think this is just a stealth boast, but if you take home £10k a month you need to look at why you need to take out credit @ £500 a month to afford a car.

@£10k a month, even with rent and bill you should have been able to buy a £20k car in 6 months.

Used EV prices reflect the rapid progress in technology over just a few years- ie my 26 plate is worlds different from my 23 plate of the same model.

its also because they are so prevalent in the lease market due to salary sacrifice options only available on EV- so that 3 year old used market is a bulge compared to ICE vehicles

the cost of second hand evs isn’t low (only low relative to their price new) because people are scared of the battery failing. That’s not a risk you accept as long as the car is a bit cheaper 😂

As I said, it's the fear, people won't take the risk. And used EV prices reflect this.

Why not use any money you have saved for a house deposit, and if you earn so much money a month just save a bit harder for a few months and you'll have the 20k to buy your car instead of getting it in finance

Borrowing to buy a car when you earn so much is insane. What's the interest rate and total cost?

Buy whatever you can afford with cash.

What's your essential outgoings each month? How much are you saving? You could probably save that amount in under 6 months.

Do you and your DH have plenty of driving experience? Because if not, you would be mad to spend that much on your first car.
Also have you added in the cost of car tax and insurance - likely to be quite high for a car of that value.

Just looked on Big Motoring World and the lowest price point they had is £5500 and they had one car (Dacia with 50000 + miles)

Get a lease car. I pay £280 a month for a brand new Nissan Qashqai and I give it back after 3 years and get something else if I wish to.

You are getting nothing but a complete piece of shit for 5k these days.

Used car prices have increased dramatically.

F