£50k to spend on a family car. Go!

[themainline]

Anyone know anything about cars? We live in central(ish) London and have never needed one until now with the arrival of our second child.

Car needs to be big enough for 2 car seats to fit comfortably at the back plus a big boot for the double buggy and Ddog. Will probably only use it to do the weekly shop plus day trips out of London from time to time.

We are paying cash (as opposed to getting it on finance) does that give us any bargaining power when buying a car?

£50k is too much to spend on a car that you'll use only occasionally.

If I want to know anything about cars I generally ask my driver. HTH.

Spend £15k tops - £50k is a crazy waste of money.

Are you looking to buy a new car? Will you want to change it regularly? Cash on a £50k car is not that sensible really.

If buying brand new from a showroom my experience is cash doesn't give you much bargaining power nowadays as the dealers appear to make more money on finance deals so want to incentivise those more.

@EskewedBeef fair point. That's our top budget but we don't have to spend that. What nice family car would you recommend?

@WrongKindOfFace no need to be so sassy

BMW X5

I'd recommend you spend no more than £15k and get something like a used Ford Focus or VW Golf.

We are paying cash (as opposed to getting it on finance) does that give us any bargaining power when buying a car
No, the opposite. They prefer finance sales to cash because they make more profit from ‘selling’ the loan

Did you really mean £50k? That is a massive budget for a family car. I’d recommend a Golf estate.

I’m not sure that cash gives you any advantage at all. I once heard that car companies make more money out of finance agreements than cars.

The only thing I know about cars is that you don’t need to waste a shed load of cash on them when I live close to excellent public transport and have Ocado at my disposal.

@mrscampbellblackagain doesn't have to be new! Happy with something up to 1.5yrs old I guess.

This needs to win some sort of award as the most annoying post ever on MN.

Audi Q5 is a nice car - roomy and nice to drive.

Would get a 1.5 year old one easily for that budget.

I’d shop online and hire a car of get a taxi for trips out: it will work out cheaper. Cars in the city are an absolute pain to have.

OP is brave to ask the question, not as brave as saying she has £5k to spend on a handbag though

I agree with the advice to lease rather than buy outright. We used to buy our cars outright, but they needed so much maintenance after only a few years that we were having to budget at least a couple of thousand a year for that. Plus they depreciate so quickly, we lost a lot of money. Unless you’re buying a special sports car or a classic, a car isn’t an investment and you will lose money when you sell.

It’s been much less aggro and cheaper for us to pay a decent deposit, lease and then change car every 3 years or so. You get the warranties and sometimes roadside cover that come with a new car and don’t have to think about an MoT etc.

Buy an XC60. It will cost you less than £50k, take you everywhere you need to go safely and in comfort and it last for a very long time.

I could have bought 10 of my car with £50k!!! It seems a crazy amount to spend to me, so I would agree that £15 - £20k should more than do it. You should find a pretty good choice for that, especially as you will also consider second hand cars.

This seems to be just a bragging post that you've got 50k spare in cash to spend on a car

Any estate type car or SUV is going to be plenty roomy for you. As you want to flash the cash I would go for a make like an Audi or BMW.

As you don't need to do long journeys and as you live in London then an electric car might be a good idea.

A golf or a focus doesn't fit 2 car seats, a pram and a dog in the back .

We have a Volkswagen T6 van for us 2 adults, 1 car seat for DD1, and a crate in the back for 2 dogs. We had to go so big just to fit stuff in like shopping and going away with luggage etc.

Before the van we had a Nissan X-trail which I loved and would definitely recommend. Our last one was 19k about 3 years ago so you'll definitely get one of those wayyyyyy under budget.

Actually I think our golf would fit all of that, but it would be a squeeze. I think you'd get best value and comfort from a Renault Scenic or similar.

If you live in Central London though, or even just off it, do you really need a car at all?

Do you have off-road parking? Are you able to park conveniently anywhere near your home?

Parking and keeping a car round there can be a PITA if you don't really need to.

A Golf will gut 2 car seats on the back seat; a Golf estate has a much bigger boot than a Golf and would certainly fit a P&T Sport with doubles kit and the large kit bag I need for work (100 L) with space to spare. I guess whether the dog will fit depends on the size of the dog, but a Golf estate is well worth a look. Also Skoda Octavia.

Oh, also don't expect a better deal for cash, when we bought ours (with cash, but much less than your budget) we asked about it and they actually offer the best deals to those taking a finance package as they make more money overall with those. I don't like the feeling of owing money if at all avoidable so we didn't go with it, but it depends what works best for you.

Focus estate? Nobody needs a 4x4 to drive to the supermarket or local school or shops, Invest the 50k in something more worth while