Do you buy your cars outright or on finance/lease?

[Daddypigsglasses]

I’ve always saved up and brought a nearly new car then run it into the ground. It was instilled into me as a child that borrowing money was bad and this is the way my parents always did it.

I need to replace my car soon and it’s become blindingly obvious to me since my kids started school last year and I began noticing the other parent’s cars that we are the only ones (and I mean only ones) driving around in anything like a 12 year old focus.

Do most other people else get cars on finance? Is it the sensible thing to do? I can’t get my head around it. I’ve got around 8k to spend so likely that would get me a 15 plate decent car, which is still going to be older than everyone else’s!

I’m not usually showy but I seem to have serious envy where the other parents are concerned.

I always save up and buy outright (2nd hand).
Like you, always instilled in me to only buy what you can afford (except house).

Always lease or PCP, it’s significantly cheaper for me and I commute 12k miles a year. I need reliability.

My new car arrives soon, another fully electric car (new Zoe) on lease for £210 per month for 2 years. No road tax, no fuel, just £20 home charging. No brainer! An old useed petrol car would cost me the same or more in fuel and tax and maintenance and could go wrong any time.

This makes me feel so much happier in my ways. Thank you! I know it’s stupid to feel like I’m in competition with the other parents. We are especially broke as have just finished paying for twins in full time nursery. Will be easier from now on, so we could afford finance which is what got me thinking.

But I’m much happier to know I own the car outright and finance does scare me. Now to find a decent and good sized family car for 8k!

2nd hand but outright from savings, its your own from the start

Our second car is 12 years old and for the last three or four years, we've assumed each MOT is its last, and every time the bugger has passed

Outright and second-hand too. Mine is 18 years old. Works perfectly

Bit of both, we have 4 cars between DH and I . Daily drives are new, on finance, get rid before the warranty expires and rinse and repeat. Nice new car every 3 years, no repairs to worry about , breakdown and recovery included. Our other 2 cars, bought outright. I'm well aware we are not the norm, just petrol heads with no other vices!

Outright

New as DH likes cars and it’s up to him

I've always owned outright, until June this year. It's worth seeing what offers the car dealers have. I paid a £3k deposit, currently paying £200 a month for 2 years and a final payment of 6k (in 2 years time) for my lovely brand new Mazda. All interest free.

Second hand. Always bought outright. Always one that's a few years old. After a few years sell and buy a newer model 2nd hand again.

Outright, second hand, and it was just over £20k.

Outright

In Ireland 70% of cars are on PCP finance apparently.
To me it's like renting a car.
You don't own it unless you make a final large payment.
Most people don't buy it then, they just get a new car on PCP again.
There have been warnings about it.

I paid cash but I’ve no objection to using finance, there’s nothing to be scared of as long as it is affordable and you understand what you’re signing up for.

Outright, which is why I have a crappy old car! I It is nearly 20 years old but has never given me a day's trouble. Most car trouble seems to be caused by the electrics, but mine has such a basic electrical system that there isn't much can go wrong.

I just prefer to own things outright as it makes it easier to manage my budget. I do need to upgrade to something slightly bigger but only plan to spend around £2000 so it will be another oldish second hand one.

Finance but by that for example my current car I put a deposit of about 30% on, paying the rest at 0% finance over 5 years by which point I will completely own it and run it til it dies so another 5/6 years.

Can not figure out how leading or PCP saves money. You have no asset at all at the end. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Dh and I have done both.
Last car was an outright purchase 10 years ago, car was a 55 plate fiesta, had it for 8 years, dh is very car proud and kept it pristine. I got driven into just before Christmas before last, was an economical write off, so we used the pay off as a deposit and bought our current car which is a 67 plate on finance. We decided to get a car that was about 5k out of our budget (if we were to buy it there and then) because dh really likes the car, I love the colour, it has all the bells and whistles and is big enough for our growing family. We have a year and a half of payments left (3 year plan) and we don't regret it. We'll own the car outright at the end, no lumpsum or trade in. We'll probably run it into the ground before replacing, would have done last one if it didn't get written off.

Outright. Always older but at least it’s paid for.
I know several people in work who spend ridiculous amount each month on finance. Seems crazy to me.

About half the carbon footprint of a car is in its manufacture, so it makes environmental sense to drive your car fir longer and not get a new one after a short time (it's worse with electric cars as the battery has a big carbon footprint and uses non renewables, negating alot of the environmental benefits of no emissions- plus half the electricity is produced using fossil fuels in this country).
Anyhow a good compromise is an ex demo car. Really low mileage but about 15% off rrp and you know it hasn't been written off at some stage.
But PCP can make sense. I did it once - I added up the trade in, my monthly payments plus balloon payment at the end. This was cheaper than the RRP for the car plus I also got three years service, roadside assistance, three years car tax plus insurance added for nothing.

why does it matter what anyone else drives?

just spent 3k on a 10 year old car. Someone on here was spending that much on finance per year, ok it will be a shiny new car but it is still four wheels, and don't give me babble about extra safety - that is 99.9% down to the driver. So if my car lasts a year I am better off, this person still had to pay fuel, insurance and fixes and new cars go wrong too.

unless you have money to piss up against a wall, I can see no point in finance. You can get something that goes for £500 anyway.

I'll never own a brand new car but not being of a playground mentality, I don't care.

Leased for a few years. But will buy next time. It's dead money really

Always buy outright, not finance. Always second-hand, not brand new.
I don't really care what other people drive, as long as mine gets from A to B economically.
I only buy things on finance if they are going to increase in value (eg a house), not decrease (like a car).

You're doing it exactly right OP.

Don't get sucked in to what they're all doing.

Your parents did the right thing when you were growing up and it obviously taught you the right way to do things to.
Show your own children the same way and don't teach them that instant gratification is the 'norm'.

I always used to buy second hand outright but really you are left with no asset that way either as cars depreciate in value so quickly that by the time you’ve bought a car a few years old had it for 5-6 years it’s nearly 10 years old and not really worth anything anymore. We’ve opted for finance this time as we did the sums and it made sense for us. Don’t regret it at all.

so far outright, but I'm not against financing when we are in a position to have something more flashy. where we differ to a lot of people in our area is that we live in a big, old and expensive house but drive average cars, a lot of people around our point in life have big expensive cars and live in poky, stuffy new builds. we prioritise our house (and, not by my choice, boat ) so don't really want to spunk 300+ pcm on car payments at this point but hopefully will have more cash to spare one day.