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.

We used a personal loan to buy ours - it was secondhand and £7k, I wouldn’t buy a new one, they devalue so quickly. Ours came with a good warranty from the dealer and also still had some of the original Kia warranty left. It’s been a great car- touch wood! We’ve had it 3 years now.

I think it’s a personal thing really, for us a car is really essential, we live rurally and have a disabled child (we don’t qualify for a mobility car though). We need a good reliable car. When we were younger we used to get old bangers - paid £450 for a fiat siecento once like the inbetweeners type car which was great for a while, but eventually things started to fall off!

We don’t have a mortgage (paid off) or any other large outgoings so for us borrowing money for a car is fine. If we were struggling then we would have saved up instead.

I honestly think that for me it is just worth being 'hassle free'. We are financially comfortable now, mortgage paid off, winding down to retirement and the fact I don't have to worry about my car is worth peace of mind, also my teenage DS shares it and I want to know he is driving a safe, reliable car.

I had a Polo for over 16 years , then my mum drive it for a couple of years so I feel I have been incredibly economical in the past and then I took over my DH's Focus when he got a company car, the Focus lasted 12+ years but it was getting very unreliable and costing a lot in repairs.

I agree with a PP, people prioritise spending in different ways (assuming you are lucky enough to have the choice).

And I absolutely don't drive a 'fancy' lease car - it's a Fiesta .

Outright second hand usually. My current car is on finance but they were doing 5 years interest free on used cars when we got it so it seemed sensible. It was only a year old too so it'll likely have a good few years left once we've paid it off.

Normally outright and second hand. DH bought his for £10k and my last car was about £8k.
However when my car started costing an average of £200 a month just to keep it on the road I traded it in towards a financed £15k car.
So now one is outright and one is financed

Teach your kids what your parents taught you...it will serve them well.

Depends on your parents @Brown76 surely?

I am not sure about car finance at all, I've always bought outright and currently have a 16yo car that I've had 3 years and it's great, cost me 2k plus a set of tyres and brakes. I'd much rather have a 500 quid banger and save the amount I'd spend on finance for a newer car bought outright.
I'm going to be looking at the best way for me to buy a different car in 18 months and even though we should be able to afford the finance I don't think I could bring myself to do it.

Depends on your parents, Brown76, surely?
Depends on the advice, too. It's tricky to know what is 'an eternal truth' and what 'doesn't apply any more in the modern world'.
I think that "a fool and his/her money are soon parted" and "keeping up with the Joneses is folly" are eternal truths.
"Owning is better than financing" is a tricky one and and needs revisiting to check the facts, but bear in mind that the motor/finance industries want the money in their pockets, not yours.
Some like the security of a known monthly payment, others don't like the potential nasty surprises buried in the small print. It comes down to personal preference.

It really does depend on parents

Both our sets of parents are very cautious with money and only buy outright for anything.
But they also have jobs where they have been earning over £150k a year for the last 30 years.

Us on the other hand earn around £35k and it’s not as simple as following advise when it’s not possible to do in the same way

I'm a fairly new driver so decided to buy second hand and outright. I don't use it that much and aren't particularly reliant on it if anything were to go wrong. I'd be terrified of scratching or dinting a financed car. DP on the other hand has been driving a lot longer and is more car reliant than me. He gets his cars on PCP as he needs a fairly large car for work.

The cost of paying monthly for a new car is about equal to what the depreciation would be over 3 years if he'd bought that car brand new. His current new car has turned out to be a bit of a lemon (lots of inconvenient little things like the headlights blowing every couple of months). In a few weeks he can hand it back and it's the dealer's problem, glad we didn't buy that one!

We bought outright second hand from a garage with 3 month warranty. Just wanted a reliable car at a reasonable price.

Outright but fairly new (one owner who just used it to pop to the shops ) and low mileage

Buying outright is the best way if you are keeping the car. But the hidden cost is depreciation. that's why you see £100k cars for £30 after 3 years. PCP means you are just paying the depreciation. My last car cost me prob £1000 in the last 18 mnths of it's life. Now thats only 5 months payments on a new car but I still had to factor in other things, servicing etc. The new cars that will be second hand in 3 yrs are getting over complicated and will be v.expensive to maintain subject to which brand you get

I always brought outright. However the last car we brought. Left me stranded on the motorway. Having to walk a 1 yr old and a 3 yr old up the side of it

Me and my husband have no knowledge of cars. Not only did that one fall apart within 8 months of buying it. The other car we brought was a death trap. It scared us so much. I said to my husband. I wanted a new car. With a warranty. He hates anything being on finance. But after what happened. We both deciddd that if we KNEW cars. We could buy a good second hand one. But in the last 13 months. We'd spent near on 12k. On cars that were dangerous.

So we've both got new cars now. It's actually cheaper for us. We put down a hefty deposit on the first car. Which was useless. We thought we'd get some of it back. But nope. It gets lost.

However. This car is under warranty. It has no MOT needed. No tax. And all repairs. Bar tyres. Are covered. I've also got toad assistance. So if it were to break down. They just come get it and fix it. It's way cheaper for us. Plus we get a new car every 3 years. If we want it. We just buy it at the end. It's great for us!

However. I don't mind driving an old car. As long as it gets me from A to b safely. I'm good

It's just the cars we brought. Weren't safe.....

Should also have said that finance is ok but an earlier poster said they were paying £208 over 4 yrs. So that's a total of just under £10k but the car is still depreciating over those 4 yrs. garages dont take cash now so it has to be a bank transfer. car ownership is going to change in the next few yrs but until then there is no best way unless you have the money or someone else is paying the bill(s)

Outright and v. cheap. Mine is currently 10 years old and cost £3k. One elderly previous lady owner so full dealership service history and v. low mileage.

It was bought for commuting but we use it for most journeys including some holidays. With chaildcare costs etc. I'd never have the money each month to pay for a nice / newer car.

There comes a point though where you may have to have a repair that's almost the value of the car. When the catalytic converter failed on my car a Honda one was £1000, an aftermarket one £400 but the aftermarket was faulty (got replaced), replacement faulty - got refunded and went elsewhere (£400) but you can see that if you car is worth £2k, spending £1k to keep it going is crazy

We buy outright. My DH has a really long commute and any car he drives gets a proper workload. Mine is a little cheap one because I don’t actually drive all that much.

When my DH finishes working we plan to get a fun car and I suppose we might do that one on finance since we won’t have many other outgoings by that time (own our house outright).

Outright and I own a £1500 2012 plate car. I’ve just stuck my private plate on it and no one has a clue how old it really is

Always bought second hand. Have a 17 years old land cruiser(bought for £3,000) and absolutely love it has never had anything wrong with it. Partner is a qualified mechanic so can do most repairs if need be. Would never get a car on finance and hope my DC never do.

Outright but second hand (often an ex display/demo model) unless they are offering interest free credit along with free servicing and MOT that outweighs any interest cost. The minimum term last time was 3 months so I paid it off then but got free servicing.

Oh yes I’d better make that clear - we have always bought outright but second (or third...) hand.