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Original poster

Do you have car finance?

56 replies

mrsbluesky5 · 14/08/2021 20:13

do you have car finance or save up and pay for the car outright? When I was younger I wouldn’t get car finance and I always saved money up to pay for the car outright. I’m married now with a mortgaged home and I have different priorities for large amounts of money. I got car finance for the first time recently and my family and parents have told me how disappointed they are and they think I should have saved up. I know im an adult but it’s upset me thinking they are disappointed and it’s left me wondering if I’ve made a mistake. I got a small car that’s 2 years old and I can afford the monthly payments and I’ll own the car at the end and then I could get another car if I wanted to and sell mine. I didn’t want to keep having older cars and I would like to have a reliable car as my commute is 20 miles round trip. Is getting a car on finance that bad when I would rather spend large amounts of money on other things?

OP posts:

3Br1tnee · 14/08/2021 21:34

I've never had and would never get, a car on finance.

JustMeAndWheatley · 14/08/2021 21:39

Never had finance, just paid outright. Always buy 6-12 month old cars rather than new.

Boombadoom · 14/08/2021 21:46

No finance here, but have done it in the past when I needed to. Not everyone has the option, your money, your choice.

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General money

SpeckledyHen · 14/08/2021 21:48

I had a bank loan for 50% of my first car when I was 17 , back in the dark ages . Never had a loan or finance since .Did have some old bangers though before getting company cars and being able to buy outright.

boydy99 · 14/08/2021 21:49

we've never had a car on finance although we are considering it for an option in the future as we'd like an electric car and cant afford to buy one, even 2nd hand, outright. we've always bought our cars used and older with low ish mileage for £2000-3500 and then sold them on after a few years. we buy and sell privately as opposed to through a dealer or garage. recently we bought a bigger higher spec car for £8000, but it is 10yo. my husband also works on the cars himself, so perhaps if he didn't then we'd want newer cars. the "new" cars suspension now needs replaced on one side, but he'll be able to fix that for just the cost of parts.

my first car that I owned myself (ie not my parents car!) was a 8yo Peugeot 107 that I bought for £2300 and I think sold it for £1700 over 2 years later, though it did have an expensive clutch repair with me. then bought a 6 yo hyundai i20 for £3000 and sold it for £2800 2.5 years later, no big repairs on it, only replaced the battery and tyres when I had it. its a bit of a win some lose some game i suppose!

MyNameForToday1980 · 14/08/2021 21:51

Finance. We get a new car every 3 years. If suits us (we have no other credit except a mortgage).

LawnFever · 14/08/2021 21:58

It’s none of your families business, tell them to wind their necks in.

If you can afford the repayment and you need a car it’s utterly irrelevant what anyone else does.

Mumof3girlsandaboy · 14/08/2021 22:02

Finance and get new car every 3 years so I don’t have to deal with endless repairs. I used to buy old cars and was problems after problems

rottd · 14/08/2021 22:22

always bought 2nd hand outright but thinking of doing finance for next car

Anon135798642 · 14/08/2021 22:49

Finance here too, it's not ideal but we can afford the payments so it works for us. It's worth investing in Gap Insurance just in case. Don't worry about other peoples opinions (easier said than done, I know) but as long as you can afford it, do what you need to - it's not really any one else's business!!

happinessischocolate · 14/08/2021 23:20

I had old bangers for years but then got fed up of paying £2k for a car and then £700 to get it through the MOT each year, so I bought a 18 month old car on 0% finance and a down payment of £1k which I would of spent on the old ones MOT that month. I've also got GAP insurance which was only £150 for 3 years.

A colleague bought a similar car the same time as me for cash, but she's no better off for paying cash, our cars are both depreciating at the same rate each month

AlwaysLatte · 14/08/2021 23:24

We always buy cars outright. Cheaper, I never buy anything on credit. If I couldn't afford to then I'd do it but I'd resent the extra interest!

MsAdoraBelleDearheartVonLipwig · 15/08/2021 16:38

My dh is currently considering a finance deal which also covers the tax, insurance, servicing and maintenance. The car would be new so full warranty. As far as I can see all you pay for is the fuel, on top of your monthly repayment. Probably expensive but very tempting. Bought my car for cash last year and have just spent over £1k getting it serviced, Mot’d and having to replace all the tyres.

ProfSprout · 15/08/2021 17:04

We always buy our cars outright, finance wouldn’t be for me but I’m not bothered about a brand new or flashy car. Some of our friends spend more than their mortgage each month on their cars and that level of financial commitment terrifies me!

thecatsthecats · 15/08/2021 17:12

@countdowntonap

No finance. I’ve been driving for 15 years and spend

First car £1000 (bought for me)
First car was written off after someone drove into me, was given £1000 from insurance.
Bought a £4000 Honda, with £1000 from insurance and cash.
Traded in Honda for £2000, and bought a Mazda for £6000 (£2000 trade in, plus £4000 cash).

In my 15 years of driving, I’ve spent £7000 on cars. That’s £39 a month!

I earn plenty (higher tax bracket), no children, and an unfortunate inheritance sum, but don’t see the need to buy a car on finance. When this car ‘dies’, next one will be brought outright too.

Nice - I've just done the same sums for myself and am at £47pm, except I've only had my latest two years and expect it to last a minimum of five more, taking me down to a more respectable £30pm (saving up another £3k for the next car over that time).

girlmom21 · 15/08/2021 17:19

We got a bank loan for mine (now paid off) because it worked out much cheaper and we could pay it back quicker if we wanted to, plus it meant we had an asset to surrender if ever we were in a position where we could no longer make payments, god forbid.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 15/08/2021 17:20

Finance as I'd never have been able to afford the car I wanted otherwise. I got a 0% deal so no interest

Hathertonhariden · 15/08/2021 17:29

Always bought outright but never new cars as that would be madness. Go for reliable makes and change if it starts to cost money.

RedToothBrush · 15/08/2021 17:48

It depends on what you are buying imo.

If its cheap and the finance is small and you get a good deal (interest free deal etc) then i think the extra you pay on a new car due to the warranty can be worth it purely in terms of the guarantee of reliability.

My last car was finance and we paid it off in full and then drove it til it started having problems at which point we got a new one outright having saved for it.

I think the biggest issue with finance is it lulls people into buying bigger cars they can't really afford and into the trap of trading it in after just a few years at some considerable cost.

Finance is more expensive, but i do think if you are sensible, keep to what you can realistically can afford and view it as a purchase for the next 10 years and plan forward for your next car then its a goid way to get into longer term reliable car ownership.

Prior to buying my car on finance both DH and I had spent years driving second hand cheap bangers and then having them constantly repaired and they didn't last long before you had to get another.

Dh did work it out when we bought our car that it was cheaper for us in the long run to go down the finance route.

The other thing that i hadnt really considered as part of the equation is the savings you get in fuel efficiency. My last car was far better than my old bangers, and my brand new one is far better than my financed car. So it can pay off that way too.

ImAddictedToMyPhone · 15/08/2021 17:51

Yes car finance and every 3 years, we swap it for a brand new one. No way we could afford a brand new one for 30k+ also, brand new cars are more reliable.

Milomonster · 15/08/2021 17:52

Finance - bought a brand new EV. O my intend to keep to for 3 years as the tech is moving so quickly. Hope to have another EV in 3 years with much better range.

emmathedilemma · 15/08/2021 17:55

I've had 2 new cars that came with 0% finance for 3 years and the last one I took out a new credit card with 0% for the first year which saved touching some savings and a small car loan from admiral which was much lower interest than what the dealership offered me.

LindaEllen · 15/08/2021 17:55

@QuiltedHippo

I don't fancy being in debt for a depreciating asset so I pay cash. I understand why people do it though

Thing is, I don't see a car as an 'asset'. I enjoy driving and like my cars, it's as much about the experience for me, and I like getting a brand new car from a showroom. Nobody ever raises an eyebrow when someone takes out a phone contract which is the same thing on a smaller scale. I don't buy cars to profit from them. I want them - like most other things I buy - for what they would bring to my life. Almost everything you buy on credit including credit cards will depreciate as soon as it's no longer new. When you stop looking at life as profit and loss and really start living, that's when the fun starts.

MazDazzle · 15/08/2021 17:57

Up until now I’ve always saved and bought outright, but the events of the past year have made me rethink. For us, it made more sense to have savings in the bank and pay the car up.

emmathedilemma · 15/08/2021 17:59

Oh and I didn't tell my parents about the loan (it's none of their business) because I know they would react how yours did! Even though I get a car allowance from work that more than covered the monthly payments, and now I've paid it off I put that amount into savings towards a future car. Other than the mortgage it's the only loan / debt I've ever had so I'm not living beyond my means or anything crazy they should disapprove of!

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