I have a reasonable but high mileage Audi diesel I bought a couple of years ago. I am cheesed off with the constant diesel shortages and impact on my time having to drive round to fill up - this has been the case most weeks this year as I live in rural location.
Oddly despite having done 22k in 2 years the car appears to be worth more than I paid for it. As far I am concerned it's worthless junk. Petrol versions of the same car are much more expensive - so it seems diesels are pretty pointless.
I really don't want a hybrid but I am sick of all this chaos and being trapped at home. I've always bought cars in cash but this time (as I signed away my entitlement to any of my savings and my house in the separation but that's another story), I don't have enough cash.
So how do people buy cars? I understand HP, PCP, long term leasing etc, but I do 12-15k miles a year and contracts seem to be expensive for this. With those miles you also can't keep a car perfect. There will always be a scratch or something. I don't currently have offroad parking which is my greatest concern. Easy for damage to occur.
I only want a hatchback and will drive a gutless wonder as needed to keep costs down. But was interested in what other people do?
(I earn a reasonable salary and can easily afford payments but in my head a car should cost about 5% of monthly take home and there aren't many deals in that bracket!)