Do you have a finance on your car?

[MsMiaWallace]

Only bought our car back in Feb & starting to get issues. Thinking of buying something newer but would need a loan.

I see loads of new expensive cars in the road & wondered how everyone affords them.

Do you have a car on finance & if so how much are your payments?

The price and shortage of second hand cars has made buying a new one on finance look more attractive .

I’ve only ever ‘bought’ brand new cars, and always financed on a PCP agreement. I’ve never paid a large deposit (typically just £1000 to reserve the car) as I’m happy to pay higher monthly payments.

I always take gap insurance and a full service plan and have never had a car over 3 years old, so not had to deal with the likes of MOTs, wear and tear, etc.

If you care about actually owning a car as an asset (not sure why you would), then PCP might not be for you, but it works for me.

We lease our car - so it's brand new but isn't ours
We used to shy away from things like a barge pole but the deal we have for this electric car makes sense both financially and practically.
We weren't sure how we'd like an electric car and they v. Expensive to buy so this meant we got to try one for 3yrs without being stuck with it if we hated it and financially it's a really good deal.
Pros - awesome car, includes insurance, servicing, tires, breakdown, maintenance and tax, also a tax efficient scheme for our circumstances
Cons - no choice of spec, only could have this model & colour because that's what the deal was on. We don't own the car.
You have to go to the main dealership for servicing and maintenance, who in our case are disorganised as f**k

We reassess when we need to renew if it's still the right thing for us and are fortunate enough to be able to buy outright if we need to (albeit something cheaper) so we are in a fortunate position.

Bought my car in 2012, 2 years old, cost 10k. Still have it, pretty reliable and low maintenance.

I don’t, personally. I tend to buy older cars outright. But I’m mechanically competent and can do some maintenance myself, which helps. My cars always do better with a bit of ongoing preventative maintenance.

But I think the truth of it is that cars always get your wallet in the end, one way or the other.

@aamyboo so you're only paying 13,200 for your car in total? That sounds like a good deal!

We always buy on some form of finance. We rely on our cars working - big commutes and no alternative transport as we live rurally. We can't even get a taxi so no car = stuck. Buying new (or nearly new, we like cancelled orders as you get cars with barely 100miles on the clock but for a lot less than straight from the brochure) means we get good warranties, no MOT, often get a service package thrown in and in 3/4 years we can swap it again for another new one. No wear and tear, aging motors.

I have a full electric which costs me £496 a month, but peanuts to run. It's having its first MOT this year. Despite all the above I am tempted to buy this one at the end (I think about £5k) because electric cars have so much less to go wrong. The battery can deteriorate but on a good charging schedule it should last ten+years, and it costs me so little one the finance is gone it seems a no brainer to keep.
DH has a plug in hybrid, pays about £250 a month. That came with 5k on the clock, and we will swap it out next year because it will have 65k miles by then so time to get a refresh.

People can be very snooty about finance, as if there is a moral high ground in buying your cars outright. We've had many cars over the years, and tried all different formats. We have a classic car which DH is renovating and we've had for years and own outright. For us, at the moment the way we live our lives, having cars on PCP makes the most sense.

No

Nope, we typically spend about £3k on a car and run it until it dies. Last year we splashed out on one that was £8k and so far so good and it is nice having a car that’s a bit newer than the last two we’ve had.

im someone that would much rather save up and pay one lump sum for something though rather than pay monthly.

My sister has a lease car ,but apparently she's responsible for repairs which seems crazy to me 🤷‍♀️
My son is disabled and gets HRM DLA so we have a mobility car ,His mobility component of DLA pays for the car we just have to.pay for fuel.

1st car was mine outright, I swapped a motorbike for it. It was a 52 plate, made of rust, air con didn't work, the engine warning light came on every day at 6am when I fired up to go to work. 135k miles on the clock. Etc.
Got a car on finance, very cheap petrol run about. Not horrific mileage. Hp was £109 a month. That was on a 5 year hp. I p/xd after 3 years.

My "new" car is 9 years old, used, 70k miles, diesel, worth 10k. £200 a month hp for 5 years. But... I paid to have the cam belt done as soon as I got it and it is a bloody good car for all the miles I do!

We don't have the money to put aside to save for anything at this point, if either of us suddenly start earning loads more money then maybe in the future I could save to buy a car. But it won't ever be new.

no i never have but doubt i could afford the monthly repayments
my last car cost £600 4 years ago and i now need another one, so have looked into monthly repayments and can;t image spending that much.

But I think the truth of it is that cars always get your wallet in the end, one way or the other.

exactly @NightmareSlashDelightful

I never lease I simply by a 6 -10 year old honda, lexus or Toyota and run them into the ground. I DIY service too because I won't want to sell them. I choose either ultra reliable brands or those where there is lots in scrap heaps so spare parts are cheap. My partner's 12 year old ford focus has only once seen a garage for failed ecu (and the spare part cost £150 plus £100 including fitting). All cars have well over 100k on them now and going strong. A reliable brands with regular servicing should be very reliable.

We always used to buy outright, or finance, but the problem is, paying monthly once the car is over a few years, have to factor in Mots, maintenance, general stuff starts to need replacing, so we'd end up trading in for a new car after 3-4 years anyway. So this time we decided to get a new car on a 3 year lease. We will never own it, but that suits us, as just means we can give t back after 3 years and start again. Lower deposit and monthly payments that would have been to finance, and less stress knowing it's not ours to particularly worry about long term. We got an MG zs and it's been great so far.

I completely agree with you. We've always bought cars outright and generally less than £5k and then run into the ground.

I have had to pay a hideous amount of money for a car this time, but that's because we have 3 kids in car seats and limited options... and I've bought one still in warranty because I seriously can't handle any more breakdowns/car drama (still no guarantees obviously). The depreciation makes me want to weep though and the idea of leasing physically hurts my soul!

@NightmareSlashDelightful
*
But I think the truth of it is that cars always get your wallet in the end, one way or the other.*

Except my 1st car, Toyota Yaris bought new for £8k as they were bringing out a new model, I ran it for 14yrs before I sold it for £1k, it's still going strong as I sold it to my neighbour although he has now replaced the clutch but it wasn't that expensive to do and he looks after it better than I do (he washes it every week rather than once a year when it got serviced)
No repairs, just normal servicing which was cheap, tires & brakes again cheap, cheap to insure too.
It was a cracker of a car unfortunately the children got to big for it!

We have always paid outright for our cars. I drive a 10 year old mini in fab condition but which only cost me £3k, 2 years ago. However, as much as I love it minis are really small and impractical so I’m looking at something a bit bigger but just don’t have the savings atm to put towards it.
The second hand market has shot up recently and Minis, the same as mine (limited addition), are now going for £5k+ so I am thinking of selling and buying something a few thousand more and getting the extra on finance, which shouldn’t work out too much each month.
I have never wanted to be a slave financially to a car but know many people who pay 100’s per month on a new car, that’s up to them. I personally wouldn’t want to lease a car, that’s a waste imo. My sister has done that for several years now and I worked out she’s spend around £50k+ on lease cars over the last decade.

We lease. We are not mechanically minded and we prefer knowing we are paying approx €200 per month and that covers absolutely anything that might go wrong. We don't need to budget for repairs, service, MOT (local equivalent) - we just pay our monthly leasing fee and we get to drive around a brand new car.

I'm not bothered about it being new in terms of status - but what I do love about new cars is the safety features. They are making massive jumps at the moment and the difference between a brand new vs 10 year old car could actually be life or death, so I don't mind paying a bit more over the life of the car to get that peace of mind. DH also has a horror of breaking down with small kids in the car since he got stranded with DS1 (age 6) once on the side of a motorway in between two slip roads so they couldn't even walk away from the road. It took ages for them to get picked up by a tow truck and the thought of trying to contain little kids with no sense of danger is terrifying.

If I was going to buy I'd try to save up or get finance for the whole amount (no balloon) and go for something 2-3 years old, so still new ish. And of course over time the "jump" we are seeing now will be old tech and more affordable.

I mean, spend 50k leasing several cars or spend 50k buying one car, what's the difference?

I'm sure you can still die in a brand new car...

No we buy cheap new cars outright, keep them about 7 years then replace.

That makes no sense at all. Your friend isn’t in a worse position than you because she stopped her monthly payments after paying off the cost of the car. Yes, she might have to take out another finance deal when she needs a new car but in the meantime she doesn’t have your monthly outgoings.

To be blunt, it’s a ridiculous lifestyle choice to get a new car every 3-4 years. Environmentally speaking it is a disaster.

The difference is that most new cars don’t cost £50k. And if you buy a car that’s not brand new it costs even less. Whatever way you look at it, leasing costs more in the long run. But if you like driving round in multiple new cars and don’t worry about the environmental impact then go for it.

so if you lease a car is all you pay, who pays for the maintenance, service, mots? repairs?