Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Do you have a finance on your car?

159 replies

MsMiaWallace · 17/09/2022 07:09

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?

OP posts:
Badbadbunny · 17/09/2022 12:07

MrsLargeEmbodied · 17/09/2022 11:57

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

New cars don't need an MOT for the first 3 years and they only need very basic servicing, i.e. change the oil, fill the water, check tyre pressure etc. Repairs are covered by the manufacturers warranty. A new car costs very little in the first 3 years, which is the typical lease term!

caringcarer · 17/09/2022 12:11

No, I bought mine for £5k. It is old but has not ever broken down and goes through MOT each year. I would not want any additional monthly bills right now. I have worked hard to pay off credit card too.

PeloFondo · 17/09/2022 12:20

It was but it's paid off
My next one will probably be financed as I work for a dealership so we get specific staff deals

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General money
OldTinHat · 17/09/2022 12:33

Nope. I have a 2009 Chevrolet that cost me £950 at the end of last year.

Personally, I wouldn't spend thousands on something that will depreciate to the point I buy them at! They always last me at least five years, then I scrap and buy again. £200 a year loss is better than thousands imo.

lobsterkiller · 17/09/2022 13:00

I drive a fiesta, took out a loan and traded my old car in. I'll finish the loan in November. I won't be trading the car in for something better/newer.

I'm not really into cars so have no interest in having anything top banana.

riotlady · 17/09/2022 16:40

No, I bought mine for £2k when I passed my test 2 years ago. Good thing too as I had a couple of scrapes in my first few months. Haven’t repaired them and will just keep running it until it falls apart

PollyEsther · 17/09/2022 16:45

No. DH and I both own our (ten year old) cars outright. Both are reliable, cheap enough to run, have plenty of life left in them etc. Mine is a 7 seater, but DH's is not. Our DCs are older teens so once he wants/needs to upgrade his, we will pass it to them. I will probably get a lease for my next car, but it won't be expensive, I just want the absolute reassurance of not needing to maintain it to be honest. I will also probably go electric at that point.

No plan to do these things any time soon though.

Cloverforever · 17/09/2022 16:50

No, I own mine outright. I think an expensive car is just a status symbol for a lot of people, which is a bit of a farce when you know they don't even own it.

whereareyounoww · 17/09/2022 20:29

User777777 · 17/09/2022 11:45

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

Of course you can. But if you're trying to suggest they haven't improved safety features in cars over the last 10/15/20 years then you're either incredibly ignorant or just plain stupid

whereareyounoww · 17/09/2022 20:31

Cloverforever · 17/09/2022 16:50

No, I own mine outright. I think an expensive car is just a status symbol for a lot of people, which is a bit of a farce when you know they don't even own it.

That's like saying you don't actually own your house if you've got a mortgage....

bloodywhitecat · 17/09/2022 20:34

No finance but that's because DH cashed in his pension when he knew his cancer was terminal and spent some of it on a car that would see me through for a few years. It is not a way of owning outright that I would recommend.

Badbadbunny · 17/09/2022 20:44

whereareyounoww · 17/09/2022 20:31

That's like saying you don't actually own your house if you've got a mortgage....

Show quote history

Nothing at all like the same. A house is an appreciating asset and you own it from day one. A leased car is a depreciating asset and is never yours unless you pay the balloon payment at the end of the lease.

whereareyounoww · 17/09/2022 20:46

@Badbadbunny - leases don't have balloon payments at the end, that's PCP finance agreements. Which are the same as a mortgage. They're both loans, you own the car provided you pay the loan off. You own a house provided you pay the mortgage off. If you don't pay your mortgage, the house gets taken off you. If you don't pay your car payments, the car gets taken off you. It's the same concept entirely.

HairyToity · 17/09/2022 20:47

No. We always save up to buy a second or third hand car.

User1754983 · 17/09/2022 20:51

Always buy outright

Floralnomad · 17/09/2022 20:53

No , we own ours outright , paid cash , he’s now 11 and I’m just about to buy another again cash no finance . We are keeping the existing car as well as he’s extremely reliable and I love him .

pawkins · 17/09/2022 20:54

Cloverforever · 17/09/2022 16:50

No, I own mine outright. I think an expensive car is just a status symbol for a lot of people, which is a bit of a farce when you know they don't even own it.

This.

I know someone who bought a car on finance. She had it a few years and had an accident. She then had to take a second car on finance. It was a complete stressful mess for her and she ended up trying to pay for the cars by babysitting, cleaning and dog minding.

PaddleBoardingMomma · 17/09/2022 20:55

New car every 3 years, no MOT, full warranty and no anxious worry about it getting any issues. We buy outright and trade in the last one each time.

pawkins · 17/09/2022 20:56

PaddleBoardingMomma · 17/09/2022 20:55

New car every 3 years, no MOT, full warranty and no anxious worry about it getting any issues. We buy outright and trade in the last one each time.

That sounds ideal if you can afford it. I can’t imagine many can afford to do it this way though?

ProbablyPossiblyPerhaps · 17/09/2022 20:58

We look for display/ over ordered last year's model cars and buy Korean cars which are around a year old and only have with 5 or ten km on the clock (five not five hundred or thousand) and a seven year warranty at usually multiple thousand under the new price with every possible extra thrown in because they're ex display. As soon as a car has been driven even a couple of miles it's value plummets but obviously its reliability doesn't change.

I have had my Kia 8 years with not one single issue (it had 5km on the clock and was a year old having been sitting indide a showroom for a year until I bought it) DH has had a Hyundai nearly ten years, near identical purchase but cheaper as a smaller car. It's the second time we've done this - can sell second hand at ten years before anything goes wrong.

This time we'll be keeping the ten year old cars for our teens instead of selling then!

Mumof3girlsandaboy · 17/09/2022 21:16

I Was tired of driving old cars that kept going wrong and the cost on repair was getting to much so I decided to get a brand new car on finance in 2018 after 4 years took it back and got another brand new one this year and very happy.

HairyToity · 02/12/2022 10:14

Always bought our cars up front, even when it's wiped us out. I like to know where I stand with my finances, and build rainy day back up again. I remember when I lost my job being grateful I didn't have £300 a month going out on a car. I just find it easier. DH wholeheartedly agrees.

Trisolaris · 02/12/2022 10:20

We did a hire purchase agreement on a three year old car with under 15k mileage. Hoping to keep it for up to 10 years and reduced the payment term to 3 years instead of 4 to pay less interest. We also do monthly overpayments when we can. We’ve always paid cash in the past but the old car conked out the same year as the wedding so we did it this way! With a hire purchase you own it at the end and no balloon payment.

arghtriffid · 02/12/2022 10:23

No. Saved up as was sick of car loans. Cars are generally 3 years old and replace after 5 years.

user374698 · 02/12/2022 10:37

We just buy our cars upfront as needed, I couldn't bothered with getting finance and having to stick under a certain mileage and worrying if the car got a scratch or two

Swipe left for the next trending thread