Car buying for dummies

[scrumpledtitskin]

Can any of you help me please?

I have an old banger, I've always had an old banger.

That banger is reaching the end of it's life and as I an doing more long distance journeys I fancy something a bit newer and more solid.

I love the look of the Ford puma, so I'm thinking I may go along those lines/shape.

I can put 2000 or 3000 down as a deposit and also my banger part ex for about 800.

So, now I'm stuck. Is it better to get a loan and buy outright? Or pcp or hp?

I'm googling but going round in circles.

Ideally, I'd like to pay monthly for something nice which I would enjoy driving, and worry less about things going wrong with it. Much like the reason I rent my home rather than own it..

Am I thinking about this all wrong? And which would be the better choice, pcp or hp?

If your not bothered about owning it then leasing with a maintenance package is the way to go. They sort all the services etc and your not responsible for the bills for that stuff. However I wouldn't sink shed loads of money in as you don't get the deposit back, but you can keep trading every 3 or 4 years and have a nice car every few years

If you want to own it then loan or HP is probably a good shout if you want to take pay 2k down then x amount a month for X amount of months and then it's yours.

PCP usually is cheaper per month but you have a balloon payment at the end so essentially 2 big pay outs. You have to make sure that the final payment amount/guaranteed trade in price at the end is something you'll be able to save for and that you think the car will be worth it at that point.

My last car was paid via loan as it was second hand and the best option was loan for the interest rate etc. I've done PCP in the past too and kept the car. It worked out well for me as I've kept that car and if I trade it in I should make profit based on what I paid overall but you have to be careful as sometimes the cars don't have much resale value at the end or they have rubbish aprs.

Ford Pumas are supposed to be pretty decent. I've not tried them but Ford's are a good choice.

Thank you so much, I am literally sat with a beautiful red shiny car in my basket, too scared to click "buy"🤣