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Original poster

How do you afford a big purchase like a car?

29 replies

Iwasjustasking · 11/05/2023 20:31

my car is on its last legs and unfortunately I haven’t been able to save towards a new car, what do you do? Loan/finance? I don’t want a brand new one, more than happy with a second hand one but just wondered how other people do it?

OP posts:

Wavescrashingonthebeach · 11/05/2023 20:36

I put my knackered old car down as a deposit towards new car and got the rest on finance. Done this with my last 2 cars, my first car was bought for me when I passed my driving test. Go to a decent car dealership with good reviews and they sort all the finance out for you. The first time I did this I got a brand new car then the second time I got a 2nd hand one both on finance.

Isthisexpected · 11/05/2023 20:37

I save and get a second hand but newer car with savings and part exchange every 8-10 years. It's getting harder though.

PositiveLife · 11/05/2023 20:42

Generally finance and trading in the current car.

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General money

LegOfTable · 11/05/2023 20:43

Even if you are going to buy from a reputable dealer get the car checked over by an independent mechanic. I used AA which cost me £200. It allowed me to reject the faulty car that couldn't be fixed as it wasn't just my word against theirs but I had a report with the fault on prior to me collecting the car. The garage did try to fix it but still tried to give me the car with the recurring fault still on it. The car was only a couple of years old.

I have never leased a car but you could potentially look into that? There are videos on Youtube of people talking through the pros and cons and Leaseloco gets mentioned a lot for finding a good deal and tracks the prices too.

Original poster

Iwasjustasking · 11/05/2023 20:44

thankyou, I was saving but unfortunately had several things happen in the house that wiped the savings out, I was contemplating bank loan which seems cheaper than car finance, but having debt worries me, but I know I need a new car!

OP posts:

stupendous1 · 11/05/2023 20:46

I sold my old car that i'd had for 7 years which was on its last legs and i used that as a deposit for a new car which i'm paying for monthly on finance

Squareclock · 11/05/2023 20:50

I've never bought a car on credit, the whole idea scares me, but I started buying cars when they were a luxury. They're such a necessity now, even for people who can't really afford to run one.

I hope you find a solution OP. I really worry about what happens to my adult DC if something happens to his car. He wouldn't be able to work. [Sad]

Original poster

Iwasjustasking · 11/05/2023 20:57

its so stressful! I hate the thought of getting into debt for a car but I no it’s inevitable I need too!

OP posts:

Wavescrashingonthebeach · 11/05/2023 21:11

The interest really isn't that bad on the finance sometimes. Just be sensible with what you buy make sure its an economical car, cheap to run & insure, parts easily available etc. I was made up when I paid mine off think it took me 5 years then I kept it for another few years until I needed something bigger.

Dwightlovesmichael · 11/05/2023 21:15

God knows.

We’ve got a 15 year old car at the moment, we’ve had it for 12 years and it’s on its last legs.

We only managed to buy that as dh got a small
inheritance (it’s only a very small, cheap to run thing).

We are going to be fucked when it finally gives up.

Original poster

Iwasjustasking · 11/05/2023 21:23

Yes mine is an 09 car and realistically I can only afford about £5000/6000 on finance/loan to buy something new so I worry it’s going to be awful! Expensive roof and boiler problems meant my savings were wiped out!

OP posts:

gogohmm · 11/05/2023 21:25

I save up, £100 a month into my car pot

Twospaniels · 11/05/2023 21:27

Finance from the dealership will be more expensive than taking out a bank loan (if you’re eligible)
We have always bought using a bank loan and the old car as part/ex

DeltaAlphaDelta79 · 11/05/2023 21:32

I bought mine on a 0% pcp deal, so after 4 years of finance I can either give it back, part ex it for a new one, or pay the rest of the finance off and keep it. It'll be around £6000 to pay, so if I keep it, it will probably go on either a bank loan or 0% credit card, which if I do that, will mean the whole car was bought 0% interest.

The initial offer on the deal was £200 deposit then £200 a month for 4 years. I had a decent deposit (around £6,000) as my previous car was written off by another driver and I had an insurance payout to use. This brought the montly payment down to £100. The same garage is still offering 0% finance although the deposit and montly payments are about £20 higher.

So it really depends on what you can afford, but there are still some deals to be had.

WolfFoxHare · 11/05/2023 21:32

We could buy a really decent secondhand car (say a 3 year old Audi) without finance - but it would take a big chunk of savings. We could afford a decent-ish older car easily enough (say £5-6k), though we wouldn’t be overjoyed about it!

MrsJBaptiste · 11/05/2023 21:39

Sorry, not what you want to hear but we use our savings. Our savings are for expensive one off purchases like a car so we've never bought on finance.

Maddy70 · 11/05/2023 21:44

Leasing has proved to be more economical for us

WaitingfortheTardis · 11/05/2023 21:55

We got a better deal on finance for a new car than we found on second hand (as in lower interest and price). We'll likely keep it after the initial 3 years as we tend to keep our cars a long time so this works for us. Our current cars are 12 and 14 years old, we're replacing the older one as we need a bigger one and it's starting to get a few issues. Dealers are keen at the moment so there are good discounts to be had.

Invisimamma · 11/05/2023 21:57

I save £150 each month towards my next car, these savings won't be used for anything else. I run the current car for around 5-6years longer if it's going fine and then also trade in against the new car. Usually that covers a decent 2nd hand car it but if I need to add more I'd take out a loan.

DiscoBeat · 11/05/2023 21:58

We've always bought them outright at about 3-5 years old, except for our latest one which was the first brand new one we bought (still bought outright but we got several thousand off it due to deals. Car finance is such a rip off!

PositiveLife · 11/05/2023 22:18

Iwasjustasking · 11/05/2023 21:23

Do check a slightly higher loan amount. At about 7k/7.5k the interest rate often drops significantly. For my last car, I took a loan of 7.5k to get the best rate, used 5.5k towards the car and stuck 2k in a 12 month fixed rate savings account with a higher interest rate than the loan (I'd have used this to pay off a lump sum but I cleared the loan early)

Original poster

Iwasjustasking · 11/05/2023 22:19

@PositiveLife i didn’t realise this, that’s a great tip, thankyou!

OP posts:

Kyse23 · 11/05/2023 22:22

My last one was finance. Work for a garage now so I can do finance with a discount or a scheme where I just take a car for a year and pay monthly and hand it back and get another after a year with no deposit
Extends to friends and family too

DrMadelineMaxwell · 11/05/2023 22:25

My bank offers a semi-decent rate for a savings account and I put aside a certain amount every month. At the end of the year I transfer it into my savings bonds (for the fun of the 'maybe' each month).

I bought my last car when it was 3 years old, then kept it until it was 11 years old while I saved. Then I traded it in and bought another 3 year old car. I'll do the same if it stays a good runner. Or until I can get away with a smaller car when I no longer have adult offspring at home or uni flat moves to do.

LadyJ2023 · 11/05/2023 22:27

Hubby and I save a little each month for all sorts of eventually pots as we would rather not have to owe anyone

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