How to finance a new car

[Givemethesun]

We’re looking at a new car as need something slightly bigger than current car. We just have one car as in London which is fine. Costs about £35k.
how do people tend to finance these? We do have the cash to buy outright but I know most people do the finance plans. Why is this? What’s the pros and cons? Is it silly to buy outright as I know cars are a depreciating asset? sorry can’t really get my head round it .
Current car we bought outright about 6 years ago (value now is c10k which we’d put against the 35k cost). Before that the last car I bought was a £2k runaround car at uni!

ps on a seperate note I’m not keen to get a new car as I see the cost and think gosh that would be X holidays abroad which is much more fun 😂 but I think probably from a practical level a slightly larger car is probably needed

Does it have to be a £35k new car? Surely you could get something decent that’s the size you want for a lot less. Something 3-5 years old will also depreciate a lot less too.

but I never spent more than £5k on a car so probably not the person to ask. As long as it gets me where I need to go I’m happy. I just think of all the other things I could spend that money on!

It’s a valid question. Maybe the 35k is brand new and we wouldn’t get a brand new one so probably our cost would be lower. I’m the same as you not really a car person so not fussed but equally don’t want something that could end up requiring lots of work so probably will get a nearly new car in the end

35k is a huge amount unless you are pretty good earners! (Or it is to me.. like a previous poster the most I have ever spent on a car is 12k outright on the family car..a vw Touran) If you like new cars, maybe leasing is the way to go and exchange for another new one every few years, as long as you don't do very many miles.
Personally I think an expensive car is a waste of money as a cheap one like my current 5k Juke gets me up and down the motorway with no problems whatsoever!

As you are looking for nearly new I'd spend some time on Auto Trader looking at different cars of different ages and get a clearer idea of what you can get at different price points. £35k sounds like an awful lot for a second hand car but I guess it depends what makes/models you are thinking?

I tthink aquite a few people get loans or car finance for second hand cars. We've always bought outright but at a much lower price point - we've worked out what we can afford to spend and then tried to get the least age/lowest mileage for that money. Cars lose a lot of their value in the first 3 years so you may still be able to get somethnig fairly new.

Personally I've always used dealerships rather than private sales, you pay more but there's a few more protections against the car being a total lemon.

Thanks both I think the 35k is a red
heron in my initial post so I’ll try and edit. As that’s the price for brand new which we wouldn’t get. I guess my question is just the benefits of a finance plan v paying out right so I’ll try and edit.

shows how clueless I am 😅

thank you!