To pay so much for a car on finance?

[CaulkheadUpNorth]

I've been quoted for a finance deal which includes two years warranty, three years service and mot. It's a two year old car, with 21,000 miles.

The amount I've been quoted is high due to having defaulted on two accounts four years ago. It stays on credit report for six years.

The amount I've been quoted is nearly 20% of my post-tax income. If I take away all my rent/bills etc it would be a third of my disposable income.

Aibu to get the car? My job changed in May and I'm really struggling without a car. It's possible, but hard and disadvantages other people.

Is it a C1 you are looking at? I wouldn't buy one. For that money I would get a Skoda citigo. Much much better.

But wouldn't buy either in your circumstances.

I suspect the OP has convinced themself that they "need" a car and not only a car, but a two year old one!

Financially strapped and yet wanting to buy a Citroen (poor depreciation) that costs nearly 7,000 pounds - OP is having laugh.
I've got colleagues who earn 30,000 + who don't spend that much on a car.

Go and buy something costing about 2,500 - 3,000 pounds until the poor credit record is out of the way and then move on. Loads of nice, reliable older cars for that sort of money and probably cheaper to insure as well.

You can't afford it and you don't need it.

Join a car club if you are really stuck and use it occasionally.

YABU, I say that in the nicest way possible. You do not need a 2 year old car. Go for an older car through a good dealer, significantly cheaper! Even if it only lasts you a few years it gives you a few years to save for a better car.

I really struggle with the concept of buying a car on finance though, and leasing one I have a 52 plate astra eco, it does better on mileage than many newer cars, cheap to run and would probably last a good few more years. We traded in a P reg fiesta and paid £1200 cash on top for it and we'll be able to sell it for £700+ next year when we upgrade (only doing so because I can't drive manual for much longer due to health issues!)

OP will not return!

Another that says no.
Go cheaper car for now.
We are driving 1k second car because we don't want any debt and we don't have savings at the moment for one.
Will start saving though and buy better in a year or two.

Give her a chance it's only a hour since she last posted!

I wouldn't buy a 2 year old Citroen for 2000 , never mind 9000. As said upthread it will continue to depreciate wildly and will probably cost a lot to own.

You could probably pick up an old banger with an MOT for the cost of 2 or 3 payments.

I drive a 18 year old car I bought for 500 quid and in two years it has cost me the sum total of two wiper blades and a light bulb to get it through its through three MOT tests. Its is possible to get cheap and reliable cars for a fraction of the nine grand you propose to spend.

well, she did ask!

car, yes. On finance - NO. This is ALWAYS pissing money away.

plenty of decent cars about for £1k, £2k at most. You may well have fixit bills but do your research, get something that doesn't cost a lot to fix (which means anything except a Citroen) and you will come out well ahead.

Don't buy a Citroen! At least look into reliable cars. Spending that amount of money is ridiculous when you don't have to. You'll just get into debt again. Which might be something you need to look in to.

OP, do not fall into the trap of believing that a bigger initial outlay will protect you from the car ever going wrong. It won't.
The new car will STILL need an MOT after another year, and you will need to keep up the dealer service schedule or that car will depreciate like a stone.
To echo most others in this thread, get something cheap and old. I recommend a Vauxhall or a Ford. Ours is nearly 150,000 miles on the clock and it doesn't go wrong.
Back when I didn't have 2 coppers to rub together, I had a 12 YO Vectra with 200k on the clock. That did go wrong admittedly, but Vauxhalls and Fords are so common that you can get replacement parts from the scrap yard for dirt cheap.
TL;DR New cars go wrong too. Be prepared for this; buy an old, common car.

Why are you saddling yourself with all this debt for a car. Buy a cheaper car as other people have suggested. If you default on this loan your credit rating with take another dive. It's a senseless idea.

If you have managed without a car for so long then do a few more months, save up over summer and buy one in november for cash

If you can't afford to buy it outright then don't buy it.

I stupidly went out and bought a car on finance when I was 18, I was in a good job but was useless at saving, wanted a nice car ( probably to look good ), I bought a Fiat for £3999, was the worst thing I ever did, I struggled to keep up with the payments ( though I never missed a payment ), the car was probably worth less than half what I payed for it. One morning I got up to go to work and someone had driving into my car in the night and driven off ( I wasn't insured fully comp and as we did not know who was driving the other car I could not claim ), so I had a car that I was paying a fortune for which was now worth around £1000 ( I still owed £2000 on ).

I would never buy anything on finance again, if I can't afford a £4000 car then I will buy a £500 car.

If you buy this car, by the time you have payed for it you will be lucky if it's worth £1000. If you want to drive around in a nice new car think about hire schemes, you pay a weekly/monthly fee, you don't have to pay for repairs and after a few years you swap the car for a newer one ( yes it's not your car but you get to drive a nice car and not have to pay when it goes wrong, if you can't keep up payments the car goes back ).

Sorry late to reply have been in work. Outlay is 165 per month, salary is 1000 per month after tax.

I can get to work, that's no problem. A large amount of my role involves visiting people, schools, crematorium, meetings in other parts of the city. It usually involves carrying things and would be useful to give people lifts.

I've always had cars which were 8-10 year old before, and they have lasted a year or so but have had work done and failed mots etc. I'd be happy to buy a car which was over five years but not are how to go about it as cannot afford to buy it out right.

I wouldn't spend that much on a car and I can afford it without finance. I paid £2500 for a 1997 Honda CRV with 130,000km on the clock. It'll go at least another 100,000km with minimal maintenance bar regular servicing and as I do that over 10 years or so it'll last me more than long enough.

I'd suggest you go for a decent older car or an electric bicycle.

If you're job role involves using a car a lot for work won't your company supply a lease car for company use. I don't mean own a company car just use one in work time. I suppose it depends how big the company is and your exact job role.

You can get finance on older cars, just go to smaller dealers, not main dealers. One man band who is selling 50 cars, he'll be able to get you the same finance (if you're determined to do it that way).

I think you're bonkers to spend so much of your income on a car. I am comfortably off, on quite a high salary and into my cars, but I have only ever bought one newer than 3-4 years old, and that was because I was offered a brilliant deal on it. You do not need a 2 yr old car.

Get finance from somewhere that isn't the car dealership - it is usually cheaper that way. Shop around.

Light - I work for a very small church. Sadly there is no money for anything :(

There are hire/rent type clubs which are fine if I'm in the city centre but dot stretch out as far to my side of the city.

If you can manage without a car for a bit longer, throw money into a savings account and try to afford one in the next 6 months, even if you only own a cheap banger that will fail next MOT for a year, you'll be able to save £1980 (based on the outlay of a financed car) in that year to upgrade. Find somebody who knows something about cars to go with you when you look at them.

If there is a local 'hobby dealer' as I call them, see if they'll trade in your old car (worth more than selling outright sometimes and bypasses the upcoming MOT), you'll be able to tell who they are as they'll sell a car every 3-6 weeks, you'll start to recognise photo locations and phone numbers when browsing cars. They tend to have links with people in garages so even old bangers about to die are usually worth something to them.

Also, if you're going to be giving people lifts, you will need to check your insurance options as you may need business cover (and that may not cover you) so look into it very carefully. Even if you are using it for work and not lifts you'll need the business cover though.

Look for a decent older car, there are loads about, I wouldn't recommend a French car , they lose value very quickly! look at German ( VW, BMW, Audi ) or Japanese cars ( Honda, Nissan etc..), they seem to last longer and hold their price, parts are more expensive but they will spend less time in the garage.

I bought myself a VW a few months ago, cost me just under £2000 and I got £500 back from my old car, my car is 10 years old but has low mileage and full service history, if it lasts me a few years ( I hope it will last longer ) then I would have saved a fortune by not getting a newer car.

There are some good deals about, it's worth paying someone like RAC or AA to check the car over before you buy, even if you buy from a garage get the car checked by someone else ( garages are the worst for ripping people off ), the best bargains come from private sellers, expect to pay up to £1000 extra if buying from a garage, some people will buy from a garage to get a warranty but in most cases the warranty only covers things like the engine blowing up or the gearbox breaking.