to wonder how anyone can afford cars?

[Pariba]

I have a really small car and we need a bigger one. 5 seats and a big boot. I really love the Nissan quashquai (sp?) and similar. ..... but upon a quick look ok autotrader I can see any of the cars that we think match our criteria are like . 11k+ not even talking brand new.

since my current (08 plate) car is worth 3 k at the very very most, and we could maybe scrape together another 2k. . I can't see us getting much. I refuse to put a car on finance. .

aside from my personal circumstances, I just think a) who has that money! and b) it's such alot of money for a car! ...I do so much driving it almost makes sense but I can't really get my head around it.

Saved, bought a brand new Juke for 17k, love it! Went to that from a 17yr old 106 which I adored but it felt lovely getting a new one!

5 seats, big boot - my 03 plate Mondeo. £1300.

or my S plate estate Mondeo, which I had to scrap as it needed repeated welding. Paid £500 for it. £300 a year on fixes.

never had a car on finance. Do the sums and see how much you would pay. Only for the rich.

I just bought a qashqai for 8k. Its 4 years old and I would have gotten a better deal if I wasn't in NI - cars are far more expensive here. They are worth it if you buy diesel, can fill up south of the border and do loads of miles which I do. I expect to put 100,000 on it over the next 5 years and its cheaper to run and tax than my 10 year old mazda 3.

I paid 50% cash and took out a credit union loan for the balance.

Just bought a 7 seater volvo, it's huge and only cost 5,500 cos it's so old (04 plate) but still in great condition. Deals are there to be had but you will have to compromise on the type of car you want. Something has to give, age, price or brand.

Why would it be £11k? That seems expensive, you must be looking at a very new car. We have 2 Kias - a Carens (we have the 7 seater but the 5 seater has a great big boot too and is very reliable) and a Rio. If you do lots of driving its just not costs effective to spend £11k on a car. As soon as you start putting miles on it, it depreciates so quickly you'll get very little of that back.

Aw sinister! I will probably cry when I say goodbye to mine! He is my first and I love him to bits. Im trying to get my Mum to learn how to drive, then she can have him and he'll stay in the family!

My DSIS gets loans or finance deals.

DH and me run ours into the ground, raid the savings account and have no/a cheap holiday that year.

We have a lot if narrow lanes and messy children. Chances of keeping car unscratched and immaculate to resell are zero.

I second the Picasso vote- 5 very comfy seats, easy to drive and a massive boot that fits an big bulky emmeljunga type pram in. I had mine at just over 20,000 miles and paid 4k, it was a private seller though- dealers wanted the same money for models with well over 100k on the clock!!

Im also in the upgrade dilemma, I have outgrown 5 seats and now need 7, im looking at a VW as they are supposedly very reliable/gd make which will go round the clock several times. im looking for a vw touran I think, but online browsing suggests ill be unlikely to get one under 65k milage for less than about £6k I love the transporter too but that's way out my budget!!

We buy second hand. We have a vauxhall astra eco from 2002, bought it two years ago for £1200 + a P reg peugeot 106 with a spare tyre missing (the tyre completely blew on the way to the sale!) worth no more than £600.

It's brilliant on fuel, £30pa tax and happily fits three kids plus scooters and all of my crap in the boot (when I work with that family any way!).

We're buying DP a car which will end up replacing the Astra eventually (need two cars for the next 12 months) and we have a £4k budget, there are some lovely second hand, good sized cars for £4k at the moment!

I borrowed money to buy my first car (I was right out of uni so had no cash) but since then I've always paid for cars with cash. It's simple, you work out how much you'd pay per month on finance, keep the car you've got and save that much instead until you can afford to buy a newer car. Completely agree that I hate how much a car costs though (we now have 3 DC so now have a 7 seater and will do for next 15 years probably, I liked it when I had a cheap micra much more!).

DH and I owed so much when we graduated (we both have PhDs and DH also did a masters) and I hated it (especially since the postdoc lifestyle is all short term contracts) so we paid it all off as quickly as possible (still living like students in a tiny cheap rental property) and then just started saving the same amount each month. It is so much better having savings than debts.

I have been married to a new car owner but only when it's a company car. Those advertised prices are to make you feel you got a good deal when they knock a bit off.

The Citroen Picasso is relatively easy to get 3 car seats into, unlike many other cars. And I love Citroens because the ride is so great, if you buy cheap cars Imo they are the most comfortable.

Seat are doing 0% finance at the moment, we have just got a new Mii Mango

Hassle free motoring, 3 years no MOT, tiny road tax and insurance, better fuel economy, 3 years free servicing. Much more economical than buying a "cheap" old banger that you have to kep spending money on upkeeping and repairing.

You dont have to get rid of your KA wibble, my DD is nearly 4 and I've managed all that time with my lovely old KA. Sure the pushchair has to go in the passenger chair as it doesn't fit in the boot but otherwise I see no reason to upgrade. Sadly my KA is at death's door, not expected to pass its next MOT. But its 12 years old with 90k on the clock, cost me 2k and has never broken down in the 8 years I've had it so we've had a good innings. I'm dreading it going to the great scrapyard in the sky as finance is the only way I could replace it.

Zafira. Really pleased to be able to buy outright and has done us well. Under 2 grand

I liked the touran too, but as you say even those are 6k+.. its so frustrating. We could cope with my car but it makes every journey a misery as it's such a hassle. I'm getting claustrophobic lol!

I've always used money from my last cars to partially pay for a car then saved/parents Paid for the rest of the car. I've never had any problems doing it this way. My grandad had always bought brand new cars outright by trading in his 'old' cars and getting a huge chunk knocked off the price. Sil has a car on finance and regrets doing it as they can't afford to pay the car off at the end and don't want to give it back

We got a very good S Max for 5k. It's a fantastic car.

We drive two old bangers, once the mot is more than the cars worth we just get another old banger. I kept my very first number plate for sentimental reasons and no one mentions the age of my car as they don't know it whereas the car DP drives is often commentated on. People often ask why he does not get a newer one where our view is it paid for itself about 5 years ago. £11000 would be our car budget for about 20 years.

OP I think you need to join the real world!

When I got my car, the monthly running costs were the most important thing to me rather than the overall price.

My priorities were:
low monthly payments
low insurance
low tax
economic with fuel
low maintenance costs

The best option for me was to get one of those "Ford Options" type agreements (not with Ford though). I will never own this car. I will pay a low monthly amount for 3 years then hand it get back and get a another brand new car on a similar agreement. This also means I won't have any MOT costs and benefit from the 3 year warranty too. It's not for everyone, but to me, it was the cheapest way I could pay monthly for a car as I didn't have one to trade in and I don't have any savings.

im looking at a VW as they are supposedly very reliable/gd make which will go round the clock several times

Yeah right. I wouldn't touch a VW with a bargepole. The Touran scores pretty poorly for reliability - well below average.