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.

Are you Jeremy Clarkson by any chance. You are almost as patronising. You have to be male

Are you a sheep? You have to be female as you've fallen for marketing bollocks and a bit of soft touch plastic.

God now you sound like my father. Apparently to learn to,drive properly you need to learn how to take apart and engine and out it back together. It was hilarious that he chose his Rolls Royce to disassemble for me.

No I am not a sheep. Just needed a 7 sweater, 4 wheel drive and I like the feel and handling of,German cars. I did test drive a Ford something or other for mumsnet a few years ago. Compared to a German car I had at the time it felt like a roller skate.

I like Bosch dishwashers but haven't a fucking clue how to take one of those apart either.

Just by working up to it, and upgrading gradually. When the kids were wee I had an ancient punto, then a ka, then we got,scrap page allowance and I got a second hand Qashqai.

We used to buy cheap old cars but then they would start to develop problems and it was costing us a fortune in repairs and new cars. Dh needs a car for work as no public transport and I need one to take the dc's to school and work.

We had always said we would never get a car on finance yet looking into it we now both have one each. Dh has a little suzuki that costs next to nothing to run and I have a Dacia. The best thing about it is they are reliable, and if not they are under warranty.

Apparently to learn to,drive properly you need to learn how to take apart and engine and out it back together.

Nothing to do with being able to drive. We're talking about build quality.

Try Kia, I have a Picanto and she is fab, and cheap to run, you could a CEE'd or Optima.

We drove an old Astra for years and loved it.I am 6'1" hubby is 6'7" and we had 3x kids/carseats in the back. Only upgraded because a friend offered us a 7 seater Renault Scenic for free.I had to really persuade my husband to give up the Astra as it was so reliable and cheap to buy parts for etc. We are thankful now for the extra legroom in the back as our kids are all getting very tall and leggy. What I find amazing is the amount of families who run 2 cars. It is such a big expense.

I clicked on the thread initially just due to the expense of running 2 cars! (We run old, cheapish ones in general) and wondered if there was anything I was missing.

My husband needs his for work, I really want mine for the kids, appointments.. etc. He is often away so we can't just have one for evenings/weekends.

It's crippling.

We run two cars and it costs a fortune. My dh has a 10 plate BMW which we paid cash for a few years ago. I drive a great big Kia Sedona which we bought using a loan 2 years ago for 7k. It is paid off now. We spend approx £350 per month on fuel and then you have basic maintenance, services and road tax (mine is 450 a year). We have to run two cars as dh has a commute and no public transport and I need mine for the children (4). We live rurally so there is often no option other than to jump in the car.
I hate my car. I would always go for something newer if we could afford it. I hate the thought of something going wrong with it (frequently does) and feel like I am just pouring money down the drain.

I'd recommend the mitsubishi carisma (costs about 700-1000 quid on autotrader very cheap car) my partner has one and its been in the family for four years, never needed a repair, cheap to insure cheap to run (40mpg), has 5 seats and a big boot (we fit a moses basket AND stand in there and still had space), id look into it.

I have a Jag XJ (two years old) lovely car but bloody tyres are £460 each. Never thought about that when I bought it

Jeez Golfer that's not much fun! They must be some seriously big runflats I'm guessing? What size are they? Will see if I can find em cheaper

I have a Jag XJ (two years old) lovely car but bloody tyres are £460 each. Never thought about that when I bought it

Please say you haven't actually spent that. Just looking at the largest tyre size available on the XJ and assuming they're run flats - a complete set of 4 Goodyear Eagle F1s can be delivered and fitted for around £880.

my dad gets his cars/vans from autotrader. we have a scenic at the moment. My boyfriend's stepdad has a megane from autotrader, runs a treat. you can find good cars (big cars too!) for cheap that run a charm, so try autotrader. a car loses about 8k off its price as soon as its wheels touch the road anyway.

a car loses about 8k off its price as soon as its wheels touch the road anyway

Do you not think that rather depends on the original cost of the car? I'm pretty sure that a brand new £7k car doesn't. Generally a car will depreciate as soon as it leaves the dealership but occasionally it will increase if it's something with a long waiting list.

a car loses about 8k off its price as soon as its wheels touch the road anyway.

ROFLMAO

You obviously know lots about cars. You do know how cheap some now are?

I'm fairly sure that a new Dacia doesn't loose this much a) because it wasn't worth £8 in the first place b) if you buy on finance it will have a guaranteed price after the finance period.

Funnily enough, the second hand Logan market is currently fairly decent purely by virtue of the fact there are supply issues and the next cheapest estate is around three times the price.