to want a brand new car?

[ValiantMouse]

I've always driven older, used cars. Current car is 13 years old and is coming up on 80k miles. It's not running well and there's a chance that the repair could cost up to £1000.

I want a new car. I want something that I don't have to worry about, that doesn't suck down a gallon of oil every month. Something that I can go where I want in, when I want. (To be fair, my current car is very reliable.)

I'm not on a great wage- just under £7 an hour. The car I've been looking at is around £14k. It would be about £150 a month- I could afford that. I just feel guilty because I'm used to watching every penny I spend. AIBU?

Orda - I know plenty of people who could afford to pay for a car outright but choose to use finance instead. It's a legitimate decision to make.

Also I know many people who use finance as a means off it chasing a car rather than saving up and then buying. They can afford the monthly figure perfectly well but couldn't necessarily afford the big lump sum in one go, and would rather buy now and pay as they go. Again perfectly reasons able choice so long as they can easily pay the monthly payments.

I think the title is slightly mid leading...... The OP doesn't want a "brand new" car, it's a few years old. (But still "brand new" to her!)

OP, if you think you can afford it and understand the ins and outs of the deal, then go for it.

If you're going to hang on to it until the death then it's not necessarily a bad deal.

Sorry 18 months old, not a few years old! But between 1 and 3 years old is prob the best time to buy a "new" car, rather than one straight from the factory!

I'm actually sitting in the showroom about to pay the deposit on a 3 year old skoda Fabia estate diesel - it's probably the most boring car ever but I can't find a deal even vaguely comparable, it's £6700 and has all the extras we wanted, tons of space but is small enough to park.
It's not much help pointing the OP to a great value new Seat Ibitha when she's said she needs an estate - you just get more for your money after a couple of years.
I had always had cheap old cars and then went off abroad and bought a new car as they hold their value much better in that country. My company (which was the biggest employer in town) made a lot of people redundant and sent me back to the UK early. This flooded the market and instead of loosing the 3-4K GBP we expected over 4 years we lost 9k+ in 2.5 years. Never ever again. I know this is extreme but absolutely no way would I take the depreciation on a new car again.
Anyway, it's all a bit irrelevant as the OP seems to be looking at newish 2nd hand cars anyway!

I got an ex-Motability car with 1.5k on the clock at 1 year old. 2 years of warranty left but a good bit cheaper than brand new.

However, at the end of the day it is your money and you should spend it on what you like so YANBU.

I just bought my new fiat 500 at 4K less than a brand new one because it has been registered to the garage and done 10 miles. Go for it, it's your money xx

With a brand new car there are also loads of extras added on like delivery charge. Added about 2K extra, but my eyes just glazed over at that point!