To wonder why people don't buy cheaper cars

[JaceLancs]

This has come up on a few threads recently about people saying they can't afford a car
Why not just buy something older smaller or cheaper?
The most I would consider spending would be £5000 and I would have to borrow or save that - if my current 14 year old car becomes unrepairable in the near future I would buy a put me on for around £1000
DD last car was £800 DS just bought first car for less than £500
They are all very reliable and cheap to run and repair
DD and my car both come into cheap insurance and tax brackets

If someone can afford it, why wouldn't they get a nicer car? I'm just getting a brand new one. My reasons were that I wanted something stylish and reliable, upholstered in cream leather with a top-notch sound system and other functions. It will have parking cameras, Sat Nav, phone connectivity... It will even brake for me if I'm about to drive into something. Why would I forgo such a lovely car for an old banger???

also, small cheap cars are great about town, they're fucking awful to commute on a motorway in! When I did motorway commuting I drove a big safe comfortable car that didn't feel like you had to lean forward and egg it on when driving fast!

We as a family can't afford for me to get a 2nd car.

DH works in a place that is not on a bus route, where I am.

It's not just the car, it's the fuel tax mot and insurance

its the running costs you wally!

Some people like new cars. I'd love a new car but not a chance I could afford one + the insurance.

I don't agree that old cars necessarily cost more in upkeep though. My car was £450 and is 15 years old. Last MOT and repairs (the front lights were dim and had dropped, tyre needed changing) was £49 +£35 for "repairs" I could have done myself for a fiver but couldn't be bothered. It gets me from a-b.

I buy new/newish because I have more money than sense says pp anyway I do it because I can afford it, I love new cars/cars in general. I don't ever worry about them breaking down or costing a fortune & a v v v small part is an ego boost for me. I work long hard hours & it's where I like to put most of my money into.

I can say this because a few years ago we didn't have 2p to rub together & had older cars that kept breaking down on the side of the road with two small kids is not pretty.

Older cars are a risk / gamble. Some 14 year old cars might never break down, but other 10 year old cars might have MOST fails that would cost more than the car is worth to repair, 6 months after you buy them.

I changed career and took a pay cut in my mid 20s and sold my car, which was a few years old and I'd had from nearly new (showroom display and test drive car, so a year old but only a couple of hundred miles on the clock) and bought a ten year old run about which cost less than the new set of tyres my previous car would soon have needed. "New" old car seemed good, ran fine, turned out to fail it's MOT 8 months later and had to take £50 for it as the repair would have been twice what I paid for it.

I'm a convert to good value Korean cars since DH bought one a few years ago and I followed suit just over a year ago - buy six month old surplus production EU imports with no milage but big discount off the ticket price and a 7 year warranty. We live rurally and if the car doesn't start it is a huge problem - there is no public transport except school buses and nothing is walkable unless you have hours and hours on your hands.

An old car is a massive gamble unless you yourself have driven it for its long life and know its history. I'm surprised anyone utterly dependant on their car for their income would recommend buying a rust bucket.

What I never understand is people buying old expensive cars which cost a lot to run and service etc . I know people with 20 year old range rovers , why not buy a newer run around if you can only afford a certain amount . Most new cars now are bought on lease so you only pay the depreciation for the benefit of having a brand new car . My dh has a very generous car allowance and does this . I think the days of getting loans to buy cars outright are gone because it's so much 'cheaper ' to lease and change more often . ... if you look on the roads now there are very few old old cars .

We used to always buy old cheap cars, but it was a false economy. they always needed repairs of some kind.

Then DH had an accident on the motorway when the suspension collapsed (car had just passed its MOT btw) and we got such a fright that we now buy newer cars.

The newer cars have been a lot more reliable and needed fewer repairs.

YABU

My car (pick up truck actually) was brand new three years ago, DH's car was brand new about six months ago. Where we live its extremely important to have reliable vehicles which aren't going to break down and can get through snow drifts and anything else thrown at them. If we break down in -40 in an area with no phone reception things will go bad very quickly, everyone here has new-ish and well serviced well maintained cars, too much of a risk not to.
The personalised number plate and custom design on my truck is probably me being unreasonable though as I wanted the same truck in the same colour as the character of Ironhide from the Transformers movie . DH is more sensible with his car!

Because they can afford to buy newer ones? I'd have a new, fully-loaded one if I could afford it.

we've gone from a 12 year old car to a brand new one on a lease purchase agreement of some sort (not sure of the right terminology but after 3yrs we'll have paid more than the depreciation so it'll have some equity in it, we can buy it outright then or swap for another).

anyway - we've gone to mot exempt, tax of £0 and 60-80mpg whereas i reckon before we were getting barely 40. It's sooooo much cheaper to run! And i can drive it alone in the dark long distances in wild areas without the constant worry of breakdown.

What I never understand is people buying old expensive cars which cost a lot to run and service etc . I know people with 20 year old range rovers , why not buy a newer run around if you can only afford a certain amount

Because they don't have computers!

Which means that you can repair them yourself in your driveway! they're cheap to fix and if you take care of them they last forever! literally forever!

Its the mid aged cars that are the crocs! the 6 years plus ones with computers and in built obsolescence - they're the ones that need big repairs and will soon just "die" beyond repair.

Fil changes his car every few years. Always buys new. Has nothing else to spend his money on. Doesn't have 100s of 1000s but never goes on holiday or out anywhere to a restaurant as he doesn't want to (loner/undiagnosed autistic) so I'm sure he saves loads more than he spends. Others buy because they can, like the feel, want a specific car, want to pose etc. Personally, we can do without the heated seats or reversing camera. It's a choice for us as we'd rather have a bigger car and have it secondhand than buy one brand new.

If no one bought new cars, there wouldn't be any old ones. So there are lots of reasons.

It's about reliability. I only ever lease brand new cars, for 3 years, then get the next one.

I need to know that my car will start every single day, I can't be trapped out in the middle of nowhere, the roads I travel to work are not safe to be stuck, especially with DS. I need the best guarantee that my car will never have a mechanical problem. The last 12 years of brand new cars I have never had a problem, start first time every time. I have no MOT to worry about it passing etc. I just put fuel in it and go.

My first few cars from ranged from £400-£1500. and they were crap, broke down, needed new tyres, gear boxes, head gasket went in one of them, the heating on another, etc etc, can't be doing with that crap anymore!

And apart from all that! If you spend a lot of your life in your car, you may as well enjoy it if you can. I loved my expensive (old) car! driving it was a joy not a chore!

Not all old cars are rubbish, I bought a L reg (1993) Toyota just over 8 years ago for £375, all I've had done on it is a new clutch, drive shaft and a new starting motor, the clutch was about £300 and the starting motor about £150, and the drive shaft which only cost the labour as my garage used a preowned one. It's had a tiny bit of welding and the obvious stuff like new tires and maybe a couple of beach pads but for 8 years worth of car journeys I'd say that it's definitely the best car I've ever had. It's broken down twice, once for the clutch which we knew was going to happen, the plan was to scrap it but we decided against it and once when the drive shaft went.

imjessie I don't think most new cars are bought on leader though - leasing can be full of terms and conditions which make paying for miniscule "damage" or going over miles almost inevitable when you return a car, especially if the car isn't used solely by one adult doing a solo motorway commute and able to park where nobody else might squeeze past in the car park and cause barely visible scratches to paintwork etc.

Use a lease car as a family car and you'll get a hefty bill when you hand it back - DH had a lease car once and we had an enormous bill for the apolstry because the seats had faded unevenly and there were indents where the child seats had been attached to the isofix points for 18 months, and for barely there paintwork scratches probably done inadvertently by someone squeezing past in a car park - all stuff you wouldn't worry about if you owned the car outright.

I depends what you want. We lease out car and therefore will never ever own it, nor would we want to. We have had it since breand new and will hand it back while it's still under warranty. We have never had to pay for an MOT, Road Tax (that will change though) or a service. Any work that the car has needed had been carried out under warranty which means it's free to us and comes with a courtesy car etc.

I will pay for this peace of mind and security and have no desire to own the car outright. Leasing is the cheapest way to own a new car by far but a lot of people are wary of it, while i would highly recommend it.

My friends with cheap bangers have paid way way more in upkeep and maintenance than i ever have with my new car. Plus, new cars usually have better features (sat nav and things are pretty standard now) and smell nicer!

My car was £300 it an ancient micra.

Very cheap to run and no repairs needed (except a bulb doing) in two years.

This 'hefty bill' when you hand the car back thing about leasing isn't the norm, but you have to be sensible. We are honest about how much mileage we will do and make sure we get leather seats etc that don't wear as much. You also have a responsibility to maintain the vehicle like you would with one you owned - if it gets damaged - fix it! I would do that with any car though.

Unborn ancient micras are reliable, but old/mid aged ones aren't.

Same for most old cars, if you go old enough you get a non computerised car that's been well maintained by previous owners and they're gems! But when a lot of people talk about "old" they're talking 6ish years, and they are total crocs!

Old cars cost money in repairs and the value of second hand cars doesn't really make them an asset anymore, the cost of the car is a small part of car ownership.

A lot of people lease, a fixed monthly cost, no MOT worries, very fuel efficient and warranty.

However, those pre computer well maintained very old cars are going up in price now as they become rarer. Mine was not cheap at all!

I silently wonder this then come on the internet to discuss.

Teacher at school, probably earning 35k ish, wife on mat leave with first baby has just bought a 45k VW transporter van. I just can't get my head around it....