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

Even if we had the money, would never buy new. Cars depreciate too quickly.

We had a car last 10 years, and we've just bought a newer version of it for £1500. Drives like new, as only done 60,000 miles!

I love our 'new' car.

Regular servicing is v important and should save money in the long run.
Just haggle though.
I found out my sister had been paying £300 a service for her little 1.4 hatchback which should have cost around £100 a time

Services also don't nessecarily need to be carried out yearly.

The mots in england are very basic compared to the yearly minimum
Checks cars in Europe have to go through which is why there are so many sub standard cars out there that are 'road worthy' but not for long

I have a new- ish car. It cost me about £40/ week. Including insurance, tax, petrol, payments for loan & service plan. My old car cost me a lot more, had larger annual service bills and was in a much higher tax bracket...
I'd go for newish again- no nasty surprises!

I suppose the other thing to consider then OP is ready access to even £1000. If you don't HAVE £1000 and you need a car to get to work then all the wishing in the world won't conjure it up. But you might have the £100 a month just about spare to get a lease on a cheap new or newish car.

So sorry for your loss Orangebird.
I drive a 18 month old car that most people would bulk at the cost.
Why did I spend so much? Well because my 6 year old car was still worth a lot of money so part/x'd, I didn't need finance/loan and mainly because I really wanted to.
I couldn't give a shiny shit if people think it's a waste of money, it's my money and I'll spend it as I see fit :)

We used to have to purchase older cars, tried to stick to mainstream makes as maintenance costs were usually lower. However even the 'older cats' are now computer driven rather than straight mechanical and therefore expensive to fix.

We now purchase nearly new; our current car was 9 months old but we saved £8000 on the brand new price with 4 years 3 months manufacturer warranty left - it seems these days it's a false economy to buy older

Would I rather crash in a new car or an old car?

New car please.

We bought at the time a not so old Volvo Estate. You only had to breathe on it and the body work would dent. There was not one panel including the roof that didn't have a dent in.

We then a few years later bought an even older Volvo Estate. It was like a tank. I was in an underground car park. I didn't notice te white painted concrete pillar against the white walls and backed full pelt into it. I felt sure I had made a huge dent in the back. It left not a scratch. Dp had a brand new Bentley drive into him. The Bentley was written off the Volvo had not a scratch on it.

Dp wanted a new car when he was diagnosed with cancer last year
we bought for cash a Mercedes C class that has self parking. It was about 10 months old we saved approximately £12000 onthe new list price

I've always had older, cheap cars brought for a few thousand and run into the ground. They have been fine but cost a lot in fuel.

I've just got an expensive (5 figure) car that is 5 years old but a lot more modern and more of a premium make. I love it, it makes me happy. It is far better for us as a family at this point in time than the car it replaced.

As long as they aren't getting into horrific debt I think people can buy what they want, no judgment. You need people at the top of the pyramid buying newer cars to feed the second hand market.

The last used car I bought was a total lemon and an absolute money pit. The ones before that had been pretty good but were v. old so only ran them for a couple of years each. When I decided to replace my previous car - because I was pretty much my garage's most loyal and favoured customer at this point! - I wanted to go for something 3-5 y/o, or possibly an ex-demonstrator as there are often good reductions on them. When going to talk through the numbers, the finance deals on offer meant that it would have cost me £50 more a month to buy used than to buy brand new. So the draw of the manufacturer's warranty meant that it was a no-brainer for me.

I do 500 motorway miles every week so need something reliable. However I am not bothered about buying 'new' specifically. It was lovely to have a car which was pristine and had the lovely new car smell. But I'm not fussed enough to pay £££ for it! When the time comes, I'll be looking at something 3 y/o I think.

One thing that I will say is that the fuel economy is extremely good on my car though. Plus it's quite cheap to insure and has zero VED on it. It costs about £45 to fill the tank and I can do a full week on it.

I think the thread may have missed the point that £800 plus running costs is just as unaffordable as £80 000 plus for a lot of people?