To ask how you afforded your car?

[letsgogogo]

Me and my partner aren't rich by any standard but we do ok. I wouldn't say we are poor.
Even so we can't afford to buy a new car or a decent second hand car. However, I see so many people driving around in new range rovers and Audi's, BMW and various other really expensive cars and I just wonder how can people afford them? AIBU to think that most of these cars were attained through finance? Or if you have a nice car that you didn't need credit for, how did you manage it?

X5 in 2016, Mini Cooper last October neither on finance much to the dealers dismay. Probably not buy another for a good few years as these two are really good cars. We are in our sixties and don't waste money, both work.

DIY disaster
I personally don't understand all the negativity towards people with cars on finance

I imagine the negativity is because those of us who live within ours means and only buy what we save up for , are tired of listening to people whining about being broke while paying out several hundreds pounds every month.

If you’re paying out for a car on finance and don’t actually have the money sitting in savings then regardless of what you may think , you cannot afford your car . A loan can be recalled at any time ( even a mortgage).

We always pay cash, have two nice cars. If other people want to assume we're in heaps of debt/ cars must be on finance then good luck to them.

I know of someone who borrowed 30k to buy a Range Rover . Said car is long gone and she is still paying off the loan .Talk about making yourself poor trying to look rich. You can’t fix stupid !

My new job entails quite a bit of mileage. I had a Discovery 2.5l diesel and DH had Range Rover 4.0 petrol. I gave my Disco to him, he sold the RR and I got a Toyota Aygo finance for £138 month. I've saved more in that on tax and the fuel I'd have used keeping the Disco per month so for us it was a no brainer (also new job and looking for 4 months previous with no income meant funds were too low to buy one outright).

I have to say I'm liking the arrangement and will probably upgrade in 2 years and carry on.

However, I would never get cars on finance that are £100s per month. I think I've got a nice, smart little economical car for reasonable money.

We will lease our next car when our current 13 year old one needs replacing.

I part exchanged my old car and paid the rest in cash. Isn't that what most people do?

No 😂

I’ve got a 14 plate BMW which I bought for cash (inheritance). Most people I know that drive newer cars have them on finance / PCP.

Cash
Finance is not worth it unless you want high end.

I get a new car every 5 years with my job. I pay personal contributions and tax on it, but I get to drive a much newer car than I would do if I had to fund it myself. I imagine some of the “flash” cars you see people driving are company lease cars.

The most I’ve paid in cash for a car was £14k second hand

I now finance my cars as once id spent the money I had saved and the car depreciated and was no longer road worthy I hadn’t been able to save up as much again

We pay for ours with 5 years of monthly payments followed by
A. Lum sum and keep.
B. Return car and potentially pay a devalue payment.
C. Return car, choose a new car and take new repayment agreement.

As far as I know most people do this.

Car was a year old, top spec with 300 miles on the clock. DH picked the car, I picked the colour.

Lease. Can’t see any reason not to. I like a nice car and I think it’s pretty good value. No intention of ever buying a car outright

I've always saved up and added to the value of my existing car to buy a new one. But when you look at depreciation, leasing doesn't look like a bad deal so I might try that in;future.

One we own outright that we bought with money we kept back from the sale of our old house. One is PCP. I like PCP, you get a new car so no MOT to worry about. Full warranty if it breaks down, 3 years later hand it back and get a new one. A car is a depreciating asset so I don't see the issue in effectively renting one. It's by no means a flash car though, just a little runaround that DH drives to work while I ferry the kids about in the family car (which is not a flash car either!).

@Purpletigers perhaps I'v been lucky then and not really mixed with people with people who are trying to keep up appearances and then complain of lack of money. As I said my car was paid for with cash, I also don't have a credit card so I'm all for spending within my means. Though I'm sure people see me and assume my cars on finance but whatever it doesn't bother me as I'd have to have a high earning job to afford monthly payments on it.

Also in the "never pay more than £500 cash" camp here.

Though yesterday I did finally find a replacement for my beloved 21 yr old people carrier that won't pass another MOT and spent a whole £750 on it

But still. Under £1k all the way. I don't give a shit about the car's age/model etc so long as we all fit in it and it's safe to drive. Paintwork etc is immaterial to us

I never pay more than 3K for a car and for years drove around in a Ford that cost £650. To me they are just ways of moving kids and dogs around, as long as roadworthy I don't care what they look like. .

PCP.

I have a company car. I get given a list of cars I want to order every 3-4 years.

@user1497207191

That link is only talking about brand new cars.
That is a tiny fraction of all cars bought, so nowhere near 91% of cars are bought on finance.

First car was a mix of savings and a small loan. 2nd hand and I've never ever bought new. I just try and get as new as I can afford.
Following cars I've saved up for and only bought when I can afford them.
I also save a few hundred each month and at some point use the savings for a replacement car.

Current car will be 10 years old this year and I've had it for 6 and a half years. It's coming up to when I would like to replace but I'm pushing it back as much as possible so I have as much saved as possible so I don't decimate all my savings when I replace it.

Most are PCP's and company cars, so people aren't paying as much as you think. PCP's are ok but you never own the car.

I have a discovery sport. Got it on a fantastic lease deal as my brother works for JLR.
DP drives a VW transporter thats 6 years old which we paid for with savings. I

When I moved house i bought a new car with some of the equity. Normally I buy older cars and get a bank loan though. This is the first nice car i have had.