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?

@Itsjustmee, is that the 3 series your dh has just ordered, or another one? Would be interested to know as that sounds a good price. Is it business lease or something else? Thanks

Cash! But I don't like having debt and I don't care about my car other than to ensure it reliably gets me from a-b. Most recently spent 6k on a small but reliable 1 year old car with only 15k miles. Really pleased with it, hoping it will last a lot of years.

Before that spent £3,k on a lovely little fiesta, lasted me 7 years (so.less than £500/year) then someone drove into my side when I was parked and their insurance payout helped towards the cost of the new car.

After 5 years of having second hand cars and having absolute disasters with them, I couldn't afford NOT to get a brand new one.

My last second hand car cost £2500. It lasted 10 months. Engine blew up. (it wasn't that old and was an Audi)

New car is £185 a month. Brand new. Paid £600 or so deposit. Relief is fantastic.

Mine was £4500 which is by far the most I've ever spent on a car

I had £1500 from the insurance company as mine was written off when someone ran up the back of me, I put £1000 towards it and my wonderful DM gave me the other £2000 as she'd just had a policy mature for £15K and wanted to help

I don't have a car but my DF bought his (BMW) off his parents for market price when they decided they were too old to drive. my DM is disabled and got the funds to get a disability car (not sure what it is).

My FIL (not sure what it is) saved up and bought a car, my MIL and her partner cashed in their pensions to buy a Range Rover.

Does it matter though?
Who cares if people with 19/69 plates own or lease their car- there’s too much comparison in the UK when everyone’s circumstances are different.

I do PCP (300 odd) but then they earn well enough to afford it and it is a fraction of their salary and work is pretty reliable. I also have smaller mortgage.

Just choose what works for you and your circumstances/finances.

My new car is on PCP. Normally I save up and buy a nearly new car outright.
This time I didn’t want to spend all my savings as I need to do up my bathroom.
I used car wow to get about 5K off a brand new car so it was cheaper than a year old one. I also put a good deposit down so I can have lower monthly payments. I have now also saved the amount needed for the balloon payment (so I’m probably a bit odd) but plan on dipping into a small amount of that for the bathroom. So if i crash the car and insurance doesn’t pay out quickly, I will have enough to buy another car.

I do get a monthly car allowance from work so I’m not sure why I dithered so much over the financing.

I know lots of people on here don’t like buying things on credit, but I’m finding I don’t like parting with my savings and will consider a good credit option instead!

I haven’t had savings while working part time so have saved all the extra since going full time and now loving my savings account too much to part with it!

I'm in the same position OP. No money to buy a car outright unless it's a £200 banger. For our last car DH and I took out a £5.5K loan (part was used to pay off a previous car's finance). We only bought that because of the scrapage scheme and it was the cheapest brand new car we could find). The loan will be paid up this year. The car was almost10 years old when we got it for £4K. Years later it's dying as you'd expect and I'm considering finance this time for a much younger car. Maybe a couple of years old if possible. DNiece had a BBQ last year and all her mates aged between 17 and 22 all arrived in their brand new Audis and BMWs etc. The entire street looked like a new car showroom and not a single car was owned outright. I guess it's the way of things these days.

Mine is through Motability. Recently swapped to an electric car. I have a public charge point and I also charge it free at the local shopping centre. No tax and no fuel costs at all.

I have a little new Hyundai on pcp. DH has a loan for a second hand Mazda cx 5.

They actually work for their money or they get them from their parents also kids should watch HoodedFigure92 in YouTube

Apart from my very first car that was bought with a bankloan twenty years ago straight out of university we've always used savings. We've had decent (3-4yo) secondhand cars, never bought new and drove them into the ground, last one we got £200 part-exchange value. No desire for a fancy new car and now we need a big car for the kids (drove tiny 3 door cars prekids) it would be out of reach despite being on a decent salary. Can think of so many other things we'd rather do with the money.

When my Mum died she left me a small bequest. A big chunk of which went on a little car. When I was on maternity leave, I was horribly isolated and poorly and, seeing this, she lent me hers - she lived about an hour and a half away so she basically gave her car up to me. I couldn't have afforded one without the bequest.

We own one car outright, DH used a loan for his. He does a lot of miles, has a bad back and to be honest it makes sense to have a decent, reliable car. It's nearly paid off and when it is I expect we'll part exchange my older one (13 this year and still going strong doing local mileage) I'll take his and he'll get a newer one. It's all relative to circumstances though!

Finance for me. I won’t ever buy a car more than 2 years old. DH paid cash from redundancy money

Dp got a decent payout on insurance for his work caused PTSD.

If it wasn't for that we would be severely struggling and were severely struggling before it came through. Not even financing a car would have been an option.

But the money IS NOT worth the loss of his mental health. Its been a long, hard, at times very dark 9 years.

Newmetoday

Finance for me. I won’t ever buy a car more than 2 years old.

Can I ask why you won't own a car more than two years old?

I only buy cheap runarounds, I could easily afford to buy a new car with cash. Do you drive long distances for work?
Interested in your reasoning.

Finance- not pcp. Buy a newish middle of the road car then once you have paid it off you can trade in and upgrade.

We have had expensive bmws which have cost a fortune and also total bangers. This is actually the cheapest way for us as you dont have to pay MoT for the first 3 years its has a warranty for 4 years and it's cheaper to run.

I bought a second hand Ford Ka after saving for it. I've never bought a car on finance and have no intentions of it. I like owning my cars and knowing I don't have to pay off a monthly loan on them.

It had 30,000 miles on the clock, no damage to any paintwork, new tyres and a fresh MOT. I paid 5k for it.

We have a 6 figure income and we've never spent more than £6k on a car and never had one on finance! Why on earth would we? We choose well used but well kept, low mileage functional vehicles and when we decide we need a different one (size or functionality) it gets sold to buy the next one. All have been reliable.

Never felt the need to get into debt to get a new car or god forbid a BMW or Audi!

speakout

Because it would cost more in the long run. I’d be panicking about failing the MOT or needing lots of work done. Yes, I know some cars last years and don’t need anything but that’s rare. My sister had a car she bought for 1k. Driving along the motorway and the clutch went on the outside lane. I don’t ever want that happening. I need to know my car is in good nick. That’s all

Personal loan to buy a nice 2nd hand car for a fantastic price as it was privare sale. We are both on good wages so its not an issue. In a few years time we can sell car for more than the remainder of the loan and put the excess towsrds another nice car.

Cash.
I buy a brand new cheap car every four years. While I'm driving that, I save for four years for my next one.
I don't have any interest in flashy or expensive cars.

Newmetoday

Ok, fair enough. I have owned 10 cars all older than 10 years old. Never paid more than £900. On average they last me around 4 years.
I have breakdown cover, a great mechanic. My cars are well maintained and serviced.
I don't drive long distances, and can't remember the last time I was on the motorway.
Interestingly my mechanic has the same attitude to cars- he drives a 13 yo clio. My repair and service bills are small because he is a personal friend.
In the past year my winter service cost me £160, including 2 new tyres, full safety check, oil change, new spark plugs, brake and clutch check, coolant change, new wiper blades. A new MOT and some simple repairs in August cost £70. RAC membership is free with Tesco Clubcard.

I don't pay out for hefty repairs, and my car costs very little to run.

Newmetoday

Just to say the most catasrophic breakdowns I have has were both with brand new cars.
A 3 month old Audi would shut off the ignition, happened while driving on the M1 at speed, causing the steering lock to activate.
I had a brand new volvo which suffered a brake cable failure.

Newer cars are not immune to breakdowns.