To ask, if you have a car, how much you pay per month?

[Threeflyingducks]

I've had three cars in my lifetime, each one so far has been budget/secondhand and paid for outright. For the first time I'm looking to buy a car and pay per month (PCP). My days of cheap runarounds are done, I need something that is reliable for high mileage/long journeys and can fit a gaggle of children/friends in when required, with good safety standards.

Having never had a monthly car payment going out I'm a bit daunted tbh, and would appreciate views! I know it's going to be relevant to respective incomes, I'm just curious what other people see as reasonable. I've heard that lots of the very fancy cars on the road are bought by people on very low mileage/leasing so their options are more affordable than they might appear. But then a work colleague proudly told me that his car (a top of the range SUV, to be fair) was 'only' £300 a month and I thought cripes thats more than my half of the mortgage!

I know how much I'll be paying will be skewed by needing to do a lot of miles (unavoidable currently due to rural-ish location and using the car for work) but I'm curious about what people consider a typical range. Right now everything seems like such an indulgent amount, but that's probably because it's not that long since my travel expense was a weekly bus pass!

www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-finance/personal-contract-purchase/#pcp

My new car arrives any day now (Viruses permitting!). New Zoe (electric). £210 a month on lease for 2 years, 12,000 miles a year. No road tax or fuel costs (£20pcm home charging).

Meant to say- I’ve had various leases and PCP’s. Mostly £300-£400 a month but had to go cheaper as will have nursery costs soon.

I’ve been fully electric for last 5 years though.

My 2020 SUV comes to about 484 pounds a month or 600 dollars a month. Its a quarter of my mortgage

I got a smallish estate car, 2 years old when I got it and I took it out for 4 years. It costs £90 a month. Don’t think it’s PCP I’ve got, at the end of the 4 years I fully own it. Got it from Arnold Clark. They have a calculator so you can put in what deposit you’ll put down and how long you want to be paying and they tell you the monthly figure.

Mines not pcp, car loan so i'll own the car at the end. Costs £180 a month

We pay £302 per month and only pay so much because we couldn't find the spec we dh wanted in an older model.

I gave him the choice of 3 cars and 2 colours, he chose the spec, that's how we compromised 😂

£240 a month, Ford Kuga brand new can change every 3 years.

Jesus these are huge amounts! All this money and on PCP you’ll never even own it!

Thanks all. I realised my post might have read that I need an SUV like my colleague, I don't, just that I was amazed that he was happy to be paying that (esp given the running costs for his car are high). Anything is going to feel fancy and spacious compared to any car I've had before (I might have to re-home my last cassettes now, I've held out long enough)

It does sound like I'm going to have to get my adult pants on and accept that life comes with another big bill! My mindset is still rent/mortgage and council tax first and everything else minimal as possible. I need to remember I'm fortunate enough to have the means to do it now, it wouldn't have been an option at all for us a few years ago.

I went for HP rather than PCP due to high mileage. I got a 4 year old SUV car with average mileage for £180 a month. It works for me. Could have for a newer one but couldn't afford it.

@WhereAreAllTheLooRolls Why would you want to own it? Cars are a liability.

My car provides a service (commuting), I don’t want responsibility for it. Hiring it until it is no longer a benefit is perfect for a lot of people. It’s just like taking the train for me-I pay to use the train, don’t want to own it.

@Threeflyingducks
You obviously aren’t horsey or a parent with childcare. In my world the order of costs is:

Horse
Mortgage
Car
Other bills

Although soon to be:
Nursery
Horse
Mortgage
Car
Other bills

I've had a look at some calculators and they tend to be coming out between £150-200 a month, though with final payments of less than 5k which is a lot but means it could be affordable if I really wanted to keep the car.

@wherearealltheloorolls it's really hard to get to the point of owning a modern car, they're so expensive! Unless you go for older cars but with my mileage thats not an option. Cars I'm looking at are at least 10k used (mainly 13k upwards) so whether it's a loan or hire purchase or PCP that's always going to be a lot of money whatever route you go down.

£310 a month for mine, but it’s not PCP I’ll own it at the end, which is another 18 months. I am considering PCP next time I want to change though.

I have a Kia Rio, I pay £159 per month, have had it for 4 years this May, so it will be getting handed back and I’ll start a new pcp with a new car. My monthly payment also included 3 services and the first MOT.

@megan2018 I have a few horsey friends and horse is always top of the list

I know I sound a little naïve, I was raised in a minimum wage household and was on a low income in my twenties hence not being used to budgeting for a car. Fortunately no childcare costs, I do provide childcare for nieces and nephews though as well as having to take passengers at work quite often hence needing a bit more space.

I have a nearly 20 year old Honda with 80k on the clock.

I’ve had it 7 years and it’s been a pleasure to drive and cheap to keep.

I put £160 per month in the car account which covers fuel, insurance, tax and servicing.

I only drive around 50 miles a week though.

We’ll need to replace soon and I’d rather own it myself. I don’t know why because I can absolutely understand the benefits of leasing.

Interested in this as I’m leaning towards pcp next time as I want a new and reliable car that I can change when it starts to get older or gives me bother. You often pay for 3 years for a car and then own it but for the next 2/3 years you’re thinking about saving for a new one anyhow.

Not to hijack the thread but I have been thinking about pcp for my next car. I get what happens the first time you do it a trade in/deposit them a fixed monthly fee but at the end of three years if you want to get a new car what happens then? Do you need a deposit of x amount like the first time or is it more each month? Or something else? No one seems to talk online about what happens at the end of the deal apart from obviously that you don't own the car and you have to pay excess mileage/any damages.

My Clio is £185 per month, 4 year agreement

One is £109 the other is £180

Both are 3 years old now

550 per month for the Audi
200pm for the Ford kuga

I've got a company car and the tax I pay on it equates to about £548 per month or over £6,500 a year off my tax allowance.

@itswinetime my understanding is that if at the end of the PCP deal your car is valued as being worth what the final payment amount is, that you're effectively 'equal' and you've no deposit - if you go to a new dealer they take on the car and pay off the finance and you start afresh. If your car is valued as higher then the final payment then the difference in price becomes a trade in value/deposit. That can happen if say, you end up doing less miles then you expect.
Most people though wouldnt have a deposit when they trade in but when you actually look at the deals many are with very low deposits so they're not really set up to need deposits. Trade in tends to be more relevant if you're buying another used car and buying outright. I've always saved up for a car and I was surprised when my friend told me she'd never had a deposit for a car.