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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU in thinking that owning a car is very expensive?

116 replies

Plmoknijb123 · 03/02/2021 21:40

I’m not from the UK and am shocked at the cost of buying and owning a car here! AIBU in thinking car ownership in the UK is very expensive? Or am I missing something? And by expensive I mean it will cut into a family budget considerably.

Of course I know everything is relative, but I’m in London and from what I’ve researched it seems car ownership is very much a luxury.

OP posts:

TheFlis12345 · 06/02/2021 08:19

We live in London and have a car, and really don’t find it that expensive. Luckily car itself is paid off but tax is about £220 a year, insurance £300, parking £120. We live just outside the congestion zone so rarely pay that. It only gets pricey if the car regularly needs work done. Ours is 14 years old and it’s last MOT was £60.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 06/02/2021 08:22

Whether it's a expensive or not depends entirely on what car you have and how you choose to run it. My car cost 5k and I paid outright for it, so no monthly payments. Due to the model I don't pay any car tax, so that's another saving.

Insurance is £60 per month and my fuel costs are only £30 or so as I don't actually drive all that much.

But I live somewhere with no bus service and very poor train service and I need a car for my job (dog walker) so I can get between clients. It's a necessity to me and I don't begrudge paying £90 a month for the privilege.

I also put £50 per month into savings to cover MOT, service and repairs.

winewolfhowls · 06/02/2021 09:20

Its definitely paying for the freedom, if you have small kids and one has a poo explosion or throws up all over you, or you God forbid get a phone call that a loved one is rushed into hospital, you can just go. Although if I lived in a city I can see that the public transport is probably cheaper and more reliable than our one a hour bus to town that costs a fiver,so i don't think I would have a car in that situation, indeed the parking would stress me out!

Cost wise, public transport is too expensive here for regular days out whereas you get in the car, thirty minutes drive and you're in totally different scenery for the day, cheap walks and picnics.

Oh, and camping!

winewolfhowls · 06/02/2021 09:27

To be fair to the 2k car comment, im just swapping my car for a slightly newer one and mine is about ten years old and will be sold on by the dealer for about that. Its got 50k miles on it, new battery and tyres and has been regularly serviced, plus its a Honda. So i can see if looked after it could easily last many years more.

MadameBlobby · 06/02/2021 09:52

I think a lot just depends on the priority you attach to a car and what you need it for. My last car was a tiny wee runaround and it was OK but I have a new job now with much more driving so I’ve bought something more suited for those journeys. It was about £11k as a £2k runaround wasn’t going to cut the mustard. However it’s a diesel which is pretty cheap to run and car tax is £25 a year. If it wasn’t for the job I’d have stuck with my cheap runaround til it was done. But I know people who spend £££ on car lease payments which they pay constantly as they replace the car every 3 years

Luke423 · 06/02/2021 10:03

Again, a 2k car with 10 years of life and 50k on the clock is the exception not the rule. Such cars do exist but most cars of that bracket will have had a hard life, especially in the country. The engine will usually be sound but the suspension will probably need constant repair. Electrics are another money pit, especially for certain manufacturers.

RaspberryCoulis · 06/02/2021 10:06

All depends, doesn't it? If you're living in a crime-ridden part of town and buying a super expensive car which drinks fuel than of course it's going to be more expensive/service/tax/insure than buying a smaller, more economical car, living in a leafy suburb and parking your car in a locked garage each night.

It's a ridiculous statement that owning a car is "expensive" and even more ridiculous to say that owning a car in the UK as a homogenous mass is more expensive than in Europe as a homogenous mass. Can't imagine that parking in Paris is particularly cheap, for example.

Whatapalavaa · 06/02/2021 13:01

Not at all. I own my car outright but it was less thank 6k. £30 per year tax. £300ish per year insurance which I save monthly for. £50ish MOT. £45ish per month petrol. I've had the odd puncture but nothing major really. I don't really car about driving a flash car though so just have a standard hatchback. If I was bothered about having a top of the range car I'd have to fork out for finance.

Trinacham · 06/02/2021 13:22

Not for me. I am lucky though, in that DH and I share a car, as we are colleagues too. We bought it new together and split all costs. I wouldn't be so keen to think of the costs if we both had a car each and commuted separately!

LadyMacbethWasMisunderstood · 06/02/2021 13:25

Not for us. DH and I have a car each. Running them are the least of our financial worries / expenses!

MsPeachh · 06/02/2021 13:48

YANBU, I have a tiny 1L engine car and I still don’t know how other people stomach the costs of running anything bigger than that!

crosstalk · 06/02/2021 17:24

OP are you coming back? I suspect US. Europe tends to have same problem as UK.

There are car clubs in major cities. Otherwise the message is to use the tube/buses/walk. It's been much more difficult with Covid.

In some rural areas there's not much option - miss a bus and you can wait for hours for the next. So not a great idea if you have job/school timetable. The rural roads aren't a priority for repair or salting/clearing in bad weather.

Zoomies06 · 06/02/2021 17:59

We live rurally so if you want to get about you pass your driving test and get a car. Public transport is limited and stops in the evening. As crosstalk said we are not a priority for repairs some of the potholes here regularly destroy tyres. That becomes very expensive when you have alloys .

BringPizza · 06/02/2021 18:17

As has been said, it depends what you buy. Don't spend what you haven't got, if you're in London then use public transport if you can't afford a car.

MaskingForIt · 06/02/2021 18:25

@nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut

Yeah you're never rich with a car. £240 to get it through MOT this month. Failed on tyres of all things. Its really the maintenance that gets you and mines pretty reliable tbh. I still need to get it serviced. Fml.

Perfectly reasonable thing for it to fail on, and you’d have to be a negligent driver to have let the tyres get that bad. You’re lucky the police didn’t stop you, you get 3 points on your licence per illegal tyre.

haggistramp · 06/02/2021 18:30

I'd say its not free or particularly cheap, but cheaper than the alternative being public transport. Plus if I put a price on the freedom I'd like by not having a car or the extra time it would take me if I were to walk/use public transport, then actually owning a car is a small price to pay in comparison.

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