To think £15K is excessive to spend on a car?

[SunflowerOwl]

DH and I seem to disagree massively over what a 'reasonable' budget is for our new car.

Our requirements are that it will last us a good 10-15 years so not too old (I cant be doing with having to car shop again in a few years time!), is safe and has a big boot as we have a large pram and a dog.

Every car he sends me that he likes seems to be in the region of £15K whereas I was thinking we would need to spend half of that! He tells me I'm out of touch and that's just what decent cars cost these days.

Is this true? Is this really what the average family spend on a family car?!

You’re unlikely to get a car to do you 15 years if you spend 7.5k

You are massively out of touch sorry.

@icedancerlenny

You are massively out of touch sorry.

Bugger

I'm afraid that's about right. We spent about £13k on a nearly new car (less than 1 year old with very low mileage) from a dealer a couple of years ago. It's a Skoda Octavia and we've been very happy with it. Massive boot which is extremely handy for all the baby/child-related paraphernalia.

As a general rule you'll get a better deal if you buy nearly new as opposed to brand new. I'd be looking for something that's 6-24 months old.

Do consider Skoda as they're good value, excellent cars for the price.

I'm looking to buy a new (to me) car this year and if I buy one for cash, have budgeted 12-14k.
What size/make are you looking for?
Have you seen any you think are suitable for your preferred budget on autotrader etc?

If you want something that lasts 10-15 years then id say that was reasonable. Especially if it's going to be the family donkey.

Why don't you have a look on auto trader and see what you'd like and see if you can come up with cheaper?

My experience is that cars around that price range are competitively priced so you shouldn't get too ripped off.

Also don't be put off with buying new. Kias for instance have a great 7 year warrantee.

We spent £7k on a 3 year old Astra estate that lasted us 4 years and we were able to part ex against a car for our son (by then DH had a motability car). The motability car was a brand new, top of the range Insignia and would have cost £25k if we had had to pay for it. I think there is something to be said for a happy medium but I don't think cars are built to last 15 years really any more.

Sorry, but if you want a car to last you. I would suggest that £15k would be a minimum. Having been through the process a month ago you wont get much for 7.5k that will last and meet your requirements.

There won't be many larger nearly new cars significantly under £15,000. Not much of nearly new anything at £7500.
His budget sounds realistic.

It's the strategy that we use on cars, and keeping the car for a longer time allows plenty of time to save towards its replacement, plus there is normally some value to trade in at the end.

Bought my fiesta two years ago for £6k. Two years old, low mileage, perfect condition. A larger car would obviously be more than £6k, but yes, I think you can do much better than £15k for a newish second hand.

Really depends what's available though. Can't you approach it another way? Make a shortlist of what the car should have - size/power/bootspace/age/mileage, and what kind of brand/'quality' you are looking for - cheap and nasty/mid-range/fancypants. Then look for what fits that spec locally? Then you'll know.

Too many variables to be sure - depends so much on your more detailed requirements - size, emissions, economy, safety, reliability etc.

We haven't spent more than 5.5K for ten years or so (and bangers before that) but we aren't expecting 10-15 years out of ours.

If you have seen some 7K cars you're happy with that's fine.

You might be able to get a 5 year old small run around with relatively small mileage for £7.5k but nothing the size you're talking about especially if you want it last 15-20 years

The Scala wasn't available when I bought my Octavia, but it's what I'd get if I was buying now. Nearly new for £13-£15k apparently.
www.whatcar.com/skoda/scala/hatchback/used-review/n22548

10-15 years even

Mine and my DH cars are pretty old (13 years +) @VienneseWhirligig ....but I'm planning to get a new one soon as I feel the repair bills will become more than the cars are worth!

depends on the car. My car was about 3.5k and ive had it a few years already and its still going strong and its fine. Dp spent a lot more on his because he likes a nice car, but hes had his fair share of cheaper cars too.
I think 15k youd get something practically new and very nice

Meant to add, have a look for former motability cars from dealerships. They are usually fairly low mileage with one previous owner, and as all maintenance and upkeep is covered on the scheme, they will have regular service histories and been looked after. Our last three cars before the Insignia were ex-motability and were good prices.

I think your DH’s budget is realistic as well. If you can reduce the size of the boot and how long you want it to last, you can half the budget.

We are thinking along the lines of an estate car, perhaps a VW golf estate or Passat. I'm not keen on going down the SUV route as I'm not a fan of them but do need the space.

I bought my Volvo V40 with very low mileage (and top range trim) at almost 4 years old for 11.5k ... as it's a diesel Volvo I'm expecting it to last me 10 years. It's very very economical, lovely to drive with a great size boot and plenty of space inside.

Look at the brands that typically last well.
I would say you need to spend at least 11k for what you want.

We spent 15k on a 3 year old hybrid estate with the aim that it’ll last us 10-15 years. Or with the aim that we’ll run it until it dies.

We accepted spending a bit more to get a hybrid but for a large, well built family car 15k seems about right.

We bought from the dealership so probably could have found one cheaper if we bought privately.

For a small run around car though I’d probably only spend up to about 5k, my last little car was 2k and over 10 years old when we bought it (low mileage) and it did me for another 6 years!

I think you could probably meet somewhere in the middle. I paid 10.5k for an 18 month old estate ( or touring sports as they like to say). 3.5 years warranty left

It might depend on where you live and if you are willing to buy from a private seller (we weren't). We spent 4000 on a ten year old estate and we were looking hard for weeks. It's lasted 9 months so far and we've just had to spend 1000 on repairs. I know in my home town we could have got something for half that, but not from a reputable garage.

You can get cars cheaper of course but you lower your expectations.

People spend this sort of money yes, do they have to, no.

Usually it’s on finance as well.

Will go against everything being said here. 7.5k will get you a very decent car that will have no problem lasting 10 years, provided you know what you are doing when buying.

I spent 4k on a car in the past and got just over 12 years out of it. Another car cost 3.5k, done 9 years and only put tyres and brake pads on.