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?!

@SootBusters

You need to buy something safe and reliable and £15k would buy you a Volvo XC60 D4 on an 18 plate with low miles, with handy things like power opening tailgate handy for the the pram and large dog whilst your hands are full. The safest family car on the market and 18k or 2 year service intervals excellent fuel economy. You'll realise why your husband was being wise...and don't buy a Skoda, unless your husband wears socks with Sandals, and neither of you have a personality. Good cars but only for very bland people. Buy a Volvo, at least test drive and tell me why I am wrong!?

Really?

I've been looking at 18 plate xc40s and can't get anything less than 18k. I thought xc60s would be more expensive.

I was going to say with a budget of £10-12k you should get something decent.

Personally I would go for newer than 5 years and pay a little bit more than £9k but it does depend what is put there when you are looking!

@MrsKoala it's bonkers. Some of them are over 100k

"don't buy a Skoda, unless your husband wears socks with Sandals, and neither of you have a personality. Good cars but only for very bland people."

🤣

It's ridiculous that people think like this - as if your car reflects your personality I guess it's lucky for us Skoda drivers since it keeps the price down and we can save our money... to spend on socks and sandals or something

@AnotherEmma

Totally agree! We’ve had four and they are brilliant cars. Very very cheap to run. One had a run in with two lorries at 70mph and hit the crash barrier three time. Car a write off- but DH wakes away without even a bruise. Bought a replacement the next day - Skoda all the way now.

Walked away!

Bloody hell, sounds terrifying. Glad your DH was fine!

(Even if he was wearing socks and sandals )

🤣🤣

don't buy a Skoda, unless your husband wears socks with Sandals, and neither of you have a personality

The 1980s called, they want their opinions back. My last Skoda looked like this. Believe me, it was anything but bland and lacking in personality.

In 15 years time normal petrol cars will probably be nearly obsolete. YABU to think you'll get anything on your budget. My city are already bringing in hefty emissions charges

My next car will be a skoda, my friend bought a lovely second hand one for 7k a few years ago.

A car is to get me from A to B, can think of far more fun things to spend my hard earned cash on. I paid 9k for my current car in 2013 and it's lasted so far with no major issues (touch wood!). Will drive it til it dies and then buy a skoda, and maybe some socks and sandals .

@cocoloco987 wow I came to say the same thing!
As the demand for fossil fuel cars is slowly dropping and the demand for electric vehicles is slowly increasing (keeping in mind from 2030 you will only be able to buy an electric car) the petrol stations are going to start disappearing to be replaced by charging points to meet the demand of EVs. So there will be less and less petrol stations.

The resale price of your petrol car is going to be worthless as the demand soars for EVs.
So please don’t expect a good resale price when you want to get rid of your fossil fuel car the nearer we get to 2030.
It’s like trying to sell a black and white tv to a market that wants a flat HD screen in colour. It will be dead weight junk.

We've been looking for a while on a similar criteria. I'd say around £11k would get you a 12-18month old skoda octavia, a Peugeot 308 or a hyundai i30. Slightly higher for a Honda jazz (definatley a keeper) or slightly less if you come down in size e.g skoda Leon.

@cocoloco987 and @VaccineSticker in reality though a 15 year old is not going to be worth much more than its scrap value anyway...
We've looked at electric and hybrids and for the budget I just don't think they are quite there yet. Both in terms of range and availability/price - sadly!

@SunflowerOwl

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 know everyone is different but VW Golf estate most horrible car i have had the displeasure to drive. You would be better getting a Skoda than overrated VW.

We spent 15K and it was the cheapest decent car we could get for a family of six. Not new.

I got a 3 year old bmw 5 series at just over £20k. 3 liter Diesel engine, should last me 15 years I hope!!

I hope you’re putting together a war chest. You might get it to last another 15 years but it won’t be a cheap exercise. Should’ve bought a Lexus GS.

@cocoloco987 and @VaccineSticker in reality though a 15 year old is not going to be worth much more than its scrap value anyway...

I agree I'm not expecting it to be worth anything- it will actively cost a fortune to drive it.

We spent £15k on a 3 year old VW Golf recently, it's in fab shape and a really reliable car. 1 previous owner. Hoping it'll do us 7+ years, will get it serviced etc. When looking we just couldn't find what ticked all the boxes for much less.

I know everyone is different but VW Golf estate most horrible car i have had the displeasure to drive.

The Golf doesn’t even make it into the top 50 of What Car’s most reliable cars up to 8 years old. Says it all really. Thank fuck everything isn’t as reliable as a Volkswagen!

We have a car that was 2010. Bought it in 2014 for £4k. It's still working fine. Has a large boot. Has taken is on numerous trips to Cornwall, Europe.

It's a Skoda.

Not read all the posts, but I found the Honest John website really helpful when buying a car. Spent £6k three years ago on a car which will easily do 10 years. (Honda FRV, not made anymore, looks like regular car but seats 6) Has only needed brake pads and tyres, chain driven so you don't need to worry about the belt. It does require a lot of research and shopping around. 15k will be quicker and easier, but you still to do your research so you don't end up with a nail!

The car I want is about 50,000 lol