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?!

I have bought a new kia piccanto it cost nearly that I buy on pcp and usually keep for sometime so I always have a car that is looked after I don't see what larger car that was low millage fo 7000

@AnotherEmma

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.

Definitely.... Skodas are great and will last many years.... worth looking at a 3-5 year old Octavia

I have a 2007 4 door VW Passat which is probably the sort of thing you're after. I googled what it would cost to buy now (second hand) and the first site I saw had quite a lot but all were 5 or 6 years old, and all between £8 and £10K.

You probably want nearer 2 years old - so you will need to spend more, sorry. Some brands will obviously be a bit cheaper but VW are reliable and probably representative price-wise for a middle range, sensible family car.

Modern cars will last 20 years or more if looked after. They rust less, and the more luxury the better, as they are built with nicer features and trim.
The secret is researching the exact model you want and checking its reliability record and resale desireability. I prefer a large manual car with petrol engine and all the important toys: a/c, electric windows , cruise control, power steering, hatchback, good upholstery, alloys. I have had enough of 'luxury ' brands, all of which can have expensive flaws. Do not buy a crash category car (type s,n,c etc.)
My current drive is a 2008 mk4 Mondeo Ghia which is the best and most complete car I have ever owned. It rarely has an issue, has high mileage and cost under £2K 6 years ago. That is a personal choice because I love the look of them and it also has a heated windscreen, which most cars do not, is capacious and very comfy.
I am content to pay the high car tax for the inherent simplicity of petrol (no turbo) and I could probably get within a few hundred quid of the price I paid if I was stupid enough to sell it. Fully comp insurance is about £180 p/a. All basic servicing I do myself. (I also run 2 other personal cars, for the fun of it).
Do your research, buy a nice one and don't worry about impressing the neighbours. But do spend £15k if you have money to burn on looking good at the school gates.

I HATED the Golf estate we had. Mind blowingly expensive to fix. I would never have another one.

A family member bought a car 6 years ago for £7600. It's lasted well and is give it another 4 years or even more. Big boot and very spacious. It depends I guess on how well you maintain it. There's going to be costs every year regardless of what make or model.

If you can service/ fix your car properly yourself I think it’s a totally different situation to if you can’t. As cars get older the servicing / replacement parts/ routine maintenance increase and the labour costs at the garage are the really expensive part (not to mention the inconvenience). If you have a mechanic in the family it would make a lot more sense to buy older!

Booked to test drive a Peugeot 308 estate tonight which looked lovely and a bit cheaper than others, just realised the bastard thing has a sunroof which means we won't be able to get the dog guard/boot divider with it. Facepalm. I hate this!

How you getting on @SunflowerOwl? I’m in the same boat, two DC, one dog. I don’t need a big car for day to day stuff, I hardly use a car in the week other than the weekly shop. But it needs to be good for long journeys, fit 2 car seats comfortably and hopefully last a decade at least to give me time to save for the next one.

I have a budget of £10k which I thought was loads but I’m so fucking beyond confused and I don’t know what to buy!!!

Have a V50 now which will become DH’s car and I’m not a massive fan, it’s not wide enough, DH spreads onto my side, I knock his knee changing gear. Also just feels like it needs an extra gear, it revs up in the 3s when doing 70 in 5 … in any case it’s kind of putting me off Volvos!

Someone just tell me what to sodding buy 😭

I recently had to purchase a new car, due to our company car benefit being removed.

I actually did want an SUV (been used to a BMW 1 Series and hated how low to the ground it was!). I got a 4.5 year old Nissan Quashqai N-Connecta (which is the one just below the top spec Tekna). That was £13k (having to pay on finance however so I have some interest on top to pay). Only had 11k miles on it.

It’s a lovely car to drive, great boot space, has cameras all around the outside of the car to assist with parking etc, so great from a safety aspect.

I think half the amount you’re talking would get you a smaller car, but a family sized car would up the budget. That’s not saying that with a lot of shopping around, you couldn’t find a bargain somewhere. But I think the prices your DH is sending is fairly standard for the kind of car you want.