to ask how you afford your posh car?

[SteveHarringtonsChestHair]

My DS (22) is becoming increasingly frustrated by the disparity between the life he aspires to and the one he thinks is possible!

As a car enthusiast on a good wage, he is constantly surprised by the number of brand new premium brand cars (BMW, Mercedes, Volvo etc) that he sees on the roads, which he feels he has no hope of ever affording.

He’s asked my to ask you all, if you drive a premium brand car, paying presumably £400-500 a month to buy or lease, what type of job do you and (if it’s not too rude to ask, what sort of salary are you on?) And if your spouse also drives a similar car, what do they do/earn?!

I know there are lots of factors here including whether you’re paying a bit mortgage, is it a company car etc? But just a snapshot of who is driving these expensive new cars might help him put it all in perspective. TIA

btw I earn NMW and drive a 10 year old car so I’m no help here!

My hybrid BMW X3 is a company car. It is expensive if you consider I couldnt take the cash allowance, but relatively cheap in BIK because it's hybrid. I would never spend that kind of money on a new or nearly new car, but now I have it as a benefit I do love it. It's a great car to drive.

I don't really understand these threads... they seem pointless exercises in class envy and finger pointing without any particular goal except to make the OP feel worse about herself with a side order of stealth boasting from some people.

OP: How can you afford your house/car/clothes
MN: Because I have a high salary/big inheritance/I'm mortgaged up to the hilt
OP: Oh. I could have figured that out for myself really but I just wanted to make people feel guilty about having so much money and whinge that I don't have it.
MN: Either go out and earn the money or stop whinging
OP: It's so unfair...
MN: Stop moaning, you shouldn't have had kids

etc ad nauseam.

Like the "What do you spend on heating per month" type threads.

Can't the OP just imagine a range of numbers between £0 and £2,000?

What does it matter what someone else's bill is when the OP lives a different life in a different house.

DP has a still not MOT'd BMW 6 Series. I know it costs him around £330 a month and he purchased just before the prices went silly.

But he earns over £70k and also has a car allowance, and visits customer sites throughout the UK. He drives a lot and long distances. Software tech and sales type role.

Also worth adding - a lot of young people driving these cars are having them paid for by the bank of Mum and Dad. Saw that a lot down South around Ascot way for example.

Other people will be considerably older than your son. My DH is 37.

A 22 year old who is earning well above the national average salary already, and is getting “increasingly frustrated” because he can’t afford a flashy car due to the fact that he’s saving £1k/month needs a kick up the arse and a reminder of how lucky he is.

I’d tell him to stop moping, and stop being so utterly ridiculous. He could afford any of the cars that he’s talking about it he saved at a slower rate.

The balance of savings/house deposit and cars is totally up to him. We have a comfortable life, and I’m still thoroughly irritated by your son’s attitude, and the fact that you’re encouraging it. Can’t imagine how some people who are struggling to eat/warm their homes would take this post.

Ours is a 2022 Motobility car,although we do have to sacrifice hubby's PIP payment for it

Very true 😂

And yes, the idea that a 22 year old is "becoming disillusioned" because he can't afford a Porsche/Audi yet is ludicrous. It just feeds the stereotype that young people are entitled and not prepared to work for/wait for things, expecting it all immediately. (I know this stereotype isn't true, but the OP is fuelling it).

At 22, anyone sensible will be driving a cheap banger, if they have a car at all. Spending £££ on a lease because you're living at home and have disposable income is not very bright when that money could be put towards a house deposit.

Yes majority are in the top of the range Range Rovers, Porsches and Mercedes which are just fortunes imho!!

Give the lad a break. I empathize with his thoughts. Doesn’t mean he isn’t being entitled or spoilt. I remember being 22 and wondering how people afforded things which I thought were normal. It’s part of growing up. I think it’s great he has asked the question rather than just going out there and taking on debt.

My mate is wealthy bit also has an illness so he gets disability beenfit. He does jot need the benefit so he somply banks it for a few years . Then he gets a new car for his wife . ( he is not allowed to drive )
no loan .

Thank you for your considered stance. He knows he’s fortunate, but he sees all around him young people his age who are buying houses and fancy cars etc and he’s saving hard to be able to get on the housing ladder, but he can’t keep up with the rising cost of housing and living etc and was just interested to know.

Thank you to those who have explained about salary sacrifice and car allowances for electric cars etc as that’s not something I have any experience of.

So it’s not just us moaning that we don’t earn enough, it’s both of us now realising that there are many different ways to pay for a new car and that many people wouldn’t have one if they didn’t have it included as part of their job.

DS knows he’s incredibly fortunate to be where he is, but tbh if someone is struggling financially then they probably should read a MN thread about posh cars!

He’s generally a very sensible and frugal young man and won’t be rushing out to sign a PCP on a brand new BMW, he’s just wondering how far he has adjust his aspirations (not expectations or entitlement) I guess!

*shouldn’t read!

DH doesn't have to spend it on a car but with a growing family we spent 3/4 of it on one

I'm another one with a DH who is a petrol head and loves cars. He is self employed and works in IT and bought himself a Mercedes but a very new second hand one at the fraction of what it would cost new. He paid in cash. If you really look, most top of the range cars are really driven by older people.

DH has Tesla model 3 through company car scheme, which we share. We're 38. At 22, we had a second hand ford Ford fiesta!

Neither of us are interested in cars other than a not too old fairly safe bog standard one with a working heater/ air con. We invest in appreciating assets and unless it's a classic or something special, most cars aren't.
Years ago I got a brand new BMW that was a perk of my job and it definitely wasn't to my taste. I'm a defender/ jeep kinda girl.

At 22 I was given a hand-me-down car which I drove for a couple of years before handing it on to my younger sister. I bought my first new car at 24, a Ford Fiesta, after that always bought second hand when I could afford to buy outright. Kept most cars for 5 years minimum.
The most fancy car I’ve ever bought is my current one Jaguar Fpace, which was a semi retirement present when I sold my business. As usual it was second hand but still cost about 4 times more than any other car I’ve bought.
The problem with premium brand cars is that everything about them costs more, repairs, tyres, insurance the list goes on.
Encourage your son to set his sights a little lower. If he drives a cheap car now and puts away money he potentially saves, in a few years he will have a decent deposit for a premium car and will have built up a decent no claims bonus.
They are a generation who want everything now and maybe learning to manage their expectations financially is a good thing.
Having said that my son drives an almost new Polo, but as a new driver newer cars are much cheaper to insure for teenage drivers since they have more safety features. It’s also an automatic. Apparently because few 17yr old boys drive auto Polos very few have accidents so they are cheaper to insure. The most expensive cars to insure for teenagers and young adults are Ford fiestas because so many drive them.

"The problem with premium brand cars is that everything about them costs more, repairs, tyres, insurance the list goes on."

Just wait till they fancy a premium watch and find out a service is £1k!

@SteveHarringtonsChestHair - is there a chance he could turn into a bit of a petrolhead? There's a lot of charm in older cars that are immaculately looked after. I'm not talking about vintage cars - I mean stuff like the old MGs and BMWs that can be had for under £1500 but are mechanically solid and have plenty of life left in them when maintained well (and are also safe and great fun to drive).

The beauty of such cars is that you can modify them as much as you want with more modern conveniences with very little effort or fear of the consequences of screwing it up, and it can be really rewarding. Insurance is usually pretty low on them too.

For what it's worth, I've got a 2001 MG ZS that costs very little to run (fuel economy isn't great, but it makes up for it by needing almost no maintenance beyond the odd bit of rust repair), and I bought it for just £650 needing a new clutch. I've probably put about £1500 into it in total, which is about five months' payments on my wife's Peugeot 308. The 308 was consigned to the scrapheap before it was even paid off, because of an electrical issue which was so pervasive that it made the car a write-off, and yet the ol' faithful MG keeps on going.

Does he know anyone who would celebrate Albanian independence day?
They all seem to have fancy cars -

DH and I are in our early 40s and have only ever driven sensible used cars purchased outright, but our trusty diesel is going to need to be replaced soon, so we have just ordered our first new car. We’re getting an electric 7 seater, and the price is far more than we ever would have dreamed of spending on a car in our 20s or 30s. We are not car people, but we wanted to buy electric for a number of reasons. They are all expensive, annoyingly.

We do get a really big discount through DH’s work, and buying electric means more money off of the price, so in practice we are paying a lot less than the official price. We are putting down a hefty deposit, and the rest we are financing over a short period on a very low interest rate. The price includes 5 years of warranty, maintenance and services.

We would not have taken on a car loan without being in our current financial position. DH is a high earner, we own our house, we have an emergency fund in place, we have a healthy savings rate, and we will still have a fair bit of disposable income even with the payments. We waited to buy until a raise was on the horizon—essentially the raise will cover the payments, so we won’t experience much material difference in terms of our day to day expenditure.

My ds is 23. Drives Audi coupe limited addition. Started paying for it through screw fix job at uni. However I had my first PCP four years ago. £410 per month. I would not do that again. We will have that car for 9 years and will then pay cash for our retirement car, electric mini countryman. I am C-suite, son economist.
I have owned Mercs, BMW, Jaguar, Land rover. I love my current mini more!

What type of job does he have?

Did he go to uni and if so, what did he study?