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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how much you pay monthly for your car?

123 replies

Mysteriousgirl2 · 14/12/2023 19:20

I’ve got an EV (basic, not flashy)

I pay £325 a month.

Is that a lot?

I’m on a PCP deal, with a payment at the end (£9000)

I can, and probably will hand it back in April and do have savings (£12,000) ish

Should I buy something outright?

One consideration is that we do have solar so the electricity is out of the sky (mostly - less so in Winter)

I do about 120 miles/ week

Please could anyone tell me what they pay a month and whether they enjoy their car. I would like to save money.

OP posts:
nameychangio675 · 14/12/2023 19:24

That sounds like a lot to me but I’ve never ever done finance. I bought my Mazda in 2015 for £2k and sold it for £750 in 2020 when moved overseas.

The cheapest way to own a car is buying it second hand in cash. Depends how much you want to keep up with the Joneses though - I know people on not much above minimum wage with ridiculously flash cars.

Beinghonestforonce · 14/12/2023 19:26

Think this is a personal thing. I pay £242/mo for mine via a car loan. I like the car, it's served me well i couldnt live without it. I wouldnt really feel like paying more than £300/mo for my car but im not that bothered about cars. DP is a petrolhead and really cares what he drives so willing to spend more than me.

TerfTalking · 14/12/2023 19:26

Nothing. Never had a PCP, in my younger years I had a bank loan and when it was paid off I traded the paid for car in for another, slightly better car, and got a new loan. Always had some “equity” that way to put into the next one. None of that balloon payment rubbish.

Eventually (when I reached probably 45) I bought my first car cash. I keep them 6 years and then buy another cash. Current car is a Mini Countryman ex showroom, I started with a rusty Fiat Panda in the 80s.

Maray1967 · 14/12/2023 19:26

Bought an £8k 3 year old fiesta on a bank loan at £135 per month but paid the balance off after 2 years. I will never borrow money for a car ever again. I’m with Dave Ramsey - a car is depreciating asset and folks are mad to borrow on them. If I were you I’d have spent about £9-10 k on a decent second hand car, cash down.

Blanketpolicy · 14/12/2023 19:27

Nearly new (1k on clock) MG4 EV. Love driving it.

Paid £11k from savings, borrowed £15k on interest free loan (Energy Savings Trust in Scotland) so £250/month for 5 years.

So will own out right in 5 years, but dont know what it will be worth by then!

Merryoldgoat · 14/12/2023 19:28

I bought my car outright for £6k a few years back. It’s a 08 Honda CRV and it’s great.

I put £250 a month into an account which pays for servicing, MOT, Fuel and insurance which a bit left over.

I’m entirely unconcerned about having a ‘nice’ car and just need one that’s reliable.

Original poster
Mysteriousgirl2 · 14/12/2023 19:32

Great advice here.

Flashy isn’t important to me at all.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mysteriousgirl2 · 14/12/2023 19:37

nameychangio675 · 14/12/2023 19:24

That sounds like a lot to me but I’ve never ever done finance. I bought my Mazda in 2015 for £2k and sold it for £750 in 2020 when moved overseas.

The cheapest way to own a car is buying it second hand in cash. Depends how much you want to keep up with the Joneses though - I know people on not much above minimum wage with ridiculously flash cars.

Agreed- I really don’t want to keep up the Joneses. I would prefer to buy a car outright (although absolutely no idea what to get!!) and funnel any extra money into my pension.

But I am not changing yet as I’ve sort of got used to electric (and we’ve invested a fair bit into solar now, but it would still keep general household running costs down I guess so not entirely wasted)

Could I ask how much you pay monthly on fuel please? I need to work out how much more that would be if I go back to ICE.

OP posts:
WillowCraft · 14/12/2023 19:38

Bought my VW for 1800 5 years ago. Plan to keep it at least another 5 years. Costs about 350 a year in maintenance including MOT and service and the repairs or new tyres that have been needed each year. Fuel for 120 miles a week would be about £780 a year. 325 a month is a huge amount. Does that include everything or do you still pay services etc?

BarbaraofSeville · 14/12/2023 19:38

Whether or not its sensible to buy the car is whether its worth the balloon payment. Some cars have held or even increased their value really well over the past few years, so you might have a contract to buy a £12k car for £9k for example, so could be worth considering.

Or if it's worth £9k or less, it might not be worth buying, because you'll be overpaying.

What age and condition is the car? Do you actually like it? How much would a small petrol car of a similar age and condition cost?

But 120 miles a week isn't very much so it will likely take many years for the extra cost of electric to be worth it.

But if you decide not to buy it, you should be able to get a decent second hand small car for say £9-10k, so you'll still have some money leftover for running costs and any repairs.

I currently own a small petrol car that I bought a couple of years ago. It's not really the kind that you 'enjoy', it's just transport. I had a Mini before that and I suppose you could say I enjoyed that but unfortunately it was a failed attempt at bangernomics and it went to the great scrapyard in the sky.

ChristmasSteps295 · 14/12/2023 19:39

I own mine outright. I wouldn't even consider another option. Insurance, fuel, maintenance, tax etc is enough as it is.

BarbaraofSeville · 14/12/2023 19:41

Mine costs about 13 p a mile for petrol, which would be about £15 a week in petrol for your 120 miles.

Original poster
Mysteriousgirl2 · 14/12/2023 19:43

WillowCraft · 14/12/2023 19:38

Bought my VW for 1800 5 years ago. Plan to keep it at least another 5 years. Costs about 350 a year in maintenance including MOT and service and the repairs or new tyres that have been needed each year. Fuel for 120 miles a week would be about £780 a year. 325 a month is a huge amount. Does that include everything or do you still pay services etc?

It doesn’t include everything, although I do obviously save on fuel.

Servicing is about £400 a year and it goes through tyres quite quickly, so they cost me an additional £350 a year.

Insurance is now £780 a year as EV insurance has suddenly shot up.

Zero road tax at the moment, but I know it’s coming soon.

OP posts:
WillowCraft · 14/12/2023 19:45

Mines a 1.4 litre diesel, does 600 miles on a tank. Costs about £75-80 to fill currently. (Does depend on driving style as my partner seems to get through about 25% more fuel than me).
It's quite nice to drive, it has plenty of oomph for steep hills although I'm a fairly economical driver so wouldn't be racing off at the lights etc, it's handy occasionally to have the option.
VW estate. Always had older estates and this is one of the nicer ones.

Original poster
Mysteriousgirl2 · 14/12/2023 19:47

BarbaraofSeville · 14/12/2023 19:38

Whether or not its sensible to buy the car is whether its worth the balloon payment. Some cars have held or even increased their value really well over the past few years, so you might have a contract to buy a £12k car for £9k for example, so could be worth considering.

Or if it's worth £9k or less, it might not be worth buying, because you'll be overpaying.

What age and condition is the car? Do you actually like it? How much would a small petrol car of a similar age and condition cost?

But 120 miles a week isn't very much so it will likely take many years for the extra cost of electric to be worth it.

But if you decide not to buy it, you should be able to get a decent second hand small car for say £9-10k, so you'll still have some money leftover for running costs and any repairs.

I currently own a small petrol car that I bought a couple of years ago. It's not really the kind that you 'enjoy', it's just transport. I had a Mini before that and I suppose you could say I enjoyed that but unfortunately it was a failed attempt at bangernomics and it went to the great scrapyard in the sky.

It’s not worth buying at 9K in another 2 years. It’s already worth less than that, so I will probably be handing it back. Am slightly over the mileage though so may have to take a small hit on that (I think £400 or so)

It’s a 2019 car and I have grown to like it. I’d probably say it’s not a small car, though, more medium size as I do have 3 children, so I would be looking at a medium sized car to replace it. But I don’t need flashy. Maybe a Skoda Octavia sort of thing.

OP posts:
LindorDoubleChoc · 14/12/2023 19:48

£0 for the car, we own it outright. We bought a 2011 petrol Toyota Avensis when it was a few years old for £10,000 ish and it's still going.

There's no way on this earth we could afford £350 per month just to own a car.

WillowCraft · 14/12/2023 19:49

Mysteriousgirl2 · 14/12/2023 19:43

It doesn’t include everything, although I do obviously save on fuel.

Servicing is about £400 a year and it goes through tyres quite quickly, so they cost me an additional £350 a year.

Insurance is now £780 a year as EV insurance has suddenly shot up.

Zero road tax at the moment, but I know it’s coming soon.

Show quote history

Eek that is a lot. My recent service was £150. It will need the cambelt next year so a few hundred more for that but that's not too often. Tyres I average 1 new one a year, say £90 each. Insurance was 350 which was a 30% increase this year. Tax is only £20.

Blarn · 14/12/2023 19:50

I pay £220 a month for a five year old Skoda, I think that is over five years and I will own it at the end. I have had it nearly a year. I couldn't afford to buy one outright so this works for me. It is slightly more than I wanted to spend but is a great little car and I plan to run it for as many years as I can.

Original poster
Mysteriousgirl2 · 14/12/2023 19:52

BarbaraofSeville · 14/12/2023 19:41

Mine costs about 13 p a mile for petrol, which would be about £15 a week in petrol for your 120 miles.

Thank you, that’s actually really helpful.

Just shows I stand to save a lot of money if I switch back to a cheaper, bought outright ICE vehicle, despite my investment in solar.

OP posts:
Blarn · 14/12/2023 19:52

My insurance is £800 but I have only been driving a year! I really, really hope that drops in a couple of months when I come to renew it, surely it can't go higher!

Original poster
Mysteriousgirl2 · 14/12/2023 19:53

I’m sure it will @Blarn Hang in there!

OP posts:
cristokitty · 14/12/2023 19:53

I got a Skoda citigo on PCP in 2018. It was the cheapest new car I could find. I paid £150 per month for 4 years, then a balloon payment of £3,200. When I looked at it's value at the end of the PCP it was £6,745 according to we buy any car. I thought it was worth keeping. Then the price of secondhand cars went mental. I sold it last month for £7,885. I'm just kicking myself that I didn't sell it in September when I first thought about it. WBAC were offering £9,130 for it in September (that's also where I got the valuation at the end of the PCP).

TheCompactPussycat · 14/12/2023 19:54

Nothing.

I bought my first (second-hand) car with a bank loan. Once that was paid off, I kept my car and simply saved the same amount each month as I had been paying on my loan. When that car finally needed replacing, I'd saved enough to buy the next (second-hand) one outright. I've carried on like that ever since.

terraced · 14/12/2023 19:59

Nothing now as it's paid off but it was £300 a month. Finished paying for it around 2 years ago and will now run it to the ground. We do around 25,000 - 30,000 miles a year so it gets well used! Not bothered about a new or flashy car. Just want one that works.

Kazzyhoward · 14/12/2023 20:01

I've never had a loan, HP nor lease for a car. Always buy outright. Saved up from my wages from first job and bought first car (Austin Allegro!! for £750 in the mid 80s). Continued saving and upgraded 2/3 years later to a car costing £3.5k then again 2/3 years later to one costing £8k and bought new outright ever since.

It was good in the early days to have "equity" in a car so that you've something with value to part exchange against the next one, along with savings to buy outright again. Since those early days of second hand cars, We've had 4 brand new cars and keep them until they drop - first "died" at 195k miles, the next 3 were lower mileage as I gave up my "big commute" job - they've all easily lasted 10-15 years.

The two we have at the moment were both bought new, one is 15 years old, the other is 10 years old, both still going strong and we expect them to last another few years yet. Costing us nothing except annual service, MOT and the occasional "repair/replacement" such as tyres, brake pads, battery, spark plugs, etc which is far cheaper than paying £200-£300 per month for a car!

The average age of cars on the road these days is 13 years, and unless a car is hammered, written off in an accident, or badly driven, life expectation of 20 years isn't unrealistic.

Leasing etc is a mug's game - it's only the cheapest way to have a new car if you're always wanting to keep up with the Jones' by having a new/nearly new car all the time. It's far cheaper to "own" your own car by buying outright or getting cheap loan/HP and keeping it for longer rather than unnecessarily changing it every three years!