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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:
Haveyouseenthemuffinman · 14/12/2023 20:03

Last car cost about £11k 8 years ago, bought outright, but it’s now about 12 years old and MOTs are starting to cost money.

plan is to spend £20k is on a similar replacement car (that is a second hand people carrier). But DH’s car needs replacing too and we’re thinking of a 3 year lease on a small EV for that. The way EVs are improving I’m worried about getting something that will be hopelessly out of date in a few years time and thinking a lease will give some hassle free maintenance for a few years. It’s replacing an 05 plate car that DH bought brand new a very long time ago!

BoobyDazzler · 14/12/2023 20:04

None on eother car, we’ve paid them both off as they’re 7 and 11 years old. No desire to change them and certainly no desire for an EV.

ActDottie · 14/12/2023 20:04

Nothing. We bought a 2018 Astra outright for about £8k a few years ago. Before that we had a couple of cars around £2k ish that we bought outright. The Astra we saved up for for a few years as we new we wanted a slightly newer car this time.

megletthesecond · 14/12/2023 20:06

£0.
It's a paid for 6k second hand car. I put aside £130 a month to cover insurance, tax , MOT and service.

Lecc · 14/12/2023 20:07

I have had six different cars over my driving lifetime of 28 years. I have only ever paid cash, as it was drilled in to me that you should never borrow money on a depreciating asset. I believe that was excellent advice. No need to worry about payments, scratching the car, going over mileage allowance etc. Only exception I can think of was a friend who took out PCP for a brand new car, as it was cheaper than paying cash. She then immediately paid off the PCP in full.

ZenNudist · 14/12/2023 20:13

I financed a BMW 2 series 6 years ago. Paid it off after 3 years. Had about £9k from previous car and must have put some cash in but i think it was only £24k in the first place new. Was happy with the price.

Pretty sure my monthly payment was £350 and my finance cost was about £400 overall. I shouldn't have financed it as I had the money but wanted to leave a savings buffer.

Planning on keeping it another couple of years then will probably part ex for whatever the remaining value plus cash for another one as finance cost too expensive now.

Ilovemyshed · 14/12/2023 20:13

You could consider PCH. Essentially a long term rental with no option to buy at the end. Against a new car purchase the numbers stack up if you do over 4 years and include the maintenance. Hassle free fixed price motoring and a new car.

Chuckiee · 14/12/2023 20:14

I always buy 2 or 3 year olds cars in cash. I have no interest in cars though other than how likely it is that they will need extensive repairs.

ErnestCelendine · 14/12/2023 20:16

Part exed my 10 year old car for a third of the cost, used car savings pot for another third, and a 24 month 0% credit card for the rest. To answer your question, £150 a month. Will worry about the balance in nearly 24 months 😅

It's a three year old car and all being well will last longer than its predecessor and its ever increasing time and money spent at the garage.

HoneyBadger525 · 14/12/2023 20:19

I pay £216 per month for a ULEZ-compliant diesel. I did car finance on my first proper car and it cost me a fortune. Now I always get a bank loan as the rate is so much better. Mine is paid next month and I’ll own it - not that new but a 65 plate Audi and so around £7-9k to put towards a new car.

£0 road tax, 615 miles to a tank which costs around £75. I love it and will do something similar for my next car.

Lifechange2023 · 14/12/2023 20:19

Lease at £300 a month. Wouldn’t buy anything other than a cheap runaround for cash. I don’t have any desire to own a car which deteriorates in value and ends up costing me a fortune. Neither do I want a basic low spec car.

janfebmarchapril · 14/12/2023 20:20

£300 for our BMW
£500/600 for our hybrid jaguar e pace

familiesarrggghhhhh · 14/12/2023 20:21

We pay £300 per month for a 12 Month Škoda Karoq on PCP. We’ve always always done a personal loan and then paid it off then kept the car for years and years. We upgraded nearly 5 years ago to a ford galaxy when our twins arrived. Last Christmas the automatic gearbox went costing us £4k right after Xmas. Absolutely cleared us out. So we decided that we needed reliability more than anything else, and the ability to swap after 3 years.

meeplesmarples · 14/12/2023 20:24

Nothing, I buy pre-owned cars for cash and drive them for minimum 5 years. I resent spending too much on a car, which is something I see as a necessity rather than a thing that brings me joy, so don't mind too much what I drive.

My criteria:

  • low mileage for age
  • brand known primarily for reliability (eg Honda Civics, you can find a lot that have had older drivers who have done minimial mileage but looked after the car scrupulously so although older they're practically as good as new)
  • full MOT & service history, no faults or work coming up

It's always worked out for me, the only time I've known family members regret a second hand car is when they've ignored things that have been flagged on an MOT or haven't seen a full service history.

Cotswoldbee · 14/12/2023 20:25

Since our mid-30's we have always bought new and paid cash (from savings).
The advantage of not having finance is that as soon as you have bought a new car, you can get on with saving for it's replacement.

tescocreditcard · 14/12/2023 20:26

i've bought 2 new cars and make them last 10 years or so. I consider that good value for money.

I'm not really knowledgeable about cars so would be very wary about being ripped off buying a used one. Also, can't buy an old car because I can't do my own car maintenance and therefore any money I saved purchasing the car would just be spent paying garages for maintenance and repairs.

snoopyfanaccountant · 14/12/2023 20:29

I have never bought a car on finance. I bought my first car in 1992 using an inheritance. My second car was bought in 1997 using savings. In 2001, I replaced it (DH kept it) using a redundancy payment. My next car was bought in 2007 from savings and was replaced in 2016 with savings. I replaced that car a few months ago because of an inheritance (I'd rather have my dad than my wonderful car).

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 14/12/2023 20:31

We bought our car 10 years ago outright, it was 6 months old, not looking to buy for a while yet, but definitely won’t be on finance or lease. My insurance is £120 a year, tax £20.

Talktometellmeyourname · 14/12/2023 20:32

Nothing. I have a 9 year old car. Paid out right for it when I bought it when it was 2 years old. Nothing flashy, good little runner. Have thought about getting a new car on pcp but nervous about affording it every month.

Menomeno · 14/12/2023 20:39

I bought an 18 month old Renault Clio two years ago for under £10K cash. It only had 1000 miles on the clock (no doubt due to lockdown). It’s worth more now than when I bought it.

WeAreBorg · 14/12/2023 20:43

I lease mine through work for £150 a month. That includes insurance, maintenance, tax, service. Charge it overnight on an EV tariff with Octopus. Breakdown cover also included.

I owned a petrol car outright prior to that - as other people said I had it drummed into me that you buy a second hand car and run it into the ground. I spent a fortune on one thing and another every month for that money pit so very happy with my no stress lease! If I didn’t have the work scheme not
sure what I’d do tbh

WhatACluster · 14/12/2023 20:51

It’s all down to what you feel comfortable with paying, for me I wouldn’t pay more than £300 per month for a car (mine is £240)

People have different priorities for some that may be a reliable car which they can hand back at the end of a deal and getting another, for others it might be owing that car outright. Neither is right or wrong.

I do think cars are one of the biggest con as they have such depreciation…saying that the 2nd hand car market is still very much holding its value.

Mynaddmawr · 14/12/2023 20:55

We bought a 2nd hand 2010 Mazda 3 outright last year for £5k. Fantastic medium car. It works out about 18p a mile in diesel. Even factoring in your solar power I think it's false economy to take a loan on a car, and £325 a month is huge (at least to me!)

GreatGateauxsby · 14/12/2023 21:00

Ilovemyshed · 14/12/2023 20:13

You could consider PCH. Essentially a long term rental with no option to buy at the end. Against a new car purchase the numbers stack up if you do over 4 years and include the maintenance. Hassle free fixed price motoring and a new car.

So I agree with this and I’d compare it to buying outright.
Our next car will prob be PCH.

our now 5 year old Toyota Yaris hybrid was bought outright for £15k 2nd hand 3 years old with 7k miles on the clock.
running costs are about £200 pm all in (fuel road tax insurance mot)

for £320 pm our friend got a brand new fully electric Volvo XC40 on PCH….running costs aren’t dissimilar to ours.

on one hand I love how reliable the Yaris is but it’s a smallish car. The XC40 is a way fancier car and has all the whistles and bells.
across 4 years there is not much in it and I have to question how much we will get on resale for a 7 year old Yaris (although I don’t know much about cars so maybe I’m wrong)

Buttercup176 · 14/12/2023 21:02

Save up and buy outright. A car, to me, is essential and I would never rely on finance to fund it. This meant I had crap old cars for most of my 20’s but now I can afford the cars I want.

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