That spending circa £25k on a 2nd hand car is not frivolous

[Pipsquiggle]

Looking at replacing my 12 year old car which I have had for 10 years. When I bought this car it was about £16k

I am looking at buying another second hand car, probably a Mazda or Volvo so not a super premium brand. Looking around the £25k mark. Hopefully, I'll pick well and keep it for around 10 years.

My DH seems to think I should get a cheaper car around £16k again. He thinks £25k is too much.
Over the last 10 years our income has gone up a lot, we have lots of savings. Financially we are in a good position.

I am not sure why my DH is being stingy over this. He's not really into cars so probably sees it as wasted money.

YABU - listen to your DH he has a point
YANBU - £25k is ok as you can afford it and it's for a mid range car

I don't think either of you are unreasonable and I don't think your question is crass. It's just a matter of budgets and attitudes. It's the sort of car you expect to be able to buy on your income, it's just prices have gone up so it seems a lot to dh. It is not going to be morally or practically better to spend 16k on something you don't want or enjoy.

I don't think everyone will want electric cars in 10 years. People I know who have had electric cars and do a lot of driving have gone back to diesel.

Probably diesel cars will shoot up.in value when they stop making them. Might be worth investing in a few!

I knew someone like @LindorDoubleChoc would chime up at some point.

It's not a stupid question, it's a 'stupid' & 'crass' question to you. To me & others, it's about consulting with an open forum and confirming that I am not being a spendthrift.

Buying a Mazda is not buying a status symbol and the whole point of buying a 2nd hand car is that the biggest hit of depreciation has already been factored in.

I do agree it's a first world problem, however, I have been saving up for this purchase for the last 10 years. I will start saving for my next car once this purchase has gone through so I'll have 10 more years to save up.

@Simonjt

This would actually be my dream. I thought I wouldn't be able to afford a CRV.
I drove a Jazz for years when the DC were tiny. I bloody loved that car.

@Simonjt where did your mum buy it from - private sale or garage? Where in the country did she get it from?

A small garage (found on autotrader) nearish the forest of dean. You can get CRVs for a decent price, I’m a big Jazz fan too, again also indestructible!

I'd definitely pay that for a used Volvo but not for a Mazda.

DH doesn't drive so I drive and buy the cars and make all the decisions. He gets to offer an opinion and comes for a test drive but the final decision rests with me. I'm not going to buy something I don't enjoy driving.

I bought a 3yr old Mitsubishi PHEV for around £25k (euro equivalent as I'm in Ireland and our cars are more expensive over here) in 2021 to replace my 15 yr old Honda. I always pay cash for cars and keep them for years as a rule. (I'm pretty ancient.)

It was particularly expensive because the prices of second hand cars were extortionate due to a general shortage post pandemic.

Wish I'd waited tbh until the prices stabilised, but I was worried my Honda would start to cost me money to fix even though it never let me down and I only ever paid for routine services for it. I assumed my luck couldn't hold out and this particular model had all the extras. I like my comfort when driving. 😂

I have a 2011 Honda CR-V - it was £6k a few months ago. It replaced my 2008 CR-V which I only replaced because of a part I couldn’t get for 3 months. The 2008 one was driving perfectly and I loved it. It had 80k on the clock and would’ve kept going for ages If I hadn’t had to get the MOT I’d have waited for the part.

A Cat car is a car that has a category such as S or N. It means it’s been written off and repaired at some point - it will show up on the HPI check that you do. I use motorcheck for HPI checks, they are the most comprehensive and the industry standard imo. The giveaway on a cat car being advertised is that it will look really good value. Auto-trader automatically adds “Cat N” or “Cat S” to the advert so traders can’t get away with not disclosing it so if looking on AT, keep an eye out for that.

cat N - integrity and damage of the car are not significantly disrupted
cat S - significant damage.

theres more categories but you won’t see them as they won’t have lived to see another day after that level of accident.

There’s a market for Cat Cars. Young lads who want something flashy will often buy a cat Audi/mercedes/Golf GTI etc as it’ll be cheaper and look good. However, for a reliable family car please don’t get one.

My favourite brands for reliable family cars are Honda, Lexus, Hyundai and Toyota. Toyota and Lexus both have really good warranty schemes - if you get a Lexus or Toyota that’s a few years old but has full main dealer service history with them then you might get another 7 years dealer warranty with them. This applies no matter if you get from a private seller or a forecourt.

good luck! Let me know if you have any further questions and feel free to DM me.

It would be a different thread if you’d posted your husband wanted to spend that on a car and you objected.

he’d be wasteful, selfish, and an arse

this way round you’re fine and he’s tight, selfish, and an arse

My parents house cost 25k in 2003. My car cost 6k eight years ago and I plan to drive her until she dies she’s 15 years old and in great shape if very dirty ( at this point the dirt is more about my the lines of a protective crust)

I wanted to spend £15k on mine, ended up spending £25k (3 year old Volvo).

You don’t get much for £15k and really it’s a joint/main car, is reliable and holds its value pretty well so I’m trying to justify the spend in my head. Was paying £500PM on a PCP before on a 4 year term so the cost is actually roughly similar, except after 4 years I’ll still have the asset without a debt!

This, 100%

So, picking up on the fact you have saved for 10 years for this, that suggests you are on a very 'normal' family income / budget, so that makes me support your dh's thinking even more.
Think what you could do with that extra £9000.......

That's about what I paid for my 3 year old Volvo. It had 10k miles on the clock and loads of extras. I think it was well worth the money and better value than brand new.

Buy a 2nd car

I agree with PPs, if you have saved 10 years for a car then £25K is a ridiculous budget. Volvo's are great (we have two - V90 and an XC40) but they aren't cheap to run or insure.

Tbh an XC40 is not big enough for four humans and a dog, unless the dog is tiny. I can't comfortably fit even one of my Goldies the XC40 boot. But even if the dog is tiny, it's still not particularly roomy.

Automatic tailgates are dodgy as hell (at least on Volvos). Both of our have had to have the struts replaced (2020 plate and 2022 plate, so not 'old' cars) - and the last thing you want is your struts failing when you have a dog or children. In my case, I was stuck on a layby on the A21 with three dogs and a boot that was jammed half open for over 2 hours. It's not unusual either according to the AA guy.

I have a mazda mx5 - it's a 2000 model so almost 25 years old now. I've had it since 2013 - bought it for £4 500. It always passes it's MOT. I haven't spent any money on it except replacing the soft top this year (it still had the original) and getting a new battery a few months ago (£75 fitted). Before this I had another Mazda mx5. I've always found them to be exceptionally rellable cars

I agree. I don't think it's necessarily wrong to want to spend £25k on a car (even though I wouldn't), but clearly you have different priorities and expectations. Clearly, it is possible to find a 2nd hand car that fulfills your basic needs: transporting 4 people and a dog. Plenty of 4-5 year old Skoda octavias for sale for around £16k. However, you only want to consider certain brands, models and with specific features. Fair enough, but I also don't think your husband is wrong for not thinking that is worth paying an extra £9k for.

Also, if your DH is driving an older fiesta, that will presumably need replacing in the next few years too? Will you have another £25k to spend on a car then? If you both go for £16k cars instead that would save you £18000 pounds, what else could you spend that money on?

Have you considered a VW t-roc?

Sorry, but I love my 2016 Fiesta! I’m with your DH here. No need to spend £30k on an Audi, are you listening DH?

The price of cars has risen massively ove the last few years. Mind you they have many more safety features fitted today too. Our car is 8 years old this year. We have had it from new.. It is a Skoda Octavia and is perfect for our needs. Huge boot, drives smoothly, good mpg, 50 to 60 mpg. But, at 70,000 miles it is reaching the age where we can expect problems, so are looking to change this year. At the age we are at, this could well be the last car we buy. I fancy going electric so we have started to try to get our heads round the change. A new Skoda EV due in March, a new Nissan Leaf also due in March, the Cupra Born plus the Kia's. The prices are all over £30k, but a new VW T Roc, our favoured petrol car is not far off in price. So I reckon £25k for a good, nearly new car is probably a good deal. If you can afford it. On the other hand, a local dealer has a 2 year old Octavia, 11,000 miles for £12k, so that is another option. We have always bought new or nearly new and kept for at least 6 to 8 years and it has worked well for us over the years, apart from a Mondeo that had loads of problems.

My car was £6k and it felt like a lot 🤣😭😭

We've had another chat. My DH thinks a Volvo could be a good option.

My car does need replacing and I want something that will last for at least 10 years with the gadgets I mentioned earlier. Neither of us are car oriented but I definitely have chosen better in the car department than he has. Tending to spend slightly more but with less issues. I have looked at Volvos as my DB had an XC60 which was a lovely car.

As a household, we earn a lot, so we are lucky that we can afford this purchase and this will be our main car that we go on long journeys in, ferry the DC round in etc. I have never yearned after luxury brands like Mercedes or BMW etc

Like @Lincslady53 our main family car has been a Skoda Octavia estate for years now - the build quality, safety and reliability are great - huge boot and the diesel engine is very economical. We first bought a new Scout but since then have got low mileage second hand ones. Can't fault them really - I think they are essentially Volkswagens. You could upgrade to the Superb either.