AIBU to spend £20k on our first car?

[starksausage]

I’ve never owned a car before. I’m in my late 20s now. Don’t own my own home but have enough for a deposit. Been with DP for 8 years.

We need a car for various reasons now and have found a used one we like for £20k. AIBU to spend this much money? We bring home roughly £10k a month and this would cost about £500 a month

We've just bought a 2 year old.used car for 20k..it's shocking but that's what they are. We just went for the best we could afford in the hope that we will get trouble free years out of it. We've just got rid of my son's 13 year old first car which cost us an absolute fortune in the 2 years we had it. Really hoping this will be a better experience.
We didnt get finance as luckily had it in savings. It's wiped us out but for me as little finance as possible is best. Your monthly income is amazing. Couldn't you try to pay it off quicker with hight payments?

Have people here bought a car recently? The 2nd hand car market has gone bonkers. £20k isn't actually that much for a newish, reliable mid sized car.

I wouldn't take credit to buy one, but if I had the cash, I also wouldn't spend money on a car much more than 3/4 yo.

Yep, absolutely agree. I bought one six months ago and it was £17k at five years old. It's a good size but it's mid range, not a premium brand at all. Used cars are £££ now.

Yes I think it’s fine. £20k isn’t an expensive car

i also think I’d hate to earn a good salary and be driving around in the cheapest shit car I could find. What’s the point in the work if not to treat yourself and improve your life?

Yes, providing you get something fast and fun, not some boring family wagon. Otherwise you may as well just spend £5-10k

DH and I spent 20k on our first car but we bought it outright and it was new, it was a good deal actually. We haven’t got a house at that moment and were saving for deposit. We bought a house 5 years later having the same car, no regrets.

Why is an expensive car a treat. Our combined income is well over OPs but an expensive is a total waste of money. I just assume people that spend lots of money on a car are attention seekers or have deep insecurities.

No it won't. You think ICE cars out of warranty are worthless?

The depreciation on EVs is steep because there's no standard way to measure battery function. But once that's embedded in the used market prices will stabilise. Batteries will last longer than the car, on the whole. You can't say that about engines.

You can probably afford it but as a car is a depreciating asset and you aren’t a home owner, I would get something older and Cheaper.

What you’re looking for is reliability - buying the right model is often a safer route to trouble free motoring than age alone.
https://www.whatcar.com/news/reliability-survey-most-reliable-cars-brands/n26159

You have such a strange attitude. Why do people like anything nice? Nice house nice garden nice clothes nice seats at the theatre? They consider it a treat.

not being able to understand that is pretty emotionally immature

I just want a car that gets me reliably from a to b, couldn't care less beyond that.

I "treat myself" to a nice big house with gardens, decent savings , investment and pension, lovely holidays, nights out with friends, private education and expensive hobbies for my children, some beautiful art work, trips to the theatre ..

What difference does that make? You’re still driving it around getting value from it

I treat myself to your list and a nice car too 😁 lucky me

What is the interest rate on that 500 per month?

20k is a standard used car price these days.

Me and DH bought a brand new mid range car for that just before Covid.

Prices for the used market are crazy now.

You think? It’s a considerable amount of savings if she is only on £10k a month and she hasn’t even got on the housing ladder . And I’m the immature one!

I was in a garage recently and they were offering between 8%-10% 😱

Not something I would do if I was planning on buying my first home soon and wanted to continue building up my savings.

I buy used cars and pay cash. As this is your first car, if I were you, I'd look for something like a Honda Civic or similar, 5 years old or more, that's been owned by older very careful drivers so it has very low mileage for its age plus a full service history, and I'd purchase it outright. A well-maintained secondhand car from a brand with a strong reputation for reliability is the sensible choice and if you're looking to buy a house soon it's not going to harm your credit score or affect your purchasing power.

But if what you actually want is status, get the £20k car on finance.

And that’s why you never take dealer finance!

Oh please you really do not need to spend 20k to get a reliable used car! Hyundai, Kia and Toyota will all be good bets and lots of used models available for less. If you really really get snotty about brands then mini do quite well on reliability scores and whilst not an Audi are presumably less cringe for those that care.
Whatever..... people are very free to make whatever choices they like with their cash. But there is no way you can justify a new car on finance ever being a sound financial decision.

That's fine. I just prefer to have a very small unexciting car, it's genuinely my preference . We had a big car and it was a pain to park in city car parks

Well maybe you’re both immature. But you asked why an expensive car was a treat, presumably as you haven’t got enough life experience to understand that others think differently.

Only £10k a month!! 😮

If you bring home £10k a month then I'd question why you need to take a loan to buy it. Surely you are saving a lot with such a high income?

(Unless the loan is interest free?)

If you bring home roughly £10k between you a month but need to take the car on finance then it does not sound like you have your outgoings under control.