Best way to buy a car?

[Hercules12]

Hi. I realise saving up is best and we do have savings but can't touch them and would like to buy a car over the next few weeks.
My credit score is very high and doing a soft check via Martin lewis website I should have excellent chance of a loan at 2.99%.
Id look to pay back over 3 years and paying back isn't an issue.
I've always bought old bangers and run them into the ground before replacing so no experience of spending more but thinking of getting a hatch back around 2016 for hopefully around 10k.
The whole pcp, hire purchase deals seem tempting but I would prefer to own the car and not worry about mileage and dents etc.
The question is am I missing something here? would I actually be better off getting a newer car on pcp/ hire purchase?
My mileage isn't more than 10000 but I don't want to have to watch it for fear of going over.
any experience or advice?

I think it’s very unlikely that PCP or hire purchase etc will work out better.

What I’ve found is that it’s worth checking out websites like Carwow or similar. You can often get great discounts on brand new cars. The particular Merc I was looking at had RRP of 44k but could be had for 35ish.
Some less popular models that were about to be replaced were discounted by up to 30-40% (the most extreme examples).

You might find that with the discount a brand new car will be barely any more expensive that a 2-3 yo. So possibly we’ll worth it considering that you can drive it from new for donkey’s years.

You're right to get a loan and pay it off rather than do pcp. With pcp you could easily spend your £10k over three years to then only give the car back and be left with nothing! Better to pay £10k over three years and end up with a car.

I wouldn't ever buy brand new - I've always bought two/three years old.

For your budget I'd go to somewhere like Car Giant rather than buy privately. If you go to one of these big dealers you will probably buy an ex motorbility car that has low mileage and that has been well maintained.

Oh and I would buy a car that is good value for money and cheap to fix/maintain i.e something common!

We've recently bought a three year old car and got an excellent loan rate through our bank at 3%. Definitely worked out the cheapest way of doing it.

Was talking to a friend about this today. She's just done PCP because she says the monthly repayments are lower than a loan.....I guess because you're only paying a portion of it off rather than the whole thing. But for her it means she can get a better car. She's not worried about the balloon payment, just says she will use the car against another and get another car on three years.

My worry is that you're then in a perpetual cycle of monthly payments for ever.

hi. many thanks for all the replied and lots of excellent advice! I'm definitely going to get one via a loan as I know will be paid off. If we lose our jobs as I said we have savings so not worried about that. I'm thinking ford fiesta, Skoda fabia, vw gold or seat ibiza/leon. 2 -3 years old- what ever we can get for 8k to 10k.

I'm completely uninterested in changing car after 3 years. whatever I get will be driven till its had it.

I bought a car using a Zopa loan that I repaid really early
PCP is a rip off - its the next PPI

that's a good way of putting it. will avoid.

Excellent choice of cars there op! You sound very sensible and like you know exactly what you're doing. Enjoy car shopping :)

The cars that you mention are good, the golf is probably the most expensive to maintain. Look into the servicing and parts costs, also when you choose which model.

Oh and I would avoid buying a diesel op! Cheap as chips at dealers at the moment but if you're not already in London and subject to ULEZ already I think it might expand. Go for a small engine, petrol

Agree
Diesel will be banned from more and more cities over the coming years

Hi. no way getting a diesel. current car- 15 year old Skoda fabia- is a diesel but won't be getting another diesel. we're in London too!

not central London at all but still won't be getting diesel.

When people say to look into cost to maintain / parts etc. Where you you look?

I've just bought a 2016 seat Ibiza with 19000 miles on for £6800.

Lots of deals at the moment because the regs are about to change.

@derelictwreck what I mean is that a common car like the ford fiesta/focus are going to be cheaper to fix because they are ten a penny - so parts are cheaper and in abundance. Also a basic car with fewer gadgets/electricals is going to have less things on it to go wrong, so again cheaper. A fancier albeit similarly sized car (say, a Mini) is going to be more expensive to fix/maintain because BMW are just more expensive.
I know that sounds really basic but I don't think everyone thinks of things like that. I know I didn't before my dad helped me car shopping!

Derelict
THink of a car, search for a random part like a brake disc
search online to see how many sellers do them
if more than five then you are probably OK

My worry is that you're then in a perpetual cycle of monthly payments for ever.

Which is the main reason why lots of people don't want to go down the lease/PCP route. At least if you buy with a loan, it's yours after 3 years and you can carry on driving with no more monthly payments for the next 3,6,9 years however long you want to keep it.