Best way to buy a car.

[Springerding]

Its been a long time since we bought a car. We’ve got the cash, is that the best way to buy it?
Is Hire Purchasing a good idea?
Thanks for any advice.

It depends really, do you want to buy new, nearly new or fairly old second hand, and when you say 'the cash' how much we are talking? If you want a brand new car it's usually best to lease as they lose so much value the second they leave the forecourt, whereas if you are looking at a 5 year old + car I would say purchasing outright if you can afford it is best. Obviously on any kind of finance deal you are 'losing' some money to the interest payments, so it depends how much of a premium you are prepared to pay towards getting a better/newer car compared to what you could afford outright.

Personally I tend to buy pretty old cars (10 years +) of a reliable make (Honda usually) and without too much mileage, and find this works for me, I budget around £500 per year for servicing, MOT and running repairs such as new tyres, brake discs etc, don't always spend that much, very occasionally a little more if a big repair needs doing. BUT I don't rely on the car to commute to work and don't do a huge amount of mileage TBH so if the car was to totally breakdown it wouldn't impact on my life that much. People who do 5000 miles a year and are highly reliant on the car for their livelihood or to get kids to school etc might well be prepared to pay significantly more to have a newer, more reliable make....

Thanks @maxelly. I’m looking at nearly new (less than 5k miles) and will probably spend about £30-£40k.

As PP, it depends what kind/age of car you are wanting. I've seen people on here say that various leasing or finance deals work out cheaper than paying outright, but you do need to do the sums for your own specific set of circumstances carefully.
Personally, I like the car to be ours outright. There's no need to worry about dinking it, doing too many miles, balloon payments, or financial circumstances changing then. We tend to buy cars that are ex-fleet/leasehold etc and just outside their 3yr warranty but are in good nick with low mileage. We aren't after prestige vehicles, so they are usually between £7‐10k depending on gadgets and mileage. We take a 'loan' from our savings, and then set up a standing order over 24 or 30 months to repay the money. This works well for us. We have each vehicle for at least 5 years (had current car for 6yrs) and put a good deal of mileage on them in this time (about 90k since we got current car), but find we are landed with few repair costs other than expected consumables such as tyres. The vehicles are usually worth £1‐2k by the time we upgrade. If we didn't have the savings, I would buy outright having taken out a personal loan instead.

@Springerding

Thanks *@maxelly*. I’m looking at nearly new (less than 5k miles) and will probably spend about £30-£40k.

X-post! (Slow typer!)

In which case I'd look at ex-demo vehicles and buy outright.

We spent a similar amount and getting prices from carwow got us a cheaper brand new car than nearly new.
We got a massive discount, 50% deposit and the remainder on two years interest free credit. We also got five years servicing and breakdown cover for £595. We've had two services and there were no extras to pay.

My next one will be hp. I've always bought outright and have always had Landrovers at 10 year old. Next time I will get a nearly new plug in Landrover, but for some jiggery- pockery reason, as I'm self employed, its better for tax to get one on hp.

Thanks @SkankingMopoke that’s what we did last time and I think its worked out the cheapest way of doing it.

Thanks @mandoforever i’ve just looked at car wow, thanks for the recommendation. Can i ask if that is a recent experience? Just wondering if I need to adjust my expectations as cars have gone up.

@ANameChangeAgain thank you. The whole thing of electric is also confusing!

@Springerding 2 years ago, but my ds bought a car in may and got a new car cheaper than a nearly new.