Car, what to do?

[bigshoutingday]

We've had a string of shitty secondhand cars that keep dying. The most recent one cost £3500, has lasted us 18 months and was just refused a service today cos the mechanic said it wasn't even worth servicing and that we need to be looking at a new one asap. I trust him completely, he's actually honest and is a mechanic not a sales garage so it's not like he's trying to push a sale onto us. The car before that was £1200 and lasted a year. So the way it has been going we'd have been just as well paying £180 on HP or PCP on a newer and more reliable car, but something really sticks in my teeth about having a car payment. We drive 500-600miles a month and do not have a garage to put an elec plug-in thing into, but have a pretty close one we could use.

We have about £20k in the bank for a rainy day. Have just remortgaged for 5yrs at a good rate (got 3% just before the shit hit the fan) so that won't be increasing. The £20k would probably equal a years living costs if we were careful. We have two kids and have a relatively low childcare bill of £150 a month which will disappear when DS gets his funded hours in spring 2024. We currently save £200 a month which isn't much and would be where the monthly payment would come from.

Options:

• find another cheap secondhand car, what should the budget be? Hope that it's third time lucky? Go the opposite way and buy a £500 banger cos at least then it's less of a loss if it only lasts a year?
• go to a secondhand dealership and get a newer secondhand one on some sort of finance deal. Trade in current car as deposit.
• buy brand new. Are scrappage schemes still a thing? Current car is 2009 so is it old enough to count?
• electric? Not sure we could even afford it but DH has a salary sacrifice thing at work so may make it possible. Is it too annoying having to stop and charge? Obv there would be the petrol saving there but is the a cost to charging up?

My head is fried with all of this. Any advice welcome!

Hassan is not my brother's name, this should say 'has an'

Spend a bit more on a second hand car. Go for a reliable make-Japanese or Volvo or VW etc . Get your mechanic to check it over if that would make you feel a bit better. I feel that car finance is money down a drain and it can leave you tied into something if your circumstances change.

I live in a street where a lot of people have lease cars. It was surprising how many suddenly went down to one car once COVID hit and their income reduced (many where self-employed).

I purchased a newish second hand car just before my daughter was born (it had 10,000 miles on the clock). 4 years later it’s passed every MOT and has only needed a new tyre.

Id buy a newish 2nd hand car with your savings and then start a new savings pot for when you’ll need a new car. I should get ten years worth out of mine and prefer the financial security of knowing it’s fully paid for.

My husband had the option of a lease car or a a car allowance of £5,000 per year which is how we pay for the second car (we’ve taken the money and have another 2nd hand car)

I'd spend 7-8k on a decent second hand hatchback like an astra or Ford focus, out of savings and then continue to add to the savings pot. I wouldn't take out a loan unless I 100% needed to

I like a thread with a conclusion! Just paid £8500 for a 8yr old Citroen C4 Picasso. It seems like driving a spaceship in comparison to old one. So fancy... for a total mum-mobile. We were able to trade ours in for £2500 so have taken £6k from savings and are repaying it to ourselves over 4 years.

Thanks for the update.

Enjoy your new car.

We usually go for a 2-3 year old car with less than 30k mileage then use them for 10+ years. Current car is a 2011 and last year there was an £800 bill but that’s the first big one. We paid £9k but that was nearly 12 years ago so same would be about £15-£20k now but it’s a big car.

I’ve been having the same debate re electric and lease but we’ve concluded that petrol will still exist in 10 years so if we want to replace the car next year we’ll get £5-£6k for it and can buy a 2 year old car. If we buy a £20k car and run it for 10 years then that’s £166 a month.