What car does everyone have and how much do you pay a month?

[greyfox82]

I have a second hand Fiat 500 X and pay £165 a month. I've had quite a few problems with it and am looking to get something else this month. I'm well aware my budget isn't great £200 per month, but just wondered what cars everyone has for this budget and if they are happy with them. I have a toddler, so would need to be four doors. Thanks in advance

I have been doing PCP for about 20 years. I currently have a 15 month old hatchback, petrol hybrid, £365 per month, 1.9% over 3 years.

I’m off to test drive a mini later this afternoon. I’ve wanted one for years but can’t make my mind up. My current car is old but paid for and the thought of a car payment leaving my bank each month doesn’t fill me with joy. I’m such an over thinker

A 2018 Citroen C3 Aircross at £241 per month which includes GAP insurance and extended warranty. Previously I had a 12 year old Ford Focus which wouldnt get tbrough its next MOT without a lot of work costi g more than it was worth

Check out APR on any credit cards you have versus a bank loan. We found it cheaper to put my "new" fiesta on cc this year. Previous years its been a Bank loan or savings.

Once you have worked out how much a bank loan repayment you can comfortably do (which gives a fixed loan amount, ie £200 per month on a £10k loan) start looking on autotrader for any cars for £10k or less near you, I think you might be pleasantly surprised. Once you have that information then start looking at the car finance companies.

As a side note, during our searches we found out Mazda2 are based on fiestas but are considerably cheaper so if you love that style of small car it might be worth looking at them.

Single parent here, obviously only the one fixed income. I spent ages researching cars - ie the costs of a lease and buying outright over 3; 5 and 8 years - and in the end took out a bank loan for 7.5k as the interest rates were far lower than car finance (which seems a total rip off). I bought a secondhand golf outright with the lowest mileage I could afford, from a decent local dealer (not a VW one as they were hugely overpriced): I’ll keep this as long as possible - the loan is over 5 years, but I’ll have something to trade in at the end of the term.

Me too.

I drive a 2001 Audi A4 Avant (1.8T, for any petrolheads), and it costs me nothing. I love it and I'm going to keep driving it until it actually disintegrates.

BMW 3 series diesel saloon. 6 years old, pay £280 a month car finance over 4 years, £20 a year car tax and work pays my insurance. I used to change cars every two years or so due to previous high mileage but I love this car and apart from one headlight bulb, it has not cost me a penny in the 2 years I've had it outside of annual service and MOT. Outstanding car, wouldn't ever buy anything else now.

TBF, I think most of the answers have answered the OP's original question, just not in the restrictive sense she perhaps intended or others have interpreted.

So for the OP's £200 a month budget, I have had 2 cars over the last 20 years. I bought them both outright. The first with a loan, the second with savings. I still have the second which is probably still worth £5K if I was to sell it now. I also have £30K more in the bank/my pocket than I would have had if I had continued to lease throughout those 20 years at £200 a month.

It's a perfectly valid point. Lots of people have suggested a bank loan which is exactly what I did for my first car. Once you pay it off, you continue to run your car paying just the running costs and saving what you are no longer spending on loan repayments. If you treat your car well and make it last, you are likely to have a large proportion of the cost of a replacement car when you need it. In my case, I ran my first car for just over another 7 years after the loan was paid off. At £200 a month, that would be over £17K (not including interest) to buy the next car. In fact it cost £10K and has only ever cost me running costs in the last 8 years, although it did need a new battery this summer.

2014 Avensis family car, 2013 Fiesta run around. Paid cash for both.

2019 focus and a 2010 bmw waned outright would never get a car and pay monthly
paid 9k cash for bmw 7years ago and 10k for the focus last year