How does everyone afford very expensive cars?

[Idratherbewithmycat]

Ok yes I live in an expensive area but I can’t help but notice that everyone seems to drive expensive SUVs. Some families I know have good but normal incomes (like us) and still drive massive cars (not BMW type but bug lovely peugeots or Kia etc). I was just googling prices as we could do with upgrading what we have and OMG, it’s a lot of money!
Do people usually buy their cars on finance or upfront? We only bought a car once, it was a second hand cheap-ish car we paid fully upfront. Don’t see how we would be able to fork out £25K + for a new car!

Up until a couple of years ago I was running round in a cheap car that was over 12 years old and beginning to get unreliable. Then DH decided to buy a brand new hybrid, paid for outright. It's far too fancy for me, so many beeps, boops, bells and whistles but I do like the heated seats and steering wheel if I'm honest. It will last us for many, many years.

My point was, people probably look at you and think "I wish I could live in a house / area like that. How can they afford it?" the same way you wonder how people can afford nice cars.

Also to everyone saying that all these cars are leased / PCP / finance.. You do know there are people out there who still buy things outright don't you?!

Finance or lease, and interest rates on new cars can be 0% whereas second hand car interest rates can be 14%, so paying more, no worries about servicing etc, so not as expensive as you may think.

My partner bought a very expensive car on finance over 4 years, and then once we'd paid it off he sold it (it had hardly lost any value due to the type of car it was) and bought another slightly less expensive car using cash. It will last forever due to the type of car it is so was worth it.

Though personally I drive an old battered Fiat 500 that cost sod all because I could care less about cars!!

I think a lot of people lease, PCP or loans as PPs have said. My partner has just got a new one, that's on finance, daughter's fiancé has one on PCP. Lots of people seem to just regard it as another monthly bill, then change the car after three or four years and get another new/nearly new one. I bought mine part cash part loan, paid it off in four years and have had it for six years now, I prefer to own things outright but some things are so expensive now most people would have to consider a loan/finance.

Salary sacrifice lease and car allowance, before that it was PCP (never again!) And 2 before that were on HP. If I had a spare £55k cash I wouldn't be spending it on a depreciating asset.

Some lease, some will be financed. Financed doesn’t equal not able to afford something though. You have financed your house surely?
As for how can people afford it, some people just have more money than you.

Our car was about 25k, we put down 15k and did 10 on a relatively low interest personal bank loan rather than through the dealership. It was a personal decision in terms of how much we wanted to pay up front and how much we wanted to leave in savings.

No idea.

My car is 21yrs old 😆

But its cheap to run and repair.

We have a lease car (nhs salary sacrifice) and a company car, so both drive cars less than 3 years old. We could never afford to buy them outright, it’s probably £120k of cars between them!

Clearly I'm in the minority here but I buy my cars outright. I've not longed purchased a 2023 BMW X1, and used a combination of my old car as part exchange and savings.

Must we have this same question every week? It’s been answered a hundred times
OP. Do a search fgs.

Exactly.

Usually just turns into a snobby bashing about people who get cars on PCP although doesn’t appear to be the case on this thread.

I’m sure there’s a mix, we have 4 owned and one leased. I sometimes think the same when I see people go on expensive holidays to far flung places, how on earth can they afford somewhere up to £10k on a holiday, but then I remember that I choose to spend my money on cars not holidays (one is a camper van though 🤣)

Finance.
We’ve always bought our cars secondhand and outright. As soon as you buy brand-new at full price the value of the vehicle drops by half as soon as it leaves the forecourt so I’ve never seen the appeal.

Vauxhall recently had an offer where their electric Frontera was £200 a month for two years on leas. Electric cheaper than petrol too. It is a marketing idea - flood the market to get the car seen. Other companies do it. So there are deals to be had if you look. Or kit neighbours might just have more money/more disposable income than you.

Inheritance and savings.

We’ve always owned our cars and kept them for a good few years so costs were low. I recently sold my 9 year old polo and bought a new Audi using a mix of money from
the sale and savings (it was still worth a decent amount because it was a special edition) and I will probably keep this one for as long a time. My husband has a new car through work and so do lots of my colleagues.

We just buy ex finance cars outright. Couple years old and fine

I saved and bought mine outright, traded in my old car and paid 29k upfront.

I drive a lot and modern cars are crap. So to get one I actually want to drive isn’t easy.

The 20 year old car is worth about twice what I paid for it. Some cars “bounce” when they start off being rare and get rarer. ;)

Mine is PCP through my business (because I drive a model that makes money rather than losing money due to scarcity and demand of the model I have and the incredibly low milage I do so PCP makes more sense for me) I will also buy the last one I get my hands on before the abolish petrol cars too as I really don’t want an electric vehicle.

My husbands is leased through the business as it is our main car, so does the most mileage and therefore is better as a lease option.

Our jobs require driving for the company as we have to be out on site appointments and see clients.

Company cars, no way would we be able to afford a £40k car but it’s what we drive as we get it through my husbands work.

Big, brand-new cars bought be people living in ‘ordinary’ houses and situations are likely to be on finance.

If you want to build wealth, buy a good second-hand car for cash and find a good, trustworthy, local garage to take care of it. Keep it for many years.

Usually buy an ex demo or year old car. I don’t personally like using finance so pay outright. I enjoy cars and choosing them.

I inherited money from my late parents and bought a car for cash. One year old model for £23k with a 7 year manufacturer warranty.

Prior to that I drove the same car for 11 years.
If I hadn’t inherited money I’d still be driving it as I’d never put a car on Finance. I don’t fully grasp leasing, balloon payments but it has always sounded like a terrible financial decision (I think Dave Ramsey calls them Fleece Cars).

I really don’t care about cars beyond their ability to get me from A to B but some of the bells and whistles on the new one are quite handy.

Debt. Often followed by hand wringing.