Buying a car as a single mum

[Joyful26]

Has anyone done this? I’m sure most single mums will have done at some point.

It’s crazy how hard it feels.

it really feels the one decision I would delegate to a man.

I have £12k to spend. I really don’t know if I should just look for a car at that price and buy it. Or if I should consider car finance and pay monthly for something?

is the benefit of paying monthly that you then get a newer model and can trade it back to them if there are any problems?

I get the benefit of paying outright is that I’ll presumably pay less overall. But then I’ve got an aging car which will limp along year after year like the one I’ve currently got.

i suppose the thought of a newer car which I can hand back and upgrade if there are problems sounds good. Have I got that right though? Presumably I’d still need to get it serviced every year and pay for repairs myself?

Oh and I am lone parent. He helped logistically too - kind of hard to physically buy the car when you’re on your own and live rurally.

I get it. When you’re making so many decisions day in, day out, it’s nice to have support for the really big ones.
Or just to bat ideas about.
It doesn’t mean you are unable to do so, just that you’d like some help.

This is what I did.

Looked at cars when I was driving around to see what I liked and I didn’t like.
Asked friends and colleagues about their cars.
Went to a couple of new car garages after booking a test drive.

Then I started looking on auto trader.
I filtered out private sellers.

I started looking at Carson auto trader over a period of about a month. I looked at the milage and the number of previous owners and over time you start to get to know what a decent price is.

If they were close I went to look at them.

Quicker than I thought I became confident enough to know what I wanted and what I didn’t want.

On .gov you can look at the details of past MOTs. So you can see if there was anything major wrong with it on the last mot.

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

I would suggest choosing your make of car and going to their showroom. I have bought two cars from our local Ford dealer and had no trouble with them at all.

I bought my first far on my own at 19, 40 years later I’m still buying my own cars. How is this different for a single mum? Use Google for the right type of car, size, cost, fuel, insurance group, gears, age etc then find one on Autotrader from a reputable garage or dealership. Get a warranty included.

Don’t buy on finance, pay cash and look after it. Why pay interest if you don’t have to. Get a warranty included.

When I had less money I always bought the newest car with the lowest mileage that I could afford. I didn’t go for a high end specification, but one that was reliable and cheap to run.

I decide my budget, and what I wanted it to do - ie a car to do short journeys (150 miles a week) and an occasional long run (6 hours) to drop ds at uni, go on holiday etc.

Narrowed it down to manual gearbox, diesel, needed to last 10 years. Needed a hatchback with fold-flat seats because I need to take ds' bike to and from uni. Wanted 50 mpg+ and not trendy enough to be stolen.

I ended up with a second hand Volvo V40, which is much less trendy and less often stolen than the Volvo XC40, and much less expensive. Five years in, I'm still happy with it.

Pay cash if you can, much easier to negotiate.

I bought a car from Cinch, I think you have 14 days to decide whether to keep it, so that’s the test drive really. As I was buying electric I knew it would likely be fine to drive so I wasn’t that worried.

Please don’t get a lease unless you have lots of spare cash - it may seem “cheaper” in the short term but you’re setting yourself up for a never ending cycle of payments which over the long term will cost you more.

Maybe the Op isn't as confident as you?

It's not that easy to just "hand back" a leased car if you don't like it or it has problems. The finance usually comes from a finance company, not the dealership, so there's three parties involved and it gets very confused/stressful if it's faulty as you end up "piggy in the middle". There are also clauses in the lease about handing it back early (before the end of the term) meaning you often find yourself having to buy out the lease where the value of the "debt" is more than the trade value of the car. So basically, don't assume you can just hand it back and walk away, because in most cases, you can't and could be stuck with it for the full lease term.

As for older cars being expensive/unreliable, that's just a myth. The average car lasts 13 years and many last 20+ years. Driven carefully and serviced properly, a car shouldn't need much in the way of repairs and is highly unlikely to break down. Maybe when they get over 10 years old, there's higher risk of repair bills and breakdowns, but it still comes down to how it's driven and having it regularly/properly serviced to service schedule.

Of course if you buy second hand, you don't know how well/badly it's been driven before you, but you do have visibility as to the MOT history showing mileage and previous faults/problems highlighted at previous MOTs and you should go for full service history meaning the service handbook will be stamped by the garage showing dates and mileages etc, so plenty you can check out, and of course, you can pay for an AA/RAC check to have a mechanic check it over for any obvious problems (to a mechanic) such as condition of brakes, suspension, etc.

One of our current cars is now 18 years old, bought outright from new, never failed an MOT, never broken down, and never needed any major repairs beyond service schedule items such as battery, brake pads, spark plugs, tyres, new timing belt at 20k miles, bulbs etc - certainly no suspension parts, no exhaust, no gearbox and no clutch replacements needed. A previous car we got up to 190k miles was the same - just "consumables" needed replacing at services and never broke down.

Yes, "some" car models have inherent faults, but thanks to the internet, most are now widely known and a quick google of the specific make and model will usually throw up any known issues for cars to avoid.

What sort of car do you want?
Engine size?
Will you be making lots of short journeys but no long ones?
Do you have a baby or very young children?
How many passengers are you likely to have?
Are you likely to be affected by ULEZ?
Do you want a specific type of car?

You have a healthy budget. I'd go for a nearly new car with a record for being reliable and economical.

i think your getting a little bit of a hard time.
no one here knows why you don’t have the confidence.

tbh after years with my ex who convinced me I wasn’t worthy of an opinion or involved in any decisions, it took some relearning! I remember putting petrol in my car and having a panic attack because I had no idea how to use my pay at pump.

I'm single and I get my cars mostly on my own. I buy them on a PCP or car finance and pay monthly.

Nail on the head, especially research insurance costs and especially about buying outright preferably in cash to avoid paying interest and finance charges.

I did the same, bought first car myself aged 19, after doing my own research (a lot harder in those days without the internet), and then swapped and moved up to newer cars every 3 years or so finally buying a brand new car outright using money saved each month from not paying finance repayments.

I don’t think it’s as awful as it used to be. There are plenty of savvy women buying cars so even the most dense car salesperson will understand they need to treat them with the same kind of respect as a man.
I’ve bought used car from a lot, second hand privately, two ex demo cars, two new cars (one on finance, one with cash). Ex demo is great as you get the advantage of the instant depreciation of a used car but very low mileage. Just go in with confidence, know what you want, research current values of used cars (if buying used), and don’t get taken in by ‘I’ll need to ask my manager’. And you generally can ask for that much more off if you say you’ll sign that day. By the way they make money from the finance deals, so even if you had cash you’d get a better deal/higher spec/extras using finance, but there’s nothing to stop you getting a good deal on the car by taking finance, but then using the legally required 14 days cooling off period to withdraw without penalty and pay it off in those 14 days.

There are also lots of options, lots of different dealerships, ability to buy a car online with no "salesmen" involved, lots of dealerships have female salespersons.

It was different back in the 80s when I bought my first car, but even then, I'd just walk away from a garage if the salesman was condescending or patronising and I'd try elsewhere instead.

The OP just needs to take her time, try different dealerships, do some research, and it WILL all fall in place. The hardest thing is to make the first move - once you get into it, it all becomes easier/clearer.

Ah yes! The "I'll ask my manager" nonsense, which is 100% nonsense. Don't fall for it. They try to make out they're on "your" side and it's the manager who needs to be persuaded to do a deal. Utter bullshit. The salesman knows exactly what kind of deal can be struck, knows the "book" cost of the car he's trying to sell, knows how much profit he has to make, knows what "extras" can be thrown in such as floor mats and a tank of petrol, etc. He'll make out he's trying to get a better deal for you, but in reality, when he's behind the glass screen of the manager's office, they're probably talking about football or the size of your boobs!

The OP definitely needs to be brave to negotiate and haggle or she'll be taken for a mug. Look at identical cars on the internet - and don't be afraid to take a screenshot of an identical car at say £1/£2k less in another garage which is guaranteed to get them talking even when they start out saying something like "we don't haggle anymore" etc - utter nonsense.

And yes, be prepared to walk away and 9 times out of 10, you'll get a phone call from them!

Thank you- love a podcast- so was thinking I should listen to some on cars/finance etc.

I will brace myself for an AA woman and try to keep a non-judgemental face 😂

seriously though I would actually respect an AA woman more than a man, I just don’t know anyone IRL male or female who is interested in cars. (Apart from ex H)

That’s really helpful thank you!

Once you know what type of car you are likely to be buying, investigate how much the insurance and tax will be.

Engine size? - will affect car tax, insurance and economy
Will you be making lots of short journeys but no long ones? - avoid diesel
Do you have a baby or very young children?- Get a 4 or 5 door.
How many passengers are you likely to have? e.g. can you fit 3 car seats in the back? Are your DC very tall teens, some cars have limited head/legroom etc.
Are you likely to be affected by ULEZ?- £12.50 a day soon adds up
Do you want a specific type of car? e.g. small because of parking space, 'SUV'-type, boot suitable for a dog etc.

Look for a car with full service history and not too many previous owners.

The best car I had was a 6-month old ex-demo from a dealership. It was completely reliable, reasonably economical, fun to drive, a colour I'd not have chosen and IMO quite an ugly car.

If buying second hand, don't buy a car for its looks; some of them only look nice. Read reviews and check price guides.

Cars for Sale UK | Car Reviews | Car News | Honest John

Thanks for everyone’s advice so far.

I’ve been having a good look on auto-trader (which I had literally never heard of 😂)

Ideally I would like a Volkswagen, I can’t understand the price difference between auto trader and my local VW dealer.

£10,000 can get me a really decent big VW on auto trader.

but at my local dealer the cheapest car I can get is a used VW UP for £13k!!!

why would there be such a discrepancy in price? Taking into account mileage and age of vehicle. It’s crazy isn’t it?

anyway, it’s been quite good looking, and I’m obviously considering other models too.

in terms of doing test drives, do I do them at local dealers even though I am not planning on buying from them?

Do not get a leased car.. all that money and you don't even own it plus you will owe the company money as they will find faults without shadow of doubt at the end. You have a good bit of money to buy a very decent second hand car. Don't get fooled into finance either

Prices vary by location. When we were looking a couple of years ago, even ex-demos, identical colour/model, with virtually identical mileages could be upto £2k cheaper at dealerships in poorer regions (i.e. Newcastle or Sunderland or Scotland) compared with dealerships in Manchester/Liverpool. Prices reflect the wealth of the location of the dealership garage.

No shit, and your point?

You pay a premium to a main dealer for warranties and the fact that their stock is approved. It doesn’t mean other cars are no good but you do take more of a risk. That boils down to personal choice.

Ideally I would like a Volkswagen,
VW will be expensive to repair/maintain.

I can’t understand the price difference between auto trader and my local VW dealer.
The dealership has overheads like the sales commission, showroom etc.

£10,000 can get me a really decent big VW on auto trader.
Do you really need a big car? What age and mileage?