AIBU Husband wants new car

[beaniebutter]

Want to make sure i'm not being scrooge here...

Husband texted me just now, 'brother said he can sell me his range rover, going to have a call later to discuss', and sent me some photos.

Ummm...what?!

I asked where he's magically going to find £30K,40k (i have no idea how much it would cost?) for this shiny 22 plate(!) range rover. He said that he and his brother and would work something out.

I feel like i'm living on a different planet right now. We literally just bought a house, which used up 90% of our savings.

We have under 10K(!!) left for emergency savings, and are building on this every month. I meticulously track our savings, and record our outgoings. Our savings are currently in my bank accounts.

This is the best bit...he can't drive yet (is having lessons), and has somehow decided discussing to buy a range rover was an entirely logical and sensible idea?

We have a nice Ford, few years old, no problems, nice reliable car. I bought it outright.

Lastly, he has some debt which he is paying off, so is literally in NO position to even be thinking about this or some kind of loan, which i would obviously object to.

He is a high-ish earner so could probably get one quite easily, but I hate loans and would rather make sure we have a comfortable nest egg before any big purchases.

AIBU? I'm in disbelief.

He's gone quiet now, but no doubt he will be pushing for it later when he comes home.

He's a lovely guy, but often lives in lalaland when it comes to finances. Sometimes it makes me feel like scrooge.

Tell him to price up the insurance before he thinks about making this purchase, I am sure it will be astronomical and perhaps put him off.

And if he does check the price of insurance as a learner, get him to also check as a newly qualified driver...

I’d ask him not to commit to anything today, get a full picture of the finances (how much insurance, tax on that is probably going to be about £570 a year for the next 3/4 years, how much the brother wants) and that you can have a conversation about the viability of it tonight/over the weekend.

Yep, heard a conversation in the headdresses the other day of someone selling their Range Rover because the insurance is now unaffordable- and they’re not even a new driver.

Get him to check how much new tyres are that always puts me off 🤣

He can’t even drive? 😂🤦‍♀️

Edit. Not laughing that he can’t drive. Laughing that he wants to spend £40k on a car he can’t drive and will just sit there for however long 🤪

I’d be framing this situation as him coming to the same conclusion as you logically, rather than you ‘telling him’ he can’t have it.

Firstly a 22 plate RR isn't going to be 30 or even 40k we just bought a discovery older than that and it was just over 40k top spec and the insurance is eye watering not to mention the tyres / servicing

His brother probably wants rid because it’s ridiculous to insure it. There’s a known issue with the software being ridiculously easy for thieves to get around even if you keep the keys in a faraday box. They are rolling out updates but in the meantime some insurers in some areas are refusing point blank to cover them. You have to put an old school style steering wheel lock on every time you park. And given your DH doesn’t drive I reckon his brother sees him as an easy target to palm it off on.

Agree with others - get him to test the insurance for a) a learner driver and b) a newly qualified driver, as well as tax, standard tyre replacements etc.,

Also - no way a 22 plate RR is in the £30-40K region.

OP hasn’t said which RR - her estimate may not be that far off the mark if it’s an entry level evoque. No chance for the other models though!

@beaniebutter

He's sparkly eyed about something which is going to be extremely costly, which is beyond a new driver - and he can't even drive anyway - when he needs to be focusing on the fact that a huge dent has been made in your family finances because of having just bought a new house. Oh dear - he's really a dreamer isn't he. Thank goodness you're the one managing finances.

I hope you can make him see that it's not just this powerful, expensive man-toy that's the problem but all the running costs on top of everything else. Fingers crossed the chat goes well. 🌹

Thank you for the replies! He is definitely a dreamer.

I just searched the car reg from the photos and it's a range rover evoque, 2 litre diesel.

His brother works at Jaguar Landrover, and I remember him saying it was top spec inside etc, so god knows what price he is wanting to sell it at.

I'll definitely raise the maintaince,tyre costs etc with him if he still pushes it tonight. I might price up some insurance costs to give him a nice dose of reality too.🙄

Tell him no more car discussions until he's passed his test.

Then he needs to look into insurance, servicing costs for brakes and filters, how much new tyres costs, etc for each type of car he "wants".

He's a lovely guy, but often lives in lalaland when it comes to finances. Sometimes it makes me feel like scrooge.
I have one of those. After 30 years we are in debt and the children think I'm mean with money, poor little daddy can't have fun (as I prefer to pay the bills before day trips etc). It's shit.

He won't change, but your anger and resentment will. Get some joint counselling so you can communicate better as the problem won't ever disappear.

Newestname002

The thing is, it's not really a "man toy" is it?
Where we are it appears that every third vehicle is a RR of some type and I would say the 70% are driven by women with the remainder driven by hubby who has a matching vehicle!
The carpark of our our local (private) school is like a JLR showroom at the beginning and end of the day!

2 litre diesel.

Aren't diesel cars about to be hammered in all the other cities for ulez compliancy? No wonder he wants to palm it off. Glasgow has started, Bristol is following. Manchester and Birmingham are starting to roll out ulez and might ban diesel totally. Don't do it.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/05/bristol-becomes-first-uk-city-ban-diesel-cars

If you put the reg into webuyanycar (or similar) it should give you ballpark of the sort of money you're talking about

£35,380 !!

This definitely will not be happening!

And don’t let his brother expect full second hand price. He will have got a big discount on it as an employee of JLR

Do not buy a RR unless you want to spend your life in the garage. Mine has routinely spent 25% of the year in the garage over multiple visits.

I've just sold it and nothing will quite match up. But never again, they're one big money pit (even with the £120 a month warranty).

It will be a euro6 engine, they are not banned anywhere in the UK

Not a chance. Wouldn’t we all (or many) like a nice Range Rover, but not practical. Check some insurances. New driver, Range Rover, no.

Personally think they are awful. Makes me chuckle when I see these vehicles being used for school runs. What a waste of money- the people driving them have no sense of other road users and can’t park for s*. The cost of insurance will be enormous- that’s if he can even find someone who will insure him for it. Which is doubtful.

He's insane. Insurance for a 22 plate Range Rover for a new driver will be thousands. And the required excesses will be thousands too.

I'd explain in very short words and big letters, that unless he has won the lottery, the answer is no.

Why do men do that? My BIL bought a vintage car on a credit card, the same week he and my sis were both made redundant. It's like the sight of a gearstick bypasses their brain cells.