Owning 100% of your car

[Hazell B]

So true. And the rich boy racers drive the Type R's

No, it's the boy racers who can get daddy to sign the loan forms ;)
I bet there's not a single new Type R on the roads 100% paid for :mark:

[Mark]

Apart from fleet and hire cars I doubt there are many new cars on the roads 100% paid for.

[GridGirl]

My brothers currently saving up for a Type R. Dont see the attraction myself, the old one wasn't that good looking and the new one is just ugly.

I just worked out after 8 monthly of paying for my car, I've only reaaly paid off the interest. I've actually only paid about £1000 off the initial sum I borrowed in the first place.

[Daniel]

My brothers currently saving up for a Type R. Dont see the attraction myself, the old one wasn't that good looking and the new one is just ugly.

I just worked out after 8 monthly of paying for my car, I've only reaaly paid off the interest. I've actually only paid about £1000 off the initial sum I borrowed in the first place.
If you sold it now how much would youstill owe? ;)

[Mark]

But she's not going to sell it now so what does it matter (if she keeps the clutch in good order anyway ;) ). It's like saying what someone's house is worth, unless they are interested in selling, it's of no importance.

[Daniel]

But she's not going to sell it now so what does it matter (if she keeps the clutch in good order anyway ;) ). It's like saying what someone's house is worth, unless they are interested in selling, it's of no importance.
I'm merely making a point ;)

[GridGirl]

I dont know what its worth now. :p Although it doesnt really matter, if I wasted less money on clothes, shoes, handbags and holidays I could pay what I owe off in about a year. I'd just rather take the hit of a new car over a longer period than not have the luxuries that I've become accustomed to.

[Daniel]

I dont know what its worth now. :p Although it doesnt really matter, if I wasted less money on clothes, shoes, handbags and holidays I could pay what I owe off in about a year. I'd just rather take the hit of a new car over a longer period than not have the luxuries that I've become accustomed to.
Which is good :)

But most people are dim enough to sell the car 3 or 4 years later and then go and buy another new car and complain when they can't afford to live the high life and buy a new car :p

[GridGirl]

I dont know, I sold my last car 18 months after I'd finnished paying for it. Atleast when I was paying for it I knew where my money was going. When I didn't have to pay for it, I never bothered saving the extra money, I spent it anyway. Maybe its just me, I'll just spend money whatever. Can't take it with me when I'm gone.

Anyway back to the topic. Would anyone specifically not buy a car because its drivers are seen to be terrible?

[Brown, Jon Brow]

LTI ---- Taxi's :mad:

Is Daniel still going on about the 2million people who buy new cars every year being stupid? :p

[Daniel]

LTI ---- Taxi's :mad:

Is Daniel still going on about the 2million people who buy new cars every year being stupid? :p
GG pointed out that she doesn't own any of her car yet (in a sense) but has been paying it off for 8 months and I merely expanded on the point.

[Hazell B]

Is Daniel still going on about the 2million people who buy new cars every year being stupid? :p

Well they aren't exactly smart ;)

Nor are they exactly buying a new car - they're paying interest through the nose for the first third of the three year term then paying to watch something devalue before their eyes for another two years :mark:
If the car was priced at the real, honest end payment total but advertised as 0% finance, nobody would think it value ;)

[Daniel]

Well they aren't exactly smart ;)

Nor are they exactly buying a new car - they're paying interest through the nose for the first third of the three year term then paying to watch something devalue before their eyes for another two years :mark:
If the car was priced at the real, honest end payment total but advertised as 0% finance, nobody would think it value ;)
Exactly. I would certainly think about buying a new car if I had the money and there was something totally and utterly beautiful like say an Alfa Romeo Brera and I could see myself owning it till the day I died or it turned into rust but name me one car out there today that's affordable, utterly desirable and isn't going to be trumped by the dreaded "next model"

I can't say I'm exactly turned on by the thought of a 1.2l Punto for the rest of my adult life. Are you Hazell? ;)

[Iain]

How many people buy a car with finance though and say they're going to own it forever? I certainly don't.

[Hazell B]

How many people buy a car with finance though and say they're going to own it forever? I certainly don't.

Um, but look at it this way ....

If you're paying (for example only) £250 a month finance and at the end all you'll have is a car worth £5000, why not spend £250 on a car with six months tax and test, then save the £1250 you would have paid. Sell the car to the scrappy, spend £1250 on the next one and so on. Within the three years you have a nice car, paid for, and nothing at all owed to anyone. You'll have something better, that's for sure, and you're more liable to care for it well. You'll also have saved a fortune in insurance!

Of course there'll be the odd bill to stick a new bit on it, but a water pump is far cheaper than the interest payments you've made.

We had a 1.4 Punto Daniel. Turned on? No, terrified more like! It felt like it had pushbike wheels .... so I'll stick to the ancient rotting Land Rovers thanks. They're almost free if you get lucky like me :p :

[Daniel]

Um, but look at it this way ....

If you're paying (for example only) £250 a month finance and at the end all you'll have is a car worth £5000, why not spend £250 on a car with six months tax and test, then save the £1250 you would have paid. Sell the car to the scrappy, spend £1250 on the next one and so on. Within the three years you have a nice car, paid for, and nothing at all owed to anyone. You'll have something better, that's for sure, and you're more liable to care for it well. You'll also have saved a fortune in insurance!

Of course there'll be the odd bill to stick a new bit on it, but a water pump is far cheaper than the interest payments you've made.

We had a 1.4 Punto Daniel. Turned on? No, terrified more like! It felt like it had pushbike wheels .... so I'll stick to the ancient rotting Land Rovers thanks. They're almost free if you get lucky like me :p :
Not at all ;)

Hazell if I remember correctly you own a good chunk of the house you live in right? If you wanted to remortgage tomorrow you could probably go out and buy a brand new Landie if you wanted couldn't you? ;) I know for a fact that if Caroline remortgaged tomorrow she could probably go out and buy a brand spanking new Range Rover Sport with cash and have change if she was that way inclined. People bitch and moan about not being able to get on the property ladder.......

Why would you want a new car? Sure they're a little bit more reliable? but for the money Hazell has saved over a new car she can fix anything that goes wrong and have thousands and thousands of pounds left over. Buying a brand new car (and then selling it on withing 10 years) is one of the most financially boneheaded things you can do if you don't have money to burn and most of us don't :mark:

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Why would you want a new car? Sure they're a little bit more reliable? but for the money Hazell has saved over a new car she can fix anything that goes wrong and have thousands and thousands of pounds left over. Buying a brand new car (and then selling it on withing 10 years) is one of the most financially boneheaded things you can do if you don't have money to burn and most of us don't :mark:





Why would you want a new car? Sure they're a little bit more reliable? but for the money Hazell has saved over a new car she can fix anything that goes wrong and have thousands and thousands of pounds left over. Buying a brand new car (and then selling it on withing 10 years) is one of the most financially boneheaded things you can do if you don't have money to burn and most of us don't

Why does every purchase have to be financially sensible? Why can't people buy a car with their heart instead of their head? You only live once, why can't people have the latest design? Why must we always get 2nd best and wasn't good enough for someone else because it makes more financial sense?

Maybe Daniel, you don't have the same love for cars as other people do who buy new ones. Maybe if you stopped spending money on motherboards and if Hazell stopped smokin then you would both have more 'money to burn' :p Maybe hazell could afford that Freelander she always wanted ;) :erm:

BTW - My Punto was paid in cash, which came as a disappointment for the dealer :p and it isn't brand new. It is 2nd hand but just didn't have any mileage on.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Not sure why I double quoted? :erm: :confused: :dozey:

[Daniel]

Why does every purchase have to be financially sensible? Why can't people buy a car with their heart instead of their head? You only live once, why can't people have the latest design? Why must we always get 2nd best and wasn't good enough for someone else because it makes more financial sense?

Maybe Daniel, you don't have the same love for cars as other people do who buy new ones. Maybe if you stopped spending money on motherboards and if Hazell stopped smokin then you would both have more 'money to burn' Maybe hazell could afford that Freelander she always wanted

BTW - My Punto was paid in cash, which came as a disappointment for the dealer and it isn't brand new. It is 2nd hand but just didn't have any mileage on.

As I said Hazell has money to burn but is intelligent not to go and burn it up for no real reason :) She has equity in a house that is guaranteed to increase in price :) If she wanted to remortgage tomorrow she could probably buy any reasonably priced car on the market. It's not a matter of being poor and not being able to afford a car.

I do have a love for cars. That's why I'd rather get a "nice" used car than a "cheap" new car. Caroline and myself are planning to buy a classic 70's car as soon as we get a house with a garage

I'd much rather see this

http://museeautomobilevirtuel.blog4ever.com/photos/478460.jpeg
or this in the driveway

http://www.caradisiac.com/media/images/collection/alfa_romeo_montreal.jpg

Over this

http://magazine.avtoindex.com/images/fiat/2005/fiat_grande_punto_2.jpg

Any true car lover will agree too. A Punto is OK but in 5 years time It'll look like a 5 year old Punto does now and that's not really a nice thing.

If your mum REALLY wanted to do the right thing by you she'd have bought you a 1000 quid car and put 3 grand in a cash ISA for you and the rest in a high interest savings account and in a few years time you'd have had money to go towards a deposit on a house.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

If your mum REALLY wanted to do the right thing by you she'd have bought you a 1000 quid car and put 3 grand in a cash ISA for you and the rest in a high interest savings account and in a few years time you'd have had money to go towards a deposit on a house.

Well she has been looking after my money since I was knee high, so I had interest piling up whilst other kids my age were spending most of the their money on sweets and other pointless stuff. If truth be told I could afford to buy my car with my own savings, but I didn't have quite enough money in my current account which I pay my wages into. My house deposit money is in a separate account that includes a sum given to me by my grandmother to avoid inheritance tax when she dies, but I probably shouldn't be talking to you about that :s

[Iain]

Don't be confused, I've just split this from the thread it was hidden in as it was going off topic and this was an interesting topic in itself. :)

I had to go for finance on my first car, even though it only cost £3000 as the insurance costs meant I couldn't have bought a car cash, insured it and ran it with the funds I had available and I needed a car ASAP for a new job. Since then I've just done the same, paying my cars up. It's the way my parents have always done it, so it's good enough for me. I'd rather pay it that way and have plenty money left over for doing other things, instead of putting a whole load of money into a car, then seeing it depreciate anyway.

[Daniel]

Don't be confused, I've just split this from the thread it was hidden in as it was going off topic and this was an interesting topic in itself. :)

I had to go for finance on my first car, even though it only cost £3000 as the insurance costs meant I couldn't have bought a car cash, insured it and ran it with the funds I had available and I needed a car ASAP for a new job. Since then I've just done the same, paying my cars up. It's the way my parents have always done it, so it's good enough for me. I'd rather pay it that way and have plenty money left over for doing other things, instead of putting a whole load of money into a car, then seeing it depreciate anyway.

But it depreciates by the same amount regardless of whether you buy it on finance or not ;) It's just that you pay more for the privelige with buying a new car as well as buying it on finance (or even with cash) than you do with buying a car which has already lost most of it's value through depreciation :)

Your "having more money left over for other things" way of thinking is slightly backwards. If you want ed to do that you could just buy an older car now and save up over the time you own the carand be earning 6% on that and then buy a new car with that money and save up for your next car and pay cash ;)

I know it's nice to own a new car and it would be nice but it just can't be argued reasonably that it's at all a financially sensible way of owning a car.

[Hazell B]

Hazell if I remember correctly you own a good chunk of the house you live in right? If you wanted to remortgage tomorrow you could probably go out and buy a brand new Landie if you wanted couldn't you?
....but for the money Hazell has saved over a new car she can fix anything that goes wrong and have thousands and thousands of pounds left over.

For the record, I don't have money to burn :p :
I earned exactly £2,200 a year for the past two years. Seriously. This year I may earn enough to pay tax, but it will again be close as we need to buy yet another trailer soon.

Anyway, I do own most of the house, valued at only £70kish, though. The Land Rover cost £3050 38 months ago (pristine) and is now worth only a few hundred pounds (say £700ish) thanks to my hard use. It's cost roughly five hundred in bits/MOTs/etc.

So, for three and a half grand I've had more value motoring than forking out monthly payments and watching depreciation. At £250 a month, a financed car would have been FIVE THOUSAND pounds more!

[CarlMetro]

Sure they're a little bit more reliable? but for the money Hazell has saved over a new car she can fix anything that goes wrong and have thousands and thousands of pounds left over. Buying a brand new car (and then selling it on withing 10 years) is one of the most financially boneheaded things you can do if you don't have money to burn and most of us don't :mark:

I purchased new, and paid cash for it too. The reason I brought new was a simple one, my sister-in-law works for a division of GM and as such is entitled to purchase cars through the Vauxhall partners scheme. This scheme is also open to close relatives of the employee and as such we qualifyed for a 27% discount off the purchase of a new Astra. Add to that the £800 off I got from my GM credit card meant that we drove off in a brand new car for the same price as a two year old model of the same spec. I tend to keep it for four years, just like the one it replaced and the one before that too, and then trade it in for another new one. I know that if anything goes wrong in the next three years that I have a full manufacturers warranty, not that I've ever had anything other than normal servicing, a few tyres and one headlight bulb to replace in the three we've had so far.

Please also bear in mind that without people buying new cars that the supply of 2nd hand stuff would soon dry up. No matter how old the car is you currently drive, someone brought it new once ;)

[Iain]

I know it's nice to own a new car and it would be nice but it just can't be argued reasonably that it's at all a financially sensible way of owning a car.

I'm not too fussed to be honest if it's financial sense or not. Life's too short to be pennypinching and looking for the best deal all the time. :)

[Mark]

Quite so. My thought is that you look at the monthly payment and that is acceptable for the car you want, then why not get it?! Personally I found that given the finance Ford was offering at the time, it was just as cheap for me on a month by month basis to buy a new car as it was to buy one 2 years old!

Daniel, those older cars are nicer to look at, but day to day I'd rather have the Punto. Modern comfort, modern reliability.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I can see what Daniel is saying. If he wants and prefers classic cars, then buying a new car doesn't make any sense. My dad has a Mk2 Jag and it is brilliant to look at, but when you are riding in it you don't feel very safe. Even though its a big car you know that safety never came into the designers head and if you crash, you have dashboard made from churches going towards your face.





Any true car lover will agree too. A Punto is OK but in 5 years time It'll look like a 5 year old Punto does now and that's not really a nice thing.



I don't know. Even the old Punto looks more stylish compared with other modern superminis such as the Corsa, 207 or erm....Fiesta :uhoh: Although it is mechanically dated.

I don't think the Grande Punto will age much
http://www.sfconline.org.uk/models/Punto/images/hgtlaunchfiat_0105.jpeg

[Mark]

The old Punto is sad and dated I'm afraid. The new one however is a good looking car, but all things are transitory, in 10 years time the Grande Punto will look dated too.

As for the Fiesta, I don't think it looks bad, but perhaps a little dated, which isn't surprising since it's on the final year of it's production life.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I'm not so sure about the 2008 Fiesta

[img]http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/1649/fiesta15yv.jpg[img]

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I'm not so sure about the 2008 Fiesta

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/1649/fiesta15yv.jpg

[Daniel]

I can see what Daniel is saying. If he wants and prefers classic cars, then buying a new car doesn't make any sense. My dad has a Mk2 Jag and it is brilliant to look at, but when you are riding in it you don't feel very safe. Even though its a big car you know that safety never came into the designers head and if you crash, you have dashboard made from churches going towards your face.




I don't know. Even the old Punto looks more stylish compared with other modern superminis such as the Corsa, 207 or erm....Fiesta :uhoh: Although it is mechanically dated.

I don't think the Grande Punto will age much
http://www.sfconline.org.uk/models/Punto/images/hgtlaunchfiat_0105.jpeg

Your Punto will look just as old and sad as that :) Everything that is new will one day be old. I must admit the new Punto is nice but at the end of the day it's just a Punto :)

[Mark]

That Fiesta is a photoshop mockup, nobody except Ford knows what it's really going to look like yet.

[Daniel]

For the record, I don't have money to burn
I earned exactly £2,200 a year for the past two years. Seriously. This year I may earn enough to pay tax, but it will again be close as we need to buy yet another trailer soon.
Anyway, I do own most of the house, valued at only £70kish, though. The Land Rover cost £3050 38 months ago (pristine) and is now worth only a few hundred pounds (say £700ish) thanks to my hard use. It's cost roughly five hundred in bits/MOTs/etc.
So, for three and a half grand I've had more value motoring than forking out monthly payments and watching depreciation. At £250 a month, a financed car would have been FIVE THOUSAND pounds more!

So if you wanted to buy a new landie you possibly could ;)


I purchased new, and paid cash for it too. The reason I brought new was a simple one, my sister-in-law works for a division of GM and as such is entitled to purchase cars through the Vauxhall partners scheme. This scheme is also open to close relatives of the employee and as such we qualifyed for a 27% discount off the purchase of a new Astra. Add to that the £800 off I got from my GM credit card meant that we drove off in a brand new car for the same price as a two year old model of the same spec. I tend to keep it for four years, just like the one it replaced and the one before that too, and then trade it in for another new one. I know that if anything goes wrong in the next three years that I have a full manufacturers warranty, not that I've ever had anything other than normal servicing, a few tyres and one headlight bulb to replace in the three we've had so far.
Please also bear in mind that without people buying new cars that the supply of 2nd hand stuff would soon dry up. No matter how old the car is you currently drive, someone brought it new once

I do know that. Thank god that people are willing to pay for depreciation so I can have a decent and reliable car :p

I knew you'd post in this thread though :p That is a pretty good deal and I think you'd be silly not to take it up because for you it's probably the cheapest way of owning a car and is probably not much more costly than me buying my 406 and running it for a few years.


I'm not too fussed to be honest if it's financial sense or not. Life's too short to be pennypinching and looking for the best deal all the time.

The thing is there's a lot of satisfaction to getting your financial affairs in order and not having to dip into credit whenever you want to buy something. I'm not talking about pennypinching at all ;) I don't live an austere life living on merely bread and water. When I want to buy most things I can afford to do so because I'm not losing £250 or something on a new car each month :) For instance I'm going on a two week holiday later this month and should be able to do so without going into my overdraft or using a credit card. I just realise the difference between a need and a want. At the end of the day if you pay cash for most things with cash and buy second hand cars you'll find yourself much better off and you can afford to do more things if you've got the patience to save.


Quite so. My thought is that you look at the monthly payment and that is acceptable for the car you want, then why not get it?! Personally I found that given the finance Ford was offering at the time, it was just as cheap for me on a month by month basis to buy a new car as it was to buy one 2 years old!
Daniel, those older cars are nicer to look at, but day to day I'd rather have the Punto. Modern comfort, modern reliability.

The thing is that well treated an older car will be just as reliable as a newer car. My 504 did a lot of mileage with me and broke down once in the 4 years I had it because a wire broke off the starter motor. I paid £600 for it and filters, oil, tyres and brake pads so it was far better value than a car that would have cost me £8000 which I then would have sold for perhaps £5. My Fiat 131 had been in my family for longer than I had when I got rid of it (crash damage) and had never broken down once and that's a 70's Fiat so by all rights it should have broken down weekly. Thinking that a new car is going to be a lot more reliable than an older one isn't always necessarily the truth. Most cars will quite easily to 180k miles without needing the head off the motor and in the country by that time most will have rusted away.

At the end of the day buying a new car on credit and then selling it 3 or 4 years later is an expensive way of owning a car. For example for a new 1.2 Punto the total cost on finance over 5 years is about £8k considering that most people probably aren't going to be able to get the headline rate on a car loan at which time it'll be worth a maximum of £3k. So you've paid FIVE THOUSAND pounds extra just to own something that was shiny for a while and had that new car smell about it.

Would life be so much worse without a new car?

[Mark]

That may have been your experience, but it hasn't been mine. Remember my car isn't the only one I've had experience of. For a very long time my Dad ran second hand cars, and the things we were forever shelling out to get something fixed with them, usually the exhaust :mark:

At the end of the day you pays your money and you takes your choice, you like second hand cars, good for you. Others like new cars, good for them. Myself I'm agnostic on the subject but I don't believe that it's necessary to go to extreme lengths to prove one way is better than t'other.

[Daniel]

That may have been your experience, but it hasn't been mine. Remember my car isn't the only one I've had experience of. For a very long time my Dad ran second hand cars, and the things we were forever shelling out to get something fixed with them, usually the exhaust :mark:

At the end of the day you pays your money and you takes your choice, you like second hand cars, good for you. Others like new cars, good for them. Myself I'm agnostic on the subject but I don't believe that it's necessary to go to extreme lengths to prove one way is better than t'other.

Did your dad not own a Lada? :p A Russian built car with Fiat bits :mark:

[Mark]

Haha, he did indeed have a Lada Riva, from new too! Tank of a thing to drive, and had similar fuel consumption :mark: Having said that it only cost £3k and lasted about as long as a £3k car would.

But he's had quite a few others too, including but not limited to, Fiat 127, Ford Escort, Vauxhall Cavileer, Corsa A.

[GridGirl]

Maybe I'm a car snob but I dont want a second hand car, and probably wont ever have one again. I dont want someone else's sloppy seconds. I want my car to look pretty, in the colour I want it to be and have the optional extras I want it to have without having to spend ages to find just what I want or to settle for second best. I forgot to mention that despite having finance on my car, the deal specific deal I got meant I paid less for my car new than I've seen lots of people/dealers trying to sell second hand ones for.

I could of saved up extremely hard for about a year and paid for my current car in cash but I didn't want to. I'd rather spread the cost over time. Depreciation has been mentioned, and I really dont want to go into the exact ICAEW definitions because that would only prove that I'm a saddo. The whole point of depreciation is to spread the cost of an asset over its useful economic life. Yes my car is depreciating while I'm paying for it, but its going to depreciate at the same rate if its 100% paid for. I'm still hoping to get a minimum of £5/6k for it when i sell it, so all in all I'm not too bothered. When you buy a second hand car it will have depreciated to the value that you buy it at anyway.

[Daniel]

Maybe I'm a car snob but I dont want a second hand car, and probably wont ever have one again. I dont want someone else's sloppy seconds. I want my car to look pretty, in the colour I want it to be and have the optional extras I want it to have without having to spend ages to find just what I want or to settle for second best. I forgot to mention that despite having finance on my car, the deal specific deal I got meant I paid less for my car new than I've seen lots of people/dealers trying to sell second hand ones for.

I could of saved up extremely hard for about a year and paid for my current car in cash but I didn't want to. I'd rather spread the cost over time. Depreciation has been mentioned, and I really dont want to go into the exact ICAEW definitions because that would only prove that I'm a saddo. The whole point of depreciation is to spread the cost of an asset over its useful economic life. Yes my car is depreciating while I'm paying for it, but its going to depreciate at the same rate if its 100% paid for. I'm still hoping to get a minimum of £5/6k for it when i sell it, so all in all I'm not too bothered. When you buy a second hand car it will have depreciated to the value that you buy it at anyway.

Sloppy seconds? We're not talking about ladies of the night here :mark: These are cars :)

If I buy a car that's depreciated to the value I buy it for that means I'm not paying that depreciation. That's a good thing for me and a bad thing for the seller. Yes your car will still depreciate at the same rate as one that was paid for with cash but you'll have paid more because you're paying interest :) I can perhaps understand with a Fiesta ST because it's not just the basic cooking model and it's going to hold it's value better due to being a less common model but still there are cheaper ways to get your kicks :p

My girlfriend has a car which is only worth £1500 yes is still faster than your ST :p

[GridGirl]

Like I said, maybe I'm just a car snob but I base my car buying decisions on prettiness and having the things on it I want it to have. Yes, Caroline's car might be faster than my car, but I never bought my car for its speed. I bought it because its pretty and I'm in my opinion my car is a hell of a lot prettier than Caroline's. :p

But in terms of buying second hand cars, surely they are depreciated to the value to someone is willing to pay for them in a free market. I can sell my car tomorrow, pay off the fiance and still have few thousand pounds left over, but I'd still have to go out and buy another car. :p

[Daniel]

Like I said, maybe I'm just a car snob but I base my car buying decisions on prettiness and having the things on it I want it to have. Yes, Caroline's car might be faster than my car, but I never bought my car for its speed. I bought it because its pretty and I'm in my opinion my car is a hell of a lot prettier than Caroline's. :p

But in terms of buying second hand cars, surely they are depreciated to the value to someone is willing to pay for them in a free market. I can sell my car tomorrow, pay off the fiance and still have few thousand pounds left over, but I'd still have to go out and buy another car. :p

I'm sorry but I've never heard such a silly idea as buying a car for it's "prettiness" when it's not actually a nice looking car like an Alfa Spyder or a Brera or something like that :)

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I'm sorry but I've never heard such a silly idea as buying a car for it's "prettiness" when it's not actually a nice looking car like an Alfa Spyder or a Brera or something like that :)

Or Punto :o



Sorry :uhoh:

[GridGirl]

But its a nice looking car to me Daniel. Other will think differently but I like it. Everyone bases their car buying decisions on something, whther it be money, needing space for 5 kids, being able to tow a caravan etc. Money or practicality aren't issues to me, but whether I think a car looks nice is.

[Daniel]

But its a nice looking car to me Daniel. Other will think differently but I like it. Everyone bases their car buying decisions on something, whther it be money, needing space for 5 kids, being able to tow a caravan etc. Money or practicality aren't issues to me, but whether I think a car looks nice is.
You're driving a hopped up shopping trolley. No offence or anything :mark:

[GridGirl]

Yeah, but to me your driving an old, ugly piece of junk. No offence or anything. :p Everyone is different.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I don't think that I will always have new cars. 2 years ago when my brother was 25 he got a 2001 BMW 330ci, and I like that idea. Having a fast second hand car for the price of a supermini. But when you are my age you are limited to around 1200cc :\

[Hazell B]

Can I just ask a question, and hope it doesn't start a row?

Are the majority of the 'non-pennypinchers' still living with mum and dad? 'Cos when you enter the real world and have a house to buy it changes your perception a good deal.

For example, the five grand I've saved on interest on a car has made me over ten grand on my mortgage. Every thousand off a home loan is worth three times it's value in repayments. So my five grand saved is actually fifteen grand off the mortgage repayments.

That's why I own over 90% of my house and my guess would be it will go up in value, not down ;)

[Iain]

Are the majority of the 'non-pennypinchers' still living with mum and dad? 'Cos when you enter the real world and have a house to buy it changes your perception a good deal.


I'll never be able to buy a house on my pathetic wages, so that's not something that worries me. :) I know similar-aged people at work who don't drive, but have a house and are desperate for the next month's pay packet to come in.

[GridGirl]

No, I have my own house with a mortgage and bills to pay on my own. Everything I purchase or buy is paid for by me. My only debt is a few thousand on my car and my mortgage.

To be fair though, I have a good job, earn a very decent wage, so I can pretty much afford what I want and when. Like Iain said, I have friends that dont drive, have no cars, but have a house and cant even afford a small luxury like going to the cinema once a month.

[Daniel]

No, I have my own house with a mortgage and bills to pay on my own. Everything I purchase or buy is paid for by me. My only debt is a few thousand on my car and my mortgage.

To be fair though, I have a good job, earn a very decent wage, so I can pretty much afford what I want and when. Like Iain said, I have friends that dont drive, have no cars, but have a house and cant even afford a small luxury like going to the cinema once a month.
Two or three years of being on a mortgage and you can remortgage and get a much better rate and be much better off ;)

I don't mean you specifically btw :p

[GridGirl]

Your right as a general rule of thumb in recent years but interest rates are rising. Your not going to save money if you have an interest only mortgage. Anyway, thats nothing to do with this topic at all.

[KILOHMUNNS]

When you have 4 kids your choice is very limited to start with and new people carriers costing in excess of 15k from new (but that was my choice). Unfortunately I've never had new but my last 3 cars have all been bought outright and my current car won't depreciate for a least 2 years because of the deal I got on it. I don't really see the need for a new car as all my recent second hand cars have all been prestine, I would rather save the money to spend on doing the house up and socialising then high repayments on a car.

[Hazell B]

Two or three years of being on a mortgage and you can remortgage and get a much better rate and be much better off ;)



NO! You don't remortgage. You go to the bank and simply demand a better deal. They won't say no. Remortgages lose you payments made and just give you cash that burns a hole in your pocket - a better deal knocks money off the repayments for life ;)

That's how I can afford horses, land, theatre tickets and stuff yet still earn almost nothing :)

[Rollo]

Every motor car and motorbike I have ever purchased has been done in cash. In the case of my current Kawasaki and the Ford Ka I have, I bought them both new. Buy buying a vehicle new, I knew that every single problem that can arise I'll know about as it's happening.

A general rule of thumb to work out where your break even point re:depreciation vs interest repayments is to multiply your interest rate by 3 and that should give you the number of months it will take. Holding a car longer than that period will mean you don't "lose" out.

ie. if the interest rate is 7% you need to hold onto the car for 21 months.

There is an iterative proof of this but I shan't go into that here; mainly because it's rather a bit long.