TheBunting's Starting From Scratch Savings Diary

What car have you got thebunting? How much did it cost you and how much is the financing for it?


Biggest mistake of my life was at 22 buying a brand new audi A3... 17k although was on 3.9% APR for about 5 years I paid for that.... (finished payments early)... but it was 20% of my net earnings... (I was earning 17k gross then).


On a slightly brighter note, at (coming up to 29) I still have the car... so getting as much value out of it as possible!


All my mates bought new motors at the time and I thought why not... but thinking back I just think I was being so stupid...


What I have been able to do now is with rental property - they earn me enough money to pay for car payments... if I ever wanted to go down that route again! (which I suspect I wont!)

TheBunting wrote: »

...and I will get a new car on say a 3 year contract. I don't use a car enough anyway as I have a work van with diesel card.

Why get a brand new car then? It will be a mistake, I have been there. Save the money, make it grow.

There's a reason they give 3 years free warranty - it's because most modern cars they don't expect to see back within that period so it's an (almost) meaningless promise.

Buy a 2 year old Hyundai with three years remaining on a 5 year warranty. If feeling particularly thrifty buy a 2 year old Kia with a massive 5 years warranty left......

You'll still have to put them through MoTs but put the money you are saving on the purchase/monthly lease costs in a car fund in a 3/4/5% interest rate bank account. If you don't need it over the next 3 - 5 years you can either treat yourself or push it into long term savings and start again with the next car.

TheBunting wrote: »

You clearly don't know what the PCP deal is then.
It only lasts 3 years. You get your new car, pay no deposit, hand in the old car you own and they hand you a cheque for the value of that car with your new one. Your on a 3 year contract with the new car and agree a mileage per year and after the 3 years you hand it back in and choose a new car. All you do is pay a monthly payment. For someone like me who doesn't use a car that much, this is a good idea

You've got to be 'avin a giraffe!

New cars probably only stack up financially for a very few people for whom ultimate reliability and perhaps image are critical for their job/business. For everyone else, new cars, particularly those disposed of after a short period such as 3 years, are one of the most efficient ways ever invented of flushing away your money...

PCP financing changes none of the maths, just present the numbers in a more obfuscated way that makes it easier for consumers to deceive themselves. Do folks think the PCP finance companies are idiots or something? It's very much the opposite: these are sharp operators who are not in the business of subsidising consumers.

Let's face it: for many people who buy new cars it's really all about status anxiety and about how others perceive them. If you can rid yourself of all that bullshine, then over a lifetime you can save yourself a fortune - literally life-changing amounts of money.

If, as you say, you don't use a car that much (because you've a works' vehicle), then hosing away money on a new car is simply crazy - IMO

Confession: in the past 20 years I've only bought 2 cars, both very tidy ex-rentals, that had taken massive initial depreciation hits. I consider most cars to be a liability, and I'd rather own assets. All that money I've saved over those 20 years has been invested, compounding way, making me more and more money, not some car manufacturer, middleman or financing company.