Shall I treat myself to a nice car?

Coupon_Queen_3

MMMM S2000 Nice!!

Depends how much you are thinking of spending on a property as well? Because £13k is a large chunk of your deposit & if you are saving £700 per month, its gonna take you about 18 months to save that £13k again!

Difficult decision.

My dream car is a Lotus Elise- 1 day I will buy one!

ajk_2

hi PJD

My sister recently purchased a new car as she also had the cash available to purchase outright (has no children!!). She paid 50% and the remaining 50% on interest free credit over 3 years. If you do treat yourself to the new motor you could perhaps cut back in other areas (great ideas on the money saving old style thread)

Alan_M_2

DavidHM wrote:

... and for how long, unfortunately, which is not good if you need the flexibility of converting the car into cash for a house purchase.

If It's a lease there's no money in the car to start with, that's the idea of a lease.

John Paul Getty is well quoted for saying "If it appreciates, buy it, if it depreciates, lease it".

He did rather well for himself.....

PJD

Coupon Queen - I have no idea really how much I'll be putting into a property, 5 years ago i managed to get on the ladder by putting 10k down on a place. Now with over 50k deposit, I'll only just be able to afford a similar place. And tbh, i dont really want to pay out silly money for a shoebox. I dont think houses are worth what people are asking for them at the moment.

After reading the "house price to earnings" thread, and looking at the graph below, maybe I should wait until 2009 - 2013 to jump back on the ladder (!!) (not that i want to turn this thread into a "will house prices crash thread".

Coupled with the fact that i'm not really sure where i want to settle down at the moment, everything's all a bit up in the air... - but of course i'll always need a roof over my head, - i dont want to share/rent forever, - so i know i have to be careful.

Elises are nice, Exiges awesome. A little bit *too* basic inside for my liking though

Thing with the S2000, they're mega reliable, hold their value well, voted best car twice in a year by top gear, and have fantastic performance, - think it's the way to go



http://www.in2perspective.com/nr/stats/house-price-to-earnings-ratio.jsp

Alan_M_2

Sounds to me like you've already sold it to yourself

Whilst I'm all for money saving, there comes a point where, if you can afford it, there's no harm in enjoying life a little.

If a car does it for you, then go for it.

I'm rebuilding a Mercedes, (When I say "I" I'm writing the cheques and a garage is doing it) - it will probably cost more than a new car by quite a margin, but its' something I'll enjoy. - The bonus of this though is they are becoming more sought after so it's unlikely it will depreciate...

Not exactly an investment - but not a money pit either.

hearts

Only mugs and companies and rich folk waste money on new cars ;-) Drive out of the garage and your 30% down already. Buy a second hand or the lease option looks good too.

Eyesparky

I think you will find that 13K is for a second hand example ... A new one would set you back high twenties.

Gorgeous_George

PJD

Life is for living, not saving. Money is for spending too.

Look on Parker's price guide and get a feel for the value of your new car in X years time. The difference is the depreciation and forms the bulk of the cost of the car. Road tax, MOTs, insurance, servicing, repairs are all variables but may be less for your new car than for your current car.

Go on, do it. You won't regret for at least a few months!



GG

Eyesparky

Have to say they are fantastic cars ... I have been tempted to get one myself. The only thing that has put me off so far is insurance group 20 (ouch!):)

PJD

Title of thread reads "nice", not "new"

I'd never buy new, - unless I won the lotto, for reasons Hearts has stated

Gorgeous_George wrote:

PJD

Go on, do it. You won't regret for at least a few months!



GG

haha! Cheers George!