Shall I treat myself to a nice car?

brazilianwax

Buy the car! Buy the car! Buy the car!!

We spent £35k on our dream car for hubby's 30th. Had to buy a new house to to have somewhere to put it :rolleyes: , took the hit on depreciation :eek: , the group 20 insurance :eek: , and fork out for 6 monthly servicing and super unleaded petrol (for a max of 16mpg) :eek: , and do you know what??

It's worth every single penny for the smile it puts on my face when I drive it!!!

:T :T :T

love_lifer

i never regretted my flash-ish beamer. got it 4 years ago. love it more now than before. im a sad get, i know, but i recklon u should go for it

JennyW_2

Life is for enjoying, not always about savings and mortgages.

If you want a new car then buy one. You may not be in this position again for a while

I've leased and purchased in the past and to be honest there's nothing like having a new car At least it's yours and you can always sell it again if necessary but I'm sure it wouldn't come to that.

I know it's all been said before but you never know what's around the corner. My dad died before he had the chance to have anything nice because he always thought there would be "tomorrow"

Alan_M_2

My view on life changed along these lines when my father survived cancer and open heart surgery in his early 60's.

How many times have you heared the story of the guy that worked all his life, retired with a more than comfortable pension and popped his clogs two weeks later.

I'm not saying go out and blow the lot, but strike a happy balance between saving for your future and enjoying the moment. Life is entirely about compromise.

SCOTTEX

People might not agree with me but when buying cars I always remember a bit of advice given to me when I was 16 from a very wealthy bloke on buying new cars. He said "Never use your own money when you can use somebody elses". At the time I thought he was daft, I thought surely you can get a better deal by paying cash, but as I've got older I've come around to that way of thinking.

Personally, the Honda would be a waste of time & money. Your now 32 and desperatley need appreiciating assets, without them your getting very far.

Alan_M_2

Taking points from the above post.

I look at everything I purchase from a business perspective (as would have the wealthy chap mentioned in the above post no doubt).

So fundamentally I don't pay outright for anything I use, I lease it, but that's because the money is being used elsewhere in the business to buy stock and generate turnover.

For a company leasing is tax efficient, we claim the vat back, we offset interest against profit and corporation tax and the capital we saved to use elsewhere is generating far more money then we're paying in interest to lease the asset to start with. This is basic operational cashflow.

These arguments hold a lot less water for individuals, but can still be relevant if the capital saved is invested elsewhere.

I'm quite interested in the last sentence though, here we have a guy that at 32 has a reasonable enough income to save £700 a month, has a nice lump in the bank and comes across as a sensible guy.

The last thing I read into any of that is a guy that's desperate for anything.

PJD

Thanks very much everyone for taking the time to read & comment, - its hugely appreciated, - i've read all comments with interest. Lots of interesting points / plenty of food for thought for me

I haven't reached a definite decision as yet, - but I am keeping my eye out for a bargain...

:beer:

BaldySmurf

May I just say, fantastic choice of car I very nearly bought one last year, took one for a test drive and loved it, but pulled out at the last minute.

I do fully intend to get an S2000, but as we're hoping to move house soon my focus is solely there. As soon as we're in and settled I'll be on the lookout!

brazilianwax

BaldySmurf wrote:

May I just say, fantastic choice of car I very nearly bought one last year, took one for a test drive and loved it, but pulled out at the last minute.

Just be careful - I've seen a lot that have been smashed up due to the driver thinking they can push the S2000 further and further.

ashcarrot

After seeing a 2 bed small manky bungalow get relisted £5k higher at the bottom of our road I'm tempted to just buy a supped up Audi ... A bit disheartening to see those rises still happening.