New Car Advice Please

Newyorkdreams

Hi DFW - I'm after some of your advice and knowledge please...

Me and my husband have a car that is bought and paid for but is not very economical and guzzles fuel (we only get about 30 mpg). My hubbie is hoping to go to Uni next Sept and it's about a 50 mile round trip each day so we really need to get a more economical car. We already have a significant burden of debt which we are trying hard to reduce and don't want to add anymore.

We have seen a new car that we like which would give us 60 mpg combined, double what we currently get, no car tax and a lower insurance group. The only way I see that we can get this is by doing the following:

i) sell our current car and try and get it's current market value (around £7500)
ii) use this money to put down as a deposit on a new car for a LEASE and use the rest of the money to pay the monthly payments - this would cover aroudn 24 months out of a 36 month agreement
iii) By the time the 24 months were paid, we would have paid off our debt and be a much more financially sound position
iv) At the end of the 3 years we give the car back or we decide to buy.

I'm totally new to leasing so I'm not sure of the pitfalls. I'm thinking that our car is going to depreciate in value anyway over the same period so we may as well get a new car for no extra cost.

Any views you could share would be really appreciated.

Cheers

NYD

[Deleted User]

Surely the best idea is to buy with the money that you will sell the old one for.

You must have good taste in cars, however could you not buy something smaller and quite cheap for those couple of years- you would save even more.

You do have a lot of debt and guess you are high earners.

What car are you looking to lease for that price?

moohound

Were you thinking of a PCP finance deal?

I don't know much about them, but they sound like you a funding the depreciation on the car and paying interest on it. I think there are some knowledgable people on the motoring thread, who know the ins and outs of car finance.

I would sell the gas guzzler, buy a 2-3K car, save £1000 in case of repair bills and chuck the rest at the debt, if it were me.

Newyorkdreams

assj wrote: »

Surely the best idea is to buy with the money that you will sell the old one for.

You must have good taste in cars, however could you not buy something smaller and quite cheap for those couple of years- you would save even more.

You do have a lot of debt and guess you are high earners.

What car are you looking to lease for that price?

Hi - thanks for the reply. We could buy a second hand car with the money that we get for the sale of our current car ( Seat Leon FR) but we wouldn't get much for £7500 and not sure if we could get anything that gives such a great MPG. I take your point about downsizing and getting something smaller and cheaper which is something we do need to think about. We have way too much debt! We do have decent jobs but tbh, it's more about us spending way above our means and not having a plan to pay it back!

It's a Vauxhall Mokka. It's lush

NYD

System

if you want a new car they don't come cheaper than dacia.
The dacia sandero 0.9 ambiance for example is £7395, 30 quid a year road tax and about 56mpg (or another 1k for the diesel which is even more economical).

Not the prettiest car, but cheap to buy and own which is the most important thing when you are in debt

Tomm20

What about a second hand turbo diesel? I get 47 miles to the gallon from my car, not as powerful as your FR but its 150 bhp and a lot of fun to drive and reasonably cheap to run.

[Deleted User]

Yes you do have a rather nice car!

I'm going to give my car back (HP) this year and I'm buying a Vauxhall Corsa 1.2, it's costing me about 4K cash.

But I can't stand finance anymore and I don't have enough for anything more as I have to buy my other HP car and retain it for my partner.

Expensive year for me as well eeekkkk

moohound

assj wrote: »

But I can't stand finance anymore

Agree with this 100%

From now on I want to own my possessions not let them own me.

closed

mpg figures should be taken with a pinch of salt

leasing agreements usually have a mileage limitation

probably far cheaper to stick with what you've got, and drive slower, especially as the uni thing is a hope currently, changing cars, especially to a new higher valued leased car is rarely a way to save money

lynz68

As has been said above don't believe all you read about MPG car makers are known to over estimate what the vehicle is actually capable of.

I don't know what your income level is but looking at the amount of debt you have do you think you would pass the credit check that the car company will carry out.

If I was you I would be looking to sell the gas guzzler for a much more economical small car and if you got the market value sorry but that is plenty to buy a decent second hand car that will do while your husband studies and when he is finished if the debts are sorted then think of buying what you want and consider this as making do for now.

bouncydog1

Fact is you cannot afford a new car. Sell the one you have and buy a second or third hand older car that does better mileage. Why get into more debt for a new car. IMO you could buy a better older car than a new vauxhall mocha, which I personally think looks anything but lush!!