Car change options

danlovedough

I'm interested to hear thoughts and advice on which is the best car soltion for me for the next 2 years.
I am weighing up options of whether to buy 2nd hand / lease new / keep my crappy car and save the money.
2 years ago the lease ended on my Mercedes C220 AMG Sport:


The car was leased from new, had nice spec, worth around £45k
I enjoyed this car so much, but financially it was not good. The cost was £580 per month, deposit was £2k and I had a £4k bill when I handed the car back due to some minor damage.
I managed to negotiate the £4k bill down to a £1700 settlement, but vowed never to lease a Mercedes again. I had paid out £24,000 over 3 years and had nothing to show for it.
I'd bought a Vuaxhall Corsa formy wife with a 4 year loan for £8k which will be paid off next month. When she had her 3rd child I upgraded her car to a 7 seat Ford S-Max which has 2 years left of payments on it:

When we got the S-Max I took over driving the Corsa which is now worth ~£4k.
This was only supposed to be temporary, but I've been driving this corsa for the past 2 years, and now feel the need for somehting a bit more manly and luxurious. However we are saving for a deposit to buy a bigger house am concious I don't want to waste loads of money on a rapidly depreciating asset. But it would help for work to have a nicer car as i'm going to be driving about to see clients quite a bit over the next 2 years.
The options i'm considering:
1. Stick with my corsa for and save money to move up the property ladder

2. Lease a new Mercedes A Class AMG Sport
(I vowed never to lease another Mercedes but I love this car)
Cost is ~£7000 over 2 years. The car is really nice. Would be ideal for me.

3. Buy a ~£10k 2nd hand car with a £4k deposit and a 2 year £6k loan.
Hopefully after 2 years the car will still be worth a reasonable amount.
Something like this woudl be fine:


Thoughts?

bowlhead99

I think few on a 'money saving expert' forum would argue that if you're saving for a house upgrade, and you already owe money on an S-Max, you don't go and borrow another 6k to get a new beemer to replace the car you already have.

I don't know your commute but if you spend half an hour a day in the car, that's ~180 hours a year, while you would be spending >4000 hours in the house - that should probably be what you're putting your money into.

Now clearly we don't always buy cars with our heads, sometimes with our hearts. So wanting something 'manly' is understandable. I'm not sure that an A class is particularly cool or manly and while I might rent one for a weekend if it was the only choice at the rental place, I would never indulge in the financial suicide of spending 7k to rent one for two years.

Yes it has an AMG badge but it is not exactly a 6 litre muscle car. Since when did AMGs take as long as 9 seconds to get to 60...

You say it would be ideal for you, and yet a) it's not the greatest car in the world and b) you don't have 7k of play money to splurge on renting it. My dream car might be a new Ferrari or a classic Aston but as it might cost me all the equity in my house to buy, they are hardly 'ideal' for my situation.

If you're serious about upgrading the house, don't upgrade the existing car that works perfectly well. The only problem with it is that it doesn't handle well or let the neighbours know you have testosterone pumping through your veins. If this bothers you, swap it out with an Impreza turbo from 2005 or something, will probably only cost you 4.5 to 5k, goes fast, handles great, fits 3 kids in the back etc etc.

diesel_dog

The A class AMG is front wheel drive isn't it? Yukk, leave it on the dealers forecourt. What were AMG thinking of? :eek:

wba31

bowlhead99 wrote: »

I think few on a 'money saving expert' forum would argue that if you're saving for a house upgrade, and you already owe money on an S-Max, you don't go and borrow another 6k to get a new beemer to replace the car you already have.

I don't know your commute but if you spend half an hour a day in the car, that's ~180 hours a year, while you would be spending >4000 hours in the house - that should probably be what you're putting your money into.

Now clearly we don't always buy cars with our heads, sometimes with our hearts. So wanting something 'manly' is understandable. I'm not sure that an A class is particularly cool or manly and while I might rent one for a weekend if it was the only choice at the rental place, I would never indulge in the financial suicide of spending 7k to rent one for two years.

Yes it has an AMG badge but it is not exactly a 6 litre muscle car. Since when did AMGs take as long as 9 seconds to get to 60...

You say it would be ideal for you, and yet a) it's not the greatest car in the world and b) you don't have 7k of play money to splurge on renting it. My dream car might be a new Ferrari or a classic Aston but as it might cost me all the equity in my house to buy, they are hardly 'ideal' for my situation.

If you're serious about upgrading the house, don't upgrade the existing car that works perfectly well. The only problem with it is that it doesn't handle well or let the neighbours know you have testosterone pumping through your veins. If this bothers you, swap it out with an Impreza turbo from 2005 or something, will probably only cost you 4.5 to 5k, goes fast, handles great, fits 3 kids in the back etc etc.

I agree with this. If you invest your money in your home, you will get more return than in a car.
If the corsa just isnt you then fair enough, why not sell it and simply use what you have made from it to buy something a little more fun if you must, impreza, civic type r, Octavia RS, but dont be borrowing more money if a nice house is what you want...

danlovedough

The new A class really appeals to me. I went to the dealer and had a good look at one and have done some research on the specs.
It looks nice / different and feels really comfy inside.
However, I've decided for now I won't be buying one.

GJ_WRX

I agree with the above, just swap the Corsa for something more fun/manly.

I need to get a car for my wife soon, as she hardly drives it will be mainly as a back up car incase I'm out and a fun car for me at weekends. My budget started at £6k and has crept up to £10k and started looking into leases/pcp's. Until I slapped myself and realised that the money spent on the car is better spent on the family and house. Now going for a £4k Impreza.

danlovedough

bowlhead99 wrote: »

I think few on a 'money saving expert' forum would argue that if you're saving for a house upgrade, and you already owe money on an S-Max, you don't go and borrow another 6k to get a new beemer to replace the car you already have.

I don't know your commute but if you spend half an hour a day in the car, that's ~180 hours a year, while you would be spending >4000 hours in the house - that should probably be what you're putting your money into.

Now clearly we don't always buy cars with our heads, sometimes with our hearts. So wanting something 'manly' is understandable. I'm not sure that an A class is particularly cool or manly and while I might rent one for a weekend if it was the only choice at the rental place, I would never indulge in the financial suicide of spending 7k to rent one for two years.

Yes it has an AMG badge but it is not exactly a 6 litre muscle car. Since when did AMGs take as long as 9 seconds to get to 60...

You say it would be ideal for you, and yet a) it's not the greatest car in the world and b) you don't have 7k of play money to splurge on renting it. My dream car might be a new Ferrari or a classic Aston but as it might cost me all the equity in my house to buy, they are hardly 'ideal' for my situation.

If you're serious about upgrading the house, don't upgrade the existing car that works perfectly well. The only problem with it is that it doesn't handle well or let the neighbours know you have testosterone pumping through your veins. If this bothers you, swap it out with an Impreza turbo from 2005 or something, will probably only cost you 4.5 to 5k, goes fast, handles great, fits 3 kids in the back etc etc.

You're right about the new A Class. It's not the greatest car in the world. Although for me it would very close to ideal; but most importantly i don't have the money and renting one for 2 years at £7k is a lot of money.

I don't care what my neighbors think.. I just enjoy driving a comfortable car. It's a nice feeling and as I mentioned in my OP i did get a huge amount of pleasure from driving a really nice car for 3 years. It's a pleasure i have lived without for 2 years and i do miss the enjoyment of cruising around in a nice comfortable car.

The Corsa handles just fine, but it provides very little excitement in my life.

As you suggest, on reflection I would be better off getting a car that I like that is bought with me in mind instead of my wife, but to not spend as much.

I'm now thinking to spend no more than £6,000 and to be able to pay upfront for the car, buy it outright without the need to borrow any money.

I can then go ahead and start overpaying the mortgage to build up more equity so we can move more quickly.

I'm pretty sure £5k-£6k will buy a car which provides some excitement, gets me to work / gym / meetings / etc, is reliable, and does not break the bank.
I've had a little look around and these could be possible options:

Mercedes CLK: £6,000


Mercedes C Class Coupe: £5,500



Jaguar XK:£4,500

bowlhead99

Of those I'd say you get the newest car for the money with the C Coupe, and the nicest car for the money with the XK (imho). Of course the XK back seats are a joke if you were trying to put the whole family in the car. But if the whole family's there you're in the S-Max so that's covered.

All you have to do is save up for the insurance and fuel bills vs the Corsa and explain why you need something which takes up more road space while having less passenger space, which is probably a more difficult sell to your wife than a fellow car nut. And find one with a slightly less antiquated wood interior than is average. And make sure it was built post- 2000 or has had an engine replacement.

danlovedough

I'm pretty close to buying the C Coupe.
Have found one locally for £4,495 which I estimate is £500 more than my Corsa is worth. As it's from a dealer they may want slightly more than £500 as a trade in, but will see how i get on negotiating with them.

Have a test drive booked in tomorrow - It's an '03 320 SE with nice spec / Leather heated seats / Sunroof / Sat Nat:



Thoughts? Am I on the right track ? Is this a better option financially than a £10k BMW or a new A Class lease?

danlovedough

I ended up leasing a BMW 320d M Sport via the business for ~£300 per month. Best decision ever. Have it until August next year and still love it. All servicing paid by the company!

Strider590

More debt..... Nice one.