Sruggling to make a decision on future savings vs new car

FireWyrm

I've just bought a 2010 Renault twingo for under £2500. It has 53k on the clock, a clean MOT history, full MOT as part of the deal and looking at the tyres, they were fairly new too. I have never paid more than £6000 for a car, even brand spanking new straight off the forecourt. Why do you believe you need to spend £8K you don't have on a car? Unless you are doing massive mileage as a requirement of a company (who should then be giving you a vehicle allowance) I just don't see how you can possibly justify such a spend.

Rossim1985

danlightbulb wrote: »

If I was sure I wanted it I wouldn't be posting here probably.

Can I live with my current car - yes - as long as it doesn't start giving me any trouble.

Do I still keep looking at modern cars with 200 bhp and wanting one. Yes.

Do I want to buy a house in 4 years when I'm 40. Yes. My future depends on that.

Was the 12 PAGES of responses to this exact same question that you posted on the Pistonheads forum not enough for you?

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=1538309&mid=413651

To other well meaning posters on this forum, don't waste your time responding here. It's been done to death and he'll choose to just ignore any advice / procrastinate endlessly anyway. I don't think you should actually consider buying a house - it would probably require upwards of 500 plus posts of procrastination on various forums and I don't want you to get RSI!

Edit - Forgot the other 7 PAGES on this thread.....
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=1547384&mid=413651

lisa110rry

Yes, but Morris, I have these 'new car' feelings too. I enjoyed reading this thread and I am not a 'piston head'.

OP, have you considered what you will save in fuel and car tax (and lose in insurance.

Your car tax may go down by £200 and your fuel costs may well go down also. On the other hand, your insurance costs may well go up a lot.

I have two cars (yes, I know I don't need two). My CR-V costs £285 in car tax annually and gets about 30 mpg. It costs £160ish in insurance. It is 13 years old and has driven 145k miles and is rock solid. My Merc SLK costs £245 in car tax annually and gets about the same mpg and costs £140 ish in insurance. It is 16 years old. Each is taxed for 6 months though, so half the car tax mentioned.

My husband's 65 plate VW Tiguan (EuroVI so apparently not affected by the scandal) is I think £30 car tax annually, gets 600 miles on a tank, but the insurance? If it wasn't a motability car I reckon it would be hugely more than both of mine (like for like comprehensive with protected no claims).

I'll keep my old cars, I can claim mileage tax allowance on appropriate business mileage at 40p per mile.

I reckon, keep your older car and save.

Puddylove

Rossim1985 wrote: »

Was the 12 PAGES of responses to this exact same question that you posted on the Pistonheads forum not enough for you?

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=1538309&mid=413651

To other well meaning posters on this forum, don't waste your time responding here. It's been done to death and he'll choose to just ignore any advice / procrastinate endlessly anyway. I don't think you should actually consider buying a house - it would probably require upwards of 500 plus posts of procrastination on various forums and I don't want you to get RSI!

Edit - Forgot the other 7 PAGES on this thread.....
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=1547384&mid=413651

:rotfl:
Ok, I've had enough - just buy a bloody car, any car. :rotfl:
P x

dano17439

You should lease a car, that way you get a brand new car with no associated bill and it doesn't tie up any capital. Saw a deal for an Aygo yesterday for £5.99 a month, so you can choose what monthly rental you'd be happy with and find a car that can suit your budget

lynz68

Buying a newer car does not necessarily mean an increase in car insurance. I changed from a 12yr old Ford Ka to a 3yr old Honda Civic insurance increase for the year was 9 quid.

Herzlos

danlightbulb wrote: »

Do I still keep looking at modern cars with 200 bhp and wanting one. Yes.

What cars are you looking at? modern and 200bhp is going to be expensive, but do you need that?

You can buy something smaller and cheaper for less than £8k, save up for a bit and get a nicer car in a couple of years. Look for something less 'cool' and you'll get on better.

Edit: You're pretty set on a BMW 5 series eh? It'll cost a lot more to run/insure/repair than your mondeo, it'll probably have a harsher ride and have less space. It'll be a bit faster though.

If it was my money, I'd be buying a newer Mondeo/Insignia. You'll get bored of the BMW pretty quickly once it starts costing you money.

If you want cheap and special, look for older large engined petrol estates in good condition. Almost everyone made a 2.5l version about 7-10 years ago. Mondeo ST220 Estate?

Ruby_Hepburn

For what it's worth, When myself and my partner decided we needed a more reliable car (i had started a new job that required travel during work hours) we paid £4k for an absolute top spec 08 plate Astra Convertible with 60k on the clock. Even then we splurged to get the 'toys' I'm going to guess we could have got a similarly reliable Astra for the £3k by forgoing the extras.

We will be moving into our new house in January, and hoping that my partners current car passes it's MOT this month, we will then be saving up to replace that by next year (we don't think it will last much longer) as he commutes long distances to work. However, of we haven't got the money, we won't be buying it. Not getting into debt when we can get an old banger For £500 to replace the current old banger we bought for £400 (and which has lasted us 12 months anyway) not every car is without it's faults, not even New cars, so it's not worth forefitting getting on the property ladder for

BMWs are blinking expensive to fix when the break by the way

danlightbulb

Rossim1985 wrote: »

Was the 12 PAGES of responses to this exact same question that you posted on the Pistonheads forum not enough for you?

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=1538309&mid=413651

To other well meaning posters on this forum, don't waste your time responding here. It's been done to death and he'll choose to just ignore any advice / procrastinate endlessly anyway. I don't think you should actually consider buying a house - it would probably require upwards of 500 plus posts of procrastination on various forums and I don't want you to get RSI!

Edit - Forgot the other 7 PAGES on this thread.....
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=1547384&mid=413651

Yeah I can't decide. Is that a crime? Who else do I have to talk to about it other than anonymous people on the internet?

If you have been reading my threads then you'll have seen that there is no easy solution. But that doesn't mean I can't keep looking for one does it.

And it doesn't help to keep being given conflicting information. Half the people say avoid diesels, the other half say they are ok. People keep suggesting the ST220 even though I've said many times its mpg is too low and its still just an old shape Mondeo. And there is no way a car as old as mine is still worth £5k+. That's why Im unable to make a decision, because everything suggested doesn't seem like good value for money. My car is worth £500 at best!

Puddylove

The harsh truth here is that you can't afford the sort of car you want.

So either get into debt or deal with it. No amount of advice either financial or car will change your situation; only you can do that.

P x