How do people afford £30k-£60k cars with normal jobs?

motorguy

n217970 wrote: »

Suspect the VW emission "fix" is the cause of the problem, if I were looking to buy a VW now my first question would be if VW had "fixed" it. If the answer were yes I would be walking away.

It was built post the requirement to fix it. It never had the "fix" because it never needed it.

motorguy

scd3scd4 wrote: »

AS me old dad use to say...............On the never never..........

From his rented house....

djohnst

I think as said already, it's really hard to know what people actually earn - for many it's probably more than you think.

It's also about priorities - some people love cars (me included) and would prioritise that spend over other things. I bought a 3 month old car earlier this year for a whisker under £50k - it's the most expensive car I have ever owned, that money could have paid off a massive chunk of my mortgage.

But I love it, and whether it's right or wrong, my 34 year old self finds it more interesting than the mortgage!

fiisch

djohnst wrote: »

I think as said already, it's really hard to know what people actually earn - for many it's probably more than you think.

It's also about priorities - some people love cars (me included) and would prioritise that spend over other things. I bought a 3 month old car earlier this year for a whisker under £50k - it's the most expensive car I have ever owned, that money could have paid off a massive chunk of my mortgage.

But I love it, and whether it's right or wrong, my 34 year old self finds it more interesting than the mortgage!

You can live in a car, but you can't race a house.

GazNicki

Stoke wrote: »

I'm generalising, but I always associate FIAT 500's with youngsters (primarily my generation ish) financed up to their teeth, paying way more than they should be, probably leaving themselves with years of debt and regret.

When I see an Audi A1, I always think that's the next logical step. Once you can comfortably afford the 500, you move up to the A1 and get financed up to the teeth again.

And from chatting to people at my work, it seems to be the modus operandi for the most part.

A bit of a narrowminded view to be honest.

My daughter, who is 18, is still in College studying a University Level qualification. She does that 1 day per week and works in a childrens nursery 4 days a week. At minimum wage she brings home over £750 a month in term time, and even more during half term as she can work 5 days per week. Thats a whopping 20% boost to earnings at half term.

Therefore, she has £750 to play with each month. Take off her mobile contract she took out, that's £700 per month.

A Fiat 500 would likely cost around £150 per month, which accounts for 20% of her term-time income. With only Insurance and Fuel to pay for, and the fact she works/studies Monday-Friday, the residual money left over more than covers her remaining expenses which are either pleasure or saving.

When you consider that £750 a month is an annual salary of £9000, and that a Fiat 500 (which is a 10k car) is only 20% of the takings, then if someone is earning £27k (3x as much) then a £30k car on the same format would still be 20% of the salary.

Each person's circumstances are different, but its not illogical to assume someone can afford a relatively nice car on a relatively average salary.

bigadaj

GazNicki wrote: »

A bit of a narrowminded view to be honest.

My daughter, who is 18, is still in College studying a University Level qualification. She does that 1 day per week and works in a childrens nursery 4 days a week. At minimum wage she brings home over £750 a month in term time, and even more during half term as she can work 5 days per week. Thats a whopping 20% boost to earnings at half term.

Therefore, she has £750 to play with each month. Take off her mobile contract she took out, that's £700 per month.

A Fiat 500 would likely cost around £150 per month, which accounts for 20% of her term-time income. With only Insurance and Fuel to pay for, and the fact she works/studies Monday-Friday, the residual money left over more than covers her remaining expenses which are either pleasure or saving.

When you consider that £750 a month is an annual salary of £9000, and that a Fiat 500 (which is a 10k car) is only 20% of the takings, then if someone is earning £27k (3x as much) then a £30k car on the same format would still be 20% of the salary.

Each person's circumstances are different, but its not illogical to assume someone can afford a relatively nice car on a relatively average salary.

Interesting that you can do university level qualifications but not be at a university, sounds a bit like an oxymoron.


Most people would also have to pay for things out of their income, she may only be 18 but many of that age will have bills, rent, utilities etc


How much is an 18 year olds insurance going to be, probably more than £150 a month?


You appear to have challenged a narrow minded view with an equally narrow minded one.


Buying a car of higher value than what you earn annually is personal choice, there are many things that you could do with the money that might be considered better but it's up to the individual.

Cornucopia

bigadaj wrote: »

Buying a car of higher value than what you earn annually is personal choice, there are many things that you could do with the money that might be considered better but it's up to the individual.

Isn't that (annual income) something of an arbitrary limit in the situation where you aren't actually buying the entire car.

It's a bit like saying I shouldn't hire a Rolls-Royce for a day because I couldn't afford to buy it outright.

almillar

I wonder how the Prius model did in the depreciation stakes over the last 3 years, since renewing the battery at X years is a major concern

It's not.

Ironically even when you buy, many hybrids are sold with the battery itself as a leased item.

I think you mean full electrics, and surely leasing the battery would give reassurance against your previous complaint.

50% of diesel drivers plan to switch fuel

Ahaha!! How's this for an alternate headline?

'50% of diesel drivers plan to buy another diesel'

And of course it completely ignores drivers of other cars who COULD change TO diesel.
Some of you guys are forgetting to take your pinch of salt when digesting newspapers.
Its the newspapers trying to drum up a scandal.

'DIESELS ARE KILLING US ALL'
'SCRAP YOUR DIESEL NOW'
'VW ABANDONS DIESEL'
'PEOPLE ARE STILL BUYING DIESEL DEATH TRAPS'

^ All of the above sells more papers than 'EVERYTHING IS OK'

Former_MSE_Andrea

Sorry if someone's posted this already...

Clearly they use our BudgetBrain

bigadaj

Cornucopia wrote: »

Isn't that (annual income) something of an arbitrary limit in the situation where you aren't actually buying the entire car.

It's a bit like saying I shouldn't hire a Rolls-Royce for a day because I couldn't afford to buy it outright.

It's all an arbitrary limit.


I'd suggest a day rental is an even worse comparator than a three year lease or similar.


Ultimately it's down to the individual what they want to spend, assuming someone is happy to sell or finance the vehicle at that level.


The name of the site is a bit of an indicator I'd have said and to be fair Martin's mantra is a reasonable process to follow.