Any ideas on getting a car on £600 budget per month?

Cornucopia

Deleted_User wrote: »

... should be about 6 grand = about £170 a month ...

This is the number that makes PCPs look attractive.

I had it when I bought my car - a 3YO Citroen DS3 was going to be £209 x 36 + trade-in, or a brand new Renault Captur was £156 x 48 + trade-in with £500 cashback. (Yes, I understand that buying and PCP are two different things).

The only things I would change about the deal is I should have stated a slightly higher mileage limit (13,000 instead of 12,000) and I probably should have gone for 36 months instead of 48 (although that does tend to lower the figures and make better use of the deposit).

iolanthe07

PCP IS NEVER OK

I disagree with this. I am taking delivery of a new Kia Rio 3 this week, ordered in August. I fully intended to pay cash, but discounts totalling over £1500 were not available unless I took out PCP. So I took out the PCP, will wait a couple of months, and then pay the PCP deal off in full.

trailingspouse

Could you take out a personal loan rather than car finance?

I borrowed £14,000 from Santander about 3 months ago, 3% APR, (over 5 years) to buy my latest car. I'm paying £252 a month, with no penalty for early repayment (which means that if I have any spare cash I can save myself some interest). It was simplicity itself - applied online.

thescouselander

Tarambor wrote: »

PCP IS NEVER OK

Here's what you do when you get a PCP deal. You're saying not only do I want to spend all of my money on a new car to drive across town, I want to spend WAY MORE than all of my money on a new car to drive across town and at the end of it I want to have nothing to show for all the money I've paid out.

You get near the end of your PCP deal. The car is 4 years old and because you've spent your spare money on the payments you don't have any money to pay the balloon payment or to buy another car. So your option is to either have no car or to get a loan for the balloon payment. But then the salesman then says you can hand back your car and get a new one on PCP. You decide to do this because why get a loan for the balloon payment on your 4 year old car when you can have a new one for the same monthly cost?

And bingo there you are, you've fallen into the PCP trap and are stuck in it for however many years to come.

Actually its fine for me - my payments are only about 5% of my disposable income and the 0% finance is an efficient way not to tie up cash in the car. I cant see what the problem is.

Keep_pedalling

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

dont pcp, definately not on your earnings. god why does everyone want to drive a brand new car

If no one did, there would be no used ones to buy.

silverwhistle

curious_1 wrote: »

I know I just want a car, and won't mind something simple. At the same time though, if I'm being honest, a decent car will be nice. Something fairly modern.

You see people driving new cars, I always wonder how on earth they do it on their wages. Students etc.

Yeah, it's great to have the flexibility of a car. I didn't get my licence or buy one until I was 28 and then spent £100 on a banger - the probable equivalent to around £500 now, except these days you get a radio and a lot less rust!I sold it after 10 months to my next door neighbour for £70 and then got a slightly better banger with more power, but still cheap and solid enough and with a tow hitch so that I wasn't too worried when I visited London!


When I moved back to the UK a few years ago I bought a second hand Hyundai for £4K which I expect to keep for quite a few more years. It gets me to the Alps every winter and I can't justify a new one yet even if a bigger, more comfortable one would be desirable..

The answer to your question is 'debt' or, for the younger ones, 'bank of mum and dad'. Personally I'd go the banger route and save up. As I was such a late starter driving I still appreciate it years later, but still cycle or walk for shorter distances. You'll still enjoy your cheaper car, honest! :-)

curious_1

Thanks a lot for the replies. Greatly appreciate it.

The options is have or had were:

a) To get a car like this . if I was to go with this, worst case scenario, I'd be paying £130pm for 36 months. Down side is the mileage. And I've been seeing cars like this. Only thing that keeps this option going is that I consider the mileage to be 'Motorway mileage'. That is, the previous owner did long distances. Which I've heard is not as detrimental to the car as inter-city travel. Where you get to relay on the clutch and brakes a lot of the time.

b) Was to go for cars like the above or higher, but labelled CAT D. E.g. this . Downside to this; I've heard for a first car, one shouldn't get a CAT D car. As Insurance can be a pain with them.

c) Was to just lease a car, with a low deposit for 24-36 months. But when you see deals like the above, you tend to reconsider.

curious_1

trailingspouse wrote: »

Could you take out a personal loan rather than car finance?

I borrowed £14,000 from Santander about 3 months ago, 3% APR, (over 5 years) to buy my latest car. I'm paying £252 a month, with no penalty for early repayment (which means that if I have any spare cash I can save myself some interest). It was simplicity itself - applied online.

I thought about personal loan. I once tried taking out a loan (£8000) to do a number of things with, including getting a car. Got turned down by Zopa. Understandably, maybe because of a record on my credit file. That record is now gone.

So, as a test, applied again to my bank (Santander) for an amount less (£6000). Of the impression I probably will be turned down. But I wasn't. Issues was, this time, I didn't factor in the car. Just proper necessities (even though, now I'm starting to feel the car is a necessity). The loan came through, but with 17.9& APR or there about. In summary, I'm being charged just over £1000+ for having the loan. Still pondering if I should accept it.

Mercdriver

curious_1 wrote: »

I thought about personal loan. I once tried taking out a loan (£8000) to do a number of things with, including getting a car. Got turned down by Zopa. Understandably, maybe because of a record on my credit file. That record is now gone.

So, as a test, applied again to my bank (Santander) for an amount less (£6000). Of the impression I probably will be turned down. But I wasn't. Issues was, this time, I didn't factor in the car. Just proper necessities (even though, now I'm starting to feel the car is a necessity). The loan came through, but with 17.9& APR or there about. In summary, I'm being charged just over £1000+ for having the loan. Still pondering if I should accept it.

Remember that if you have done a hard search application (where the lender searches credit reference agencies) they will have left a mark there showing they searched your file. As they don't enter the bank's decision, too many searches over a short period of time can affect your ability to get credit.

There are pros and cons to Personal loans v Hire Purchase. With a personal loan, the loan isn't secured on the car, so if you get into problems, they can't (immediately) take the car. Only if they get a CCJ against you and set bailiffs or High Court Sherrifs/Enforcement agents to seize goods from you can they get your car.

A HP secured on the car can be easier to get as they have an asset they use as security (the car), but it is also easier to take possession of if you get into problems...

curious_1

Mercdriver wrote: »

Remember that if you have done a hard search application (where the lender searches credit reference agencies) they will have left a mark there showing they searched your file. As they don't enter the bank's decision, too many searches over a short period of time can affect your ability to get credit.

There are pros and cons to Personal loans v Hire Purchase. With a personal loan, the loan isn't secured on the car, so if you get into problems, they can't (immediately) take the car. Only if they get a CCJ against you and set bailiffs or High Court Sherrifs/Enforcement agents to seize goods from you can they get your car.

A HP secured on the car can be easier to get as they have an asset they use as security (the car), but it is also easier to take possession of if you get into problems...

Didn't think that mattered a lot. Just has an effect on your credit score. Obviously I'm wrong.