Loan for my dream car at 18!

DD265

I wouldn't.

At 16 my parents bought me a horse - he cost anything from £350 to £600+ a month to keep (never mind large one-off expenses, luckily he was insured and that covered major vets bills) until I lost him 13 years later. Now at 18 I wasn't paying his full costs; I gradually took those on but by the end of university I was paying everything. I am glad I had him and I wouldn't have given him up for the world, I just know that I would own/be in a position to own a house by now (30) if I hadn't had him.

I worked part time all through university and I had a placement year where I earned a reasonable salary, but having such a large expense has really held me back because being honest I couldn't afford the lifestyle I was living. Not necessarily expensive nights out every week, but even the little things added up.

I graduated and because I'd maxxed out my credit card and overdraft the bank consolidated it with a loan (cheers guys) which started that cycle again. I got a car on PCP in 2014 when I changed jobs and my 16 year old Fiesta wasn't up to the commute - the increase in salary was basically lost to that. I finally managed to move out of my parents, in with my now husband, in 2015. I got rid of that car last year as well and bought a £3.5k Golf that's been a great buy. I still had to put £2k of that on the credit card but it's interest free.

I'm now paying off a (different) loan and two credit cards - I can attribute some of that to the car and our wedding. I am in control of my debt now and I understand it. I know how it works, why I've got it and I have a plan to pay it down. When I was 18-25 I don't think I ever realised that it wasn't my money, and I've never had a problem getting credit which kind of doesn't help.

I would hate to see somebody else go through similar if they have a choice; it really, really sucks when you have too much month at the end of the money.

Sncjw

What is your income? You haven!!!8217;t mentioned that yet

fred246

"life's too short to drive boring cars" As long as he only kills himself. It's when they kill innocent people just going about their daily lives that it gets really awful.

dealer_wins

OP sadly another person who will in all probability go through life paying £1000s and £1000s in interest.

prowla

Hmmm - the BRZ seems quite a nice little car and is quite pokey with a 200bhp engine and 6.x second 0-60.

Subaru have a great reliability record, but I cant say whether the £8k price for a 5 year old £20k car is appropriate.

You can have a fast car and drive it enjoyably and courteously on the roads; the turn of speed can be safer in some cases and the handling certainly can.

Or you can drive like the roads are your personal racetrack.

It is rather important to be able to separate the two and going to track days is an ideal way to get to appreciate the difference.

My suggestion is to consider the way you drive next time you go out and make a note of the following:

• Do you speed?
• Do you squeal your tyres often (or at all)?
• Do you tend to run through amber traffic lights?

If the answer is yes to those, then maybe some of the other posters here have a point and a more powerful car is a bad idea at this point in time.


As for the money, £8k is not a huge amount, but if you are on a relatively low income you may find that it takes over your life a bit. Factor in insurance and running costs and it all adds up.



The other thing I noticed was the mention of track days - they are a great (and responsible!) way of separating performance driving from being on the public roads; rather than sneer at it, I would suggest that appreciating the difference is laudible.


Good luck in making the choice which is right for you.

Enterprise_1701C

Seriously, you are complaining about the insurance on a Honda and want to buy a classic boy racer Subaru!

You have more than the price of the car to consider, have you even checked to see if anyone will insure you on the Subaru yet? Have you checked what it will cost you if they do?

Robin9

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

Seriously, you are complaining about the insurance on a Honda and want to buy a classic boy racer Subaru!

You have more than the price of the car to consider, have you even checked to see if anyone will insure you on the Subaru yet? Have you checked what it will cost you if they do?

According to the OP in #1 £1000

Enterprise_1701C

Robin9 wrote: »

According to the OP in #1 £1000

Something weird about that!

DCFC79

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

Something weird about that!

Yes its expensive, eye watering amounts.


Just done a dummy quote, cheapest is £2904 with Admiral little box and the highest is 8982 with Bell insurance. Took a guess its a manual, petrol, 2 door and OP is employed. Quotes are with a £500 excess, changing the excess doesnt reduce the price but increases them, the 1 from Bell is now £9269.
Only 5 insurers were willing to quote, I used comparethemeerket for my research but I suspect other comparison sites will be the same.

madvicker

I think I found the car you are looking at on Autotrader. 125,000 miles is not a good starting point for a car that you are financing for the next 5 years. What if the engine breaks down and you need to replace it?

I also did insurance quotes - for me at almost 30 with 3 years NCB (not from the UK) it would be £600 insurance. If I was 19 with 1 year NCB it would be £6,300. Lol. I'm doubting the veracity of the claims you could get it for £1000.