*sigh* this may take a while

Aspiration

Not sure why someone would report it, it’s your diary so they don’t need to visit if they don’t like it?? 

mark55man

that's horrible about your username - also if the reporting person is still reading - really this is important to you?? - and what took you so long, I've been following for months if not years.  OSHDTH as a suggestion that could be your new username.

dawnybabes

Really ? People have far too much time on their hands ! 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

I've changed the 'rude word' to 'dear', much more ladylike 
But yes, I think it's 18 months or so now that I've had this username after I got locked out of my old one 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

So, my conscious is troubling me.  I don't feel that we're completely debt free because of our car finance... now, I never really bothered including it (although was in my SOA) as I kind of reckoned that we had an asset equal to the debt and it's relatively low interest.  Plus I thought the £45.5K was probably enough to be getting on with 
Cars are a tricky thing in this house; we have 2.... a flashy sporty number (think the opposite of Maxi) which is my husband's pride and joy and then a practical 7 seater, which is a necessity as there are 7 of us.  We do need 2 cars.
The 7 seater is on lease and was the cheapest way for us to get a reliable 7 seater.  They're expensive to get a relatively new one and we didn't want to get a loan.  We're 6 months into a 4 year lease and it's pretty 'reasonable' at £200pm.  Going to leave this as is.
The other 'little' car, we're 2.5 years through a 4 year deal.  I don't like the finance on it, I'd thought it was interest free, but apparently it's 2.9% which is annoying for 2 reasons 1) I thought it was interest free 2) because there's a big balloon payment on it (£9K!).  I didn't know either of these points as was in OH name and I happened to see the statement yesterday.  Now that I have, I want to clear it.  He doesn't want to keep it at the end of the deal, he wants to trade it in for a new one.  Not happy!  Total remaining balance is £12.8K.  
Not sure how to proceed... if we save up, pay off and sell on he won't be able to buy a car he wants.  He doesn't want to save up, pay off and keep.  I'm wondering if I should just let it be.... he's a high earner and his car is his one foible.  Would it be better to lease after the deal is up?  No debt and he can get a new one every 4 years.....

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Wow, that was a brain dump.  Sorry!  Well done if you read through 

enthusiasticsaver

What is it about men on MSE and cars?  One thing they do not want to compromise on often seems to be the cars.  Unless you put a substantial deposit down on a car I very much doubt the asset is equal to the loan and it is not your asset until the final balloon payment is made.  Cars are the biggest depreciators ever.  Once people get sucked into the PCP way of buying cars this is a cash cow for car dealers as few people want or are able to pay a balloon payment at the end of the deal so they get sucked into a new PCP deal for another car.  It is a very expensive way of running a car. They are not an asset as they are not yours until the balloon payment is made and obviously if you lease a car it is never yours. 

We have always paid either cash (with trading in an old vehicle)  or a low interest personal loan for as little as possible. Never leased or do PCP car finance deals.  We do not buy new cars though  although my DH got a new company one every 4 years when working.  Ours are coming up to 6 and 7 years old now and we will probably keep them until they are 10 years old. 

enthusiasticsaver

How much is the lease on the car he wants? If you don't have debt and can afford it then this is obviously your choice as to how you spend your money.  Personally I would not be spending £400-£500 a month on leasing cars though. That is £6000 a year so £24000 over 4 years. 

savingholmes

How irritating re your user name.

On the car - when you've paid a certain amount / for a certain period you can hand it back early. That's what we did with DH's £360pcm lease car. I think though it is about weighing up as a family - what is reasonable to spend on cars, holidays or any other more negotiable / luxury items and perhaps comparing that to what that money could grow to if invested / put in your pension with tax relief instead...  If he is in a high status role - it's not surprising he wants the car to match - but it can leave you less well off than someone who earns less but keeps more of what you make. Only you can decide what you want to budget. I would be tempted to save up and say to DH let's buy the next car - at least a year old - or preferably 3 years old - so its already lost a chunk of its depreciation - and let's only spend what we manage to save up for it between now and then... Would something like that work?

ohdearhowdidthathappen

I know ES... men and their cars! I genuinely don’t care, as long as it gets from A to B! 
The car is worth about £16k and the loan car finance is £12.5 ish which is why I classed it as an asset (sort of). 
It is expensive and yup, PCP trap as this is our second car with this company as we didn’t have balloon payment saved last time as were midway through our extension. Doh.
SH... not sure we could save enough in 18 months to buy a car he’d put up with. If we didn’t overpay our mortgage and literally saved every penny, then maybe. But I’d resent it massively as I see it as a waste of money. 
Leasing the same car would be £200pm which is what we pay on PCP. He says PCP is preferable as he uses cars trade in value to pay deposit on next... whereas lease we’d have to have cash.
I’ve worked it out and the payments on our two cars cost us 7.5% of our monthly salary, not sure how that stacks up to the norm.