Changing Car Soon - Lease, Buy etc

scaredofdebt

Looking to change our car and interested in opinions.

We currently run two cars, the second car is still under finance so probabbly keeping that one until it's paid off (Kia Rio diesel)

However, other car is a Nissan Elgrand, 8 seater, petrol, V6 3.5 litre engine. It is a beast of a car, we love it but it simply is not economical now the kids are leaving home and we don't really need 8 seats (6 kids). Only does about 20 MPG on a good day so putting £300-£350 of petrol a month* in it is getting a bit of a chore now.

It's a 20 year old car but in great condition and very reliable, it has hardly ever let us down but there is a gearbox leak now so another reason to get rid, probably worth £1,000 second hand due to its age.

My wife mainly uses it for the school run, we live in the sticks so that's a 15 mile round trip. She's also started a new job* (petrol costs will go up!) which is a 40 mile commute there and back.

Looking at mid-size/small family cars, we will have 5 people to move about fairly often so need decent legroom in the rear, kids are getting bigger (those who are still here). I don't want another diesel due to the journey profile it will be subjected to and the political climate.

I would usually buy second hand with a loan but I'm thinking this is becoming a bit of a false economy as we've just spent about a grand having both cars repaired (EGR valve!) and new brake pads and discs etc.

I've been thinking about leasing an Electric Car - I can get a Nissan Leaf over 2 years for £380 a month, this would save us over £300 a month in fuel plus no road tax so the overall cost would be pretty neutral. I can charge it where I work for free as well, I would use it a couple of times a week for my commute and charge it then.

Other options are to lease a petrol car, I can get a Honda Jazz for £170 a month which is about the same cost as getting a personal loan to get a second hand car for ~£6k, obviously if I did that I would have a car at the end of the loan worth a couple of grand but I would also have to finance repairs and maintenance etc.

Budget for a loan/lease is up to about £400 a month possibly a bit more. We currently spend about a grand a month running two cars all-in, including all fuel, servicing, MOTs etc and they are both more than 7 years old. I do about 25k miles, my wife about 18k with the new job.

So, lease or finance and petrol or EV? Any models recommended?

(The Elgrand is in the garage tomorrow about the gearbox leak fingers crossed! Autobox.)

Thanks.

foxy-stoat

Buy a 9th Gen Honda Civic outright, you should be able to pick a low owner full history one for your budget. No reason not to get a diesel, for 20 miles each trip, you cant do any worse politically than whats going on at the moment.

I drive a diesel for my 20+ miles each way commute and everything is fine.

scaredofdebt

I do like the look of the Civic actually, will see if I can sort out a test drive thanks.

cranford

If your Nissan is worth less than £1000 it might be worth looking at the car scrappage schemes although you may not get any other discounts if you can get a good scrappage deal.
Hyundai have a scheme at the moment.
https://www.hyundai.co.uk/offers/scrappage-scheme