Car cost evaluation

Rocksolid

I see too many new cars around cities, cars that cost at least x2 my car considering the new price full optional, do they use some convenient leasing plan or they are just the broken people that complain about the life is too expensive? (aka broken forever and near bankrupty)

Honestly guys, I drive a shity car compared to them, and for my understanding their cost is around 450/650 per month for Mercedes, Audi etc...

I work from home so the fuel is so low, otherwise it would probably be around 150/250 only that, in my calculation I just counted 50 pounds...

My car costs:

10 years cost, 50 pounds per month, 6k. (I paid 6k to drive it 10 years, hopefully more, I do all the maintenance needed and I take care of it, let's count 10 years of life)

50 pounds added for maintenance and needs (like tyres), and eventual broken parts.

60 for fuel monthly

MOT and car tax aprox 6 per month

86 insurance, 64 (second year), that will decrease with the time but I like to count with the possible highest value, that is the 1st year.

All this for a ridiculus Renault Megane, and the most ridiculus price is obviously the insurance, the lowest on the market .

All summed up is 260 per month...

The question is, could I get something better for the monthly cost I considered for this car?

Thinking about needs, this car more or less satisfies my requirements, not nice to drive with shity gearbox and very short 1st gear, but yeah, it seems that in UK they are like that! The car has low consumption, what basically keeps my fuel burden at 50% of another car, if not more. I do mainly highway unless grocieries in the city .

Moreover I would need a cool Van to use for everything (grocieries , camping, travels etc), and it costs hell + insurance more than my 1st year with this Renault...

EssexExile

Don't worry about what other people do, everyone is different. Some people earn lots of money (some have lots of money they haven't earned). Some people think cars are important and spend lots on a nice one even if they can't really afford it. Some people don't care about cars and drive anything that'll do the job. It takes all sorts.

Rocksolid

I don't look the others for sure , this post was mostly to see if there is some sort of financing plan or leasing which I'm not aware of, with the Van it would help a lot, but also in the event of a better car, you know, driving around London brings few necessary things like start and stop, automatic gearbox, at least hybrid etc...

fred246

For person new to UK bicycle is fine. Bicycle make legs strong and is less money too. No need for car or van. Move quicker round London too. Good for camping and travels. Yes bicycle is good.

Rocksolid

fred246 said:

For person new to UK bicycle is fine. Bicycle make legs strong and is less money too. No need for car or van. Move quicker round London too. Good for camping and travels. Yes bicycle is good.

It made me laugh, thanks .

For sure you can't go on Lake District, sea etc with a bicycle...

fred246

Yes hard to go on sea with bicycle. Need car or van to go on sea.

onlyfoolsandparking

fred246 said:

Yes hard to go on sea with bicycle. Need car or van to go on sea.

Or better still a boat 

sweetsand

onlyfoolsandparking said:

fred246 said:

Yes hard to go on sea with bicycle. Need car or van to go on sea.

Or better still a boat 

I don't understand why you are saying that.

sweetsand

fred246 said:

For person new to UK bicycle is fine. Bicycle make legs strong and is less money too. No need for car or van. Move quicker round London too. Good for camping and travels. Yes bicycle is good.

If we had cycle landes like Amsterdam in London, I too may have cycled to work when I went to work.

Grumpy_chap

@OP - yes, your observations are absolutely correct about people and the cars they drive.  These people are spending too much to use cars they cannot afford and then get into financial difficulty and it is everyone else's fault.
Obviously, there are some people that can afford the expensive cars, but the vast majority cannot.

The average salary is about £30k according to this link https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/average-uk-salary
The average new car purchased is about £33k according to this link https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/average-new-car-price-risen-38-per-cent-past-decade-says-cap-hpi/146938
That does not make sense at all that the average car is more than the average salary.

It is important to ignore the "keeping up with the Jones's" mentality on this but keep to the type of car you can afford.  Your strategy of buying a car cash (hopefully) and running it for 10 years is a solid one.

shaun_from_Africa

Grumpy_chap said:

That does not make sense at all that the average car is more than the average salary.

Averages and statistics don't really mean too much as they can very easily be manipulated to make a point.

For example, did you know that I have more than the average number of legs for a human being?