Lease new vs PCP nearly new

Ray_Singh-Blue

Why not just buy a car

I just bought a used car for £13K.

Decided on the precise make, model and spec, no more than 3 years old and less than 20000 miles. Autotrader came up with a handful of cars within 50 miles. 3 were at the same garage. Went there, test drove all 3 & came away with the sexiest. Cash on the barrel. No attempt at bargaining, even left them my old car as a thankyou ma'am.

Home by lunchtime and good for the next 8-10 years all being well. No paperwork, loans, financing or similar hassle.

Not saying this is right for everyone, but IMHO it's an approach with a lot of positives

thegentleway

Ray_Singh-Blue said:

Why not just buy a car

I just bought a used car for £13K.

What did you get?
I’m guessing most people don’t have £13k cash to buy a car. But I agree with buying second hand, even if you have to get a loan, at least you’re not paying loads on depreciation.

Grumpy_chap

I agree with Ray - get the car you can afford and if you can't afford the car you want, save up.  Far more MSE than debt for a depreciating asset.

NottinghamKnight

thegentleway said:

Ray_Singh-Blue said:

Why not just buy a car

I just bought a used car for £13K.

What did you get?
I’m guessing most people don’t have £13k cash to buy a car. But I agree with buying second hand, even if you have to get a loan, at least you’re paying loads on depreciation.

Many will, for most others there is the option of a bank loan, if you can't get the latter then you won't be able to get reasonable finance on a car in any case, to which the answer is to restrict your budget further. 

Ray_Singh-Blue

thegentleway said:

Ray_Singh-Blue said:

Why not just buy a car

I just bought a used car for £13K.

What did you get?

Just a sensible family car. Nothing flashy. 1.6l diesel, usual gadgets.
3 years old and less than 20000 miles often brings up ex Motability. All 3 we test drove were. You know they have been serviced ok.
I think this is quite a MSE way of approaching the "appliance for transport" issue

Ray_Singh-Blue

I'll probably be consuming about 11 or 12K of car over 8-10 years, it will likely have a 1-2K trade in value by the end of the decade.

Way I think about cars and other appliances, pay a low but fair price for something good enough do the job.

95% of the utility can often be bought for 25% of the price. So Android not Apple. LG not Bose. Honda not BMW. And so on.

Mothemoneysaver is looking at consuming at least £15k of car over the next 3 years, so I just thought I'd raise this as another approach. Obviously I don't know Mo's circumstances or approach to life and cars. He or she may have a completely different set of values and requirements.

Petriix

I've just bought a £23k EV. I calculate that it will cost me £10k less to run than a second hand diesel over 8 years. That makes it pretty much the equivalent cost of buying a £13k second hand diesel but with a likely significantly higher residual value at the end due to the inherent value of the battery.

Over that period, the lower emissions from running the EV will more than offset the entire carbon footprint of its manufactur in comparison to just running a diesel car. Plus I get the luxury of driving a brand new car with instant torque and the blissful tranquility of having no engine, clutch or gearbox to wrestle with.

Ray_Singh-Blue

Nice work Petriix. Suspect I'll do similar next time round. Do the capital write down allowances or any other tax incentives apply on a used EV? I guess no, other than zero VED?

Grumpy_chap

Ray_Singh-Blue said:

Do the capital write down allowances or any other tax incentives apply on a used EV? 

Not applicable for a private buyer in any case.
If I interpret this link correctly, the first year write down for businesses applies whether new or used car (EV):
https://www.gov.uk/capital-allowances/business-cars
An employee with a used EV would still pay zero BIK (increase to a very low level from 1st April)