How do you currently afford your car?

Ibrahim5

I was looking at Ford Focuses before. 5 year old can be bought for £7k. Easily last 10 years. £700 per year. £58 per month. They won't konk out if you forget to plug them in. People have lost touch with reality with all these monthly payments.

Herzlos

Ibrahim5 said:

I was looking at Ford Focuses before. 5 year old can be bought for £7k. Easily last 10 years. £700 per year. £58 per month. They won't konk out if you forget to plug them in. People have lost touch with reality with all these monthly payments.

On Autotrader now looking at Ford Focuses (Focusii?) for £7k. Most of them are 8 or 9 years old.
This was the newest one in budget:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202203203756858

Autotrader are suggesting about £178/month via PCP. The dreaded 1.0 Ecoboost engine with 84,000 miles on the clock, will do about 41mpg (so maybe 400 miles range Vs about 200 from the iPace). You might get 10 years out of it without any further expense, but you might not. 

It's very much alright, the Focus is a decent car. But is that the pinnacle of motoring? You wouldn't want an iPace for less than £200/month extra? Remember that figure included tax (£155/year on the Focus), insurance (easily £300/year), and the iPace will cost about 1/3rd per mile than the Focus will. With enough mileage the iPace could be cheaper.

That's ignoring how the iPace is significantly bigger, faster, more comfortable and much higher spec.

motorguy

Herzlos said:

Ibrahim5 said:

I was looking at Ford Focuses before. 5 year old can be bought for £7k. Easily last 10 years. £700 per year. £58 per month. They won't konk out if you forget to plug them in. People have lost touch with reality with all these monthly payments.

On Autotrader now looking at Ford Focuses (Focusii?) for £7k. Most of them are 8 or 9 years old.
This was the newest one in budget:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202203203756858

Autotrader are suggesting about £178/month via PCP. The dreaded 1.0 Ecoboost engine with 84,000 miles on the clock, will do about 41mpg (so maybe 400 miles range Vs about 200 from the iPace). You might get 10 years out of it without any further expense, but you might not. 

It's very much alright, the Focus is a decent car. But is that the pinnacle of motoring? You wouldn't want an iPace for less than £200/month extra? Remember that figure included tax (£155/year on the Focus), insurance (easily £300/year), and the iPace will cost about 1/3rd per mile than the Focus will. With enough mileage the iPace could be cheaper.

That's ignoring how the iPace is significantly bigger, faster, more comfortable and much higher spec.

He cant afford one, thats the problem

I dont know why its eating him so much, but it does speak volumes about the personality behind the ID.

jimjames

Interesting to see the range of views here. Both our cars are owned outright, 14 and 20 years old respectively, both diesels. I could buy new for cash if I wanted but can't see the point when current cars do the job. It does make it somewhat easier/harder (take your pick) when you can choose whether to run an old car or not rather than doing so through necessity. Going to a dealer and being asked "how much can you afford" wouldn't get the answer they expect, what I can afford and what I would want to pay are very different things.

Ibrahim5

The last time I bought a car they were trying to get me to take finance out. I had enough cash to buy 30 of the same cars outright. I try and be helpful and ask if they want me to take a loan which I would pay off immediately.

iwb100

Ibrahim5 said:

The last time I bought a car they were trying to get me to take finance out. I had enough cash to buy 30 of the same cars outright. I try and be helpful and ask if they want me to take a loan which I would pay off immediately.

LOL. Last time I bought a car they tried to get me to take out finance so I just bought the whole dealer group instead. Just to teach them….

grumiofoundation

Ibrahim5 said:

tommyedinburgh said:

Ibrahim5 said:

This is a money saving forum. All I said is that I don't think spending over £100k on a couple of cars is very impressive to money savers. Maybe on a petrol head forum they would be impressed.

Like I said earlier on the thread, we had two cars combined worth £36/£37k - sold and replaced with two combined at £3k. The rest chucked to pay off some mortgages. So happy with that. 

Excellent money saving. That's what we like to hear on a MONEY SAVING forum.

It is.

And  anyone with any MONEY SAVING sense has properly researched* electric cars and therefore doesn’t make silly comments about them. 

*and Anyone with home charging will have realised how much cheaper they are to run than petrol. 

Some might say practice what your preach? 

[Deleted User]

I have recently bought a second hand electric car. Not particularly a fancy one but it is by far the best car decision I have ever made. Until you’ve driven one you can’t appreciate just how brilliant they are to drive. 

And very cheap to run. 

Grumpy_chap

Ibrahim5 said:

This is a money saving forum. All I said is that I don't think spending over £100k on a couple of cars is very impressive to money savers. Maybe on a petrol head forum they would be impressed.

Being a money saving forum is about getting the things you need and want in the most cost effective way.  

It is not about living like a hermit and ending with a fortune in the grave yard.

noclaf

I've been driving around 17 years and owned 3 cars including current one, all been used buys.
First car was a small Jap car a short while after graduating, used a loan as was still broke. 1.3 n/a manual petrol Jap.....cheap as chips to run but surprisingly niggles started appearing and I got fed up, p/x and was blatantly ripped off by the Ford main dealer however it's replacement was IMO a revelation; MK1 Focus petrol n/a, cheap to run, fantastic go kart handling and nippy. I used that car for 10 solid years, maintained reasonably qell but it took a battering and when the gearbox and clutch finally gave up + rust starting to spread decided it was time to scrap and cut my losses.
Running the focus for so long saved me an absolute shedload of money rather than chopping and changing more regular and it was quite reliable so that was a bonus.
 I then opted for a nearly new used approved Golf, different level of class in terms of interior finish and ride refinement however once the warranty finishes I am fully aware that if any issues with the relatively more complex engine or transmission...will result in big bills...fingers crossed!
So the takeaway is buy cash ( take finance for perks where applicable then pay off immediately), run car into the ground and then repeat.....maybe not the most adventurous option but if trying to keep costs to a minimum. Petrol, n/a engine + manual gearbox - tried and tested formula!