How do you currently afford your car?

Rolandtheroadie

Petriix said:

L9XSS said:

Bought a 57 plate Volvo V70 D5, private sale, 3 years ago with 112,000 miles for £2750. It’s now on 143,000 miles. Total spend in 3 years (about £600, tyres, cambelt, mini service and oil changes). I’m very happy with the reliability and costs incurred to run. I’ve previously had newer cars on PCP but have gone back to how I used to buy and run a car.
My “Savings” per month are going into pension and mortgage overpayments.

You forgot to mention the £4k in fuel on top of the £600 maintenance. The total fuel and maintenance for an EV over a similar period would have been close to that £600 mark. 

You forgot to mention the 20K + you spend on the EV (assuming it's not a 10 year old leaf)

dipsomaniac

Grumpy_chap 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.

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.

This is a money saving forum and just by definition is going to help people living from month to month more than those looking at handouts from rishi sunak to fund their £78k cars.

According to figures I have just seen a 1/3 of UK adults have less than £600 savings so not many on here are going to be taking a fortune to their graves.  People have lost touch with reality with the amount they are paying main dealers for ev/ice cars and there associated costs.  Judging by some comments I don't think people on here realise that there are people working full time earning a lot less than £30k.

I have bought most of my car's/bikes cash from auction.  The most expensive was a 1997 ford galaxy 2.8 V6 Ghia.  I paid £4500 ish in 2003 and still have it today.  I bought a 2003 focus 1.8 Ghia 2.5 yrs ago for £200 while I took the galaxy off the road for repairs and am currently driving that day to day. I also have a 1996 Kawasaki zx7r (ninja) which I bought 11 years ago for £928.

My wife has a new golf on a monthly plan and i would rather drive my 25 year old galaxy than her golf. I would also rather drive a 10yr old mercedes over a brand new fiat

shayne66

We generally keep our cars 4/5 years so purchase something via cash sale's. Like the idea off the cars been paid off and not another monthly bill to plan for.

Currently have a Kia Pro Ceed GT and an Abarth 695. 

Herzlos

dipsomaniac said:

This is a money saving forum and just by definition is going to help people living from month to month more than those looking at handouts from rishi sunak to fund their £78k cars.

According to figures I have just seen a 1/3 of UK adults have less than £600 savings so not many on here are going to be taking a fortune to their graves.  People have lost touch with reality with the amount they are paying main dealers for ev/ice cars and there associated costs.  Judging by some comments I don't think people on here realise that there are people working full time earning a lot less than £30k.

I think the site is for both ends of the spectrum, though obviously those on lower pay need more help stretching it.

For a lot of people an older car can be a false economy and budgeting nightmare. Sure you can buy and run a 20 year old car pretty cheaply, but the risk of surprise bills and it being off the road longer term is higher. A lease or PCP will give them a fixed outgoing sum they can budget for, newer cars coming with a warranty and being less susceptible to wear and tear issues. If you don't really need a car it's not a big deal, but if you need to get to work and pick kids up from school you want that extra bit of reassurance that it'll be fine.

Cars have also improved drastically in the last few decades.

My first car was a 1992 Mitsubishi and it had nothing. Pedals, wheel, engine, lights, indicators. No airbag, no radio, no ABS, nothing. Even a modern supermini is better specced than a 1992 Mercedes.

I'm all for new drivers learning on bangers (we all did), but given the wealth of improvements in the technology, why shouldn't people be driving something a bit nicer if they can afford it?

Most people live on a monthly budget without much surplus cash, and don't care about cars in the slightest, so some bland eurobox with a monthly payment is perfect.

dipsomaniac

Herzlos said:

dipsomaniac said:

This is a money saving forum and just by definition is going to help people living from month to month more than those looking at handouts from rishi sunak to fund their £78k cars.

According to figures I have just seen a 1/3 of UK adults have less than £600 savings so not many on here are going to be taking a fortune to their graves.  People have lost touch with reality with the amount they are paying main dealers for ev/ice cars and there associated costs.  Judging by some comments I don't think people on here realise that there are people working full time earning a lot less than £30k.

I'm all for new drivers learning on bangers (we all did), but given the wealth of improvements in the technology, why shouldn't people be driving something a bit nicer if they can afford it?

You seem to be saying that a new car is 'nicer' than a 20yr old car? My 25yr old galaxy has most of the modern features (fuel injection, electronic ignition, autobox, heated seats/windscreen etc) and has only let me down twice in 19yrs (air intake detached/blown heater matrix). I would much rather drive that than some of the newer cars I have driven

Ibrahim5

dipsomaniac said:

Herzlos said:

dipsomaniac said:

This is a money saving forum and just by definition is going to help people living from month to month more than those looking at handouts from rishi sunak to fund their £78k cars.

According to figures I have just seen a 1/3 of UK adults have less than £600 savings so not many on here are going to be taking a fortune to their graves.  People have lost touch with reality with the amount they are paying main dealers for ev/ice cars and there associated costs.  Judging by some comments I don't think people on here realise that there are people working full time earning a lot less than £30k.

I'm all for new drivers learning on bangers (we all did), but given the wealth of improvements in the technology, why shouldn't people be driving something a bit nicer if they can afford it?

You seem to be saying that a new car is 'nicer' than a 20yr old car? My 25yr old galaxy has most of the modern features (fuel injection, electronic ignition, autobox, heated seats/windscreen etc) and has only let me down twice in 19yrs. I would much rather drive that than some of the newer cars I have driven

We look after our cars though. I don't think many cars are looked after these days. They're really badly neglected.

motorguy

dipsomaniac said:

Grumpy_chap 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.

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.

This is a money saving forum and just by definition is going to help people living from month to month

No, the ethos of the site is getting what you want at a better price - Money Saving Expert.  Save money on the things you want

You've been told this already and you really struggle to grasp it.  

motorguy

dipsomaniac said:

Grumpy_chap 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.

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.

those looking at handouts from rishi sunak to fund their £78k cars.

You're mistaking incentives for handouts.

There are many business incentives right now to buy an EV.  This is helping to build the EV base and infrastructure as more and more people move to EVs.  There are also incentives for private individuals to do so if they wish.  Neither of those are handouts.

It doesnt surprise me that you cant grasp that mind you, given how you struggle with basic business principles in the first instance, let alone business incentives.

dipsomaniac

I look after my vehicles in the way I drive/ride but that's where it stops. 

I have never had the galaxy/focus/ninja serviced. I change the oil and filter when it is dirty enough and replace parts on the limits.

I have the philosophy 'if it's not broke, don't fix it'

Herzlos

dipsomaniac said:

Herzlos said:

dipsomaniac said:

This is a money saving forum and just by definition is going to help people living from month to month more than those looking at handouts from rishi sunak to fund their £78k cars.

According to figures I have just seen a 1/3 of UK adults have less than £600 savings so not many on here are going to be taking a fortune to their graves.  People have lost touch with reality with the amount they are paying main dealers for ev/ice cars and there associated costs.  Judging by some comments I don't think people on here realise that there are people working full time earning a lot less than £30k.

I'm all for new drivers learning on bangers (we all did), but given the wealth of improvements in the technology, why shouldn't people be driving something a bit nicer if they can afford it?

You seem to be saying that a new car is 'nicer' than a 20yr old car? My 25yr old galaxy has most of the modern features (fuel injection, electronic ignition, autobox, heated seats/windscreen etc) and has only let me down twice in 19yrs. I would much rather drive that than some of the newer cars I have driven

Absolutely. I tend to jump forward about 4-5 years every time I change car and they have almost always felt like an upgrade.

The fact you need to mention fuel injection, electric ignition and a heated windscreen highlights that - I'm not sure I've seen any car recently that doesn't have those and doubt they are stuff most drivers really care about.

You've got a large V6 with an autobox, so it probably drives pretty well, though, and some modern cars are pretty awful, especially the smaller capacity engines with autoboxes.

But I bet even a 5 year old Insignia would be a much nicer car to drive. Newer ones have all sorts of awesome stuff for the lazy driver - rain sensitive wipers, automatic lights, cruise control, bluetooth hands-free, reversing sensors/cameras, and lots of safety kit like curtain airbags, ABS.