Am I Silly to buy a petrol or diesel car now, to hold for the next 5yrs+?

LarryR

Hi all

I'm struggling here. My car recently got written off. The insurance paid out, and GAP on top of that. Unfortunately, having GAP insurance didn't really help as much as I had hoped since used car prices have gone up so much. Typical - the only time I take out GAP and it hasn't really helped.

The insurance(s) pay out have given me £26k. My previous, now flattened, car was an 18-plate Auto Diesel LR Discovery Sport HSE, bought with 17k miles, was up to 25k miles by Oct'22.

Now, to buy what I did 2 years ago, which, at the time was a 2yr old LR Discovery Sport with low mileage and a decent spec - would cost over £36k now. Ouch!!! I really can't afford that. Not with everything that is going on around cost of living, etc.

Looking around at what I can get for £26k in the same class as before, seems to be pretty much what I had before - a 4yr (nearly 5yr) old (18-plate) LR Discovery Sport, diesel, now with high mileage (40k+) and the same spec. The Discovery Sports were updated at the end of 2019, so I would miss out on that, making this feel like quite an old car. I was hoping to use this as an opportunity to do a little update to the car.

I am also wondering if diesel is a good idea any more? On the plus side they're a bit cheaper to buy (by about £3-4k), but on the downside, if I keep this car for 4-5+ years, then will the residual value fall off a cliff as we get closer to the 2030 essentially outlawing of petrol/diesel cars? Not to mention the cost of diesel at the pump! And really, I don't do enough miles to warrant a diesel (maybe a 200-mile uk holiday once or twice a year, otherwise it's 10-15miles a day, if that), but they're just so much cheaper to buy!

I saw the MG HS PHEV and thought it looked ideal - priced at around £30k for a 2022 good spec, half decent name. I would pay a few grand more for the newer car with lower running costs - but reviews have been dire. I have test driven it and although wasn't as bad as I expected, it's not as comfortable as Land Rover, plus it does seem to have a lot of foibles and issues, which may or may not get ironed out with software updates? BMW PHEV, Lexus PHEV, JLR PHEV, Volvo PHEV, etc. are all way too expensive. And MHEVs seem to be very 'M'ild.

My considerations:
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I am prepared to spend a bit more, but only if I can justify it to myself as a sensible spend of money
I want to hold onto the car for as long as possible 4 or 5 years or more. I will do low mileage and can't see the point (and can't afford) to update it if it's still working and comfortable.
It's really a second car. Main car is small electric (BMW i3), used by wife for school-run, and local pottering. So this car is if electric is not available and I need to go somewhere with a kid or 2, or on my own, or for family holidays a few times a year (hence the bigish boot and comfortable feel). And don't really want to have two pure electric cars right now.
Ego - as my second car previously was a decent spec LR Discovery Sport, if I went to a Nissan Quashquai or a Kia Niro or a Skoda Karoq, it will feel like a step down. I'm sure you'll judge me for this - hell, I judge myself - but I might a swell be honest (with myself). Plus, they're not even that much cheaper these days, so it's not like they're giving away Hyundai Tuscons - they're still up in the high £20ks/low £30ks for a decent spec/age/mileage, and that was just an MHEV.

Options:
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1. Spend £26k on nearly 5-year old diesel car with high mileage and decent spec. (LR Discovery Sport/BMW X3/Volvo XC60). Pros: comfortable in budget. Cons: In 4-5 years time this will be a 10yr old car, is that sensible. Plus, it will feel old straight away.  And it is could be expensive to run. 
2. Spend £29k on nearly 5-year old *petrol* car with average mileage and ok spec. (LR Discovery Sport/BMW X3/Volvo XC60). Pros: Petrol will be cheaper to run. Cons: Still feels expensive for a 5-year old car, plus in 4-5 years time this will be a 10yr old car, is that sensible?
3. Spend £30k on a nearly new MG HS PHEV with bad reviews and software issues, Pros: good running costs. Cons: Might drive me mad with problems.
4. Spend £32k on a 3-year old diesel car with average-to-high mileage. (LR Discovery Sport/BMW X3/Volvo XC60). Pros: Good car. Cons: worried about diesel after 5yrs + running costs. Over budget, but can it be justified because slightly newer car?
5. Spend £33k on 3-year old petrol car with average-to-high mileage and half decent spec. (LR Discovery Sport/BMW X3/Volvo XC60). Pros: Good car. Cons: worried about petrol residual value. Over budget, but can it be justified because slightly newer car?

Question I am grappling with:
Am I mad to buy a diesel/petrol car right now? Should I really be pushing myself to get a PHEV?
Am I missing something else? Why is this so difficult for me?!?! I've bought cars in the past and it's been a much easier decision - am I over-thinking?

Apologies - quite a ramble of a post. 

MikeJXE

Ask yourself would an electric car get you where you want to go with less hassle than your previous diesel. is there even a luxury electric car on the market compared to the luxury market as we know it. I bought a Jaguar used approved 3 years old 3 years ago, does 50 to the gallon.  When they stop producing petrol and diesel cars I will be looking for a used approved luxury car as my last car, I'm 82 years old and there is no way I'll be buying electric       ever. 

Mutton_Geoff

I thought insurance was supposed to put you back in the position you were before the accident (regardless of what the original purchase invoice might have said)?

[Deleted User]

Mutton_Geoff said:

I thought insurance was supposed to put you back in the position you were before the accident (regardless of what the original purchase invoice might have said)?

Depends on the type of GAP, there are 3 normal ones. Car insurance will pay market value for the car, based on what prices cars actually sell for, not what they are listed as - though of course you can haggle a bit if you have evidence of higher prices. The GAP should top it up to some extent but how much depends on the type of policy.

I am going to try and run my 2014 diesel to 2030 or so, or at least when EV or mild/hybrid types have good enough range for the sort of driving I do (typically one off drives for sport or holiday but these are longer (like up to 400+ miles around for sport). 

Mutton_Geoff

I'm not talking about GAP insurance, I'm talking about regular insurance. Insurers raise premiums because they say "costs have risen" and yet they leave the OP out of pocket. GAP insurance is to return to invoice on the basis that cars always depreciated. In the current market this is not the case. I'd be asking the insurers to find me a car to match the one I lost. It's not up to me to haggle and hope I can get a better deal.

[Deleted User]

Mutton_Geoff said:

I'm not talking about GAP insurance, I'm talking about regular insurance. Insurers raise premiums because they say "costs have risen" and yet they leave the OP out of pocket. GAP insurance is to return to invoice on the basis that cars always depreciated. In the current market this is not the case. I'd be asking the insurers to find me a car to match the one I lost. It's not up to me to haggle and hope I can get a better deal.

OP got a payout for the market value of a 4 year old car
OP is talking about a price to replace the car he bought 2 years ago i.e. buying a 2 year old car
That is why it is different

OP can buy a 4 year old (2018) plate for the £26k payout - though it is normal to haggle on payouts as the industry uses things like Glass' guide to what they consider the car to be worth and if you can prove that the actual buying price should be higher you can do that. Insurers won't go around looking for a car for you.

Petriix

I wouldn't bother with PHEV to be honest. But I also couldn't conscience a big, inefficient vehicle at this point either. It's fair enough if you don't want to stretch to a more luxury EV of the size/range that you would like, but the next best alternative is something with overall good efficiency and low running costs. You can get a decent boot size without that unnecessary frontal area and height which kill the mpg. There are some decent spec estate cars with good economy within your budget, maybe something like a Toyota Auris? Basically look at the mpg and CO2 emissions - Autotrader has good filters for that.

Bigwheels1111

Two simple answers

Do you have a driveway so you can have a charger fitted, If so EV should work.Depends on how far you drive etc.

If not Diesel it is again.

PHEV is the second worst idea I've every heard of, first place goes to the new Nissan and VW that use a petrol engine to charge the battery that drives the car .

diystarter7

Stick with the petrol/diesel.  Reasons for this.
There won't be enough charging points and not everyone has a drive
Then, yes it will happen, the UK will lack the ability to power residential homes and industry, and yes,
the price of electric will shoot up
and charging you car will go up even more so

seatbeltnoob

Cheap £2000 all day every day. But if I was in the market to buy a fancy 21/22 plate car I would go EV.

seatbeltnoob

diystarter7 said:

There won't be enough charging points and not everyone has a drive

There are EV charging points everywhere, there are currently more EV charging points in my area than EVs, they're converting lamp posts to charge points.

I would say to anyone, do you research, Find all your available charging points in and around your area (if you dont have a drive). There is a myth that there aren't enough charging points.

Also as a ICE driver, I get annoyed more often than not with empty parking bays reserved for EVs with charge points.

The EV charging thing is really a sign of how those who are rich are given free stuff, those without much money have to pay more.

If you have a EV you can drive into central London for free, earlier tesla model S get free supercharging for life, tesco gave you free charging if you shopped and in many places EV charging points come with free parking so cost of the charge itself is cheaper than the hourly charging rates for ordinary cars.

A lot of taxi drivers in London use tesla model 3 and model s because it works out cheaper.