I want a nice car to "get it out of the system". What's the best way to acquire one?

JadeHighland

Hi all 

My husband and I currently save around £1,000 a month. We also have about £1,000 each disposable income each month as well. Come September, child fees will go away and that's an extra £700 a month between us. Currently we drive a 12 year old Fiesta which is running well and we done have any intention of getting rid off.

However, we want to treat ourselves to a "nice" car (basically something bigger and newer than the one we have). Not overly fussed about brand, but something like a 3 Series or Mercedes GLB came to mind. 

I wanted advice on what's the best method to acquire such a vehicle knowing that, after 3 years or so, we'll probably be content going back to the oldish banger and saving the money towards a bigger house or something.

A lease sounded pretty straight forward, but someone recently told me it would be cheaper getting a PCP and handing it back. 

Thoughts? 

DullGreyGuy

You know you better than anyone else but I thought something similar and did push the boat out for a GT type thing. When we shopped around, knowing we only wanted to own it for 3 years, the PCP was the cheapest option to finance it for us but buying outright wasn't an option. 

Having given the car back some time ago the problem is each time we look at a car to replace it we keep measuring it against the car we had and everything is very much lacking. I'm sure some do "get it out their system" but others it changes the yard stick to which future vehicles are measured. 

jimjames

Best way to get one is to buy it. You then own it and can do as you wish although you might want to keep it and you can then decide to sell whenever you want without worrying about the finance. You also know how much money you have and what you can afford so won't have a problem in future if your circumstances change.

Altior

I had the same scratch to itch a few years ago, got a cracking deal on a PCH, Audi TT for 180pcm +2400 'deposit'. So 6.7K for a brand new 40K car, that I could just hand the keys back for in 2 years with no liability. 

There can be some really strong deals on PCH for different reasons, the manufacturer is launching a refreshed model soon for example.

The negatives are you aren't the owner or even the registered keeper. GAP insurance is a must. And, although you would want to look after a 40K car anyway, I found it a little more stressful knowing that I would face penalties for any damage found on the inspection over and above natural wear and tear allowances. You also pay for any options in the PCH term so they aren't financially logical. I got the S Line though it was pretty loaded as standard. Oh, and it's built to order usually, so the lead time can be long.

Herzlos

Why not go the whole hog and buy an older, really nice car, like a 7 series, with a huge petrol engine. The running costs will be pretty horrific which means when you sell it and go back to a cheap car it won't seem so bad, and it won't depreciate much so you won't lose much on it.

Lavendyr

Totally depends. I drove a hire car in Italy last year which I loved so much I wanted to have one. I also needed to fund vet fees for my cat (well over and above the £7k a year insurance - he was v poorly) so I sold my car and opted for a personal lease. I got a good deal including maintenance for a four year lease because the model was due a facelift the next year. I looked at PCP and a used car would have been £100 a month more with no maintenance option and a significant balloon payment at the end. If I was to look for a similar on finance i.e. without a balloon payment, it would have been around £400 a month more.

So I'm happy with the personal contract hire approach. We are a one car family so knowing we have everything covered (except insurance which we pay for ourselves) in a steady monthly payment is helpful, and we have a lovely car, brand new in the spec we wanted. It's not for everyone, but at this point in time it's perfect for us and it might be worth considering. We used a company called Gateway2Lease incidentally, and they came back with a much better quote than anywhere else on the market including my own company car scheme..!

Lavendyr

DullGreyGuy said:

You know you better than anyone else but I thought something similar and did push the boat out for a GT type thing. When we shopped around, knowing we only wanted to own it for 3 years, the PCP was the cheapest option to finance it for us but buying outright wasn't an option. 

Having given the car back some time ago the problem is each time we look at a car to replace it we keep measuring it against the car we had and everything is very much lacking. I'm sure some do "get it out their system" but others it changes the yard stick to which future vehicles are measured. 

This is a very good point! I am currently using a courtesy car due to an accident in my contract hire car and the contract hire car really has changed the yardstick - prior to the contract hire car, I was driving a 2019 Ford Focus which I owned outright, and it was a good solid car, but my contract hire car is a 2023 Toyota C-HR which is so much smoother and easier to drive. The courtesy car is a 2022 Skoda Kamiq and I'm sure it's a good, solid car but it's so much more work compared to the Toyota. (Though I have to say I'm relishing driving a manual again after four years of an automatic!)

chrisw

I bought a 'nice' car but I worry every time I leave it somewhere, it got side swiped by someone having a medical emergency, somebody has hit the rear bumper and driven off and now someone's pinched the painted towing eye cover and tried to prise the badges off. I often wonder whether it's worth the bother!

DullGreyGuy

chrisw said:

I bought a 'nice' car but I worry every time I leave it somewhere, it got side swiped by someone having a medical emergency, somebody has hit the rear bumper and driven off and now someone's pinched the painted towing eye cover and tried to prise the badges off. I often wonder whether it's worth the bother!

Depends on the kind of person you are.

Personally, other than the size of the thing and the fact the front doors were further back than on a normal car which made problems in some carparks with pillars etc, I parked ours exactly where I'd parked my 8 year old car without any additional worry. It got hit once in the train station carpark but the insurance dealt with that in the same way it would have with my old car. 

When outside of the south east/ London did used to get some comments from certain people which isn't really my style (eg someone offering to swap their car for mine) but that thankfully tailed off as the car got older.

Ditzy_Mitzy

You'll need to think about what 'nice' means.  

Non-sporting versions of premium marques' cars are very much like the better variants of those produced by 'lesser' makes.  There is a yawning chasm between something like a Fiesta and a Mondeo, but the difference between the latter and a BMW 3 or 5 Series is relatively trivial.  I've had them all.  The BMWs were good for posing: everyone who travelled in them commented positively and passers-by would sometimes glance admiringly at the Teutonic solidity the cars were projecting.  They also attracted the wrong sort of attention; one was keyed several times and all seemed to prompt bad behaviour from others.  

The point, however, was that for me - the driver - they provided nothing more than a decent Ford or Toyota would.  With a Fiesta, you are starting from a fairly low point in the market - they aren't built to be refined.  You might prefer something that is!

However, there is a far more important thing to think about: cars that actually benefit the driver.  Were I in your position, I'd be looking for a sports car or hot hatchback.  Think about what will impress you, rather than the neighbours. 

DullGreyGuy

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

However, there is a far more important thing to think about: cars that actually benefit the driver.  Were I in your position, I'd be looking for a sports car or hot hatchback.  Think about what will impress you, rather than the neighbours. 

Though sometimes they end up being the same thing... I went from a 4 seater cab with 2l and 154 horses to a 2 seater cab/roaster with 4.7l and 429 horses for me (and the mrs arguably). Only comment from the neighbour was getting into their space was harder as it was a much bigger car but lots of random people in car parks commented on it. 

Did have one or two pluses though... the hotel near us that we'd go to for Sunday lunch occasionally had valet parking but was always a wait for the keys/car to come back. With the new car they said to leave it parked out front and so we kept the keys for a quicker exit.