Which Would You "buy" First?

[Number79]

Yes, ideally, I'd have actually gone for even more of a banger but for this to work you have to have the time and space to get a good one - something like a Fiesta that some old dear's babied and has kept in a garage. I was in a bit of a rush and needed a car so paid £4400 for a lowish mileage 3 year old car. It's now six year's old and I'll probably keep it until it's 10 years old or more if it's still working well.

Cars are just wheels? they are to me. I paid £1100 for my work car 2 years ago, a citroen xsara estate on a '52 plate. I have already had my money's worth out of it so anytime it wants to die is fine, it owes me nothing.

If I were to spend £4400 on a work car I would rather find another £1k and get a boxter off ebay. Most have personal plates so you never really know how old they are.

[Speak&Spell]

Let's cut to the chase. You're 28 and you want a flash car. I'm 27 and want my next car to be a nice upgrade to my MX-5, basically a quicker 2 seater before I think about becoming a mum . I kept my savings aside for a few years and added to it. I could have easily blown it all on a flash car, but I wanted to use that money as a deposit on a house. I am in the process of buying a house. I will soon have a garage and driveway in a nice complex to park a nice car in, without worrying about it being parked up on the road, or in a scummy area.

I think it's far more sensible to buy the house and then work out once you're in there what your outgoings are, then think about buying a nice car.

Next year I will focus on replenishing my savings, as everything is going into the house and its associated costs. Then me and the boyfriend are going to do bits and bobs to the house. Only then will I even consider changing my car. The house should take priority.

Also I thought it was pointless personally having a flash car if I was still renting. Just my personal opinion.

[Mrs Bear]

That's the main negative against a car. High fixed costs which won't be lowered that much despite low use, maybe only 3 - 4k miles a year maximum. It's not that I couldn't afford to pay it but it would maybe be a bit frustrating for that money to be spent each month for not much benefit.

If you don't need/want a car very often, have you thought about just renting one when you do? If you're only going to do 3-4K miles a year it'd almost certainly work out cheaper than all the costs of buying/insuring/maintaining one.

[Goat]

Yes, the purpose of the car would be to see friends and family, get out more, etc. I'd still walk to work as it's only about a mile each way. I would be looking to buy something fairly flash, instead of something more standard like a Fiesta/Focus/Astra/Whatever (nothing wrong with those cars, I used to have a Fiesta myself), to suit my age a bit better (I'm 28).

The fun lasts about a week, then it's just another bloody car!

[DTMark]

I suppose this isn't that "off topic" but I'll stick it in here anyway...

As a potential FTB I'm currently saving for a deposit and hope to have £10 - £15k saved by this time next year. I don't currently have a car as I just walk to work. The question is would you use the savings for a deposit on a house/flat next year or just buy a car outright instead?

I'm almost edging towards car and continue to rent. Most people seem to believe that there will be no dramatic crash in the next few years so I won't have lost too much if it takes another three years before I'm in a position to get a mortgage.

The slight doubt would be that by buying a car and needing to save again that I'll miss the boat on house prices being at a low ebb.

Thoughts? I'm aware that it's my choice, other people will think differently, I won't solely follow anyone's advice or sue them if I miss out, etc, etc.

I was always pretty well-paid, and I think back to the days when I used to live with my parents with some fondness as I had so much spare cash sloshing around all the time - no rent/mortgage, no council tax, no endless bills...

I had an MG Metro, then worked up to a Metro GTi (which I hated), then a Renault 5 GT Turbo and then a Corrado VR6. I ended up selling that when I became self employed because the insurance was horrendous and it never went anywhere. But the memories of that are ones that can't be replaced - it was so much fun and to me, worth every penny.

But, if I had been like you and put money aside, then I wouldn't have had it. I might even have actually bought a place (before the latest boom) and life would have turned out differently. Hindsight is wonderful.

Times are different now. And given that savings are depreciating via inflation, and I don't think house prices are going up in real terms for at least a decade or so I'd be seriously tempted by the car.

I've only ever been without a car for very brief periods, and to me, given that I've never lived where I have worked, and I now live (and will probably always live) in a rural area, a car is an essential. I tend to view people who don't drive in this country as slightly weird. And anyway, it's often cheaper than public transport anyway.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

Bl00dy hell Daiking, which part of the country roughly, do you live in then?

Its not a rough area at all, its Hale/Altrincham nr. Manchester

I don't know why you or pete (previously) think this is so shocking. Anyone who spends any sort of time on motoring forums will have heard plenty of tales of mediocre-ly quick cars being taken in many ways, from opportunity thefts when de-icing to outright aggravated burglary like this.

[Number79]

In your position I would buy a £500 car which won't depreciate much. My last car cost me £300, I owned it for 5 years and then sold it for £285 so it cost me £3 a year in depreciation. Never once broke down either.

I brought a battered P reg rover 1.6 for £250 on ebay. It was from a garage, they had taken it in px and just wanted rid of it.

When I went to pick it up the exhaust was shot so I took it for £150 but by the time I had got home the back box was toast so I ended up being sent a cheque for another £50.

I ran the car to and from work for over 2 years before it died. Had no anti freeze in it so the engine died when it froze during a real cold snap. Never wasted a penny on servicing an old run around.

Sold the stereo for £20, the alloys for £80 and the car for £80.

That worked out pretty much 2 years free motoring.

[EUBanana]

I don't normally bother driving - hate it, and have no interest in going anywhere out of town anyway - but when I did, an old banger served me well for three years and cost pretty much nothing in terms of maintenance or depreciation. Cheap to insure as well. In the end I scrapped it as it failed an MOT.

If you just want wheels to get around there's no need to spend much $$$ on them. Though if you want a flash car... that's something else. It's not about wheels in that case. I'd never bother personally, seems like a colossal waste of money to me, but your mileage may vary ( ).

[pete.hpc]

mediocre-ly quick cars

You take that back!

I'll see you at the lights, sonny

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

We obviously have left sheltered lives.

I forgive your phone but left is rather fitting

[Deft]

We splashed all our 'deposit' money on a Scirocco a few months back. Don't regret it at all, we both do a fair bit of driving and it does make it a lot more fun.

It was a good way to definitely avoid buying a house in the near term too! We reasoned that a nice car before we do house / kids was fair (we are late 20's). I'd find it hard to go back to a more budget car now though (didn't enjoy my Peugeot 207SW hire car I had yesterday for work!).

Drove a Toyota Yaris before that which did the job ok.

[SNACR]

Its not a rough area at all, its Hale/Altrincham nr. Manchester

I don't know why you or pete (previously) think this is so shocking. Anyone who spends any sort of time on motoring forums will have heard plenty of tales of mediocre-ly quick cars being taken in many ways, from opportunity thefts when de-icing to outright aggravated burglary like this.

It's posts like these and those about ASBO neighbours that make me thankful for a rarefied existence in a cotswold village with no social housing.

[MrPin]

It's posts like these and those about ASBO neighbours that make me thankful for a rarefied existence in a cotswold village with no social housing.

the crack dealers are really posh up there!

[DTMark]

We obviously have left sheltered lives.

You can keep in touch with what goes on in urban Britain by watching Road Wars and Police Interceptors.