should I stay or should I go?

[user123]

First post for me, so excuse if this appears in the incorrect forum page.

I'd like to think I'm no dummy when it comes to understanding finance and money, however I have a real problem in making a decision as to whether I should stay with the car iv got or sell and buy a new and if PCP deal.

Some background.

Current car - Hyundai i40 tourer / 61 plate / 32k miles.
No outstanding finance
Purchased for £14k 2012.
Part ex offered 2 weeks ago from motor point £7,800.


Whilst I'm enjoying not having to pay the usual monthly did on a car, I do have an itch to change.

I have tried to work out a straightforward calculation, to put my mind at ease, to work out if I'm better getting rid just now, or just hold onto to it.

1. Should I just keep the car and benefit from no dd.
2. Should I sell or part ex, before I lose any further value on the car?

I must have worked out 10 different calculations, the latest one being, selling, banking the money and taking out a PCP deal.

Some help and advice would be appreciated.

[TurboHatchback]

Changing cars is expensive and owning nearly new cars is expensive as you are forever on the steepest part of the depreciation curve.

If you are happy with your current car then by far the cheapest option will be to keep it indefinitely. The longer you keep it the less it will end up costing you per year overall.

[forzaminardi]

Someone said on another thread - "The cheapest car is the one you already own". If you don't owe any money on your current car and are happy with it, then effectively you have a free car. You might have to spend more maintaining it as it gets older, but unless it needs constant attention, you are unlikely to be spending as much month-to-month as you would buying a whole new car.

On the other hand, within reason, life's too short to dwell on penny pinching. If you want a new car and can afford it, buy it and enjoy it.

[user123]

Thanks for the response, funny actually I have considered both the replies.

One saying "don't b daft just keep the car, its not costing you anything"

The problem with this one is that if I do decided de to keep, I can almost guarantee in a year or 2 time I'll want to change.

Also the thought that " stop being a penny pincher, go and enjoy the money you've earned"

I don't know still a toughie.

The thinking process continues!!

[bridgland]

I am one of the frustrated masses, with a desire to change, but the reality check of everyday cars being a depreciating asset, keeps me from doing it. A little background, I met my wife when I worked in the motor trade, so had different cars all the time and I also had a Motorbike and an AC Cobra replica. I love things with engines and with work sensibility in mind, I bought a new Mercedes CLK 320 in 2002 (W209 - just as the last shape launched). I thought I would only keep he car for about 6 years, but duing those early years we had moved to a larger house and started a family (no more motorbikes or less than 4 seater car), so there was always a reason to spend money on the house and family, rather than myself.

I paid £38,000 for the car and throughout the 12 years I kept it, I couldn't justify spending money on myself without a benefit for the family. This year I finally changed, only because the Mercedes was unable to cater for the teenage years and family excursions around the country, to support the girls in their musical and sports pursuits. After 12 years, I part exchanged my car with 120,000 miles and FSH for £1900 against a used Audi Q7 for £21,000, that met the new family critera. If the family needs hadn't changed, I would be still be in my Mercedes today.

Basically, if you have spare cash and hanker for something new/newer to keep you happy, without making other parts of your life suffer in any way (mortgage, school fees, holidays, shopping excursions, etc.) then enjoy it, or justify it with copious overuse of Man Math!

[pork911]

It's only lost £60 a week so sure why not finance a newer now faster falling stone?

There's no real calculation that will justify it except those with a healthy factoring in of 'I want', so up to you

[B'stard Child]

user123 said:

Current car - Hyundai i40 tourer / 61 plate / 32k miles.
No outstanding finance
Purchased for £14k 2012.
Part ex offered 2 weeks ago from motor point £7,800.

Some help and advice would be appreciated.

It's barely been used and it's still a relatively new car (in my book anyway) it's only going to cost you maintenance and running costs for a good few years yet - if it does what you need it to do I can't see the point in changing you are only tying up money in a faster depreciating item so effectively losing more over the same future time period.

However if you have an itch to change the you'll ignore any sensible options and change regardless

My highest car losses (depreciation wise) were when I bought at 3 years old and changed at 6 years old for another 3 year old car.

I now buy at 6-8 years old and well actually I rarely ever sell..... (I find this end of the depreciation curve much more attractive)

[CYMR0]

What would you replace it with, and why?

There is absolutely no practical need to replace a car that still has 2 years of manufacturer's warranty left, is economical and spacious.

That's not to say you can't or shouldn't replace it, but paying £10k to turn it into a 63-plate repmobile would be madness.

[PHmember]

I'm not very good at sugar coating things, so I'll say first that I don't mean any offence - but Jesus Christ man, £14k on something (in my opinion) as bland as a Hyundai!!! Why not get something interesting that is say maybe three years old & not quite brand new?? You may not have had monthly direct debits, but you've also no longer got £14k in savings - plus you appear to have lost £250 EVERY MONTH in depreciation.

Sorry if this is a bit blunt.

[jamieduff1981]

CYMR0 said:

What would you replace it with, and why?

There is absolutely no practical need to replace a car that still has 2 years of manufacturer's warranty left, is economical and spacious.

That's not to say you can't or shouldn't replace it, but paying £10k to turn it into a 63-plate repmobile would be madness.

^ This.

Keeping that car and spending £10k on something interesting that you don't need to drive every day and isn't compromised by having to fit the jack-of-all-trades only car criteria and isn't depreciating (e.g. an Elise, Chimaera, Lotus 7 type thing or what have you) would be a use of that money many of us could justify.

Taking the depreciation hit on the i40 still under warranty and with loads of life left then trading it for what is likely to be exactly the same thing but with possibly a different badge on the bootlid and a newer reg plate is just absurd IMHO.

[Bullett]

What are you buying?

Like others have said another slightly newer repmobile - don't bother. Something exciting, then it's man maths time.

I'm running an Octavia VRS 10 plate from new, not had a loan on it for 2 years. That is a nice feeling. After changing every 18 months to 3 years previously I like the lack of debt. I'll run this for at least another three or four years or until it starts to become unreliable but might get something for the weekend in the interim.

[Bennet]

I assume you must have a family because why else would you have bought that car?
Run it as the family bus until it no longer makes financial sense. This will be a very long time away.

[user123]

Sorry for the delay.

Some very useful insights and comments for u all.

Brigland especially like your insight.

Financially the decision to get a new/newer car wouldn't take away anything from my family life, couldn't allow that to happen, not for a car.

It terms if some if the other comments questions.

My decision to buy the car, came from looking for a car which would give me peace of mind in terms if reliability, gave me Max boot space for our 1st child, and also space for the dog.

Added to that I liked the look of the car, inside and out.

In terms of what I would look to change to, well that's a whole other thread!!

I jump from car to car, budget to budget, but the comment made about jumping simply to another similar car, that is a few years newer, does make sense.

The financial reality would be if I did decide to make a move, the monthly budget would be anywhere from £300 range

Hopefully this answers most questions asked, however I'll have another read of the thread and give more info if needed.

Thanks again.

[user123]

Just noticed the comments about possibly keeping the i40 and getting something more exixiting.

Love the idea, however the practaclitues of storage, means it not an option for me, not at the moment anyway.

Still might have a wee search on autotrader though.....

[Shurv]

If you are the sort of person who is likely to want to change their car every 3 years , you may as well buy a new car on a PCP scheme. Put as little deposit in as possible, and part-x it after 3 years and chose your next ride. Manufacturers are falling over themselves to offer cheap financing, free servicing etc, so the running costs are negligible. If you are happy with the monthlies, then it's a good scheme for you. Use the incentives and cheap money on offer to make it worthwhile. There are many schools of thought for running cars, each have their merits, and each one is right for someone. If you chose to keep your current car for a few years, it'll get to a point where it's not worth much, so you'll end up keeping it until it falls to bits, which could be anything from 10 to 15 years from original purchase.