House vs Car (or both?)

[540]

I will be graduating and joining the working world in a couple of months time.

I really wanted to get on the property market as soon as possible, purely to be investing towards a tangible asset rather than renting (i.e money down the drain). I was thinking something around the £200k+ mark could be possible with the current government schemes and a bit of saving.

Problem is I also want a new car and would require a personal loan in the region of £15K to facilitate that.

I will be on circa £32K PA for reference and I am in a serious relationship (official ball and chain - probably within 2 years).

I know any outstanding debt will make a mortgage application more difficult but I was just looking for general advice, is it possible to do both? Rent, go mad with the car then calm down after a couple of years? Should I focus on getting on the property ladder first?

[540]

Condi, I was actually suggesting something used which has been stable/appreciating over the past couple of years, hence why I was thinking of getting a personal loan with lower rates and buying outright. I couldn't bring myself to buy something new. Losing 50% of your money in 3 years is a damn hard pill to swallow.

[540]

Currently have a V8 5-series, was planning on running it until I could calculate my exact commuting costs. I'll most likely swap it for a 530D if fuel is absurd but I could often squeeze 30mpg out of it on longer runs. I would also probably hang on to it initially if purchasing the new car.

Condi: TT 6-speed Supra, had the pleasure of working on/driving a couple and know what they are about; don't see much difference in running costs compared to the 5-series either. I remember they were sitting around £10k in 2010; £16-17k+ today. I doubt I could do much worse than break even in a couple of years time even if I put on 50k miles. I'm not too concerned about it depreciating slightly though, it would definitely be one I intend to keep for a long time, depreciation on a new car is a different story.

I guess the reality of possibly having to drive a true run-about for a few years is something I haven't really considered, given that I have been lucky enough to own interesting cars since I passed my test. This may be something I need to get over (you can probably tell that my sensible hat has never been on for too long).

[540]

Thanks for the advice everyone, genuinely insightful. We all learn from mistakes and life experience is invaluable, hence why I love asking questions like this on the forum. So keep your words of wisdom coming, I appreciate it all.

I guess I need to get a foot on the property ladder, as much as it pains me to delay a car purchase. I don't plan on keeping my first property for too long though, it's purely so I am not renting and gaining equity.

Squirrelofwoe - Congrats buddy, that's one life milestone down - all the best with it. Chimaera is a special car indeed, I'm sure it will look better sitting outside a house you own .

g3org3y - Thanks my friend, good luck to you too - you'll be a happy man when you get those house keys. The vanoss issues and certain running costs frightened me a bit with the M5, I hope you'll have a decent sized emergency fund . I see them being worth a pretty penny in a few year though.

Edited by 540 on Saturday 14th May 17:55