First decent sensible ‘family’ car – should I lease? buy? Or
Discussion
Hi all,
First of all, a little bit about our situation….
My wife and I are going through the adoption process so in about 6 months time we will have 1 (or possibly 2) children who will probably be aged between 2 – 4. My wife is no longer working (and will be staying at home to look after the kid(s) for the foreseeable. She will be having the new family car.
We currently have 2 x cars: an old Astra (mine) worth about £400 and a OK’ish 2.0L Turbo Astra (my wife’s) which is fun to drive, but not a sensible family car. It’s probably worth around £1800. I live very close to work (and cycle most of the time) and probably do about 2000 miles a year. My wife probably does around 8000miles a year (when she was working).
Financially we are very stable and have a decent amount of savings. We don’t like loans and the only debt we have is our Mortgage. If I purchase a car outright I am thinking of spending around £5000-£6000 (maybe would stretch to £7000) which would leave us plenty of rainy days. I want us to be secure with plenty of savings as we move into family life, but also conscious that as our income has decreased and our outgoings will increase how much we can save over the next few years will probably decrease significantly.
What we are thinking is to sell/part exchange the 2.0l Astra and replace with a decent family car. I have only ever bought second hand cars and have never leased or bought on credit. However, I quite often see good deals for lease’s and wonder if I would be better off leasing our next car?
We look after our cars, but they are practical objects and we don’t keep them in “showroom condition”. I think my main concern with leasing is the possibility of getting hit with a big bill at the end of the lease if there is a small dink or the kids have spilt something on the upholstery.
I am also fairly handy with cars and can service them myself and do the basics like change brake pads etc which is an advantage if we go for the second hand option, but I am also wary of the lack of spare time to do this sort of thing when we have kids. Having to pay out for expensive services on lease cars is a bit of a worry (but then there is the advantage of having a warranty for the big issues)
I am trying to balance it all and work out what would be the best option for us. Any advice appreciated!
Thanks all, I am a bit lost with my options!
First of all, a little bit about our situation….
My wife and I are going through the adoption process so in about 6 months time we will have 1 (or possibly 2) children who will probably be aged between 2 – 4. My wife is no longer working (and will be staying at home to look after the kid(s) for the foreseeable. She will be having the new family car.
We currently have 2 x cars: an old Astra (mine) worth about £400 and a OK’ish 2.0L Turbo Astra (my wife’s) which is fun to drive, but not a sensible family car. It’s probably worth around £1800. I live very close to work (and cycle most of the time) and probably do about 2000 miles a year. My wife probably does around 8000miles a year (when she was working).
Financially we are very stable and have a decent amount of savings. We don’t like loans and the only debt we have is our Mortgage. If I purchase a car outright I am thinking of spending around £5000-£6000 (maybe would stretch to £7000) which would leave us plenty of rainy days. I want us to be secure with plenty of savings as we move into family life, but also conscious that as our income has decreased and our outgoings will increase how much we can save over the next few years will probably decrease significantly.
What we are thinking is to sell/part exchange the 2.0l Astra and replace with a decent family car. I have only ever bought second hand cars and have never leased or bought on credit. However, I quite often see good deals for lease’s and wonder if I would be better off leasing our next car?
We look after our cars, but they are practical objects and we don’t keep them in “showroom condition”. I think my main concern with leasing is the possibility of getting hit with a big bill at the end of the lease if there is a small dink or the kids have spilt something on the upholstery.
I am also fairly handy with cars and can service them myself and do the basics like change brake pads etc which is an advantage if we go for the second hand option, but I am also wary of the lack of spare time to do this sort of thing when we have kids. Having to pay out for expensive services on lease cars is a bit of a worry (but then there is the advantage of having a warranty for the big issues)
I am trying to balance it all and work out what would be the best option for us. Any advice appreciated!
Thanks all, I am a bit lost with my options!
Brilliant advice all and thanks for the comments about adoption 
I think you are all leaning in the direction of telling me that financially I would be better off buying second hand.
I have spent the last couple of hours looking at lease deals and although the draw of a shiny new car delivered to my door is tempting, thinking sensibly I think it makes sense to invest in a decent second hand car. I guess I like the idea of the warranty and security that a leased car provides if something big was to go wrong, but I guess that if I was to purchase a decent second hand car from a dealer I could also get a warranty (something I have never done before, I have always bought privately).
I can see that the maths work out that I might be better off leasing if I was purchasing a brand new car, but I think in my scenario I am going to be better off buying a solid second hand car.
So that leads on to my next question...
What are my options for a nice family car in the £5000-£7000 bracket?
Would need to be practical and able to get all the kids stuff in, but not too big (probably Ford Focus size would suit us)
Mostly would do short journeys <5 miles, but wouldn't want it to struggle when packing up the kids and all the gear and hitting the motorway for a family holiday.
Not too expensive to repair (and ideally fairly easy to work on the basics myself).
I think you are all leaning in the direction of telling me that financially I would be better off buying second hand.
I have spent the last couple of hours looking at lease deals and although the draw of a shiny new car delivered to my door is tempting, thinking sensibly I think it makes sense to invest in a decent second hand car. I guess I like the idea of the warranty and security that a leased car provides if something big was to go wrong, but I guess that if I was to purchase a decent second hand car from a dealer I could also get a warranty (something I have never done before, I have always bought privately).
I can see that the maths work out that I might be better off leasing if I was purchasing a brand new car, but I think in my scenario I am going to be better off buying a solid second hand car.
So that leads on to my next question...
What are my options for a nice family car in the £5000-£7000 bracket?
Would need to be practical and able to get all the kids stuff in, but not too big (probably Ford Focus size would suit us)
Mostly would do short journeys <5 miles, but wouldn't want it to struggle when packing up the kids and all the gear and hitting the motorway for a family holiday.
Not too expensive to repair (and ideally fairly easy to work on the basics myself).
mike9009 said:
Congrats on the adoption thingy!
When we first had our kids we downsized our spend on cars (bought an 8 year old Alfa 156SW and a 1991 Eunos). This allowed greater spending on 'stuff' and eventually allowed my wife to stop work after child number 2.
Why is the Astra not suitable?
The kids will ruin the interior of any car (IME) so leasing would be out for me. Leather is a good idea to keep it a little cleaner inside.
Our kids are now 7 and 3 years old. We now own a MINI and a Nissan NOTE. Most family duties are in the Note but the MINI with a roof-box is used on longer trips.
The main thing with the Astra is that it is 3 door (which are very big/heavy) and quite difficult to get in/out of the back. Trying to get kids into car seats etc will be very difficult. Also the boot is pretty rubbish on the Astra H IMO, the boot in my Astra G is quite a lot bigger.When we first had our kids we downsized our spend on cars (bought an 8 year old Alfa 156SW and a 1991 Eunos). This allowed greater spending on 'stuff' and eventually allowed my wife to stop work after child number 2.
Why is the Astra not suitable?
The kids will ruin the interior of any car (IME) so leasing would be out for me. Leather is a good idea to keep it a little cleaner inside.
Our kids are now 7 and 3 years old. We now own a MINI and a Nissan NOTE. Most family duties are in the Note but the MINI with a roof-box is used on longer trips.
Its also expensive to tax (£400) and not very economical.
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