saving for a car, how do you do it?

[insanojackson]

i was lucky enough to be able to buy a mini copper new with cash in 2001 (due to having a decent salary and living with parents) since then i save each month what i probably would be paying as a car payment. As a result i have paid cash for all of my cars since then.

[Harry Monk]

I thought I was a car freak until I signed up here and saw how people were crucifying themselves financially to run a motor. Often to project a completely disingenuous lifestyle image.

Some good advice on this thread about keeping within means and retaining a solid perspective.

[volvoforlife]

STW2010 said:

volvoforlife said:

I didn't bother with saving up. I bought all my cars on finance and sold them all within 12 months so I got to enjoy them and not take too much of a financial hit. Basically 'rented' them. I wanted a Porsche Cayman and I had all the usual advice of not bothering. However I wanted one while I was young so I got it at age 25, enjoyed it for 12 months, and moved it on for £1000 less than I bought it for. So £1000 rental fee for 1 year of a Porsche Cayman sounds fine to me.

You mean £1000 plus interest, plus petrol, insurance, tax, servicing, consumables (tyres) etc

The £1000 loss included the maintenance but not the interest. At least I get to say I had a Porsche when I was 25 to the grandkids

And how many people easily blow a couple of grand each year on a stupid holiday to Ibiza or somewhere similar, spend their money on hookers and drugs and drink with nothing to show for it. I don't think losing a bit of money on a car is anything to worry about.

Edited by volvoforlife on Monday 20th December 12:21

[lauda]

There's a simple answer to the OP's question. If you earn £22.5k pa, you can't afford a £25k car.

HTH

[Fox-]

By the time you can afford to buy and run an R34 GT-R you wont even want one, once you realise that beneath the awesome ability you cant use on your commute and the 2Fast 2Furious styling it's simply a 12 year old Nissan.

Then you'll buy a Porsche Boxster instead and realise you are 35.

[BRMMA]

lauda said:

There's a simple answer to the OP's question. If you earn £22.5k pa, you can't afford a £25k car.

HTH

that about sums it up, i know loads of people with low to middle incomes that then have relatively expensive cars and i can only imagine this must completely drain them financially, they put on a good show that they've got loads of spare cash but basic maths sugegsts they don't

Though when i was earning that i had a £2k Peugeot 306 D Turbo because i was sensible and pumped all my money into a house, which then dropped in value by about £20k just at the time i split with my girlfriend leaving us with a house we couldn't sell and didn't want to live in. wish i had blown the money on a car instead, or going travelling, in fact anything other than buying that house when i did. But i'd agree that in general putting your money into property is the right thing to do

forget the R34 for now and if you really do want something nice get rid of the C2 etc and put the extra few grand towards a 350Z or something until you're in a position to afford the car you want, you'd end up hating the R34 because it would cripple you financially meaning you'd be too scared of incurring the costs associated with driving it so it'd sit on your drive just wrecking your life

[R26Andy]

How did I save? I didnt. When I was on a wage £10k more than you managed to commit financial suicide and bought a rx8 on 100% finance over 5 years. All paid off and taken care of now I should add. You live and learn but its better to learn through other peoples mistakes than experience it for yourself lol.

Edited by R26Andy on Monday 20th December 14:11

Edited by R26Andy on Monday 20th December 14:11

[STW2010]

limpsfield said:

STW2010 said:

volvoforlife said:

I didn't bother with saving up. I bought all my cars on finance and sold them all within 12 months so I got to enjoy them and not take too much of a financial hit. Basically 'rented' them. I wanted a Porsche Cayman and I had all the usual advice of not bothering. However I wanted one while I was young so I got it at age 25, enjoyed it for 12 months, and moved it on for £1000 less than I bought it for. So £1000 rental fee for 1 year of a Porsche Cayman sounds fine to me.

You mean £1000 plus interest, plus petrol, insurance, tax, servicing, consumables (tyres) etc

Is it just Caymans that need petrol, insurance,tax etc. then?

I do hope this isn't going to kick off the regular cash v financing bks.

FFS. No, but a Porsche will generally cost more in terms of petrol, servicing and insurance. Obviously if the car you had before was an equally high-spec car then you won't notice much difference.

[chrisxr2]

I'm renting a 8 car lockup for £120 a month to store and work on it

blimey thats cheap.

OP the simple answer is credit. I am on nearly 4 times the average wage for lincolnshire and all my neighbours have newer motors parked out the front, loans credit cards debts, is the answer allegedly.

[laam999]

Thanks for the replies guys, nice to see how you managed to get the cars you want, or as it seems more often than I expected, didn't have a flash peice of metal but just bought sensibly within your means.

I figured out while posting the OP that I can't afford a GT-R 34 but no harm in dreaming I suppose. I am happy however having a project car as savings has been seen as a good idea.

To lower the cost of my project I've been tempted to rent some of my lockup space to a fellow piston head with a project or something but as none of my friends have one I'm too worried to rent to a stranger with my tools all stored there.

Thanks for all the replys espc searider, that's a great insite as to how people get the metal they have.

Liam

[Jayho]

I was on placement last year and came out of it with £2k saved, (roughly earned £12k after tax) This was meant to be saved for a car when I graduate ect... but due to being made redundant from my job which I have when at uni I have had to dig into it and its now at £0.

But I still managed to save the £2k while on placement, living at home and paying £200 diggs a month (Rent). You just need to have the right mentality, you can easily save enough money and still enjoy your life if you're careful about it.

GF's could either cost money or save money tbh... Every second weekend for a night in with a movie is £80 saved from going out on saturday...

Fortunately for me, my mother didnt spend much of the diggs I gave her as it was not needed. And basically when I graduate and start saving for my mortgage she would hopefully have some cash to help me out...

Setting up an ISA to take money out of your account on a monthly basis is a very good way to start saving.

[superman84]

xx

Edited by superman84 on Friday 31st December 11:32

[rufusgti]

Harry Monk said:

I thought I was a car freak until I signed up here and saw how people were crucifying themselves financially to run a motor. Often to project a completely disingenuous lifestyle image.

Or as the post above yours confirms. Guys willing to buy brand new cars for cash whilst still living with mummy and daddy!!!

What a crap way for a young person to live. And i don't want to offend anyone. I feel sorry for anyone who's grown up in a society where they feel they should put real life/growth/responsibilities on hold for the portrayed image of owning a new car.

I'd gladly offend any parent actually who thinks this is a responsible way of bringing up and teaching their offspring. I still remember telling my dad i wanted a £1000 bank loan to buy my friends Nova SR. I was still living at home at the time and he pissed himself laughing and pointed at the door. He didnt have to say anything else.

Don't worry if you cant afford a brand new car. I'll let you into a little secret. 90% of people driving brand new cars can't either. They are usually company cars, Leased (tax dodge), on finance, bought with home equity, or it seems bougt by people who would rather have a new car than throw house partys and take girls back to there own pads.

The things you own........ blardy blardy blarrr

[superman84]

xx

Edited by superman84 on Friday 31st December 11:33

[Gwagon111]

Just lay off the coke and titty bars for a bit, you'll be surprised how much cash you save.

[rufusgti]

superman84 said:

rufusgti said:

Harry Monk said:

I thought I was a car freak until I signed up here and saw how people were crucifying themselves financially to run a motor. Often to project a completely disingenuous lifestyle image.

Or as the post above yours confirms. Guys willing to buy brand new cars for cash whilst still living with mummy and daddy!!!

What a crap way for a young person to live. And i don't want to offend anyone. I feel sorry for anyone who's grown up in a society where they feel they should put real life/growth/responsibilities on hold for the portrayed image of owning a new car.

I'd gladly offend any parent actually who thinks this is a responsible way of bringing up and teaching their offspring. I still remember telling my dad i wanted a £1000 bank loan to buy my friends Nova SR. I was still living at home at the time and he pissed himself laughing and pointed at the door. He didnt have to say anything else.

Don't worry if you cant afford a brand new car. I'll let you into a little secret. 90% of people driving brand new cars can't either. They are usually company cars, Leased (tax dodge), on finance, bought with home equity, or it seems bougt by people who would rather have a new car than throw house partys and take girls back to there own pads.

The things you own........ blardy blardy blarrr

I meant a R34 GTR btw not a brand new GTR (per the OP), and what's wrong with living at home with your parents for cheap rent whilst you save to buy a house rather than waste money on some squalid hole for ridiculous rent?? It's not got anything to do with looking to be richer than my worth but in a couple of years time I should have a nice house and a car, which is all that most of us strive for isn't it?

Edited by superman84 on Monday 20th December 15:25

Edited by superman84 on Monday 20th December 15:28

Edited by superman84 on Monday 20th December 15:39

Absolutely nothing wrong with staying at home saving a deposit for your first home. Its a real shame, but it is the way of the world right now. I was reffering to the posters who said they bought brand new cars whilst living at home. New cars and first homes are not in the same catagory.

[CWH]

I'm 21 and i'll be buying my ideal car after i've bought a house.
For me at the moment it's save up deposit for house and live comfortably whilst doing so even if I am running round in a diesel Fiesta.
People I see with decent cars have either financed them or got the usual Audi on their grandmothers disability.
I don't see the point in pouring money into finance and insurance, especially at this age. That would be about £700 a month on a semi decent car.
Move up the ladder in work and have more disposable income or live with the mother and father till the age of 30 and get a £15k car on finance.
Hmmmm...

[Fox-]

CWH said:

I'm 21 and i'll be buying my ideal car after i've bought a house.
For me at the moment it's save up deposit for house and live comfortably whilst doing so even if I am running round in a diesel Fiesta.
People I see with decent cars have either financed them or got the usual Audi on their grandmothers disability.
I don't see the point in pouring money into finance and insurance, especially at this age. That would be about £700 a month on a semi decent car.
Move up the ladder in work and have more disposable income or live with the mother and father till the age of 30 and get a £15k car on finance.
Hmmmm...

Pretty simplstic way of looking at it. You don't need to take out £15k on finance and take 9 years to pay it off to have a nice car, and if you did and paid £700 a month you'd have paid it off pretty sharpish anyway..

Your 'Fanasty garage' contains a Mondeo ST220. This is a nice car, and its yours for £5k cash not £15k finance.

Edited by Fox- on Monday 20th December 16:12

[swiftpete]

The magic envelope approach worked for me. I just saved the money in cash in an envelope. The more cash in there, the closer I felt I was getting and the more I put in there. If you really set your mind to it you can save up pretty quickly and it didn't take that long. I am only talking about £3500 cash though, not 20 odd grand.
If you're on 22.5k, you can't afford a 25k car if you want to own it outright, so you'd probably be better lowering your sights for the time being.

[CWH]

Fox- said:

CWH said:

I'm 21 and i'll be buying my ideal car after i've bought a house.
For me at the moment it's save up deposit for house and live comfortably whilst doing so even if I am running round in a diesel Fiesta.
People I see with decent cars have either financed them or got the usual Audi on their grandmothers disability.
I don't see the point in pouring money into finance and insurance, especially at this age. That would be about £700 a month on a semi decent car.
Move up the ladder in work and have more disposable income or live with the mother and father till the age of 30 and get a £15k car on finance.
Hmmmm...

Pretty simplstic way of looking at it. You don't need to take out £15k on finance and take 9 years to pay it off to have a nice car, and if you did and paid £700 a month you'd have paid it off pretty sharpish anyway..

Your 'Fanasty garage' contains a Mondeo ST220. This is a nice car, and its yours for £5k cash not £15k finance.

Edited by Fox- on Monday 20th December 16:12

Sorry, I mean if I were to get a car financed usual repayments are 3 or 5 years aren't they unless I tried for a bank loan over a shorter period.
Yes I could pay cash for a £5k ST220 next year when I receive another years no claims however the insurance quotes I've had on that model is unbelievable.
Looking at £2,500 and that is the cheapest quote. Also with the ST220 at £5k your looking at a 6-7 year old car with atleast 70k mileage.
I don't see the point in paying a decent sum of money on a car, cost of car+insurance etc and having trouble with it as the miles rack up.