"Need a new car, budget £x to £y"

[simoid]

Why the lower limit?

Why say, for example, that you have a budget of between 5 and 7 grand?

Would you rule out the dream car at £4995?

[JayTee94]

I think what people mean is that they have noticed that the decent examples of the selected car go for between those price ranges. It isn't set in stone, just gives you an idea on what to aim for with regards to pricing.

It saves them and others scrolling through page after page of ropey examples for £3,000 etc etc..

[simoid]

Personally, I was thinking along the lines of:

a) People want to rule out the possibility of buying a duffer

b) People want others to know that they have the means, so don't want to spend less than £x on a car that fits their needs perfectly

[Nick1point9]

Because it helps rule out cars that have higher mileage, are older, have worse spec etc than you want.

I don't think anyone would not consider a car that cost less than their "window" if it was what they want, but it's unlikely that if you have researched what you want and the money it goes for that your ideal car will fall lower than your window.

[simoid]

So the criteria should be, must be <60,000 miles, with sat-nav, and cost less than £7k?

Seems to me folk are ruling out the best deals, which might be cheaper for reasons other than the car's merits.

If my car ever goes up for sale, it'll be at £500 more than the best one I can find

[veevee]

simoid said:

Why the lower limit?

Why say, for example, that you have a budget of between 5 and 7 grand?

Would you rule out the dream car at £4995?

same reason as the upper limit? its a ballpark figure. you wouldn't rule out something for £7005 either.

[WeirdNeville]

Because having looked at the market they've decided that the £x is where cars they like start being available and look to be decent ownership prospects.

I know what you're saying "Why pay more?" But really, if you've got £10k to spend on a car it's unlikely you're going to be happy with a £1k shed. Even though some of the best cars I've owned have cost around £1k, if I had £10k to spend I'd want to try something younger, better equipped, safer etc.

[simoid]

veevee said:

same reason as the upper limit? its a ballpark figure. you wouldn't rule out something for £7005 either.

No it's not, if you've only got 7 grand, you can't pay £7001 for a car.

Perhaps I've got the worst PH gripe ever!

[valiant]

Just a ballpark figure.

When I've been looking for cars I know what my 'ballpark' will get me in terms of age, spec, miles,etc. If I'm looking at a 2007 around 7k, there's no point in looking at a car for 10k as it's out of my price range and a waste of my time.

Take your point about a car a few quid over/under budget though and I think most people would consider £500 either way but it helps(esp when asking on here!)to narrow down options and stops people recommending £30k barges when you want a £5k runaround.