New? Nearly New? Used? Lease? What would you do...

[romeogolf]

I drive between 20-25k miles a year commuting to work and seeing family who live 200 miles away. Not so long away, my current car on PCP will need to go back and I know it won't have any equity left. I've got far less to put down as a deposit this time around as a result of moving said 200 miles across the country but will still need a car.

My budget is a firm £250/month. I'll have around £2000 to use as a deposit. I need a car with 40+mpg economy, reliability (I have next to no mechanical knowledge) and an auto 'box. I'd like some creature comforts (bluetooth audio, cruise control, heated seats). My commute is motorway-based but often in slow-moving traffic.

I'm happy to go for another PCP, lease a car, take a bank loan over 5 years... I'm looking for ideas. How would you finance it and what cars would you look at? What comes in this budget?

[Buzz Lightyear]

You're mileage kills it in regards to lease's and PCP. To get down to sub £250 is a strech.

You'll be able to pick up a 1.6 diesel such as Golf, Focus Leon and a 4 year lease.

Bigger stuff like Passat's, Mondeo's will have better residual values for higher mileage as that's what everyone in those cars tends to do, but that'll be close to £300 a month. Although you can probably get nicer spec stuff.

Otherwise, you'll be looking at a £12-£14k car on HP depending on term and rate you can get.

[romeogolf]

I had a feeling the mileage would be an issue. I'm paying £330/month at the moment on PCP but OH desperately wants me to shave a bit off that.

[romeogolf]

• bump*

[The Moose]

I'd be buying and selling cars every 3-6 months with that sort of mileage.

[Bill]

I'd be looking at highish mileage 3-6 year old cars, planning to keep it for 3+ years and using a bank loan to pay for it and paying it off as quickly as possible.

But then I'm tight, hate changing cars and I'm not overly concerned about reliability as modern cars (barring a few cock ups that are easily researched online) are basically sound.

[romeogolf]

The Moose said:

I'd be buying and selling cars every 3-6 months with that sort of mileage.

Wouldn't that just be more hassle/expense? I want a relatively new (2yrs or less) car so I can keep it for 4-5 years and not worry that's it's worth bugger-all at the end of it, but that it doesn't fall apart while I'm using it.