Car decision

[Thomas812]

Hey all,
I'm currently debating what to do regarding my car and future car.
I am into cars, and am enthusiastic about cars and it's essentially a hobby. I am currently on a PCP finance for a fiesta ST-2 2019 which I am paying £230 a month for and £860 a year for insurance (paid it in full) - Average MPG is 36 and I drive 300+ miles a week, so I'm spending close to £200 a month on fuel alone.
I love the fiesta, it's fast and decently priced to run, however I want something faster but at the same time nothing too crazy expensive however at the same time I also want to save money!

I will not be stating my salary, as I spend my money differently to how some people may spend it, I like to prioritize what I enjoy, and some people do it differently.

I am currently stuck deciding if it's worth going for a less performance car and saving money, or sticking to my hobby and using a lot of my money on the car.
The performance cars I have as options are a BMW 435D, audi S3, golf R and focus RS.
BMW 435D - £350-400 a month for the car, £1900 to insure for a year - Average 45MPG - £152.63 a month on fuel
Audi S3 - £300-350 a month for the car, £1500 to insure for a year - Average 40MPG - £171.71 a month on fuel
Golf R - £275-£325 a month for the car, £1300 to insure for a year - Average 38MPG - £180.74 a month on fuel
Focus RS - £370-400 a month for the car, £1600 to insure for a year - Average 25MPG - £274.73 a month on fuel
Now, please note these are the options I am considering for my performance car, the focus RS and 435d being my favorite, and I can justify the price, but I'm not sure if it'll be worth it.

After talking to my partner, I have started to look at lower performance cars for cheaper and better fuel efficiency for the sole purpose of saving money and having a faster car later on in life as I am still quite young. I am trying to be smart yet have a luxury life style that I can afford.
The lower spec options are: (I am a BMW fan) - I know there are some other decent performance high economical cars, and I'm open to suggestions.
BMW 430D - £260-300 a month for the car, £1400 to insure for a year - Average 50MPG - £137.36 a month on fuel
BMW 420D - £210-250 a month for the car, £1000 to insure for a year - Average 60MPG - £114.47 a month on fuel

At the end of the day, I could spend £400 on a car, spend £200 a month to insure it and spend £300 a month for fuel, which would put me £900 a month back on the car or I could be sensible for a few years and spend £250 a month on a car, spend £100 a month to insure it and spend £115 a month for fuel which would only put me £465 a month on the car.. saving the £435 (which is very tempting, but so is a nice fast car!)

I just wants some advice on where to go, if I should just hold my fast car until I go up on the pay scale (hopefully) and have more saved, or just to go out and have fun (but potentially not be able to save)
Also, as a side note, my car is worth £14,500 to webuyanycar, and the settlement figure is £14,950 - If I went for something like a BMW 420D, they're only about £12,000 how would that work if I transferred the PCP, would it be a £2000 deposit?

If anyone is interested about the performance here are below:
BMW 435D - 313bhp - 630nm - 0-60 4.8 seconds
Audi S3 - 306bhp - 400nm - 0-60 4.6 seconds
Golf R - 306bhp - 390nm - 0-60 4.6 seconds
Focus RS - 345bhp - 440nm - 0-60 4.7 seconds
BMW 430D - 254bhp - 560nm - 0-60 5.3 seconds
BMW 420D - 190bhp - 400nm - 0-60 7.6 seconds

Thanks!

Edited by Thomas812 on Monday 17th February 19:57

[stevemcs]

I think you need to figures are flawed, you will have negative equity in the Fiesta if going down the 435d route you are going to spend more on monthly payments ... diesel also costs more and doesn't achieve high MPG unless you are on a run.

If you want to save money go and buy a VW UP. Your not going to go faster and save money, servicing will be more expensive, your insurance is £1000 more per year and tyres will be more expensive. Sadly you need to wake up and realise its not going to happen.,

[numtumfutunch]

There will be folk telling you to be sensible and save for a house however I pretty much spent all of my spare cash on cars when I was young too Do I regret it? Not at all

So.....

First off bin the 435d
I had a 335d for a couple of years and it was both the fastest and also one of the most boring cars Ive ever run

And the insurance quotes you list are just silly money for someone at your stage in life

If I were you, and Im not, Id buy a shed for commuting and something else for fun
The something elee could even be a proper classic with cheap insurance as a bonus
Obvs this relies on you having storage for both

Or PH cliche alert get an MX5 of whatever vintage suits your financial circumstances. I appreciate new car finance is a lot more competitive than used - I have just financed a new 5 series for a lot less than one with 5000 miles on it.........

I ran a Mk1 MX5 for 6 years until first child was born
Naff all power, naff all mod cons and still one of my favourite ever cars

Cheers, and have fun

[wiliferus]

The bit I don’t get - you’re spending £200 a month on fuel doing ‘300+ miles a week’.

Working on 1.25 a litre of unleaded... £200 buys 160 litres, or as near as damn it 35 gallons. 35 gallons at 35mpg sees you at over 1200 miles a month...
So, either your fiesta is screwed and drinking fuel for fun, or you’re doing lots more miles than you think. If you are doing over 1200 miles a month a diesel would make sense.

But as others have said, diesel only makes sense if you’re doing long journeys to stretch it’s legs.
Generally speaking faster does mean more expensive. You’re doing a grand job of man maths, but unless you have money to burn, a fast hatch is gonna cost a fair few pennies to run for that mileage.

[nammynake]

[quote] I will not be stating my salary, as I spend my money differently to how some people may spend it, I like to prioritize what I enjoy, and some people do it differently.
[/quote]

I’m not sure what advice you are looking for. Your priorities are different to many - only you can decide. Rather than thinking of the difference in monthly payment, maybe compare the total amount spent over the relevant period - a few hundred a month might look fine but would you make the same decision if you realise you could have saved £15k for example? Holidays, mortgage/deposit, other hobbies etc?

[The_Nugget]

wiliferus said:

The bit I don’t get - you’re spending £200 a month on fuel doing ‘300+ miles a week’.

Working on 1.25 a litre of unleaded... £200 buys 160 litres, or as near as damn it 35 gallons. 35 gallons at 35mpg sees you at over 1200 miles a month...
So, either your fiesta is screwed and drinking fuel for fun, or you’re doing lots more miles than you think. If you are doing over 1200 miles a month a diesel would make sense.

But as others have said, diesel only makes sense if you’re doing long journeys to stretch it’s legs.
Generally speaking faster does mean more expensive. You’re doing a grand job of man maths, but unless you have money to burn, a fast hatch is gonna cost a fair few pennies to run for that mileage.

Give or take, his numbers and your sums show him doing c.1200 miles a month and £200 in fuel so not sure why your point was?

For what it is worth I’d not get a diesel, it will be cheaper for fuel, but not fun in any sense of the word.

[VR99]

To the OP, I noticed you posted on another forum with the exact same thread...I won't mention which one but will say you will likely see very different responses on between them but that's a good thing for broader perspectives and views
It's impossible to answer your query as IMO it depends on a lot of other factors mainly around existing financial commitments and any short term goals e.g: saving for a house.
So I'd say do whatever you want but within reason and take you time to decide.
I drive a shed out of choice rather than a need but am not a serial or seasoned shedist so won't bore you with the joy or merits of shedding. It just means my bank balance looks a bit better than if I was on PCP or leasing albeit with rubbish interest rates and our not so good chum inflation eroding away those hard-earned pennies.

[Monkeylegend]

The_Nugget said:

wiliferus said:

The bit I don’t get - you’re spending £200 a month on fuel doing ‘300+ miles a week’.

Working on 1.25 a litre of unleaded... £200 buys 160 litres, or as near as damn it 35 gallons. 35 gallons at 35mpg sees you at over 1200 miles a month...
So, either your fiesta is screwed and drinking fuel for fun, or you’re doing lots more miles than you think. If you are doing over 1200 miles a month a diesel would make sense.

But as others have said, diesel only makes sense if you’re doing long journeys to stretch it’s legs.
Generally speaking faster does mean more expensive. You’re doing a grand job of man maths, but unless you have money to burn, a fast hatch is gonna cost a fair few pennies to run for that mileage.

Give or take, his numbers and your sums show him doing c.1200 miles a month and £200 in fuel so not sure why your point was?

For what it is worth I’d not get a diesel, it will be cheaper for fuel, but not fun in any sense of the word.

Other than the OP stating he is spending £200 per week which is clearly wrong.

[Monkeylegend]

Thomas812 said:

so I'm spending close to £200 a week on fuel alone.

Assume that should be per month?

If not you have a very heavy right foot

[The_Nugget]

Monkeylegend said:

The_Nugget said:

wiliferus said:

The bit I don’t get - you’re spending £200 a month on fuel doing ‘300+ miles a week’.

Working on 1.25 a litre of unleaded... £200 buys 160 litres, or as near as damn it 35 gallons. 35 gallons at 35mpg sees you at over 1200 miles a month...
So, either your fiesta is screwed and drinking fuel for fun, or you’re doing lots more miles than you think. If you are doing over 1200 miles a month a diesel would make sense.

But as others have said, diesel only makes sense if you’re doing long journeys to stretch it’s legs.
Generally speaking faster does mean more expensive. You’re doing a grand job of man maths, but unless you have money to burn, a fast hatch is gonna cost a fair few pennies to run for that mileage.

Give or take, his numbers and your sums show him doing c.1200 miles a month and £200 in fuel so not sure why your point was?

For what it is worth I’d not get a diesel, it will be cheaper for fuel, but not fun in any sense of the word.

Other than the OP stating he is spending £200 per week which is clearly wrong.

Ah yes, I see “a week” that’s clearly wrong! Stand down, stand down.

[wiliferus]

The_Nugget said:

Monkeylegend said:

The_Nugget said:

wiliferus said:

The bit I don’t get - you’re spending £200 a month on fuel doing ‘300+ miles a week’.

Working on 1.25 a litre of unleaded... £200 buys 160 litres, or as near as damn it 35 gallons. 35 gallons at 35mpg sees you at over 1200 miles a month...
So, either your fiesta is screwed and drinking fuel for fun, or you’re doing lots more miles than you think. If you are doing over 1200 miles a month a diesel would make sense.

But as others have said, diesel only makes sense if you’re doing long journeys to stretch it’s legs.
Generally speaking faster does mean more expensive. You’re doing a grand job of man maths, but unless you have money to burn, a fast hatch is gonna cost a fair few pennies to run for that mileage.

Give or take, his numbers and your sums show him doing c.1200 miles a month and £200 in fuel so not sure why your point was?

For what it is worth I’d not get a diesel, it will be cheaper for fuel, but not fun in any sense of the word.

Other than the OP stating he is spending £200 per week which is clearly wrong.

Ah yes, I see “a week” that’s clearly wrong! Stand down, stand down.

Yea sorry I didn’t explain it very well. In my head it made perfect sense

[Thomas812]

stevemcs said:

I think you need to figures are flawed, you will have negative equity in the Fiesta if going down the 435d route you are going to spend more on monthly payments ... diesel also costs more and doesn't achieve high MPG unless you are on a run.

If you want to save money go and buy a VW UP. Your not going to go faster and save money, servicing will be more expensive, your insurance is £1000 more per year and tyres will be more expensive. Sadly you need to wake up and realise its not going to happen.,

I understand I will have negative equity, but it's not too much, around £500 as of now as my car is worth and guaranteed £14,450 from webuyanycar (inspected) and the settlement is £14,950.
The VW UP is a good suggestion, cheap. But I am not looking for something like that. However I agree, the faster I go the less I'll save.

numtumfutunch said:

There will be folk telling you to be sensible and save for a house however I pretty much spent all of my spare cash on cars when I was young too Do I regret it? Not at all

So.....

First off bin the 435d
I had a 335d for a couple of years and it was both the fastest and also one of the most boring cars Ive ever run

And the insurance quotes you list are just silly money for someone at your stage in life

If I were you, and Im not, Id buy a shed for commuting and something else for fun
The something elee could even be a proper classic with cheap insurance as a bonus
Obvs this relies on you having storage for both

Or PH cliche alert get an MX5 of whatever vintage suits your financial circumstances. I appreciate new car finance is a lot more competitive than used - I have just financed a new 5 series for a lot less than one with 5000 miles on it.........

I ran a Mk1 MX5 for 6 years until first child was born
Naff all power, naff all mod cons and still one of my favourite ever cars

Cheers, and have fun

435d attracts me so much, I love the looks & performance. I guess i'd have to test drive it.
I can only really "store" one car, and don't want more than one for that reason.

Thanks for the suggestions though!

wiliferus said:

The bit I don’t get - you’re spending £200 a month on fuel doing ‘300+ miles a week’.

Working on 1.25 a litre of unleaded... £200 buys 160 litres, or as near as damn it 35 gallons. 35 gallons at 35mpg sees you at over 1200 miles a month...
So, either your fiesta is screwed and drinking fuel for fun, or you’re doing lots more miles than you think. If you are doing over 1200 miles a month a diesel would make sense.

But as others have said, diesel only makes sense if you’re doing long journeys to stretch it’s legs.
Generally speaking faster does mean more expensive. You’re doing a grand job of man maths, but unless you have money to burn, a fast hatch is gonna cost a fair few pennies to run for that mileage.

I spend £200 a month on fuel yes, 300+ miles a week does indeed calculate to 1200 miles a month? And my car gets 36mpg? Not really seeing the point..?

nammynake said:

I’m not sure what advice you are looking for. Your priorities are different to many - only you can decide. Rather than thinking of the difference in monthly payment, maybe compare the total amount spent over the relevant period - a few hundred a month might look fine but would you make the same decision if you realise you could have saved £15k for example? Holidays, mortgage/deposit, other hobbies etc?

Good suggestions, thanks.

VR99 said:

To the OP, I noticed you posted on another forum with the exact same thread...I won't mention which one but will say you will likely see very different responses on between them but that's a good thing for broader perspectives and views
It's impossible to answer your query as IMO it depends on a lot of other factors mainly around existing financial commitments and any short term goals e.g: saving for a house.
So I'd say do whatever you want but within reason and take you time to decide.
I drive a shed out of choice rather than a need but am not a serial or seasoned shedist so won't bore you with the joy or merits of shedding. It just means my bank balance looks a bit better than if I was on PCP or leasing albeit with rubbish interest rates and our not so good chum inflation eroding away those hard-earned pennies.

Yup the reason I posted on the other forum was from two perspectives, as you can probably tell.
I think I'll talk to a few close friends who are in both boats and see what they say, and then go over my payments for a month.

wiliferus said:

Yea sorry I didn’t explain it very well. In my head it made perfect sense

It was a type, £200 a month, 300 miles a week.