PCP is up, which car next, and how to finance it?

[ritchieee]

Hi there, newbie here, interested in hearing some opinions on what to do for my next car.

Current situation:
Car is on PCP and ends soon. Can hand it back, buy it or exchange. Had a terrible experience with it, so no chance in having another. Worth about £6k, final balance will be £6.5k. There's approximately £1k panel damage (parking situation is atrocious...). Very small car, probably 0.9L. Purely picked this for parking.

My requirements/lifestyle:

• Honestly not too bothered about cars but I do have a few favourites. It's really for commuting only, though it'd be nice to do the rare long distance journey with some comfort and modern gadgets.
• I drive around 20 miles per day/8k pa. Mix of town and A-Road (60mph), sometimes motorway. Would now prefer more power to pull away etc.
• Early 30s, no children as of yet, no pets, might happen one day.
• Parking situation as I say is terrible. Might go and pay for a space nearby, but regardless, parking sensors are a must. Toyed with the idea of a banger because of the parking, however, I work for myself, and while I'm not bothered about materialism and flashiness, plenty of fellow business people are, so driving to a meeting in a newer car would be preferable.
• Pains me to pay road tax, so less the better.
• Prefer to keep monthly running costs down, so better MPG etc.
• Don't have tens of thousands in the bank so need to look at some sort of finance options.
• Budget up to £250 pm, could put up to £2k down.

What I'm considering:

• Really do like the most recent VW Beetle (New New Beetle?). Gutted they've stopped making it. Looking at 15/16 reg Bluemotion diesels (£30 road tax), approx £11k but probably don't do enough miles to justify a diesel, plus all the bad press about diesel makes me wonder. PCP on a second hand car just doesn't make sense to me. Could HP or take a loan out. A couple of places have offered me between £5.7-6.1k for my car as it is, which rids me of the problem of having to pay for the repairs.
• Seeing some very good lease options (wouldn't put through the business though). For example, A-Class Saloon AMG 2L Petrol on lease for around £250pm, Golf around £220pm, Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid for around £220pm.

Things to note:
I know nothing about cars so maintenance is a consideration. Had a couple of bad experiences with second hand cars hence the PCP. Don't care about 'owning' it. A hybrid would be nice as I do think it's the way to go, but I appreciate it is still early days and many will not be within my budget.

Would be great to hear your thoughts and any suggestions. Thanks!

[ritchieee]

Driver101 said:

How have you calculated the £1000 panel damage? That's quite a bit of work.

If you don't really care too much about cars and only do small trips I wouldn't be looking to spend much money. It's just a waste if you get no enjoyment from it.

Pick something cheap, simple, Japanese and petrol engined.

Thanks. Car company have quoted me that. They are notoriously picky, so getting the work done elsewhere I doubt will be possible.

[ritchieee]

ChevronB19 said:

When you mentioned dents etc from parking I assumed it was due to the actions of others, but then you say parking sensors are a must, which implies dents etc are due to you bumping it?

Honestly not being patronising, but maybe get a driving instructor to do a couple of hours of extensive reverse parking training?

Oh no offence was taken ha. There is plenty of damage from neighbours, but down the street we have a foot high wall that juts out all over the place. It's a tight road and we have to parallel park. So when all the decent spaces are taken, and you're coming back late at night, and there's frigging nettle bushes in the way so you can't hang your head out to check...

[ritchieee]

A500leroy said:

smart forfour fits that bill.

Thanks, but I actually have a Smart now. Never again.

[ritchieee]

Drew106 said:

Don't have much experience with PCP, but for your needs something like a Toyota Aygo would be a good shout.

Small, reliable, cheap.

Since you don't care about cars, get the cheapest possible and spend the money saved on something you'll get more value from.

Completely agree with that mindset. An Aygo would be too small for me to be comfortable I think. And as I alluded, I guess I should be future proofing. Thanks for the suggestion.