New car - what can I really afford?

[Deva Link]

dapearson said:

How do those deals work if at the end of the agreement, you've done LESS than the agreed mileage?

If it's a lease deal (as the Peugeot one is) you don't get anything back for low mileage. If it's a PCP arrangement the car might be worth a bit more than it's GFV so there would be a bit of equity in it.

[Wills2]

alexyfoot said:

Not fixed but should be able to put up to about 1k I think.

If you've got a grand then spend that, don't get caught in the loan trap.

[Matt UK]

dapearson said:

Matt UK said:

OP, if I were you I'd buy a nice £1k Mk1 MX5 and enjoy cheap running costs, a lovely handling little rag-top and an easy car to spanner if you fancy having a go yourself.

If you decide you can afford more, chop it and move on. If not, keep running it.

LOL. It was only a matter of time...

Being serious though, if the OP is early 20's and doesn't need a practical car, wht not?

[Deva Link]

Matt UK said:

Being serious though, if the OP is early 20's and doesn't need a practical car, wht not?

I doubt he's doing hairdressing at uni.

[Andy665]

You could get into a new A Class Classic SE for your budget, not massively exciting but a solid little car that gives you a decent badge on the nose for not a lot of money

[SuperHangOn]

Am old MX5 or Puma is a bloody good call.

[alexyfoot]

OK, it turns out my salary is going to be a bit higher than I expected (26k) so I could afford a proper car at something like 220 a month as long as the bank approves my background for a loan. I am so so happy right now. Anyone had experience with those new Kia Rio-s like these?
http://www.kia.co.uk/new-cars/range/compact-cars/n...

Anyone heard any KIA(specifically Rio) horror stories? Or if anyone has seen anything that is better value - obviously when the time comes I will shop around but I'd like to do a few test drives beforehand so need some shortlist.

Edited by alexyfoot on Monday 20th February 18:14

[carreauchompeur]

Yes, they are horrific.


And before anyone fires up the lynch mob, I did drive a Kia Ce'ed with an open mind a few years ago, it was as ste as I feared.


OP, why do you need/want a brand new car? Just curious.

[vrsmxtb]

alexyfoot said:

OK, it turns out my salary is going to be a bit higher than I expected (26k) so I could afford a proper car at something like 220 a month as long as the bank approves my background for a loan. I am so so happy right now. Anyone had experience with those new Kia Rio-s like these?
http://www.kia.co.uk/new-cars/range/compact-cars/n...

Anyone heard any KIA(specifically Rio) horror stories?

Why the KIA fixation? I know they've come a long way recently, but £220p/m will get you in a lot of very good cars.

[alexyfoot]

Because my work is going to be on city outskirts and want to live in a city centre (Bristol) - thus I don't want to spend an hour in a bus - I love driving a car even in a occasional traffic jams and have grown used to it back in my home country. I don't want to go back to public transport as I've hated it for years

What is the issue with the C'eed? Obviously it is a different model but I guess some issues would be generic.

vrs - that is why I am asking for what would be better in terms of equipment, I am not too fussed about performance, you don't get any in a traffic jam. From what I saw these last 2-3 days, this seemed the best equipped car for roughly 10k. Fiat 500 is not bad and looks great but they are really small + italian cars are not what I'd associate with reliability having had experience with a couple obviously old ones.

Edited by alexyfoot on Monday 20th February 18:20

Fiestas are also good in that budget, right? Also I was looking at Seat Ibiza, but I am not sure how reliable they are.

Edited by alexyfoot on Monday 20th February 18:23

Edited by alexyfoot on Monday 20th February 18:25

[Deva Link]

doogz said:

Deva Link said:

Matt UK said:

Being serious though, if the OP is early 20's and doesn't need a practical car, wht not?

I doubt he's doing hairdressing at uni.

Seriously? Still? Do people still think this is funny?

I didn't put a smiley.

[vrsmxtb]

alexyfoot said:

Because my work is going to be on city outskirts and want to live in a city centre (Bristol) - thus I don't want to spend an hour in a bus - I love driving a car even in a occasional traffic jams and have grown used to it back in my home country. I don't want to go back to public transport as I've hated it for years

What is the issue with the C'eed? Obviously it is a different model but I guess some issues would be generic.

vrs - that is why I am asking for what would be better in terms of equipment, I am not too fussed about performance, you don't get any in a traffic jam. From what I saw these last 2-3 days, this seemed the best equipped car for roughly 10k. Fiat 500 is not bad and looks great but they are really small + italian cars are not what I'd associate with reliability having had experience with a couple obviously old ones.

Edited by alexyfoot on Monday 20th February 18:20

Fiestas are also good in that budget, right? Also I was looking at Seat Ibiza, but I am not sure how reliable they are.

Edited by alexyfoot on Monday 20th February 18:23

Edited by alexyfoot on Monday 20th February 18:25

Are you set on buying new? With a 10k budget I'd definitely look at nearly new, as in 6 mths-1 year old.

Personally for a reliable, nearly new hatchback I'd look at the Toyota Aygo, Mazda 2 or a Skoda Fabia 1.2TSI, but then I like being a bit different. Kia 7 year warranty is very attractive though.

[CampDavid]

Your student loan won't affct credit worthiness, it doesn't come up, though your short emplyment probably won't help.

Personally I feel that in your early 20s you should focus on having the freedom to do things, change your life at a moments notice an generally be a bit more free. You'll get tied down by mortgages and partners soon enough so don't waste any of that freedom on car finance.

I'd buy something solid around the £2k mark, probably less and get yourself settled into work before committing to anything

[Roman]

Chrisw666 said:

alexyfoot said:

Chris - but this includes the price to own the vehicle for that period - that's exactly the sort of deal I'd ideally go for as in those small city cars you get excellent interior and are basically free to maintain due to warranty, etc, which matters most to me personally. Trouble is with my background, I am not sure if I am eligible for such offers. Otherwise, something in the 207 class but maybe slightly cheaper (i.e. Kia or something like that) would be ideal for my taste (even those hire offers are OK as I think I will easily fit even into 5k, let alone 10k mileage limits).

We paid £2k for a 3 year old KA at the end of 2009. Since then it has had 2 services @ £100 a time, £80 on 2 MOT tests, £70 on a pair of tyres, a few quid on some bulbs, and petrol at around 40mpg over 20k miles. Literally nothing has broken on it.

Now I'll admit that we paid well less than retail for the car, but if you bought a one of similar age and mileage now at c£2k it would be fairly painless to run over the next year or two and would be worth at least £1k when you come to sell it. Last week I sold a 2001 1.4 focus with 61,000 genuine miles for £900, its never going to set the world alight but tracking down cars like that would be a better bet than borrowing something new from Peugeot with a mileage restriction.

I'm of a similar opinion, the monthly budget would finance around £3k over 18months for which you could buy a 5yr old Suzuki Swift or Vauxhall Astra Sporthatch. Both are quite robust (the Swift has a timing chain), reliable, cheap to insure and maintain. After 18months either should be easy to sell and still worth around £1.8k so effectively only costing you around £67pcm. I don't think a newer supermini for £6k is going to feel significantly better and it'll depreciate a lot more.

[alexyfoot]

vrsmxtb said:

Are you set on buying new? With a 10k budget I'd definitely look at nearly new, as in 6 mths-1 year old.

Personally for a reliable, nearly new hatchback I'd look at the Toyota Aygo, Mazda 2 or a Skoda Fabia 1.2TSI, but then I like being a bit different. Kia 7 year warranty is very attractive though.

The Aygo is a tad too small for me I think (trouble is I haven't even been in these cars...) - I am used to a limousine class Lancia K I really have trouble accepting myself in a non-spacious car but they are cheaper to insure so I have to get one of these. However, the Aygo is too small. Mazda 2 is the minimum I'd go for but I need to check what sort of specks I will be able to get when purchasing.

The 1 year old ones seem great as that is when the steepest depreciation occurs but are the financing deals as good as when you are buying a new one? Obviously, if buying in cash this is the best option, but is the same for financed deals?

Most people are for buying a cheap car, I guess you guys are right - this will be my first option as long as I find something good and value for money. If so many people say the same thing, it must be right!

Edited by alexyfoot on Monday 20th February 19:01

[hornetrider]

vrsmxtb said:

Why the KIA fixation? I know they've come a long way recently, but £220p/m will get you in a lot of very good cars.

A brand spanking new Mercedes SLK, for one.

http://www.gogreenleasing.co.uk/business-contract-...

[alexyfoot]

hornetrider - I am not a business and that would cost me about 5k a year to insure. Thanks anyway

[Otispunkmeyer]

alexyfoot said:

Is there going to be much difference between car insurance for a new eco car (say Kia Rio type of thing) compared to an old 2-3 hatch? This is going to be my first card in the UK (no NCB as where I come from I wasn't on the insurance policy...) - are these old cars more than 1000k to insure for a young driver (23)? I don't want to end up spending 1500 on insurance and at the same time drive a crappy 1999 car that can break down any minute.

Btw, I am not into fast cars and sporty suspension stuff - the more comfortable the interior, the better - so newer eco cars appeal a bit more due to nice equipment that come with them - but again I don't think I can afford one.

http://www.creditplus.co.uk/car-loan-calculator.ht...

On this one 4 year loan, 1k deposit and 7k vehicle returns 185/160 depending on whether I put good or fair credit rating. My guess would be I am somewhere around fair - so 180 quid would work for me. Question now is what's the most comfortable and relatively cheap to insure thing I can get for 7k?

Edited by alexyfoot on Monday 20th February 13:44

Edited by alexyfoot on Monday 20th February 13:48

Not into fast or sporty? More like armchair right?

Skoda Superb. Do it. It makes sense. Its a blancmange on wheels.


But seriously... getting straight into finance grates on you. It did with me, even though we'd borrowed from parents and paid back with small amount of interest, you still notice the £100 or so a month (double up as my partner paid the other half) going out the door on that kind of salary (I'm in the same boat as you). Mortgage/rent payments, then car payment, takes a big whack out your monthly take home and theres always something else that requires a decent bit of wedge during the month on top of rising fuel and food costs.

Me and my gf earn probably £2.5k combined net and we notice the 220/mo (over 2 years). Thankfully march is the last payment and I never wanna do finance again unless I absolutely have to! This was for an 06 Civic ES (which is now sounding like the clutch is gonna go). To boot we basically budget our living round whats left after mortgage and car and so rather than have a bit more spending when the payments stop, its going straight into a separate account as savings instead.

So yeah, just get something reasonable for 2-3k (lots of choice) pay for it all in one go, or over a very short period and just be happy that you won't have to factor in £x every month for the next 3 years. My first car post uni was a 1.9TDI Skoda Superb, paid 3k for it and it was perfect right up to when I sold it for £2.5k with 135000 miles on it nearly 2 years later.

[hornetrider]

alexyfoot said:

hornetrider - I am not a business and that would cost me about 5k a year to insure. Thanks anyway

You don't need to be a business as personal leases are 239 inc VAT - but kudos for you to getting an insurance quote so quickly.

[alexyfoot]

Well, it won't be cheap, way out of my budget...anyway, I think I will stick with the common advice here to buy something older, but I really don't want a really old car that I risk of having constant breakdowns with. If I limit my autotrader filters to 5 years and 40k miles and 4k pounds, these are the options I see:

Fiat Grande Punto
Ford Fiesta/Focus
Peugeot 206/207/307
Seat Ibiza
Toyota Yaris
Renault Megane

I think I like the 207 and the Focus. Are they amongst the sensible choices?