Best car for £250 a month

[F_mck01]

Afternoon everyone,

I'm currently 21 and have been driving for 4 years and I'm looking for my next car. Unfortunately I don't have the savings to buy a car outright so pcp finance is my friend.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a car for sub £250, 10,000 miles per annum, 4 years and about £500 deposit?

For insurance reasons I'm probably going to need something sub 2.0L

[georgeyboy12345]

Might also be worth considering a personal loan, you’ll likely pay lower interest vs pcp, plus no other drawbacks like mileage/damage penalties when you hand the car back.

£250 a month over 4 years with £500 down should get you an £11000 car with a loan, providing your credit score is good enough.

[SWoll]

With such a limited deposit I'd suggest you'll need to look at leasing rather than PCP or pickings are going to be very slim at your budget. Have a play on www.leaseloco.com

Alternatively a personal loan over the same period would get you a used budget of £11.5-12k, offer more flexibility should circumstances change and you'd have something to show at the end of it?

The kind of cars available for lease/PCP at your budget can be bought outright at 2-3 years old for <£12k, which I would suggest makes a lot more sense financially at your age.

[F_mck01]

Thank you for the help. I did take a personal loan out for £5,000 to get a car but got screwed over when buying used so wanting to go through a dealership for a bit more security.

[SWoll]

F_mck01 said:

Thank you for the help. I did take a personal loan out for £5,000 to get a car but got screwed over when buying used so wanting to go through a dealership for a bit more security.

£12k would get you a low mileage approved used car from a number of different dealers if you keep it sensible and in line with what you would have been looking to PCP/lease.

The problems often come when you start looking at older, more expensive cars outside of the approved networks.

As an example

[georgeyboy12345]

I notice you made some threads a month or so ago asking about used cars for £5k. Did you buy something then or are you still yet to buy?

[Trevor555]

I recently bought my lad an "Approved Used" Mii Design from a Seat main dealer.

Came with 2 years Seat warranty, and 2 years breakdown cover.

Cost 7k so well under your budget... 2017 car with only 14,000 miles... Last of the £20 road tax models.

Depends if you want best as in cheap to run, or best as in nicest spec/engine car.

[HustleRussell]

georgeyboy12345 said:

I notice you made some threads a month or so ago asking about used cars for £5k. Did you buy something then or are you still yet to buy?

F_mck01 said:

I did take a personal loan out for £5,000 to get a car but got screwed over when buying used so wanting to go through a dealership for a bit more security.

New cars, whether PCP'd, Leased etc, are a rich man's game IMO. I also say bank loan and buy unless your income is really high for a 21 year old.

[F_mck01]

I was trying to weigh up if it was better yo take out a personal loan and get a car for 5k or look at my monthly budget and get something on pcp. I have decided probably pcp but not sure on what's out there for my budget really as some dealerships only show price not monthly payment amount.

[Audimercorbm]

You can but from a dealership using a personal loan. No need to use pcp.

[Trevor555]

One advantage of taking dealership finance is the extra protection it gives you in event of problems.

If something goes wrong, or you're miss sold, then you can lean on the finance company if the dealer doesn't play ball.

[F_mck01]

Thats what tipped it for me. I've been 4 years and had 6 cars because of being mis sold cars that have broken so I want something a bit more tied together.

[aka_kerrly]

F_mck01 said:

Thats what tipped it for me. I've been 4 years and had 6 cars because of being mis sold cars that have broken so I want something a bit more tied together.

I'm intrigued, what kind of faults did you have on 6 different cars that makes you think each one was mis sold to you?

You sound like someone expecting a brand new car experience from a 10 year/ 2,3 or more owner car.

I guarantee that at 20 something years old you will not want to still be driving whatever pants 1.2 hatchback you buy now in 4 or 5 years time so you'd end up selling the car having not paid the loan off and probably top up the loan some more. It's a nasty cycle of more and more debt for mediocre newer cars.

[HustleRussell]

F_mck01 said:

Thats what tipped it for me. I've been 4 years and had 6 cars because of being mis sold cars that have broken so I want something a bit more tied together.

Bring a mechanic or expert to view cars with you. Spend a bit on the inspection if you have to. It's fifty or a hundred quid rather than £250 a month for the next four years.

[SWoll]

F_mck01 said:

Thats what tipped it for me. I've been 4 years and had 6 cars because of being mis sold cars that have broken so I want something a bit more tied together.

6 cars in 4 years, all mis sold? That sounds like it's worthy of a thread in itself.

My advice would be at 21 you don't want to be on the PCP/lease bandwagon for 4 years as you'll be bored long before it's finished and likely end up in more debt rolling into other deals. Best bet as above, get a loan that meets your budget over a 4 year period and then you'll have options.

[F_mck01]

Thats what tipped it for me. I've been 4 years and had 6 cars because of being mis sold cars that have broken so I want something a bit more tied together.

[Challo]

SWoll said:

F_mck01 said:

Thats what tipped it for me. I've been 4 years and had 6 cars because of being mis sold cars that have broken so I want something a bit more tied together.

6 cars in 4 years, all mis sold? That sounds like it's worthy of a thread in itself.

My advice would be at 21 you don't want to be on the PCP/lease bandwagon for 4 years as you'll be bored long before it's finished and likely end up in more debt rolling into other deals. Best bet as above, get a loan that meets your budget over a 4 year period and then you'll have options.

Echo that. At 21 you dont want to be tied into a PCP or Lease deal and then your stuck with the car for 3-4 years.

If you think you have mis-sold cars then you need to take someone with you who knows what they are doing.

I would go for a large personal loan, but buy from an approved dealer and if you get bored you can just sell the car and clear the loan.

[F_mck01]

Thanks for the advice everyone

[M.F.D]

Why do so many people get hung up on engine capacity = insurance cost. Really grinds my gears.

[georgeyboy12345]

I’m still not clear based on the op’s replies. OP - did you buy a car in Feb for £5k which went badly wrong, or are you still looking to buy and weighing up your options?