How long to wait before buying a car?

[Skosh]

Hi All,

I'm after a bit of advice. My Fiance has recently graduated from Uni and has started in a new job. She currently has a 62 plate Kia Picanto which, although it has been a fantastic wee car for the 3 years we've owned it. It's getting a bit worse for wear and something newer is needed.

She will be looking to buy a car on finance but I was wondering how long she would have to be in her current job before finance companies would accept her. I remember hearing 3 months as being the threshold but can;t find anything to back that up.

Has anybody had similar experience or know enough to give me some advice?

Any help much appreciated as always.

[troika]

Sorry to sound an old bore, but keep the Kia and save / invest the money instead. She’ll be glad she did.

[Skosh]

Hi troika,

Thanks for the advice but the Kia is pretty basic and doesn't have a lot of the things she'd like from a car e.g A/C. It's a lovely wee car and I quite like driving it but it comes to the end of it's warranty next year and it's just time to move on now I'm afraid.

[StuTheGrouch]

How is it a bit 'worse for wear'? Unless it's got a lot of miles on, a car of that age shouldn't be battered.

[designforlife]

62 plate?! barely run in.

Spend the money on a nice holiday instead.

[troika]

Understand, but what I’m basically saying is don’t rush out and and get bolted into car finance before you know how things will pan out. What happens if the job doesn’t work out? At least keep the Kia for a while and save as much as possible so any new car could be purchased outright.

[Zetec-S]

I'll echo the boring replies above - keep it a bit longer.

It's only 6 years old, so presumably you've had to MOT it for the last 3 years?, If there's been no major problems then no reason to expect the worst next time around, and the money saved from not paying finance can be used to save for a replacement (or cover repairs).

Speaking from experience, debt is something very easy to get into, and much harder to get out of. The longer you (or your gf) can avoid it the better your finances will be in the long term.

[Nickp82]

To my knowledge and from experience working in dealerships, there is generally no minimum time an applicant needs to have been in a job. If your partner has a good credit score/record, she should have no issues getting finance accepted.

[designforlife]

Hopefully she won't be tapping you up to borrow money to make the payments when she doesn't make it past her probation period.

/cynicism, but these things can and do happen.

if anything, tell her to get a bank loan and buy a car outright, at least then if she runs into trouble she can sell it and isn't tied into anything.

[DoubleD]

Yep. At least wait until she has completed her probation....3-6 months?