Young driver buying help

[equitorium]

Hi all,
So I'm looking at buying my next car and i have 2 buying options and wanted to hear your personal experiences/advice to help me decide.

I'm 20 and after getting this car I'm looking to start saving for my mortgage deposit, saving about £1k a month. My job also involves a lot of driving down b roads etc.. roughly 15k miles a year.

So I've either got a £4000 budget to buy a car outright and pay my insurance deposit, I was thinking of a cooper S 08 plate,
Or I can get a personal loan with my bank and get something like a Fiesta ST 14 plate for about £7,500 with a 3.3%apr over 2 years (which doesnt sound too bad to me) this is also what my dad has done for years and has advised me to.

I'm open to anyone thoughts, opinions and personal stories on this matter.
Thanks!

[Fiisch]

When do you want to buy a house?

I wasted money on financing new cars 17-30 and spent a small fortune. Any loans/finance against your name will prejudice you for a mortgage (e.g.: if you pay £250 / month on a loan and apply for a mortgage, it will reduce your affordability by the annual cost of the loan x4.5-5 (so roughly £12-15k)). This could prevent you from buying the "perfect" house, and even as petrolheads we have to concede bricks and mortar are more important than what is sat on the driveway outside.

That said, we live once, you're not talking about a massive loan or hugely over-stretching yourself, and the Fiesta ST is a fabulous car - I test drove one some years ago and it is one of the best handling B-road bashers I've had the pleasure in.

Get the ST, but only if you're confident you will have the loan cleared before you buy the house, and it won't hamper you too much in saving a deposit.

[equitorium]

Hi, thank you so much for the detailed reply!

I was hoping to get the house in 2 years or so, which would be just after I've finished paying the loan off.

I think I'm more likely to go for the fiesta and your reply will really help me determine what to do, thanks again!