Becoming finance free... am I mad?

[R111RWD]

Hello everyone,

Some advice please...

I currently have 2 cars, one is a 2016 Golf Diesel, with around 50k on. I use it everyday for work and do around 15k per annum. The other car is a 2002 Passat which I use for messing around (got dogs) etc. It’s not in great condition and is pretty tasty but works.

The golf is on finance and I’m paying a fair old amount on that, plus the running of both cars.

I am really itching to just become finance free, which would mean selling the Golf and Passat and buying one decent estate car, presentable for work and is reliable. I’d have max 5 - 6k for this and I’d like something fair substantial, I’ve been looking at XC70 D5’s from around 2007 - 2010.

Their mileage is at least 100k. Am I mad changing my car for something older and with a higher mileage? I really want to start saving some money and feel this is a good way of doing it.

Thoughts...? I’m interested to see what people think!

Thanks

[FWIW]

Depends how much interest you’re paying. Finance has never/rarely been cheaper, so yes, you’re mad.

[shtu]

You have 1x clean newish car, and 1x old scruffy dog car.

You plan to sell them and buy a single one that will combine the worst elements of both - expensive, not-very-new, and smelling of dog.

Yeah, not the best plan - look at refinancing the golf?

[Heaveho]

Depends on what your ego can live with. We've been running a Lexis IS300 Sportcross for 8 years now, just crossed over into 100k miles territory. It's an estate car, we gave 9k for it with 20k miles on it in 2011, it's worth about 2k now. It's one of the most reliable things on the road. They're rare, but there have been two on ebay recently with 60-70k miles for less than 4.5k. I couldn't replace ours with something as trustworthy for 20k. Still looks nice when it's clean, doubt it generates much envy with the neighbours though.

The flipside is we bought it outright because it wasn't expensive and my neighbours cars don't generate any envy whatsoever with me because most of them are still being paid for, and I suspect aren't as good. Not my thing. It can be done. I have 5 vehicles, all paid for in cash when funds allowed, bought at different times over the years, and all adding up to less than the price of one new Corolla.

Edited by Heaveho on Sunday 12th January 22:56

[donkmeister]

I bought a new car on finance once. Whenever I thought about it I was just working out how many months until I owned it.
I realised I prefer to buy a car outright and use it until I want a different car, so that's what I started doing. I prefer it this way. It's not for everyone, I don't have a warranty to fall back on but if it went really wrong I'd buy another car until I get this one fixed or sold to someone who can fix/strip it.
What you really need to consider is:
- will you be precious about it?
- are you going to do "bangernomics" or do you want to keep it in good shape?

[Grrbang]

Definitely not mad to get away from finance if possible.

In terms of presentable for work, a shiny, polished and well looked-after car says more about its owner than how much it costs. I pay my local hand car wash £10/month and I don't have to lift a finger.

[rxe]

Bin the Golf.

Hoover the Passat regularly

Drive the Passat to work. No one cares what you drive.

Unless you have to give people lifts, a minging dog car doesn’t matter.

[Julietbravo]

Bin the Golf, spend a tenner a fortnight on cleaning the Passat. They're great cars and say nothing about your status - no one looks down their nose at a Passat driver with a couple of dogs in the back.

Having had 1 - 2 cars for the last 20 years, depending on need/kids/commute, running a second car is more expensive than you think.

[ChrisH72]

I've toyed with the idea of having a daily and a weekend fun car but in the end it makes more financial sense to have one good car. A second car will cost £1k a year in tax, insurance, mot, service and maintenance before you've even driven it.

Finance is worth it if you don't have cash for a car or if you must have the latest new motor. But paying interest is giving money away and to be avoided if possible.

So no, you're not mad. Get the one decent estate car but just keep it clean.

[ZX10R NIN]

As above if the Passat will be reliable enough for work then keep using it until it drops, or if you want to change then there are some good estate options out there, I'd recommend having an oil flush on every service as this will help the longevity of anything you buy.

I wouldn't recommend a proper SUV at this price point just because you'll be looking at some substantial bills especially with your annual mileage, a large estate makes more sense:

The best pick is the Mondeo Titanium X bags of space a decent steer

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Insignia Elite/SRI these represent the best value & you'll get one with less than 70k on the clock which should give 2-3 years of sensible motoring:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

The 508 is another great pick & like the Insignia above will put you in a 2012 onwards car:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Skoda Superb go for the 140 as 170's from this era had issues

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Passat Tech Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Accord ES GT

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

[Speed addicted]

rxe said:

Bin the Golf.

Hoover the Passat regularly

Drive the Passat to work. No one cares what you drive.

Unless you have to give people lifts, a minging dog car doesn’t matter.

This. Drive the cheap car until it dies or needs silly money to get through an MOT, then buy a newer version for £5k. Repeat.
The cheapest way of owning cars is (usually) buy something sensible, run one car at a time, don't buy new and don't change the car often.
It's boring but effective.

When the Passat goes I'd be looking at things like Toyota/Lexus for reliability. 4x4s are nice to have but you get estate car space with higher running costs and worse handling. If sitting higher up isn't that important to you a normal car is usually significantly cheaper to keep.