To buy a car or not....Opinions please.

[MisterTommyH]

So...

I currently have an Ibiza on PCP which means I never truly own the car...which I'm used to and I accept because I like a new car.

I previously had a Leon. Loved the Leon, hate the Ibiza. I have 6 months left on my PCP before I either have to hand it back or buy it.

Been looking around at equivalents - Focus (not bad) Giulietta (also not bad) Leon (a known quantity, but while I like the Leon I didn't think it was worth the £18K it costs now compared the the £13.5K I paid for the same model in 06). The issue is these cars have gone up since I got my first one in 06 and the monthly payments are well over £100 more.

But.... I've just had a call from Seat saying that if I buy a Leon before the end of March (model and spec I like etc) then there is a £3k discount (bringing it down to the price I think is fairer given a little bit of inflation), they'll clear my current costs (so no negative equity or carry-over), and I get a new car for similar monthly price (£10 more) than I was paying in 06.

I think I've convinced myself with this ramble, but any comments from anyone would be welcomed.....

[yorkie_chris]

£13.5K for a box used to transport sh*te around that's bigger than a tankbag or to ferry people about. Buy something for £500 and spend the rest on a bike...

[MisterTommyH]

That is the other option.

Before this I was considering letting the PCP run out and then just see what happens (either just use the bike or get something second hand). Earlier in the year I was considering not replacing a car at all, but my trial run showed that just didn't work for me.

I have a terrible track record with second hand cars BTW.

Why not get a second hand car from an authorised dealer if you have a bad track record? spend £10k, get it on a loan that you pay off fully and therefore own the car. You will pay less in interest, loose less in depreciation and you will still get a warranty. I bought my BMW 1 Series not so long back second hand and thus far it has been great. Plenty of options for very good second hand cars, golfs etc.

Buying new is a recipe for loosing money. My Toyota Avensis bought 9 months old with 10k miles was £12995. Advertised at £13,995 I went into the dealer and negotiated a grand off screen price, plus the trade in value I wanted for my old car. New list price of the car 9 months earlier was £22k. Toyota come within the top 3 manufacturers on pretty much any reliability or customer satisfaction survey you care to look at, and it came with the balance of the manufacturers 5 year warranty so is under warranty until July 2015.

Tom, a bloke of your calibre should have a porsche

The leons are great cars tbh though.

[Biker Biggles]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

£13.5K for a box used to transport sh*te around that's bigger than a tankbag or to ferry people about. Buy something for £500 and spend the rest on a bike...

That is the cheapest way to run a car,but if you must have something newish,Ralphs method is so much cheaper than the brand new way.

Originally Posted by Biker Biggles

but if you must have something newish

In my case it's not that I must have something newish, I'm not a car snob at all (I know your not suggesting I am, I'm just saying). In fact I couldn't care less what 4 wheels I have.

Mine is financed by a company car allowance, so they dictate I must always have something less than 5 years old, so I go through a cycle of buy a year old or less, and change every 4 years. Still I'm spending 9 grand cost to change every 4 years and pocketing the car allowance payments, so it's win win.

Lots of my colleagues go out and get a new Audi/BMW/Merc on PCH or PCP and spend the whole allowance and see nothing in return, but flashy badges are just not important to me and I think it's just stupid. My Toyota is more spacious, as comfortable, as quiet, more reliable and better equipped than an A4/318/C180K, and half the price of an A6/520/E220. A Lexus is just an expensive Toyota with a different badge on it.

My wife's Seat Ibiza we've had since it was 3 months old and it's now 9 years old. It has never let us down once and only has 65k on the clock, so although it looks like an old skip because she hasn't looked after it, and she moans like hell because all her friends have chelsea tractors, it's so good mechanically I'm loathe to change it, it still drives like a brand new car. It never goes further than the local town anyway, because I work from home and my wife uses the Toyota most days!

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

In my case it's not that I must have something newish, I'm not a car snob at all (I know your not suggesting I am, I'm just saying). In fact I couldn't care less what 4 wheels I have.

Hence the Avensis, I presume

Originally Posted by DJFridge

Hence the Avensis, I presume

Indeedy! Excellent build quality, 5 year warranty, massive boot, comfortable, and CHEAP!

If the Koreans carry on improving build quality the way they are going, I'll have a Kia next time