How do you afford your car?

[Stuarty1984]

Ok as i've been using rms more and envying a lot of your cars, I wonder to myself, am I doing things wrong?

Im in a reasonably well paid, stable job, recently turned 25 and still driving a 106 gti. Now granted I have no debts and my only outgoings are housekeep (still at home), a mobile phone bill and holiday or two during the year, so its not all bad!

But as I look at bigger, more powerful and subsequently more expensive cars, I always ask myself the question, can I really afford it?

So im just curious, do a lot of you have loans out on your cars, do you think sometimes that you ran something a bit easier on the pocket etc?

 

[Rocko]

For me getting the Audi was going to save me money and it has. Was changing my mortgage so added a few extra £ and bought it outright.

 

[Boydie]

I'm 24, no real outgoings except pension, student loan, fuel, food and sky tv

I put a healthy deposit down on my car and paying some finance over 3 years and loving it!!

I did the same thing when thinking of changing to the S3, worrying if I could run it, afford it and do all the social things I would do as before and thankfully I can

 

[scub]

only reason i'm driving a bought and paid for evo with all the bells & whistles is buying my house off the h.e. a few years back with a massive discount
bunged the price of the car i always wanted onto a later remortgage...

no way could i afford the h.p. that people pay on porsches etc. these days , no way

 

[B A Baracus]

I'm 24, no real outgoings except pension, student loan, fuel, food and sky tv

Do you sleep in the car? lol

Ive always saved up and paid outright for my cars. Since buying a house most of my money goes to it, ive the money saved to change the car but with the way the work situation is ATM im going to hold off for a while. Ive had it for 5 years so another while wont do any harm

 

[Neal]

wouldnt advise anyone adding a car onto a mortgage - madness

 

[Ashton]

I think if your wanting to buy a powerful car which is obviously going to sting you big time petrol wise you shouldn't worry about how much more petrol you use etc...and more about how much you are going to enjoy it. Driving is also a hobby and enjoyable more than a simple a to b for me, even when on the way to work. That's my way of thinking anyway.

You will always need to a save a bit before, or cut back on certain things but if you are working full time it should be easy enough especially if you are living at home. Granted, unless you are wanting to save for the future as well a big power car is not the way forward, but im 22 and there's plenty of time for that!

 

[Rocko]

wouldnt advise anyone adding a car onto a mortgage - madness

Why? As long as the house has no chance of hitting negative equity its fine.

 

[p 5ary]

My misses is loaded

 

[m00k]

generally i never bought anythin too expensive so it was never a bother lol

cav i got a 2k loan to top me up and paid off over 2 yrs outta work the rates were so low it was like 80quid interest for the 2 yrs.

then bought the calibra outrite but needed a run about so got a loan to buy veccy at the time which is paid off in june next yr... cant wait

then all motors owned outrite i'll have to decide to run veccy into ground or see what i fancy changin too

lookin to buy house at the mo tho which is gonna kill fun money i imagine

 

[G Mac]

ive just got lucky and bought all my motors out right, doesnt worry me about the amount of fuel i put through the evo cause i enjoy every second of it

 

[Bryan]

I'm 24 and have 3 cars, 2 vans and the pickup. Own my own house and have done for 4 years now. Outgoings on cars and vans must be about £1,000 per month but that's because I run my own business and they're all necessary for that really.

You only live once - what's the point in hogging all your money in a bank account if you really want something to enjoy.

 

[Karlos S14a]

ive just worked my money really well, buying and selling a few cars to upgrade mine to where iam now. plus student loan helped alot with modifying it.

id say a good few people would be dripped up to their eyeballs in debt over a car, which is wild stupid imo

 

[Coog]

Used to save a couple of hundred a month, mixed with a bit of wheeling and dealing to get more. Spent it all on a wedding though hence the rake of dung(ish) cars recently lol

If you've no house & in a reasonably well paid job then you should be able to stick 5-600 a month away. Over a couple of years you have a good few quid to go out to play with

 

[B A Baracus]

What is the % interest on a car loan? Does it vary with the amount borrowed?

 

[düb]

great thread always wondered this

 

[Coog]

Aye it does. Check moneysupermarket. Over 15k gets a lower rate, etc.

 

[B A Baracus]

Change it to a poll

 

[Coog]

Your credit rating also affects the rate too BA. Crap rating = higher interest.

 

[407_hdi]

I'm lucky with the company car, (running the house on my own sucks up a big whack of my wages) My 407 is a bucket but it's getting replaced by a mondeo zetec in the next couple of weeks so it's all good

 

[Chris100]

I tend to change mine every three years so I usually go PCP will a balloon payment at the end, I tend to stick to BMWs so I am always dealing with the same people when trading in etc. This works for me as I am not sticking down a big deposit each time, I could easliy afford more but my Wife son and I tend to like our three to four holidays a year and I prefer to spend my money this way.

Also put a new kitchen in last year and built a big extension of the back of the house, so that put my 911 on hold for few years.

 

[martinopy]

Why? As long as the house has no chance of hitting negative equity its fine.

It sorta depends on how many years you have left, if it's only 5 or so then it's a very cheap loan but if there's 15/20 years left then you will end up paying an absolute fortune.

 

[focus_rs_jonny]

Very fortunite with free insurance through work, pcp all cars as really cant see the sense in buying expensive cars outright.

 

[B A Baracus]

id say a good few people would be dripped up to their eyeballs in debt over a car, which is wild stupid imo

It seems to be the norm these days though. I can remember when HP was frowned upon

 

[220ST]

My misses is loaded

lolol mint, heres a man with his head screwed on