My Next car

[dry run]

Just musing if I can ever buy another second hand car?

It seems that modern cars are so complicated and expensive to repair, that I should just lease a car and hand it back at the end of the lease (I'm sure that's what the manufacturers would like). £1.100 for a headlight unit makes you think if its worth buying a car.

Problem for me is that I own my car so there are no monthljy payments, but should something go wrong - potentially I'm into a lot of money.

However, I like the idea of owning my car. I'll do the maths, but i fear it's the end of car ownership

 

[DSK]

Each to their own.

Businesses and dealers manipulate the market to finance/lease the vehicles at seriously inflated prices and many people are driving around in cars upto their necks in monthly repayments, not even being able to cough up £150 or so for a new 19/20" tyre when one gets punctured. Seems that people like to be able to pay monthly for things they would otherwise not be in a position to or need to buy. If people had to pay £1000 for a new iphone and monthly payments were none existent, how long would the queues be on the release day?

I tried leasing twice on a new 2010 E350 and 2013 Astra GTC diesels and in the end, I'd spent thousands on the lease thing and owned nothing at the end of it.... to hell with that! I was doing 30,000 miles a year in each and used my other cars on weekends to help keep the mileage at 30,000 per annum. For me its buy it, own it!

Dealers are useless, just want to get your money for a new car and wave you off with a single finger salute, the technicians are usually useless, the servicing schedules on new cars are a joke and designed to cause them to break IMO so that people just end up buying another.

 

[mioba]

If you cant afford it you shouldnt have it!

 

[A.J.]

Just musing if I can ever buy another second hand car?

It seems that modern cars are so complicated and expensive to repair, that I should just lease a car and hand it back at the end of the lease (I'm sure that's what the manufacturers would like). £1.100 for a headlight unit makes you think if its worth buying a car.

Problem for me is that I own my car so there are no monthljy payments, but should something go wrong - potentially I'm into a lot of money.

However, I like the idea of owning my car. I'll do the maths, but i fear it's the end of car ownership

Having had Company cars for most of my working life, like you I do like the idea of owning my own car and will continue to do so. If I look at what my car has cost me over the last 2.1/2 years excluding services, tyres and petrol it has cost me £130 odd for a new speed sensor. No problem there. People look at you and say 'But they are too expensive to run', what rubbish ! I have never had an expensive issue with any of the three MB's that I have owned, hence a fourth is coming up.

 

[sl500amgsport]

I am really old fashioned and like to look out at my drive and think they are my cars and I own them, not owe on them!

Mercedes SL500 R231

 

[rifiki]

Buy a car thats 3 years old, let somebody else take the knock, if looked after it will last another 10 years or 200K miles

 

[A.J.]

Buy a car thats 3 years old, let somebody else take the knock, if looked after it will last another 10 years or 200K miles

That is my policy, three years old and preferably low miles, seems to work for me !

 

[Blobcat]

Just musing if I can ever buy another second hand car?

It seems that modern cars are so complicated and expensive to repair, that I should just lease a car and hand it back at the end of the lease (I'm sure that's what the manufacturers would like). £1.100 for a headlight unit makes you think if its worth buying a car.

Problem for me is that I own my car so there are no monthly payments, but should something go wrong - potentially I'm into a lot of money.

However, I like the idea of owning my car. I'll do the maths, but i fear it's the end of car ownership

I really see where you are coming from with this. I really loved my W213, I'm not sure I'd buy one without warranty though as the AdBlue system can be ££££ to fix and as you've already alluded to the headlights also ££££, along with many other items that could easily cost more than the car is worth in a very short space of time.
My SLK is very basic in comparison and I love it more because of that. Depending upon what work I manage to get next I'll be seriously looking at car options. I've never found a lease that fitted with my requirements - always too many miles to make it worthwhile. I might go back to a nearly new and keep for 4 years then change again, I avoided all big bills previously - not sure if that would be the case again...

 

[BillyBoy]

I really see where you are coming from with this. I really loved my W213, I'm not sure I'd buy one without warranty though as the AdBlue system can be ££££ to fix and as you've already alluded to the headlights also ££££, along with many other items that could easily cost more than the car is worth in a very short space of time.

In some ways I agree, but on the other hand I look at how much my W213 has lost in three years, and it is a lot more that a new ILS system and AdBlu system, so there is still a financial penalty for buying new I think. (Let's ignore the fact I've just ordered an E400d estate )

 

[sonic]

Buy a car thats 3 years old, let somebody else take the knock, if looked after it will last another 10 years or 200K miles

Same here buy about 3 years old, keep to 110k miles, worked well for the last 19 years with Mercedes. Current cars 8 & 9 years old.

 

[MalcQV]

I currently have my CLA on a PCP which after 3 or 4 years I could purchase the car. However I WILL be bored by then and have no intention whatsoever of keeping it. I am concerned (and have been for sometime) about new cars and the electrickey employed on them.

I would not own a car 5 years old or less without a warranty. Older than that (which is my usual method) I just have a small fund set aside for unscheduled repairs.

On the flip side having owned cars 5+ over most of my driving life I do get a bit ****ed when I get in it in the morning and it won't start or some mechanical fault prevents me from using it. I then have to either wait for a weekend and fix it myself (if I have the time and skill for the repair) or organise a garage to fix it. So with an old car you need two, one as a back up! That's my man maths/excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Next car, I'm thinking EV or Hybrid. It'll be newish and still have a warranty. May well be a lease/PCP.

 

[MercHand]

Try a w202 C-Class.
You can pick them up ridiculously cheap and they don't break. Same with the w208 CLK.
I've ran a W208 for 10 years and it has never broken down or failed to start.
I promise you. You owe yourself one of these 90's Merc's.

 

[LostKiwi]

Try a w202 C-Class.
You can pick them up ridiculously cheap and they don't break. Same with the w208 CLK.
I've ran a W208 for 10 years and it has never broken down or failed to start.
I promise you. You owe yourself one of these 90's Merc's.

There's just something delightfully classy and reassuringly solid about a 90s Mercedes...

 

[BillyBoy]

There's just something delightfully classy and reassuringly solid about a 90s Mercedes...

It's called rust

 

[LostKiwi]

It's called rust

I have much less rust on our 1993 r129 than our 2001 w210.....

And the subframe is still solid too!

 

[AMGeed]

^ W210 's are in a class of their own when it comes to rust.
Such a shame for otherwise its a well assembled car that is a dream to drive.

I can see the appeal of getting a car on a PCP deal, but its not for me. I just used a chunk of savings on my W212, but at 5 yrs old and under 30k miles, the previous owner has taken the big hit of depreciation. I got a great performance saloon for the price of a run of the mill new car. I know which I'd rather have.

 

[rorywquin]

I am really old fashioned and like to look out at my drive and think they are my cars and I own them, not owe on them!

Mercedes SL500 R231

Ditto.

I hate the idea of a bank/finance house making money off me and I own nothing. I have paid cash for almost every car I have owned.

Not having debt and going without, until you can afford it, is a good way of building wealth.

 

[BillyBoy]

Whilst I have used finance deals to buy cars, I have never bought a car I couldn't afford to buy outright if necessary.

Placing my current order, I was quoted to prices (post discount) one for finance, and one for cash - the difference between the two was pretty much the same as the interest, so overall, the TCO was the same, the finance is just more convenient to me.