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AIBU?

aibu to buy a new car?

96 replies

smokinaces · 06/05/2013 15:04

I am a single mum of two. Have been for four years. I have worked the entire time, four days a week at around £10k a year. I get dla for ds1 (aspergers) and some housing benefit as well as tax credits. I budget well, and try and spend wisely.

My car is ancient. Twelve years old, 135k miles. It has been patched together so many times it is a money pit. It will fail the new style mot in the summer. It is making a funny noise when I steer, and when I break. It is on its last legs unless I put about five hundred pounds into it.

I have found a deal on a brand new small cheap picanto for me and the two boys. It's safe, reliable. It would need no deposit and cost me 170 amonth - more or less the dla money. Until October I pay £150 a month on a bank loan from my marraige breakdown four years ago. Come then it will be only twenty quid a month more. And i wouldn't need to use the dla money anymore. (I also get csa money which isn't allocated to anything as although some weeks its regular, others its not)

I need a car for the boys to get to school (rural setting) and me to work. I need it for ds's various clubs for his aspergers (he does to one every other day)

I could extend my bank loan, but would mean I would have to get another seven or eight year old car. This new one would be zero road tax, and insurance and breakdown is included for first year. It's also got seven year warranty and no mot needed. If I get another older car it could end up a money pit like ky current one.

But I have been made to feel I'm out of order for buying new. That being a single parent in social housing receving benefits and tax credits, although I've worked continously since i was 16 and am studying for my degree as well as working a four day week, i shouldn't be getting finance or anything. And I know it will cause raised eyebrows and commets at the school etc.

Aibu?

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smokinaces · 06/05/2013 15:06

Apologies for the awful typos. I am on my phone!

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CajaDeLaMemoria · 06/05/2013 15:06

There's benefits and drawbacks to new cars.

They do depreciate the second you buy them, so it will never be worth what you buy it for.

But, new cars only need MOTing when they are three years old, most new cars come with good 5 year warrantees that'll cover any problems, and they do tend to be lower tax and have better insurance deals.

Don't feel bad. And ignore any comments. These people should have better things to do than comment on other people's vehicles.

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SkinnybitchWannabe · 06/05/2013 15:08

If you can afford it then don't give a damn what other people think and go for it.
It sounds like a great deal.

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HollyBerryBush · 06/05/2013 15:08

I don't see how spending your money is any one elses business.

Personally I would never buy a new car, you lose 20% of the value the second you drive it off the forecourt. Use a main dealership, that has all the warrantees in place and get a 6 month old second hand one, thus saving thousands.

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litterrage · 06/05/2013 15:10

Personally I would wait until the summer just before your MOT is due. Cars can last a long time these days and 12 years old isn't ancient. Noises don't always mean something horrendous. My car lasted 21 years before I finally (with many tears) got rid of it. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it and was regularly checked. I ended up having to get rid of it after an accident which led to it being a write off.

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VinegarDrinker · 06/05/2013 15:12

I would get a new to you car, but personally even if I had all the cash in the world and actually owned or wanted to own a car I wouldn't buy one brand new.

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GoingUpInTheWorld · 06/05/2013 15:13

If it feels right and you can comfortably live each month, not living on the breadline, then i would buy it.

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LunaticFringe · 06/05/2013 15:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

VinegarDrinker · 06/05/2013 15:14

Just re-read, 12 years old, so 2001? I wouldn't call that ancient! The last car I owned was a 2001 Micra and I was dead chuffed that it was new and fancy (ie had central locking and power steering!).

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smokinaces · 06/05/2013 15:16

This noise is bad. I crashed it a few years back and the steering and wheel has been bad ever since and I was warned it would cost a lot to fix. The gear box is seizing too, reverse takes about eight attempts, and still sometimes won't stick.

This deal is a three year lease style thing - so its not the whole lot of finance straight up, hence the deal. It's also on the style they have on offer at two k off, plus insurance etc. I know the depreciate, but my idea is that I keep this long term (refinance at end of three year lease to buy it outright) as I know it could last me ten years or more.

I had a look at second hand - to get the same monthly payments and safety features etc I would have to go six years or older.

I've had old old cars before, a corsa that ran and ran and ran at older than this. But this one is now unsafe to be perfectly honest. I'm scared every time I drive it tbh.

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ENormaSnob · 06/05/2013 15:18

You will lose thousands on buying brand new.

Nothing to do with anyone else what you spend your cash on though.

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smokinaces · 06/05/2013 15:20

Vinegar, I think because its an ex company car and the mileage on it it feels older than it should if that makes sense. The garage every year is surprised it only needs two hundred odd spent to get through the mot. I have replaced almost everything - clutch, exhaust, suspension twice, antiroll bar stuff twice, I have paid thousands on it. But nothing on it seems to last - its had two rev counters since ive had it and its died again.

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Longdistance · 06/05/2013 15:20

I've always bought brand new cars, apart from my very first car. I do know they depreciate in price, but I keep my cars for about 7 years, and then get a new one.
I've never had any problems with them as know where they've been and have never had a massive mechanics bill that I hear people talking about.
The most I've parted with is £300, for tyres.
I say go for it!!!

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smokinaces · 06/05/2013 15:21

But the losing thousands buying new thing - does that matter if I'm not planning on selling the car if that makes sense?

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Longdistance · 06/05/2013 15:23

I part exchange my old one for the new one as part deposit.

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VinegarDrinker · 06/05/2013 15:23

Yes, it does sound a bit unreliable. I ran a 1994 Fiesta until 2009 and the most I ever paid out in garage costs was £200, never needed anything done twice either.

I would replace it, but not with a brand new car. The 2k you "save" with their deal will be lost as soon as you drive it away, plus whatever you pay in interest over the next 3 years.

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smokinaces · 06/05/2013 15:24

Ha ha longdistance. Mine is worth scrappage of £130! I've checked!

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AKissIsNotAContract · 06/05/2013 15:25

I always buy new cars on 3 year lease deals and swap them at the end of the deal for a new one. While its true that the car will depreciate as soon as you drive it away there are other advantages. You don't have the hassle of trying to sell it and if you stay loyal to the same brand then they will reward you on your second and third car. It will all be under warranty so you have hassle free driving for 3 years.

How you spend your money is entirely up to you. Go for it.

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smokinaces · 06/05/2013 15:27

The interest is 4.9% so lower than my bank by a substantial amount. I know the two k would be lost as soon as I drove off, but thought it kind of offsets that if you like? Or maybe I'm just trying to justify to myself. I do feel bad the idea that I am spending money, but if ds got higher mobility instead of lower we would have gone down the mobility car route tbh so its not much different I guess.

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smokinaces · 06/05/2013 15:27

AKiss, that's exactly how the guy at the garage stated it.

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Gobbolinothewitchscat · 06/05/2013 15:29

I am like others on this thread in that I wouldn't buy a new car.

It's up to you but I would worry about a piccanto. I had to use one a few years ago as a courtesy car and it felt like a tin can. I was terrified on the motorway as I was convinced a lorry would squash me Grin. However, if your just tootling around town etc, it should be fine. That said, I'd rather a decent secondhand golf or polo even than a new picccanto

Is it reliable? How expensive are parts? Are they easy to get? I don't know the answers to any of this but would investigate if I were you

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Gobbolinothewitchscat · 06/05/2013 15:33

But you don't need to lose the 2k. Just get a good second hand picccanto that's been driven carefully by an elderly lady (don't think would be too hard). It should have low mileage and will probably end up being 2k cheaper than new

If you get a new one, then you might have to keep it for 7 years to justify. However, if you get a decent 2nd hand one, then you might just need to keep for 5 years to justify the cost.

How reliable are piccantos? Will they really last for years? Again,, I don't know. I would call up a decent independent me handicapped and ask as obviously the sales people will say anything!

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Gobbolinothewitchscat · 06/05/2013 15:34

"Mechanic" not "handicapped"! Confused

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monkeyfacegrace · 06/05/2013 15:34

People saying buy 6 month old car are spouting shit.

You get MUCH better finance deals on brand new, cancelling out the VAT loss.

I only ever buy brand new. And DH is a bigwig in the car industry.

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LunaticFringe · 06/05/2013 15:34

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