need a motor

[dob]

My poor old motor is about to die , should I lease a car or get finance and buy one ? What are pros and cons? Really don’t know which way to go ,I bought my last one from a dealership over 10 years ago and have run it into the ground but has recently cost me a small fortune . Any tips chaps?

[Wb123]

I always go for old and easy to repair yourself. Accept you will spend some time and money on it but lose nothing on depreciation. Classic insurance is often dead cheap also. 

 

I avoid things with with too much electric voodoo. 

[Walker570]

1 hour ago, Wb123 said:

I always go for old and easy to repair yourself. Accept you will spend some time and money on it but lose nothing on depreciation. Classic insurance is often dead cheap also. 

 

I avoid things with with too much electric voodoo. 

Good advise.  Even if you have your local garage service etc. then older vehicles are no more expensive than what you lose  imediatey you drive away from the dealership.

I have a 2008 X Type Jaguar  AWD estate I purchased on 54000 miles with full service history at local garage. Had it now four years and all it has cost me is two new tyres and a set of front brake pads.  It's computer did need re jigging once when the engine maintenace light came on but easily sorted by my local village garage with their computer. for twenty five notes.

Lovely to drive.   Oh! and it only cost me £4000.

[McSpredder]

Advice I was given more than 40 years ago was: aim to be the second last owner of a car.    Let somebody else take the initial depreciation, but sell it on just before it gives up the ghost.

[lancer425]

Buying off forecourts main agent or freelance used in my experience as never ended well, buying private with cash as always produced the better cars for us.  With dealers they want their cut as do auctions, the trade exists on people who are in a hurry clueless  lazy or need finance.

  Having come back if problems occur for many is  necessary, but if you know your way around a car or know somebody who does who can help you private as the potential to save you a lot of money. The counter argument to this it can cost you a lot of money too, and although true there is a risk just like crossing the road  if you do your research and wait for the right car its relatively low risk in reality.

If you are wanting something very cheap sub £600 its getting hard to find good cars, but still some bargains if you can drop on, keep looking and be prepared to travel.  A good buy in the cheap sector at the moment are SAABs they have long gone, but share some mechanicals /electrics  with vauxhalls. they  are well put together with good safety standards and in an old used car for little money are probably the safest for that money.

 

 

[Hamster]

13 hours ago, dob said:

My poor old motor is about to die , should I lease a car or get finance and buy one ? What are pros and cons? Really don’t know which way to go ,I bought my last one from a dealership over 10 years ago and have run it into the ground but has recently cost me a small fortune . Any tips chaps?

Impossible to answer as you haven't given nearly enough information the most important of which is your budget i.e, how much can you comfortably afford per month. After that things like mileage, size required, and main purpose would spring to mine, for example do you want/need a 4x4 type or just a tiny A to B runabout etc, leasing is good for people who want to drive brand new cars every three years and don't mind spending a percentage of their hard earned every month, buying used and running them into the ground is an excellent way of saving money but the downside should be pretty obvious. 

A normal car of say medium size hatchback lease package will cost from £150 upwards, buying a used three year old car of similar type via bank loan will cost about the same for a three year loan the difference being you have a car worth between £1000-£1500 after the payments have finished, during ownership of a used car you also need to factor in the fact it'll need an MOT every year and will almost certainly need parts such as tyres, pads and wiper blades replacing. You now have the choice of using an old car for a few more years (don't assume it'll be hassle/cost free) or starting all over again. The difference between running new and used cars is not as big as you might think and there's no such thing as "saving" money by buying used, you're paying LESS for the ownership because the car is used, in other words you pay for the pleasure/benefits of buying new. 

[scarecrow243]

Hi i got an 02  jeep cherokee liberty  sp edition  3.7 litre auto  for a £1000   and its great very comfy  and roomy  and i get 30mpg  because i aint heavy footed

[dob]

Want to pay £250-£300 a month max , heard horror stories about leasing but don’t know if it’s all true 

Lots of extra hidden costs when you hand the car back , want to get a seven seater but I can’t afford to put a large down payment at the mo, just really wanted to if any of you chaps have leased and been hit with extras when you hand it back .

[Duckandswing]

I’ve never leased a car but several work colleagues lease. The lease allows for fair wear and tear as I understand it but doesn’t allow for scratches, kerbed alloys etc.

When their leases are up, you often see their cars in the work car park having scratches sprayed etc. It’s apparently cheaper than having it inspected and costs added to the final bill.

The other thing they consider is excess mileage. At the start of the lease you have to pay a monthly premium dependent on the anticipated mileage. This is agreed at the start of the lease. If you go over this figure, there are excess mileage charges of between say 9p a mile and 15 to 20p a mile dependent on the vehicle. Obviously this can be a minor amount, to in the thousands if you get your calculations wrong. Conversely, if you over estimate your mileage you will pay more each month.

The benefits of leasing that I see are a new car, minimal maintenance costs as the car is new, no MOTs for three years and the ability to have a car much flasher than perhaps people could buy outright.

For instance, the guys in work have Audi’s and BMWs probably in excess of 30 to 40k  value which I’m sure they couldn’t necessarily afford to buy outright.

I myself usually change my car every 4 to 5 years and buy something around 6 months old for cash. There is always some residual value in the car after this period which I usually part ex against the next vehicle.

Leasing would be quite expensive for me as I do between 20 to 30k mile per year.

Another thing to consider is gap insurance if you lease.

[Hamster]

1 hour ago, dob said:

Want to pay £250-£300 a month max , heard horror stories about leasing but don’t know if it’s all true 

Lots of extra hidden costs when you hand the car back , want to get a seven seater but I can’t afford to put a large down payment at the mo, just really wanted to if any of you chaps have leased and been hit with extras when you hand it back .

You can have a very nice car for that but the nicer they are the higher the number of initial payments you have to put down as deposit, 3 is the minimum though 6 is much more common, once you get into 9 (meaning 9 x £280 for example) it gets more than a bit noticeable. 

The only horror stories are from those who didn't understand the concept fully before signing up, it's really rather simple : you put a deposit down and agree X amount per month for X agreed annual mileage, nobody hides the excess mileage charge from you and it's usually more than reasonable, say you hand back a vehicle with 31000 miles instead of 30000, 9p per mile excess would mean you have to pay £90 penalty, it's not a scam just business otherwise people would sign for 8k per annum and hand the car back with 120k miles. 

The other thing some people have difficulty understanding is that you're meant to treat the car like a good person would, as if it were yours in fact. Quite why some think they should be allowed to kennel their dogs in it, dent and scratch every panel and scuff the alloys remains a mystery ! 

We've had six so far including PCP, lease and contract hire and have never been stung for a penny, paid a small excess mileage once and actually made an easy grand on the PCP  GMFV was £13,500k dealer said oh just hand it back cos we don't really want it 😴  so I put it on Autotrader for £14500 the week prior to hand back and sold it to the second caller. 

I'm sure Peugeot, Renault and Citroen would have some decent 7 seaters in your budget but make sure you go through a lease firm rather than the main dealers whose own figures are often comical.