current car, mondeo ghia tdci, cost me £4400 a year ago, I've put 30k miles on it and only needed a brake caliper, water pump and power steering pump outside of normal servicing. There's now 129k miles on it and I reckon it'll run for another 18 months before I get rid of it with about 175k miles on it. Even if its worthless by then I'll be happy enough to get depreciation of less than 10p / mile. Does 47mpg. Gingers crossed I don't end up needing a new fuel pump.
Before that I had a mondeo 1.8td, battered, rough thing that cost £500. mostly reliable though changed a front leg for one from the scrappy as the easiest way to change a wheel bearing. The car lasted eight months, 20k miles so depreciation was 2.5p/mile. Thats very reasonable in my book. Did 45mpg. I was licing in digs in a rough area of Portsmouth at the time and the car picked up three more dents when parked there. They didn't show amongst those on the car when I bought it.
That replaced a Cavalier 1.7td with the excellent Isuzu engine. Lasted me three years, I bought it for £2k2 and sold it after about 85k miles for £300, so depreciation of 3p / mile. The only issues I really had with this car was that it ate a couple of alternators, which at £150 each weren't cheap. I only got rid of it as I fancied a change and I knew that it wasn't going to last too much longer with the amount of miles I drive. I know the bloke I sold it to and its still on the road today. Did 47mpg.
Each time I've needed a car I've wandered round of the the car lots owned by a couple of friends I have in the trade and just choose what's going to suit my needs best.
I did try an Audi A4 for a while but the car was jinxed. Someone drove into it whilst it was parked, someone else slashed the tyres and I had some other grief with it. I really don't want another car that caused me this much grief.
In that time I've also had various Imprezza's, a Caterham 7, (I'm on the lookout for another) a half share of a Porsche GT3 and a few other toys. These cars are bought for fun and I'm a lot less concerned about running costs. They've all either come from auction or Ebay but will only be used for sunny summer blats or track days.
So how much? I really don't think that there is a best figure, They'll all end up costing something similar in depreciation, I could comfortably afford to buy almost anything on the market with the exception of the latest supercar exotica but don't want to pay for massive running costs. I'm not image conscious so I'm happy enough meeting clients in an old car. All they care about in my business is how good I am at designing what they need, for which I'm grateful. The oly thing is that as car's get older you have to put up with things not being perfect, the drivers side window of the old mondeo I had wouldn't wind up but its something that you can cope with if you want to keep costs down.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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Surely the proportion of annual income spent on motoring depends on the level of that income and the level of motoring enthusiasm.
My income is comfortable, 20/6d in Dickens' terms - if my income suddenly doubled, permanently, I'd spend far more than double the amount on motoring because my other costs wouldn't double so I could indulge myself.
Equally, if my income halved (heaven forbid) my motoring expense would reduce but not by half - other spending would get cut more.
Having done a quick check, using MS Money, I spend a quarter on motoring but if I add caravanning costs it is about a third, just to upset Clarkson!
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>>but if I add caravanning costs <<
Caravanning --- Ruperts - yeh barred (ala John Smiths advert)
Only joking of course.
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got around the SWMBO authorising it problem by spending the large amount on her car and keeping mine an older car (hers 2 yrs old, mine 8)
long journeys and dogs in hers..diesel estate....= good economy, likelihood of better reliability etc
shorter journeys in mine....V6 3 litre petrol...= better driver enjoyment, don't notice fuel costs with the low mileage.
I'm prepared to pay mid 20K for a newer car, but only every 4-5 years, by which time the older one isn't worth a huge amount any more. Will probably keep mine for good now and just keep updating hers, as I prefer driving mine even though it's 8 yrs old as there's nothing whatosever wrong with it. I enjoy it immensely.
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£3k...just done it (2001 Xantia HDi Estate). Decided on by how much is in the bank, and how brave I am feeling. Alternative was £6k on a C5, but since that's nearly as much as I have spent in total over 10 years / 220k miles it was giving me palpitations... I am never ceased to be amazed how much some of my colleagues spend on cars - I'd rather save the money first and make the interest work for me rather than working for the bank. Perhaps I'm just too sensible.... (hence the Xantia Diesel Estate!).
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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It also astounds me that anyone is prepared to spend £10K - £20K on something (or even more) that loses it's value so quickly.
Used cars are just as reliable, cost a lot less, and have much less value to lose.
Think what you could do with that money if you didn't throw it down the drain by buying a new car.....
Still, if it makes you happy, I suppose.
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How much to spend?
1) We decide what our requirements are i.e. the minimum we are prepared to accept.
2) We find out how much it will cost to buy a car that meets our requirements.
3) We would be prepared to pay an extra 10% or so if it allowed us something that we found very desireable but that was not strictly necessary.
To be honest, we never worked out that way of operating and put it into words - we just did it instinctively.
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SWMBO and I buy what we can afford in cash when a car needs changing. What we buy with the available funds is a balance between what the car needs to do (e.g. carry dogs/long distance runs/runabout), how reliable it needs to be and running costs.
For the last two factors, we prefer to buy known cars from family or friends where possible. FiL likes to change car every few years, which fits neatly with our buying habits. Otherwise, we tend to aim for the "also ran" in the popularity stakes for the category of car we're looking for, such as opting for a Vectra rather than a Mondeo.
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Priorities & circumstances change. A few years ago, I bought a new Leon Cupra (£15k), because I could afford to, in spite of the depreciation . Then I found a SWMBO & changed job, so I sold the Leon for an old MGB (£4k), banked the rest of the cash. Then we got married & bought a house that needs things done; MG is gone, and I'm driving an aged Volvo 940 (£600). I'd like to have a nicer car againn one day, but the Volvo just keeps on going, is comfortable and carries an awful lot of rubble to the tip!
Cheers,
Alex.
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Dr Alex Mears
Volvo 940S estate 1993
Maxda MX5 1.8iS 1997
Yamaha RD350 YPVS 1992
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As much as I can afford. My car is my hobby not just a method of transport, so I can justify spending more on a car than others, who would rather spend £X on a car and £Y on Golf club membership.
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Its as much as you want to, I guess.
Most people with a job these days could probably afford to buy a £10-15k car. Cars are really pretty cheap when you think about it, its easily possible to spend £5k on a summer holiday so a £15k car over three years, even if it depreciated to nothing, is not really a massive outlay. Having said that, depreciation is so high in the UK that if you want decent reliable transport then £5k will get something very respectable that fits the bill, and have years of service left in it.
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Last three cars purchased have been purchased new, run for 4 years and then disposed of with mileage at 90-120k. Cost dictated by the need to carry 6 and the car allowance, petrol money and tax relief I get from employer, plus I need to make a bit to justify doing it myself, and it needs to be reliable and not a wreck for work.
Budget was easily enough to run a Zafira GSi with a heavy foot.
Time to change is going to extend to 5 years as SWMBO has new Corsa as her first car and budget is the same, although no longer need to make a profit.
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It has always amazed me how much people will spend on cars especially the propensity of people to buy new and north of £15K.....where do they get the money from or are they paid £100K a year?
Paying £15K for a car to me is inconceivable. So if someone is on £30k how do they afford a car at £15K after allowing for current tax levels, living costs etc...?
I've never paid any more than £1000 for anything besides my house and that has gone up in value by 4.5 times.
I think I must be the motor trade's worst nightmare - the overly rational type who can rationalise so much that they never ever actually buy a car. Friends have said If we all spent like I did there would be a Dustbowl recession with whole swathes of commerce decimated.
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Despite all the moaning and groaning about tax and living costs here's a good slice of the population earning high incomes these days and leading an affluent lifestyle, particularly if they have a modest mortgage. Lots of the families have a jont income of £75k+ and borrowing, say, £15k over three years will not make a big dent in the monthly budget. The average guy supporting a family on £30k is more likely to buy a £5k Mondeo than a new car.
I actually think cars a quite good value in relative terms, even though they depreciate heavily. Its other things that shock me. I need some tarmacing doing and I'm astonished at the prices charged (these guys seem to want about £1k/day labour for the small gang doing the job). I bought carpet for my two lounges, stairs and hall about 6 years ago, it cost about £10k and it already needs replacement (was supposed to be top quality stuff from the best name in the business).
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Aprilia - well said, speaking ip for Middle England !
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Aprilia - well said speaking ip for Middle England !
I don't think Middle England needs me to speak up for it - its doing rather well! (despite what the Daily Mail might try to tell you).
For the average middle income earner these days the price of a new car is the least of their worries. Try having 2 or 3 kids in private education. Cost of that has rocketed in the last few years. Could buy a prestige motor every year instead!
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Agreed - Don't read the Mail, only to irritate myself occaisonally, never the same since Northcliffe's days ! However if there is such a thing as the "British Dream" it can be witnessed on the streets and Motorways of our land. A lot of cars are bought on the drip though, one guy I know has treated himself to a fully blinged up Rang Rover (he owns a joinery business) he maxed two credit cards to scrape a deposit and is paying the rest off monthly - the frightening thought is that it is a national phenomenon.
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Taking a leaf out of an economists way of thinking, we spend on cars up untill the benifit from extra spending (on cars) yeilds less or equal benifit than spending on something else.
The odd things is that people have such different tastes. Taste can be explained in terms of capablitiy (what we use the car for, and how competetly it performs) and external influences (image, to ourselfs and others).
It was seem rational to assume we draw up a list of criteria when deciding upon purchasing a car depending on its capablility. For example do we want a load lugger, a proper 4*4, a motorway cruiser or a sporty plaything, how do we value relability and is the car comfortable (aircon etc). After setting our criteria about how capable a car is we should be in a position to buy a car that best meets our needs in the least costly way - we try to get maximum capability for the least spending.
We however are not greatly rational creatures and sometimes don't give a fig what a car's specifications are, rather than what the car represents to us. These are the external influences of criteria that as the society gets richer is more likely to take over our purchasing decisions (as Keynes said). This illustrated by an episode of Friends where Ross (a 20 somethings man) buys an old MG (a forerunner of the Mazda MX5) and spends most the the episode obsessing how good the car will be to drive. Just when Ross gets the oportunity to drive the car an middle aged (midlife crissis person) pulls up in a car indentical to his. The end result is Ross does not even bother driving the MG, and insted just walks away from it.
Accounting for tastes is difficult but I would say about 80% of the money people spend on cars is down to the latter criteria I have set out - representations. Only 20% of money spend on cars in the UK is actually dependant on what the cars bought can actually do objectively.
What is astounding is the diversity of tastes among humans, so it is not surprising that some people buy new cars worth £50K, whilst others buy cars worth £500, even when their cirumstances maybe the same.
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Torque means nothing without RPM
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But what is interesting is the "post event" rationalisation you see time and time again where middle class housewives claim it is essential to have a large 4x4 for the school run and it is just a practical tool.....nothing to do with image at all....likewise middle aged men with fast cars....
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I once heard Clarkson state that most people spend one third of their annual salary on a car.
In that case, from the cars I see on the road there must be an awful lot of people earning in excess of £80,000 p.a.
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L\'escargot.
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My two cents worth...
L'escargot: Clarkson state[d] that most people spend one third of their annual salary on a car.
I doubt it. Most of them borrow one third of their salary to buy a car. And many new cars are either company cars or part-financed by employers. Its noticeable that in countries such as Ireland and France, where there are more private buyers spending their own money, more entry-level models from lower down the range are bought.
UKbeefy: But what is interesting is the "post event" rationalisation you see time and time again...
Agreed! But its not just SUV-driving yummy mummies. There's plenty rationalisation done here in the backroom, especially when someone suggests spending more than £1500 on a car :-)
Live and let live, methinks! The only concern I'd have about the whole business is that, as living on credit becomes more widespread, the risk of a severe downturn (e.g. after interest rate increases) grows. But if that happens, we'll have much more than the price of cars to worry ourselves about...
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A lot of people can be like sheep and react in a herd mentality and therefore 'follow fashions'.
Then there are those who want to indulge in a bit of 'one up manship' just to impress others... even if they can't really afford it.
Then those who couldn't give a hoot what they drive as long as it's cheap, with maybe priorities elsewhere.
and then finally those that want something decent and don't care what others think about how much they've spent/wasted, because they enjoy driving something nice and realise they can't take it with them.... they will have course have compromised with other priorities.
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While it sits in a station car park all day, not a penny more than it costs to get me there and back reliably, with air-con, and in reasonable comfort.
The scuffs, marks and scrapes that have appeared on the Mondeo after 18 months of this have vindicated my decision. If this were a £10k car, I would be in tears.
The Renault was bought for a different purpose, so we spent more. If I get a normal job where I can drive to the office and park it safely, I will change the Mondeo for something more salubrious, but it really is pointless at the moment. If it died, I would almost certainly go out and buy exactly the same again.
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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The irony is that banks encourage us to spend money on things that disappear, but not on assets.
£50k overdraft for a holiday, sir, not a problem.
£50k loan to buy commercial property to convert to a house. No way, sir. The bank will not give you a mortgage for that. The bank's policy is that it does not authorise borrowing for speculative development. BUT, Mr bank, your loan is just to cover the SDLT and fees... it's blue-chip, asset backed. Sorry sir. But if it were for a holiday you'd lend it... 'that's different, sir'.
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I spend far less now than I used to.although I've never been a 'big' spender. When I was buying cars for enjoyment, then I didnt have to justify the cost at all. Now that I'm in effect buying family transport I am not so interested in pumping cash into them.
I have a look around at what I want. See how much it costs, think about the depreciation and running costs. Think about where on the cars life is the best point to buy (ie new / 1 year old / 3 years old etc) and what else that cash might be doing for me (I would never pay to borrow money for a car).
The result is that I think I'm likely to spend about £7K on an accord, less whatever I get for the v70 so probably only £4k being spent.
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