There's no question that buying is better because you always have a house to sell and will always make money - very few exceptions. You don't have to pay off your mortgage before you can sell, in fact lots of people don't want to pay off their mortgage quickly because of tax benefits.
TBH, I was the same prior to the kids arriving In fact, I'd never bought a car on finance prior to buying my house either so having more bills going out never really effected my thinking.
Maybe you wouldn't be driving a Cmax if you didn't have kids though, car choice is effected when you're putting little ones [and big ones] in it.
Adding up the whole life costs of 2 long leases and saying I could have had a £24k car is plain daft, as he's ignored the fact that it was highly unlikely that he had the £24k in cash in the first place. It's like saying I've spent £1500 a year on electricity over 10 years, so for that £15k I'd have been better off sticking a wind turbine in my garden Ignoring the fact that you never had a pot with £15k in it allocated to the leccy.
Thanks for all the input guys. Was hoping you'd all turn around and say yes 100% leasing is better do it... But you've all given me valid arguments for both sides which hasn't helped
I certainly wouldn't be, probably wouldn't have had the Avensis or Megane either. However, I most definitely wouldn't have been buying brand new £20k+ cars either
Id be looking to pay about 250pcm forn2 years which works out about 6.5k. My mortgage is about 400pcm so still less than that, would be weird paying more for a car than a house!
But you could have bought a £18k car on finance! Your analogy was poor btw, you don't need to already own land to buy the car
Whether you go for personal contract leasing or personal contract purchase, the company set a low guaranteed minimum value for the car which makes your monthly payments higher. When you've completed your payments, you have an option to purchase the car at the guaranteed minimum value. At this stage it makes sense to make a payment to purchase car outright as it's a 1000 or two below market value. The car industry is massive business with financiers benefitting from this. Do all your calculations before committing. Leasing makes more sense if you are a business, in my opinion.
I'd never buy a brand new car anyway, not even for 6k (not that can get a decent car for 6k from new). The temptation to have a brand new car every couple of years is appealing though hence thoughts about leasing
Never is a bit too strong a word. I wouldn't hesitate if money was no object but realistically I'll never be in that position
For me: Leasing: newer car, cost more but peace of mind, business purchase. Buying: older car, keeping the car longer, more risks, potentially spend less The choice really is yours. Horses for courses.
I made a thread when I was looking for a new car and out was no help at all End of the day, you have a choice between cheap or near as 100% reliability. A balance would be nice. I think you've already decided on the reliability bit though lol
From what you've said I think you should go for leasing on a PCH basis - because you want a new car and a decent model and you're not looking to buy the car at the end of it. If you do go for this option, make sure to get a maintenance agreement as well otherwise you have to pay for your own services, tyres and repairs, which would probably have to be a manufacturer/dealer approved garage [although you can get a 'tyre only' agreement I think] . As long as you go into it with your eyes open, have done the finance calculations of what you can afford, aren't likely to lose your job, you should be happy. Don't lie about annual mileage either to get the monthly payments down, or it could mean a hefty charge at the end of the contract.
You were asking about specific cars though I think - that's way too personal for me to give any help. Your top priority at this stage of cay buying is safety I guess - so you look at the whatcar site. on 'best safe cars' get the make and model you like for what you can afford - done
I asked about family cars suitable for three kids and got everything from a hatchback through to a Chelsea type coach
Yeah, not fussed about buying a it at the end, will just get another one probably or if it's not working, go and buy a car and take it as a learning curve
