£2000 or finance?

Try Scorpion leasing , but to be honest it really what company you use, just google vehicle leasing

 

Kinda got my heart set on a BMW E60 diesel estate but I bet they're costly to run?

Hate car shopping. My mind always sees what I can't afford haha

 

If you're only doing about 5000 miles a year, and mainly short commutes, you're unlikely to see any real economic benefits by running a diesel, IMO. You'd also need to consider the depreciation after 3 years...
have a look at the Skoda Yeti 1.2 TSi....ticks all your boxes for carrying loads, and dirt cheap to run

resale will be good on these...set to very popular

 

Might I suggest a Hermes headscarf to go with the NT membership ?

 

A friend of mine spent some time building a tool for comparing the TCO for pretty much every car on the market, including used ones, taking into account depreciation and real life running costs. Very interesting talking to him about it, but basically it echoes what @vanorak is saying here. Luxury diesels really don't add up when you consider depreciation. FWIW he drives a mid 90s petrol engined Mercedes W124 estate - utterly reliable and dirt cheap to run, it's also a really nice motor, and has gone up in value in his ownership.

There's rarely a good economic reason for buying a new car, IMO for most people the only reason to do it is because you want one, which is fair enough. One day I'll buy a brand new car... just for the hell of it. For now I've got better things to spend my limited disposable income on. Another friend has recently bought a bright orange Fiesta ST on finance. I get the appeal, but it costs him more per month than my car costs in a year.

My golf is 26 years old. In three years of owning it I've spent a total of £500 on regular maintenance, repairs and improvements, which is (hopefully) roughly the profit I'll make when I sell it... I'm planning to get a "new" car in the next couple of weeks, it'll most likely be a mid 90s german estate (I fancy another beemer) at a rock bottom price, and as a "future classic" it will only go up in value. My budget is also up to 2 grand, but I'd much rather spend £500 and to be honest that's more likely.

 

Seems I have a lot of thinking to do. I may have come up with a great idea!

Cheers guys. Keep you posted.

 

Car ownership is different in France ,we just use them to get from a to b ,so once we get a car that goes forwards and stop ,we tend to keep it....

Would'nt dream of finance or leasing ,but your in a different world...

They are inbetween the engine and gearbox ,it is fun especially big engines...

 

Car leasing is well worth looking at. If I were you I would save the £2000 for a rainy day, don't spend it. You could pay monthly for the lease and insurance and road tax. Presumably you could claim some costs for your business usage.

Those bikes and kayaks are going on a roof rack? So you don't need a big vehicle really.

As said, I would go for leasing.

 

Focus 2.0 Tdci...for £2k you'll get an 07 or 09 car in good nick.

Drive lovely, quick enough and cheap on bits.

 

I think you said it yourself. You are fed up with old cars and constant repair bills. Lots of input on here about used cars, but they are a risk, you may be lucky to get one which doesn't need more money to keep it going, but from my own experience, used cars can be a money pit and depreciate to nothing quite quickly.

I had a 2002 polo, 105,000 miles, engine worn out, a few body scrapes, no value, so went for scrap. I spent a lot of money on it fixing this and fixing that and ended up with a worthless car.

4 neighbours lease their cars. one neighbour her Ford Ka broke, they recovered it, new engine, no cost to her at all. If she owned it, how much would that have cost?

 

Buy four Jaguar X300/X308 you can get them with a bit of ticket for £500, run the first one 'til it breaks, run the next one 'til it breaks etc.
Except old Jaguars were made in Britain by proper chaps with propelling pencils and seldom break.
The 6 pots die really, really slowly whereas the V8s tend to go with more of an exciting bang and shower of con rods.
What could possibly, possibly go wrong?

 

Got to admit I'm really tempted by an X300.

 

£2k gets you an immaculate one with low miles and proper service history... or a thrashed XJR.

I think the missus might find it a bit tricky to park though...

 

Minds not mad up yet, but like @mgbman said about old cars, when on a budget they can be a real gamble. My well maintained Golf TDi cost me £2000 in 2012, cost me the same in repairs so far. All of my BMW's E30 E34 E36 suffered headgasket failure. My Saxo needed a gearbox/clutch/driveshafts/exhaust/coilpack. My Audi 100 had complete break overhaul cause of worn parts. My Audi 80 cam chain crapped its pants. My Renault 21 floor fell out.

What might happen is the OH and I could go half on a lease car or finance? I just need her to find something she likes that we can afford. Volvo V50 Estate D is what she would really like after driving an awful Pug 206 diesel for the last 5+yrs.

 

Crikey, you bought some right Marmiteters... I've also had 3 bmws and never had a failed head gasket...although my second e30 (a thrashed red 325i, manual with full leather sports interior) was tired and I spent about what I paid for it trying to bring it up to a reasonable mechanical standard before cutting my losses and giving up. No comment on the French cars, I wouldn't own one (apart from something rugged and simple like a C15D).

Maybe take a friend with you next time you go to look at a used car

My philosophy has usually been to go for the least desirable most pedestrian spec I can...the aforementioned 325i was a blip. Automatics with the smallest engine in the range, a dowdy colour and no extras have usually been owned by someone sensible who looked after them and drove carefully. My beige Metro was a real eye opener. I bought it from a Librarian and it drove like a new car... £100! Base model cars are also generally simpler so less to go wrong. It's much harder to find good GTIs etc...

 

I'vegot a v50 r. Its the d2 1600 goes like stink, £30 tax. Great car

 

I have drove old cars for the last 30 years and had not one repair bill...

If I bought a modern car with a computer it would scare me Marmiteless...