What car can I afford?

Bruce7

I've always bought second hand cars with whatever I've had in the bank, but will have to look for finance for my next one.

I have a well paid job and a good credit history, and my only debt is my mortgage, so I assume I'll be approved, but the trouble is I don't know the first thing about the process, so don't really know what cars are within my range. I'm hoping I can afford a Land Rover Discovery or something similar, as I've a third kid coming. Can anyone tell me:

How much can I borrow? Is it calculated on my annual basic salary, or my monthly take home pay after bills?

What is the term of a typical car loan?

How much deposit is required up front?

What is better - car loan or hire purchase agreement?

What is the typical interest rate?

Are the terms different for new and second hand car finance?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Foxhole Norman

1 question, why do you need a Land Rover Discovery for a family of 5? Most estates these days will handle it. Especially the Skoda Superb Estate.

Are you planning on Buying new or used?

carbon nanotube

Bruce7 wrote: »

I've always bought second hand cars with whatever I've had in the bank, but will have to look for finance for my next one.

I have a well paid job and a good credit history, and my only debt is my mortgage, so I assume I'll be approved, but the trouble is I don't know the first thing about the process, so don't really know what cars are within my range. I'm hoping I can afford a Land Rover Discovery or something similar, as I've a third kid coming. Can anyone tell me:

How much can I borrow? Is it calculated on my annual basic salary, or my monthly take home pay after bills?

What is the term of a typical car loan?

How much deposit is required up front?

What is better - car loan or hire purchase agreement?

What is the typical interest rate?

Are the terms different for new and second hand car finance?

Thanks in advance for any advice

paying for a car on finance is the biggest waste of money imaginable.

car can be got for tuppence and a penny now, so if you have meaningful funds in the bank you dont need a stupid loan for a set of wheels.

Jimbob 83

Finance is a bad idea, i would go for a credit union loan personally, even if they are becoming extremely difficult to get money out of, they also seem to have completely abandoned their own ethos.

Also i see nothing wrong with a motor loan it's just another form of budgeting tbh

mickey mac

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

1 question, why do you need a Land Rover Discovery for a family of 5? Most estates these days will handle it. Especially the Skoda Superb Estate.

Are you planning on Buying new or used?

That didn't take long!

Foxhole Norman

mickey mac wrote: »

That didn't take long!

To be fair to them, you find an estate with equivalent size with the same amount of toys for ~30k. You'll probably struggle.

Our family also has a Superb and expecting a second so I may be a bit biased :pac:

colm_mcm

If I were you, I'd buy an older discovery for about 5k, see how it is to live with. If its not your thing then sell it after a few months.

high horse

Unless you plan on transporting the 3 kids around in a horsebox, I don't really see the point of a Discovery for the job you described. Large estate or MPV would be perfect. Unless of course you just want a Discovery, in which case, drive on!

Bruce7

Thanks for the replies. I'll need space for 3 baby / booster seats so a 7 seater looks like the only option that allows this in relative comfort, and also has enough space for buggies etc.

I don't want a minivan type car, so an SUV seemed like the only other option. Discovery or Volvo XC90 are the only vaguely appealing options I have seen so far that fit the bill.

Anything on the financial side of things? Right now I don't know what I can afford, so need to figure that out before anything else.

Bigus

I've come across this before " I need a people carrier but I won't drive a people carrier." so I'll buy a 4x4 that is twice as heavy half as big inside and can go places I'll never go.

Your kids won't be kids forever so buy a people carrier for the next seven years use and then go back to a sports car when there gone.

Start with an s max

bijapos

Bruce7 wrote: »

How much can I borrow? Is it calculated on my annual basic salary, or my monthly take home pay after bills?

What is the term of a typical car loan?

How much deposit is required up front?

What is better - car loan or hire purchase agreement?

What is the typical interest rate?

Are the terms different for new and second hand car finance?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Bruce7 wrote: »

Anything on the financial side of things? Right now I don't know what I can afford, so need to figure that out before anything else.

I think you need to talk to your bank/credit union manager first. There's no point discussing the merits of a €30,000 car or SUV here when you don't even know how much you have to spend on it.

Give them a ring in the morning, see how much they will loan you and then get back to us here, there are plenty of people her willing to give you advice.

bazz26

A large 4x4 is the wrong type of vehicle to be buying on finance imo. They are not very fashionable during these testing times meaning they depreciate like a stone. You will be in negative equity from the offing and if you find your circumstances change and you need to get rid of it, you will be trapped into owing more than it is worth.

pred racer

For loans etc, drop into your bank, they will advise you. Be aware a Boi personal loan is running at over 10% apr at the mo.

For finance, drop into a few garages, if they think they might get a sale, they will explain all the finance stuff, and will even get pre-approval for you (in some cases) so you would then know where you stood, money wise.
Hope this helps.

Bruce7

Bigus wrote: »

I've come across this before " I need a people carrier but I won't drive a people carrier." so I'll buy a 4x4 that is twice as heavy half as big inside and can go places I'll never go.

Your kids won't be kids forever so buy a people carrier for the next seven years use and then go back to a sports car when there gone.

Start with an s max

I don't quite agree with how you put it. What I need is a 7 seat vehicle. Within that category I'm entitled to have a preference for what I personally find appealing.

And I don't want a Skoda or a Lada or a Hi-ace no matter how practical they might be.

listermint

Bruce7 wrote: »

I don't quite agree with how you put it. What I need is a 7 seat vehicle. Within that category I'm entitled to have a preference for what I personally find appealing.

And I don't want a Skoda or a Lada or a Hi-ace no matter how practical they might be.

But you havent tried some of the people carriers out there so your preference isnt very informed....

As stated get into an SMax and see.

Bruce7

listermint wrote: »

But you havent tried some of the people carriers out there so your preference isnt very informed....

As stated get into an SMax and see.

In fairness, it is an informed preference. I have seen them on the road, don't like the look of them, and don't want to drive one. What more do I need to say?

Buying anything involves aesthetic as well as practical considerations, needs and wants, and personal preferences.

This is like me saying I want to buy a house in the Dublin suburbs, and being told to buy a house in Leitrim or Cavan instead. True, I might get a bigger house with more space for the money, but also completely missing the point.

Anan1

Bruce7 wrote: »

In fairness, it is an informed preference. I have seen them on the road, don't like the look of them, and don't want to drive one. What more do I need to say?

Buying anything involves aesthetic as well as practical considerations, needs and wants, and personal preferences.

This is like me saying I want to buy a house in the Dublin suburbs, and being told to buy a house in Leitrim or Cavan instead. True, I might get a bigger house with more space for the money, but also completely missing the point.

Of course you're entitled to your own preferences, but people are only trying to help you here. A Discovery is going to be a pretty poor drive compared to an SMax, and it's a less safe choice both for your family and for other road users. If you're willing to compromise safety, ability, and economy for aesthetics then so be it, just do it with your eyes open.

djimi

listermint wrote: »

But you havent tried some of the people carriers out there so your preference isnt very informed....

As stated get into an SMax and see.

In fairness if he has eyes on a Discovery then there really isnt much point in trying to push an S-Max!

For what its worth, it would take a lot for me to want to buy something like an S-Max also. If I was in a position where I needed something of that size then I would be looking at every available alternative rather than having to go down the route of buying a people carries which I really dislike. Each to their own though I suppose!

djimi

Anan1 wrote: »

...it's a less safe choice both for your family and for other road users. If you're willing to compromise safety...

Care to elaborate on that? (Im not arguing, Im just curious)

Anan1

djimi wrote: »

Care to elaborate on that? (Im not arguing, Im just curious)

Every vehicle, from a Ferrari to a Humvee, is optimised for its intended use. A Discovery has to be very good at off-roading, which requires compromises in other areas. It's tall, with a high centre of gravity - this compromises its handling, making it harder to control and more likely to topple than a car. Its shape also imposes much larger blind spots than a car - a small child directly in front of/behind a Disco can be completely hidden. It's heavier than it needs to be, which needlessly punishes the occupants of whatever it hits. Finally, safety just doesn't seem to have been a priority of its designers. Have a look at the Discovery's crash test results, here: http://www.euroncap.com/tests/land_rover_discovery_2006/259.aspx

Now look at what FIAT managed with the little 500: http://www.euroncap.com/tests/fiat_500_2007/298.aspx

djimi

Fair enough; from the occupants point of view I would have thought that a Discovery would have been safer than most given its size, but it appears not!

Anan1

djimi wrote: »

Fair enough; from the occupants point of view I would have thought that a Discovery would have been safer than most given its size, but it appears not!

It is and it isn't. All other things being equal, a heavy car will favour its occupants at the expense of the occupants of the car it hits. And the Disco is heavy, but it's also relatively unstable and poorly-designed from a crash safety point of view.

listermint

Bruce7 wrote: »

In fairness, it is an informed preference. I have seen them on the road, don't like the look of them, and don't want to drive one. What more do I need to say?

Buying anything involves aesthetic as well as practical considerations, needs and wants, and personal preferences.

This is like me saying I want to buy a house in the Dublin suburbs, and being told to buy a house in Leitrim or Cavan instead. True, I might get a bigger house with more space for the money, but also completely missing the point.

Fair enough, eye of the beholder (badge holder) and all that.

I dont see how anyone can think this vehicle isnt aesthetically pleasing in comparison to a discovery. I would have been in the same line of thought regards people carriers as you (late 20s) but my mate worked for ford and brought one of these out, i had a test drive and i would have Zero issues buying and driving one should the need require however ive no kids so i dont need one yet.

But it looks great, has tones of space, beats the crap out of the discovery on reliability and running costs and its safer than the discovery for its intended purpose that is transporting a family. Oh and it handled better than the discovery that i drove ever could (mates company vehicle). Additionally didnt look as plastically ****e inside.



But alas its your preference, but from my past experience alot of folks fall in love with the idea of a 4x4 and more over the name 'land rover' but the reality is a stark difference

pred racer

Just as an afterthought, I have 3 children (and have had for some time now:p)
I have never needed a 7 seater to carry them. In my experience more available space will just get get filled with more unneccessary crap.

I personally would be going down the estate route,

Audi a6 avant
Bmw 5 series touring
Citroen c5 estate
Etc etc.

Im with the Op on the skoda superb though, its just horrid.

If a disco is what you want op and you can afford it.....go for it.

But as mentioned above, be aware of the downsides/alternatives, its nice to buy with your heart, but you got to give your head a vote too;)

rebel.ranter

We have had Discoveries in work for the past number of years, we also had the previous generation Discoveries too. We have/had a sizeable fleet of 4x4 that actually get used off-road on the odd occasion (used to have more of a requirement for off-road, not as much anymore). We had Toyota Land Cruisers in between the old & new model LRs & now we have gone back to Toyota again due to the unreliability of the LR. Lots of electric issues with the handbrakes, air suspension, problems with steering pumps, rear suspension bushes wearing with small miles, rear tyres wearing badly as a result too.
I still like driving the Discovery, the latest version with the auto box is a nice drive. We currently have a 7 seater with the leather & Harmon Kardon entertainment pack. Nice car if someone else is paying the bills. You'll also need to allow for the fact that you'll be driving a rental/loaner car while your jeep spends & significant time in the shop!
The 2008 passenger version is €2,200 to tax per annum & you'll be lucky to get 28mpg from it on a run. Tyres are €1,200 a set. So consider these costs & the inevitable surprise issue when doing your budget.
As for the suggestion to buy an older Discovery, we had less problems with them but they are more like a tractor than the new ones are. e.g. the gear change is an effort in the manual, play in the steering with wear.
I get that you don't want an MPV, I would prefer an SUV too, just go into your purchase with your eyes wide open.

On the Finance question, this is individual to you. It all depends on your credit history, income v outgoings, term of loan, etc. If it is motor finance as opposed to a loan they will not give you a long term finance deal on an older car, for a 2007 they may only offer a 3 year financing package. If it is a personal loan this is less of an issue.

Best of luck what ever you choose.

Bruce7

pred racer wrote: »

Just as an afterthought, I have 3 children (and have had for some time now:p)
I have never needed a 7 seater to carry them. In my experience more available space will just get get filled with more unneccessary crap.

I personally would be going down the estate route,

Audi a6 avant
Bmw 5 series touring
Citroen c5 estate
Etc etc.

Im with the Op on the skoda superb though, its just horrid.

If a disco is what you want op and you can afford it.....go for it.

But as mentioned above, be aware of the downsides/alternatives, its nice to buy with your heart, but you got to give your head a vote too;)

Really? I'm going to have one 4 year old, one 2 year old, and a newborn, so will need room for three different stages of child seat. From the opinions I have seen [I've searched here and in other forums], it is possible to squeeze them into the back seat of an estate, but a nightmare when it comes to fastening seat belts and putting the kids in and taking them out. I suppose if I put the 4 year old in the centre, he can get himself in and out, and then it's just the younger ones on the outsides.

If an estate is an option I would jump at it. Would a Merc E-Class Estate handle it?

Wexfordian

We put three across the back of a Corolla Verso regularly without any real issues (two 3-yo and a 1yo), plus it can be turned into an MPV if required.

Personally I'd love a Landy of some sort, but I could never justify it on cost or practicality. The only thing on the plus side of ledger for me (barring the fact that I just want one!) is that I live out the country and the heavy snows over the last few years have left me somewhat stranded at times, but three weeks over three years isn't a huge %.

mickdw

Re what car can you afford, you should simply figure out how much a month you can spare for car repayment and how much deposit or value do you have built up in your current car. All that will give you a good idea of what you can buy.