Is this a good/bad idea?

Jordan537

Hi, i am wanting some opinions on the following....

I am 20 years of age and currently have a 2001 1.6 Clio Initiale. with 102,000 miles.

I was looking at purchasing a Ford Focus Zetec s for £8,495 and selling my car to my sister and putting a deposit down and have £8,000 on finance to pay.

i would get this over 48 months/ 4 years and pay £210 a month on finance.

My insurance would be £40 a month cheaper than my current car with better fuel economy and less road tax.

So it would be an extra £170 a month out of my monthly outgoings.

There is alot of overtime where i work at Airport Security and could easily do a few extra shifts to make the money up each month.

I currently rent a houseshare which is £450 a month which includes all bills and food.

I get around £1200 a month in wages and my outgoings are rent, car and fuel.

Would do you think?

Do i stick with my clio and save up more money each month or do i buy a new car for myself.

Thanks

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

djimi

I wouldnt be stretching myself, spending that sort of money unless I was getting a significantly better car than I already have. If the Clio is working for you then I dont really see the point in spending the guts of £200 a month more and stretching yourself in terms of working extra shifts etc just to upgrade to a Fiesta.

corktina

no contest...Focus ZS vs Clio..... mind you I'm biased.

corktina

djimi wrote: »

I wouldnt be stretching myself, spending that sort of money unless I was getting a significantly better car than I already have. If the Clio is working for you then I dont really see the point in spending the guts of £200 a month more and stretching yourself in terms of working extra shifts etc just to upgrade to a Fiesta.

it's a Focus...(and there is nought wrong with a Fiesta ZS either!)

H3llR4iser

In all fairness, it's up to you. I would run sort of a "dry test" for a couple of months, meaning I'd try to put aside the money you would pay on the loan and see how I fare, before committing to it.

On the looks of it, you did all your calculations and think it's feasible; You need to see if the bank thinks the same - they will run an expenses assessment with you taking everything into consideration (rent, direct debits if any, phone/mobile bill, average expenses and whatnot) and decide.

All other considerations are moot really - even the "do you need a new car?" one. Sometimes it's just that one wants to enjoy the benefits of his/her work

christy02

How would your insurance be €40 a month cheaper moving to a newer, bigger car?
I say if you are willing to put in an extra shift or two in order to have a nicer car then go for it and good luck to ya. Just upgraded myself and nothing like it!!!

Caliden

Spending ~25% of your monthly outgoings on a car for 4 years seems excessive to me.

I'd be asking why it costs you 480 extra per year to insure a clio over a focus?

Kaize

Easy difference in safety quality. 01 Clio is a fair few rungs down the safety ladder in comparison to an 07 focus. Straight from an insurance mate. I got a 08 focus and the fully comp cost same as an 01 mazda third party which says it all

noelf

Jordan537 wrote: »

Hi, i am wanting some opinions on the following....

I am 20 years of age and currently have a 2001 1.6 Clio Initiale. with 102,000 miles.

I was looking at purchasing a Ford Focus Zetec s for £8,495 and selling my car to my sister and putting a deposit down and have £8,000 on finance to pay.

i would get this over 48 months/ 4 years and pay £210 a month on finance.

My insurance would be £40 a month cheaper than my current car with better fuel economy and less road tax.

So it would be an extra £170 a month out of my monthly outgoings.

There is alot of overtime where i work at Airport Security and could easily do a few extra shifts to make the money up each month.

I currently rent a houseshare which is £450 a month which includes all bills and food.

I get around £1200 a month in wages and my outgoings are rent, car and fuel.

Would do you think?

Do i stick with my clio and save up more money each month or do i buy a new car for myself.

Thanks

You would pay just over E2000 in interest over the 4 years for a 07 focus I'm paying less than E800 interest on a brand new golf highline E300 per month perhaps you should look at a new car and see what the monthly repayments are .. the 07 car wont be worth anything in 4 years

djimi

How much was the down-payment on the Golf and how much of a lump sum do you have to pay at the end?

Red Kev

If you're borrowing 90% of the price of the car then you can't really afford it .

You are also relying heavily on overtime. What will you do if the overtime stops ? How will you finance the car.

The extra overtime and money you are spending on the car will impact on your quality of life, you're 20 years of age, spend the money on yourself, your pastimes and your social life rather than the car for the time being IMO.

You should also consider the money you will lose over 4 years on depreciation, probably in the region of €4-5000, add this to the interest payments and in effect you will be paying €10,000 for a car that in 4 years is worth €4000 at the most. Also consider that the money you spend on the Focus is money that you will be losing interest on, as it's not in your bank account.

You're insurance premiums will come down quickly after a year or two no matter what you buy. Shop around for the best price, I find it hard to believe that the annual price difference will always be €500 between the two cars.

Also consider that the Focus may have higher servicing prices over the 4 years. Draw up a comparison between the two cars over 4 years on a sheet pf paper or on Excel. make headings for the following:

Repayments on Focus,
Interest lost on money not being saved
Fuel per annum
Tax
Insurance
Tyres
Oil/filter changes
Servicing costs (timing belt changes etc. etc.)

Then do the maths, at your age I'd rather stick the cash in the bank and have a few more holidays in the year/visit festivals etc. rather than sticking it into a car which isn't much different from the one I'm driving at the moment.

Nonoperational

Ah well it would be pretty different in fairness.

Reg'stoy

Considering your age and that your renting why not have something nice under your ass, you're only young once so enjoy it.

In saying that, leave some money to enjoy yourself. I'm a firm believer in the adage, "Work to live, not live to work". Be certain you can afford to keep up payments should your overtime dry up or your rent goes up and keep some savings to enjoy yourself, you're only 20; responsibilty when soon enough rear its ugly head.

Supergurrier

Just get a credit union loan or bank loan rather than finance, the sell the car if your circumstances change

Simple really it's your call at the end of the day.

noelf

djimi wrote: »

How much was the down-payment on the Golf and how much of a lump sum do you have to pay at the end?

I was just trying to give a idea of the high interest rate the op was thinking of getting buying second hand. The down payment was my trade in the final payment if I decide to buy is E10000 ...

ironclaw

Unless your bare minimum salary covers the extra expense (With room to spare) you would be mental to do this. Don't count on money you have not received or there is condition you have to fulfil before you can earn it i.e. Overtime. The amount of people I know that made investments or took out loans because there was 'loads of overtime' going is crazy. No sooner had they then the company hired more staff or dashed overtime payments.

djimi

noelf wrote: »

I was just trying to give a idea of the high interest rate the op was thinking of getting buying second hand. The down payment was my trade in the final payment if I decide to buy is E10000 ...

There are a lot more factors than just interest rate to be considered when buying a new car. Depreciation for example would be higher from new than it would be for a car that is already a few years old. Initial and balloon payments also have to be taken into account.

By all means do the sums and see how it works out, but if someone has said that they are already stretching themselves financially to get an £8k second hand car then buying a new car on finance is not going to be a realistic alternative.

noelf

Supergurrier wrote: »

Just get a credit union loan or bank loan rather than finance, the sell the car if your circumstances change

Simple really it's your call at the end of the day.

credit union or bank loans are more expensive ..

Supergurrier

noelf wrote: »

credit union or bank loans are more expensive ..

Yes but more convenient and you are free to sell the car if you want.