As it happens, the ST is going (hopefully before the renewal on 02/04/16) so it should not matter but the renewal from Sainsburys is ridiculous. I currently pay £29 per month and that is for premium cover which includes uninsured driver protection, legal cover, zero voluntary excess and protected no claims. 7 years NCB.

The renewal came through at £71 per month!! If I did a quote via their website now, I could get the same sort of price I am getting now. In fact, I have been with them for 2 years now and last time, they upped it from £36 per month to £50+ and said that was the best they could do. Until I helpfully pointed out the quote I got from their site!!

The money these firms get out of people who don't challenge their renewals is crazy. Rant over.

Every insurer is the same.

I like to call it the "try it on" fee.

What's happening with your ST then? You getting something else?

58 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Every insurer is the same.

I like to call it the "try it on" fee.

What's happening with your ST then? You getting something else?

Yes. To cut a long story short, I am getting out of car finance as I am opening a help to buy ISA for my first house and can't afford to save up with car finance still running. I have more cash to buy a car outright than I was expecting and there is a chance that a local garage I have been talking to can get me a 2009 Golf Mk6 1.6 TDi (prob SE) for my money. I fancied a change from Ford and I like the Golf.

I might end up with a Mk5 1.9 TDi Bluemotion in Match spec if I can't quite reach a Mk6. Either way, £30 annual tax is great and easily over 600 miles on a full tank. The Mk6 is common rail diesel though so it will be a lot quieter than the old PD in the Mk5.

I don't do enough miles to justify a diesel as things stand but what miles I do involves a daily cruise down the A38 so DPF burn off won't be a problem. That could change soon though and with the obvious fuel and tax savings, it is ideal while I'm trying to save.

Surely you are loosing money by changing car though?

 

37 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Surely you are loosing money by changing car though?

 

I am just handing the ST back as it is on one of those deals where you can buy it, part ex or hand it back. I don't have anywhere near enough to buy it but have cash at the ready to buy the Golf.

You are still loosing value in the car is what I mean. The balloon figure is less than it would cost to buy the car.

Can you not use your lump sum to reduce how much you need to borrow? Or use it to fulfill the htb isa for a while. You can only put £200 a month in. The rest could be in a high interest account.

 

 

 

 

The dealer will be giving me all the options and quotes in any case but I have weighed up all the options and this works out best. I thought about part-ex against something cheaper from Ford on finance per month or re-financing the ST and as you say deploy my lump sum to the ISA and high interest account.

The problem is that to make the monthly payments affordable on re-financing the ST (so that I could also save in the ISA) would take too many years as I plan to buy in late 2018 or early 2019. The other plan of a cheaper car on finance from Ford sounds ideal at first but by the time I come to purchase a house, I am in the same position of handing the car back or part-ex etc. I can't afford a mortgage and associated bills and monthly payments on a car. Also, by that time, I would have deployed all my cash into house savings which is great for the house but would not have anywhere near enough spare cash to buy a half decent car.

I have been doing the sums for months, working out how much I can put away per month and in the long run, getting rid now works out best. Now is the time I can afford a decent car, a reasonable up front sum in the ISA and because I am free from finance, £200 per month into the ISA and some bonus cash into a high interest savings account.

Fair Do's, sounds like you have considered every avenue.

I'm still trying to save for my first house (or should I say 1 bed flat!). Determined to have moved out before I'm 30, although I keep getting tempted by things to spend money on, like Mountuning my Focus, lol. I mustn't!!!!!

Getting it mountuned will make the performance even more addictive I suspect and yet make the bank balance lighter lol