My Ford Focus mk1 broke down yesterday and is no more.  I have £5000 in savings and I'm a bit confused by which option to take:

Background

• I am 32 with a good stable job.
• I own my own home and don't have kids (no plans to have any).  
• I commute to work everyday which is around 50 miles round trip.  
• My annual mileage is about 15000-18000 (can't be more exact).

Option 1 - I had planned to do this at some point (just in my own time)

I get a loan for £5000... I combine that with my savings to make a total of £10'000.

I then buy a Ford Fiesta or Ford Focus 1.0 Ecodrive with less than 20'000 miles on the clock.  Advantages are that the car is more likely to be fault free and last for a while without major issues.  Very economical!  My old focus was £260 a year tax and guzzled gas.  So this would be better in that respect.

 

Option 2 

I spend £2500 (half my savings) and get a fairly decent 8-10 year old car and therefore I have money left over to do some work on the house and buy a new computer, emergency fund, etc...

Obvious disadvantages are that it's a gamble as to the reliability of the car.  I've always had old cars and I'd always thought I would at some point invest in a newer one.

 

Questions

• Which option do you think is the better?
• I'd like a car with cruise control and DAB radio... I think this would be a Titanium version.  The mileage goes up a bit in the cars I can afford - not sure how big a deal that is
• Any thoughts on Fiesta or Focus?  I prefer the idea of a bigger car in the Focus, but I would consider a Fiesta.

 

Thanks everyone,

RR

How about using 1k and putting a down payment on a PCP deal or something?

If you have a good enough job and can afford the monthly costs? You could always do a 3k deposit, lower the monthly costs?

 

Personally I would spend £2,500 and that way you have no loans and the car is 100% owned by you, not a bank or dealership to whom you are paying monthly and can repossess the car should anything happen whereby you cannot pay.

With that budget you could get an older Focus (still newer than your previous model however) that has been well treated and with service history to prove it.  Yes there are some bad deals out there, but spotting them is relatively easy and if you find a good one then you'll have no problems with reliability and will still have £2,500 spare sitting in your bank.

Literally just had a similar situation, i went with half loan half savings, i wanted to treat myself as i work hard for my money, although even if i paid all cash i would still be left with some savings so not really the same as yourself in that respect, i would also want some savings behind me especially with a mortgage.

Treat yourself and get a new one  (PCP) Your working hard and deserve to reward yourself. Imagine the smell of new car and the comfort of driving it. 

Personally I would go with my tried and tested "script".

Around £8k should get you a ~20k millage 2-4 years old car that should easily last 5 years with little unexpected outlays.

 

Examples,

2012 Focus Titanium, 14k mileage £8k

2013 Focus Titanium, 25k mileage £8k

2014 Focus Zetec Nav 24k mileage £9k

2012 Focus 1.6 ecoboost Titainium X, 20k mileage £9

2014 Fiesta Titanium X 17.5k mileage £9k

2013 Fiesta Titanium, X 15.5k mileage, £8,5k

I've recently brought a mk2 facelift 1.6 zetec focus, 6 month mot, 90k, clean mot history, part service history and the body is pretty clean for an older car. I'm averaging 27-30 mpg and I only paid £850. All it needed was new brake disks and pads on the front and the latch that stops the door from flying all the way open. My point is, if you look around for long enough, do all the relevant checks, you will find a nice focus. I've seen quite a few 09 plates for around 2k.

I'd never buy I finance car new or used. I like to know that the car is mine and if for any reason you can afford to run it for a month or two you can park it on the drive instead of a company towing it away to five it to the next person. 

Hope this helps your decision. 

I am going to chuck a huge dose of cynicism on the thought fire.  A new/nearly new Ford certainly doesn't mean you will have trouble free motoring.  It doesn't mean you will have relatively trouble free motoring either.  Believe me - I now know this!

The advantage of a nearly new car is that you get warranty.  If you can coerce Ford into honouring it, you should be fine.  Coercion takes a long and painful time though.

If you go older, with a chunk left over, you have a war chest for any faults.  Practically every used car has faults.  It's a fact that people won't get rid of something they are happy with.  As long as you budget for this, a used car may well be a better way forward.

PCP is a con - price up the 3 year cost and then weep when you think about the fact you have naff all to show at the end of the contract.

http://www.ford.co.uk/Cars/CarPromotions/FiestaZetec-PCH

Works out at £308 a month with 24 payments and the deposit factored in. £308 for a bottom of the range Fiesta. The world is mad.

thats mad i wouldn't pay that for a fiesta i pay £180 with a final payment of £300 and something to keep the car which is what im doing. mine is only 4 years old, theres loads of better deals on the second hand market for slightly older cars.