Do I buy a car after not owning one for nearly seven years

Kiethton said:
If it's only 40 miles a day and you have off street parking at home I'd be looking at a used Nissan Leaf.

£0 tax
£1 a day in electricity to do the journey (free if your work has chargers)
£250 to insure
£5,000 to buy at a few years old

They're pretty reliable too!
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We have a Leaf. It's fantastic, let me know if you want any specifics. Last month we did 800 miles at a cost of £30 electricity (charged at home every night)!
 
Gredawarha said:
Liphook to Guildford on the Portsmouth to London route. Can be busy. Got the 06:52 this morning and was busy but found a seat. In the process of moving, currently on the long wait to exchange but once we have moved will be a twenty minute walk to the railway station. My working hours are effectively office bases but we run a flexible working scheme so will often travel in early to miss some of the commute.

It worked out pretty well this morning, I expect the train home to be similar.
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That’s a particularly unpleasant line at rush hour! I still think it’s better to get the train if you can work around rush hour and get a seat. I don’t know what bicycle parking is like at Liphook station but that 20 minute walk would be much quicker on a bike! Save yourself the hassle of a car!
 
I would happily ditch our second car if I could all they do is cost money! Don't get me wrong I love cars but they are a rich mans toy!
 
Semple said:
Also if buying outright, you need to look at long term costs of owning vs train. That £214 a month works out to be ~2500 a year. So 4 years works out to be 10k on the train.
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Buy an annual ticket and it should be about £2230 or thereabouts. Would also be a Gold Card so discounts on other journeys etc. For people with standard working patterns Annual tickets are in almost all cases better than monthly tickets because you either save money over the year or if for some reason you don't want the ticket any more at worst case the refund value is equivalent to doing monthly tickets anyway and sometimes better. Not having to bother getting a new one every month also means less faff. The only reasons I can think of to go with a monthly ticket over an annual ticket are:
1) If you don't have the capital available up front, but presumably if considering buying a car this isn't an issue, some employers offer interest free loans for season tickets and then you've got the option of 0% credit cards as well
2) If you are planning to have a 'gap' during the year where you won't need to travel much if at all e.g. a sabbatical, long holidays, paternity leave etc in which case might be able to manipulate monthly tickets around that (i.e. if you buy 10 or fewer monthly tickets per year then monthly works out better)

Apart from an almost guaranteed yearly price increase :):D
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Ironically my effective spend on train ticket last year was actually a lot cheaper than usual due to all the refunds and discounts, but obviously that is symptomatic of a poor service.

edit: The annual increases are another reason why monthly tickets are worse value, because unless you are on a January - December purchase cycle, the price typically goes up mid-term. My ticket runs from late September, so if I was on Monthly the last 8 tickets would cost more than the first 4.
 
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satchef1 said:
If you want to drive the route, a used Nissan Leaf bought on PCP from a main dealer is probably the best option. Should work out at under £200/month counting everything (the car, insurance, fuel).

You could also spend £2k-£3k on an old petrol/diesel car and come out under £200/month, all costs accounted for. But it'll be an older (probably smaller) car, and relatively basic compared to the Leaf.

If the train is convenient, it's maybe the best option to be honest. Depends if you think you'd benefit from having another car, outside of the commute. If you would, then there's value in that, on top of the modest cash saving.

If you've got any questions on the Leaf, fire away. I got mine a week ago.
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I contacted my two nearest dealers, Winchester and Guildford. Guildford have been relativley useless. Winchester the complete opposite. They have provided a quote on a used Leaf. £2000 deposit and then two sets of monthly figures depending on whether you take out their gap insurance, wheel and body work insurance and entrerior trim insurance. I have attempted to work out the "all in cost" so taking the monthly amount quoted (the higher amount) the deposit and then working out that amount by the 36 month contract. I estimated £300 per year for insurance but I have since done a quick Meerkat check and it seems more like £400-£500. I wonder if that is due to my lasck of no claims bonus hacing not owner a car for 7 years and only been a named drive on my partners car? I then estimated the electric costs and my rough calculations came to about £265 a month. So more than the train but certainly has given me something to think about.

The NIssan deal also included 2 years service, 1 year warranty, breakdown cover for the life of the deal and the power plug installed at our home. Very interesting stuff.

@satchef1 how are you finding your Leaf? I watched a few "long term" Leaf reviews on Youtube last night and they appeared to be positive.
 
bloodiedathame said:
We have a Leaf. It's fantastic, let me know if you want any specifics. Last month we did 800 miles at a cost of £30 electricity (charged at home every night)!
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I'd be interested to know what sort of deal you got on your Leaf. Also might sound a little odd but have you used Electrical outputs other than your home and how do you find them, what is it like using them and how long does it take to charge. I was amazed to find that there are apparently many more charging points near me than I imagined.
 
tom_nieto said:
That’s a particularly unpleasant line at rush hour! I still think it’s better to get the train if you can work around rush hour and get a seat. I don’t know what bicycle parking is like at Liphook station but that 20 minute walk would be much quicker on a bike! Save yourself the hassle of a car!
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Yes dispite being a regular car user for a lot of my adult life it is a line I know very well, as a child I used it also for four years so can remember many journeys having to stand like sardines in a can!

As to cycling up until recently I cycled a round trip of about 22km as part of a cycle/car share commute that has sadly come to an end. Liphook is probably typical of most railway cycling infrastructure not great. I could buy myself a crappy bike but I wouldnt really be happy parking and locking up my two nice bikes there.

Oddly I think (assuming I don't get a car) I might buy a kick scooter for the short jounrey to and from the house and railway station. It is flat and a quick scoot wont get me hot and sweaty plus I can quickly fold it for the train.
 
Gredawarha said:
I'd be interested to know what sort of deal you got on your Leaf. Also might sound a little odd but have you used Electrical outputs other than your home and how do you find them, what is it like using them and how long does it take to charge. I was amazed to find that there are apparently many more charging points near me than I imagined.
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I traded my old car in for £2k off list price (scrappage scheme), small deposit of £150, then it's £150 a month PCP. We charge at home, first off a 3pin plug which took about 12 hours (overnight) and then we had the 3.3kwh Podpoint installed (free) which does it a bit quicker.
 
bloodiedathame said:
I traded my old car in for £2k off list price (scrappage scheme), small deposit of £150, then it's £150 a month PCP. We charge at home, first off a 3pin plug which took about 12 hours (overnight) and then we had the 3.3kwh Podpoint installed (free) which does it a bit quicker.
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Thanks

I presume that monthly amount is without all their extra insurance cover, is that a used Leaf too?

How much was your insurance?
 
I didn't take any extra insurance. Didn't see any value in it. There's not much of a gap to insure, and the rest is nonsense.

My car insurance quotes were about the same, up from about £380 the last couple of years. Saw this broker advertised on SpeakEV: http://www.pluginsure.co.uk Came out at £273.99 for the year.

For reference, this is what I paid:

2014 Nissan Leaf Acenta, 25,000 miles
Purchase price: £9200
Deposit contribution: £1000
Customer Deposit: £100
Monthly Payment: £150

Twelve months warranty
Two years servicing
Twelve months key cover

The car itself was immaculate. ~5mm tread on the tyres. Both charge cables included. All 12 battery capacity bars showing (these go down as the battery degrades; look for one with all 12).

That was a month ago, so a similar deal should be possible.
 
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Thoroughly enjoying this discussion, very informative.

Those of you who have purchased a used Leaf. Were you offered any extended warranty and if so what sort of cost was it?
 
Isn't that warranty just on on the drive train though not the rest of the car?

You should also have a look at financing the car yourself rather than taking the dealers prices. Could probably get cheaper elsewhere.

If your interested in a Leaf then also check out the other 100 mile EV's like the Zoe or e-Golf and see how they fit in.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Your going to be budget motoring though and with the permanent risks of doing so. What comes with that more than anything is the risk of hastle, ie breaking down, not starting etc
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Compared with taking the train which involves the hassle of delays every day, meaning you get to work and home late, along with cancellations at least once a week leaving you having to take several buses and several hours to get to work or home (or having to write off the day completely and take it as holiday)?

I'd happily pay double to take the chance of the odd break down in an old car compared to that!
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Isn't that warranty just on on the drive train though not the rest of the car?

You should also have a look at financing the car yourself rather than taking the dealers prices. Could probably get cheaper elsewhere.

If your interested in a Leaf then also check out the other 100 mile EV's like the Zoe or e-Golf and see how they fit in.
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I'd have to read up on exactly what it covers. Remember there are less moving parts than a normal engine.

Be careful with the Zoe as you often have to lease the battery with those, and the e-Golf is quite new and sought after so expect the prices to be high for that.

If you do go via a dealer make sure they supply you a granny charger (the 3 pin one) and a type 1 to type 2 (for 3.3/6.6 public charge points). We don't have a type 1 to type 2 personally but they cost £100-£150 to buy outright. Rapid charge (Chademo - 80% full in 30 mins) are hardwired so you don't have to worry about them.
 
Haggisman said:
Compared with taking the train which involves the hassle of delays every day, meaning you get to work and home late, along with cancellations at least once a week leaving you having to take several buses and several hours to get to work or home (or having to write off the day completely and take it as holiday)?

I'd happily pay double to take the chance of the odd break down in an old car compared to that!
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But your not the OP who very specifically said he was price sensitive to the car vs train dilemma :)
 
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