Is it time to get something a bit more practical?

Gamefreak501 · 6 Jul 2015 at 15:22

Hi everyone,

I've had a great time owning my RX8, it's very fast, it's reliable and it handles like a dream...but it is an expensive car to keep. It won't put me in the poor house, but I do need to consider my flat/house buying position.

In the 18 months I've owned it, I've replaced the cat (old cat was going to fail it's MoT), replaced the brake pads/discs, coils, spark plugs and battery (I consider these service items more than anything) but it's never let me down and doesn't suffer from low compression.

But since I am looking at getting my first mortgage in the coming months; I am concerned that I might have an issue with keeping the car on the road and keeping a mortgage paid.

The car is at the top tax bracket - now £505/year or £43.50 a month.

I get between 18 and 28mpg depending on the types of road I drive in.

I probably drive 4-6k miles a year.

Both tax and petrol equate to quite a significant amount of money over the long term. But keeping the RX8 is still cheaper than going out and buying a brand new car.

If any of you were in my position, what would you want to do? Is there really much of an alternative to the RX8 in respect of acceleration and handling, or shall I just go for something a bit slower? Should I simply run it into the ground and then buy another car afterwards?

Maybe I should consider the finance option with the mortgage for a brand new car - though I would probably get a bank loan instead.

I don't need more than 2/3 doors (no children) I like a car that is fun around twisty roads and I probably don't need a great deal of power either.

Provided it's no more than 5 years old and doesn't cost more than £6-8k to buy, with up to 30k on the clock, I'm trying to be open minded (compromises and all that, especially with a mortgage to consider).

All advice welcome.

Thanks and regards,

[TW]Fox · 6 Jul 2015 at 15:42

You want to buy a car for 6k with 'up to 30k on the clock'?

Why? Very few 6k cars will have that unless they are tiny city cars, that's less than 3 years average mileage and it will be fairly hard to find a good 3 year old car for this money let alone one with low miles.

Plus 30k is such an arbitrary figure, what is it based on?

Most 30k cars for this money will be older low mileage town cars. Not necessarily what you want.

My grandmother has a 9 year old car with just 11k on it. Must be mint right? No, its trashed.

Havana_UK · 6 Jul 2015 at 15:43

Do you owe any money on the RX8? If not, it won't be considered when trying to get the mortgage, whereas if you get a loan or some other form of finance to buy another car, this WILL be counted. Just something to consider.

As for your requirements, I think the OcUK staple of "Fiesta ST" fits the bill pretty well. It's not going to be as quick as the RX8, but the reality is that on the public roads you can't ever approach the performance limits of even a moderately warm hatch without driving like a total hooligan. Something like a Fiesta ST (or similar) would be great fun to drive on the roads IMO.

Martynt74 · 6 Jul 2015 at 16:04

Or the obligatory MX5. Not as quick granted but plenty fun and you should get a decent Mk3 for that budget.

As Fox said though, where's this 30k mileage come from? I think given the age and budget you're looking for it's much more likely to be around 50k and even that wouldn't be a slight concern.

GinG · 6 Jul 2015 at 16:24

Mortgage lenders are much stricter these days, any finance will make it much harder to obtain a mortgage so bear this in mind.

They also take in consideration car running costs etc in the affortability check so a bit of a catch 22.

My advise, keep the car until you have a mortgage then once you have this reconsider your priorities and look at what you can afford.

daz · 6 Jul 2015 at 16:32

Gamefreak501 said:
Both tax and petrol equate to quite a significant amount of money over the long term. But keeping the RX8 is still cheaper than going out and buying a brand new car.

You've solved your own problem in that sentence there.

Unless your mileage increases significantly, I'd stick with the RX8 for now, given your budget for a replacement means that you're not guaranteed hassle free motoring.

Darryl_1983 · 6 Jul 2015 at 16:47

If I was in your shoes and wanted something small, quick, fun and cheaper to run than your RX8, i'd be looking at getting a well looked after 182 for around £2.5k-3k.

That'll save you a few thousand pound to go towards your house. Tax is around half and when i own a 182 I averaged low 30's over almost 30k miles, so a good saving there too.

Gamefreak501 · 6 Jul 2015 at 16:49

Thanks very much for your replies,

I initially bought the RX8 with my own money with 41k on the clock.

I've always tried to get a car with as low miles as possible, but 30k might be a bit optimistic to be honest for the budget and year.

I have been looking at the Fiesta STs and MX5s - I even took a Focus ST for a test drive recently, but I wasn't overly keen on it as it felt quite heavy and lacked power in top gear - the wide seat bolsters may be an issue but I wanted to also try out a Fiesta ST to see if it did feel lighter.

I have driven a mk3 MX-5 as well, which was a great drive; but ended up going for the RX8 as it was significantly cheaper to buy for not many more miles.

I do like the idea of getting the mortgage first and deciding, I will then have an idea of how much it costs to pay for bills, run my car and pay off a mortgage and how much I have to spend on a newer car.

It does look like the Fiesta ST or the MX5 will be the main contenders though!

Edit: Just saw the post about the 182 - that looks interesting! Ah decisions!

Regards

rodenal · 6 Jul 2015 at 16:53

Hold off taking any credit out pre-mortgage, be it a loan or even a search for a lease or the likes.

That leaves you with either holding onto it or selling the car and picking something up for whatever it's worth (not a lot I'm guessing). Up to you really, but at least you know the car you have now and what it's likely to throw up bill wise.

Your ongoing costs are considered under the newer mortgage questions, but your existing car will be a non issue unless you're right at the top of the theoretical lending bracket with a very low deposit

iaind · 6 Jul 2015 at 16:55

Gamefreak501 said:
I've always tried to get a car with as low miles as possible

Been discussed to death around here, but do your homework - this isn't really a good way of looking at a car purchase.

In short, don't do this - buy on condition not an arbitrary number on the dash. I've seen tons of low mileage cars in horrible condition and high mileage cars in excellent condition

Gamefreak501 · 6 Jul 2015 at 20:11

I'm thinking of taking a mortgage that is no more than 4-4.5 times my salary. That way I should have some headroom to keep my car running. I think the limit is 5 but I would rather not go that high, I think that's just setting up myself for disaster.

But without turning this into a mortgage thread, I think it's best if I keep the car. Unless my mileage exponentially increases, the engine fails on me, or it starts to rust, it's not really going to be worth selling.

I've always gone for a car with a combination of good condition and low mileage, but prefer a good condition car to the mileage. I look after my cars very well doing most of the work myself to a very good (and importantly safe) level in order to save money.

I expect any cars I end up buying to have been looked after well, with full service history, a big file of receipts etc. sadly it has been a minefield when I've looked.

By the time it comes to the MoT (this coming January) I should be in a position to sell the car, or keep it, having been mortgaged for a reasonable amount of time (theoretically).