Sacrificing my pride and joy

[doug2500]

Congratulations for even thinking about it and realising it's maybe not the best use of your money.

It's a decision only you can make, you'll have to balance the two desires in your life and only you will know when the balance has swung in the other direction.

There may be a middle ground....pay off the car (assuming finance) in due course, stop spending more money on it (modifying etc not repairs), keep it until it's rusty and falls apart (maybe 15 years) and in the mean time put everything else towards a house. And if you decide your discretionary spend will be better spent on evenings out, beer, latest iphone etc then the car needs to go.

While I have a lot of sympathy with the view of enjoying your youth, don't let it go on too long and remember that ultimately the sooner you start saving the more likely you are to have the last laugh over your financed mates with flash cars they can't afford. It's the blessing and curse of youth not to think too far ahead.

Rich dad, poor dad does a good job of making you think of everything being an asset or liability, once you get in the habit of this and saving money it can be a hard habit to break!

[stevensfo]

I’d suggest you read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It’s badly written, but full of good sense and highlights the difference between assets and liabilities. The car is in the latter category.

Another one is 'The Millionaire next door'. It illustrates, as others have said, how as you increase your wealth, the urge to buy flashy cars seems to decrease. I love looking at expensive cars and can admire and appreciate the design and beauty, but then they morph into long strings of data - like in the film 'Matrix' - and I see all the costs laid bare. Quite eye-opening when you start to add everything together: capital, depreciation, insurance, tax, maintenance, unforeseen repairs, MOT, new wheels, nodding dogs etc. Think I'd rather drive a Micra and put the money saved towards buying an apartment abroad!

Steve

[Eboli]

Essentially this is question of the value of present consumption and future consumption. In this case it assumes

- that the car will always depreciate (probably still true, though we live in strange times where more older vehicles are increasing in value), and

- that the property will always appreciate (which may be historically true but may not prove to be the certainty it once was).

We all have different ways to judge present v future values and there really is no right answer. Often, those that end off very comfortable may have lived too much of their life in the future. For example, I think one major regret I have is delaying my retirement from about the age of 42 to the age of 52 - that 10 years of what proved to be excellent health would have allowed me to do so much more and it wasn't until after I retired I realised that I could have retired comfortably on a much smaller pot than I had assumed and as a result much earlier. So I see the merits of the car and enjoying it to the full in the present. The balance between how our own serotonin rewards us for present consumption over future consumption is very difficult to alter by act of will.

I could be wrong on my assumptions behind the OP's original questions. It may be that the desire to get on the property ladder is to have a home - in which case more power to your elbow.

Best wishes whatever you eventually decide.

Eb

[quelquod]

There was a thread a while ago (to do with a millennial grumbling about boomers’ good fortune IIRC) when I made a comment that in my young years I drove bangers while I (we) saved for our house but it’s commonplace now to see youngsters driving quite pricey cars obtainable on PCP etc. finance. The rebuttal was along the lines that the OP was able to afford the PCP and why shouldn’t he? I left it at that hoping that the penny would drop that you can only spend your £1 once and you need to choose wisely. Plus ca change …

[Kantwebefriends]

Second hand car prices are high. Sell the car. If you still need personal transport buy a motorbike. Spread the profit across an emergency fund and a Lifetime ISA.

When I was in my mid twenties and wanted to save for a mortgage deposit I took a second job. It worked in two ways: (i) extra income, and (ii) less time to spend it in. You're only 22: you should easily have energy enough for a second job.

[jaizan]

I am 22 years old I am currently employed full time. My goal is to get a mortgage ASAP. I purchased a golf gti a year ago and spent loads of money on it.

I had a Golf GTi briefly in my 20s. Although mine was bought second hand and with cash. I only once borrowed money to buy a car and that lasted a few months. Every other car has been bought with cash. The current one cost £1650, 5 years ago.
It's a diesel, it does over 50mpg, but still has 20 more hp than the MK1 GTi I bought in my 20s.

I could afford almost any car, but whatever car I do have will spend 99% of the time parked, with no one in it. So I spend the lowest possible amount of money on motoring.

So sell the car.

[Charlottesquare]

My first car was a circa 1971 1300 Mark II Cortina, purchased circa 1980 for £98, sold two years later for £50, with that £50 my dad in 1982 sold me his 1974 Escort 1100, I kept that going until circa 1987 then sold in parts for £80, then no car until 1990 when I married and my other half already had a Fiesta, new Escort in 1990, £9,000, Fiesta traded in, sold for Granada 1999, £5,000 less trade in , then a £900 Carlton that got rammed, £600 Rover 620, a £2,500 1991 Mercedes 300, two more cheap Merc estates, £1,000 and £2,600.

Current is a Mini Cooper 1600 2006 that I bought for £2,900 (And a Countryman AWD bought for £11,000), we also still have a Fiat 500 bought new in 2009 for £6,000 after scrap scheme £2,000 (currently not on road). Also have in store a Reliant SS1 1600 bought years ago for £1,500, will finish sorting it when we move to a house with a garage.

The best thing is all those cheap cars means mortgage paid, decent pension provision and a fair few savings.

Why anyone would blow lots of money on cars is to me a mystery.

[bluedonkey]

I spent quite a lot on a car 21 years ago. It was a secondhand Toyota for £7000. Still have it now, so the depreciation per year is good I suppose.

[88V8]

Revival of a two yo thread with a one-post OP.
If it appeared now we'd think it was AI.
Perhaps it was.

Our current cars cost £400 Pug 205, not a GTI - £1200 Land Rover - £6500 Rambler which is the most I ever spent on a car.
We won't mention the time and money the latter two have absorbed, but it's still way less than the depreciation and insurance on a new car.
And a chap does need hobbies.

V8

[Charlottesquare]

My first car was a circa 1971 1300 Mark II Cortina, purchased circa 1980 for £98, sold two years later for £50, with that £50 my dad in 1982 sold me his 1974 Escort 1100, I kept that going until circa 1987 then sold in parts for £80, then no car until 1990 when I married and my other half already had a Fiesta, new Escort in 1990, £9,000, Fiesta traded in, sold for Granada 1999, £5,000 less trade in , then a £900 Carlton that got rammed, £600 Rover 620, a £2,500 1991 Mercedes 300, two more cheap Merc estates, £1,000 and £2,600.

Current is a Mini Cooper 1600 2006 that I bought for £2,900 (And a Countryman AWD bought for £11,000), we also still have a Fiat 500 bought new in 2009 for £6,000 after scrap scheme £2,000 (currently not on road). Also have in store a Reliant SS1 1600 bought years ago for £1,500, will finish sorting it when we move to a house with a garage.

The best thing is all those cheap cars means mortgage paid, decent pension provision and a fair few savings.

Why anyone would blow lots of money on cars is to me a mystery.

The update- the Countryman has now gone as Edinburgh now have the ULEZ and it was a diesel. Have agreed to buy a 2005 Mercedes 320 CLK from a friend for £2,700 (circa 78k miles, good bodywork, well maintained) though needs a new radio with Dab+ and Satnav, so that will be circa £440 on top (appears to have matching plugs so will be an attempted self fit) Both current cars to be run until they drop, though may need to change Mini for a car which is automatic as other half starting to struggle with her joints.

Sorry to lose the Countryman but happy to be back in the land of cheap Mercs.

[doolally]

The update- the Countryman has now gone as Edinburgh now have the ULEZ and it was a diesel. Have agreed to buy a 2005 Mercedes 320 CLK from a friend for £2,700 (circa 78k miles, good bodywork, well maintained) though needs a new radio with Dab+ and Satnav, so that will be circa £440 on top (appears to have matching plugs so will be an attempted self fit) Both current cars to be run until they drop, though may need to change Mini for a car which is automatic as other half starting to struggle with her joints.

Sorry to lose the Countryman but happy to be back in the land of cheap Mercs.

In Edinburgh, it's just a LEZ, not a ULEZ. You might have to get rid of the Merc if it becomes a ULEZ
doolally

[jaizan]

I had a Golf GTi when I was about 23, although admittedly it was a second hand model paid for with cash. After the Golf came a Visa GTi. I remember overtaking a Visa diesel, then seeing the same car chug past me when I was refuelling. Eventually, I saw the light and bought a diesel.

Whilst I could afford almost any car, my current car cost £1650, when I purchased it 7 years ago.
The car spends at least 98.5% of it's time parked, without me in it.
I probably spend well over 50% of my time in my house or garden.

I'm another one of those investors who is happy running around in an old car and view money spent on a motoring as mostly wasted.

So my recommendation is to get rid of your Golf GTi and start saving.

[Charlottesquare]

The update- the Countryman has now gone as Edinburgh now have the ULEZ and it was a diesel. Have agreed to buy a 2005 Mercedes 320 CLK from a friend for £2,700 (circa 78k miles, good bodywork, well maintained) though needs a new radio with Dab+ and Satnav, so that will be circa £440 on top (appears to have matching plugs so will be an attempted self fit) Both current cars to be run until they drop, though may need to change Mini for a car which is automatic as other half starting to struggle with her joints.

Sorry to lose the Countryman but happy to be back in the land of cheap Mercs.

In Edinburgh, it's just a LEZ, not a ULEZ. You might have to get rid of the Merc if it becomes a ULEZ
doolally

Had not appreciated the subtle difference- here is hoping. On plus side in 22 months I retire, likely leave the city, and hopefully not an issue in say the Scottish Borders

[Sorcery]

In my late teens/early 20s as a student I bought a Ford Anglia, paid from summer jobs. I think the Anglia bit came from the fact that unless the landscape was flat you could never get it out of of third gear.

What I really wanted to say was more to do with the pulling power of the car, with ladies obviously! If you are 20 and not pulling then any desire for anything else like good job,degree money, forget it. It's all about why are you missing out, and I was lean and fit then! The car helped until it fell apart. It was OK though, by then I was going steady as they used to say. Thanks for this thread for bringing my youth back.

[Gerry557]

I think he must have crashed his car into a tree or off a cliff as he's not been back or can't afford a laptop with his new expensive mortgage.