First car - any suggestions?

pinball wizard said:
Just because you can drive your parents car into your thirties doesn't mean you should either.
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Why? If your parents want you to drive their car, what is the problem?

pinball wizard said:
A new car will be better that a used anything the OP shortlisted.
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I am glad there are people like you to pay for the depreciation. Makes buying second hand cars much cheaper for everyone else.
 
nazmo said:
Iv had car debt for past 15 years, 4 different cars, all bought newish. with Prime minus 2. They depreciating assets so I dont care about owning them long. Always had them under motorplan, thoroughly love driving, and its a small portion of income. Buying smart using finance is NOT a bad thing. just know what you doing.

At any point i can sell. trade a car in without loss due to the size of deposits, and condition I trade them in for, so its not a risk either.
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Those are some bold claims as usually people loose money on new cars,give us an actual real world example of a car of yours that you managed to do this with( figures included please).
 
falcon786 said:
Those are some bold claims as usually people loose money on new cars,give us an actual real world example of a car of yours that you managed to do this with( figures included please).
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Hahahahaaaaa! gotta love the internet. Of course I loose money. not claiming to make a profit. My point is that when you have a decent interest rate, a good deposit, no balloon. Then you have less risk if you forced to sell, of having an outstanding settlement.

When i sold my polo gti, i got R170k trade in (bought R240k 5 yrs prior). Couple that with some extra cash, and it became a 50% deposit on my next car. So when financing on the next car commenced, I was already very close to settlement should the worst happen. Thats all im saying. Its only a trap if you over extend yourself,or do some other silly things.

Lastly, buying on residual, then constantly trading in, effectively "leasing" a car can also work for certain people/businesses. Just educate yourself.
 
rietrot said:
If you just drove one shîtty car you could have retired already and be sitting on the beach right now.

There is this whole financial freedom movement that say save every penny, keep your lifestyle expenses low, don't drive a new car....
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Most of my mileage on my car is when i go for a drive. Driving is a hobby of mine. So how I attach value to a car is different to someone who purely buys a commuter. What works for you doesnt necessarily work for everyone else.

At the same time, Im not stupid to drive something I cant afford, or hinder other things in my life. To each his own buddy. I spend more illogical money on bike stuff, No that is harder to defend hahahaaa
 
nazmo said:
Hahahahaaaaa! gotta love the internet. Of course I loose money. not claiming to make a profit. My point is that when you have a decent interest rate, a good deposit, no balloon. Then you have less risk if you forced to sell, of having an outstanding settlement.

When i sold my polo gti, i got R170k trade in (bought R240k 5 yrs prior). Couple that with some extra cash, and it became a 50% deposit on my next car. So when financing on the next car commenced, I was already very close to settlement should the worst happen. Thats all im saying. Its only a trap if you over extend yourself,or do some other silly things.

Lastly, buying on residual, then constantly trading in, effectively "leasing" a car can also work for certain people/businesses. Just educate yourself.
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Oh so you did make a loss.

Lol yeah gotta love the internet,I interpreted "without loss" as meaning "without loss".:D


That said though I do now know that you mean balance it out in the event of a sale without having to pay over and above monthly payments up to date,makes sense.Your example is pretty easy though as the polo GTI is relatively cheap and it holds value due to image/demand.So I see how you're thinking this through,much better than most people would(for example people who buy a Renualt new,lol.)

What were your other cars?

For me unfortunately I doubt that would work very well for a discovery 4 or X5.Bigger cars tend to depreciate quicker and you always loose out buying new on finance.
 
falcon786 said:
Oh so you did make a loss.

Lol yeah gotta love the internet,I interpreted "without loss" as meaning "without loss".:D


That said though I do now know that you mean balance it out in the event of a sale without having to pay over and above monthly payments up to date,makes sense.Your example is pretty easy though as the polo GTI is relatively cheap and it holds value due to image/demand.So I see how you're thinking this through,much better than most people would(for example people who buy a Renualt new,lol.)

What were your other cars?

For me unfortunately I doubt that would work very well for a discovery 4 or X5.Bigger cars tend to depreciate quicker and you always loose out buying new on finance.
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Apologies, "without loss" i mean that when selling, there is no outstanding settlement.

So here's an interesting fact. I decided to get a Renault RS trophy. Now well aware that trade in on Renault is crap, I made sure to have a massive deposit and a short repayment terms. So yes, I will take a knock when i get my next car. but im considering keeping this as a project car and getting a daily like an UP! Alternatively Ill just work towards my next deposit and structure my next purchase when I get there. either way, as impulsive as my purchases might appear, i do alot of Due Diligence.

P.S. Disclaimer. I DONT BUY NEW. i buy demo with a large warranty left. So someone else takes the knock :P
 
CUDlybunny said:
I called around to a few guys like outsurance, miway etc and got high quotes ranging from 1.5k-2.5k. This for a 2014 Polo bluemotion tdi


I then asked my moms broker to look around for me. She got me insured with Santam for R950pm and it includes insurance for my valuables in my apartment.
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She probably had herself as the primary driver, what was your excess? I'm currently paying R1600 for two cars and household of up to 400k.
 
thanks for all the responses people- i will take heed of your opinions, will keep looking around to see what the best option is.
 
princeofcpt said:
thanks for all the responses people- i will take heed of your opinions, will keep looking around to see what the best option is.
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If you buying a car for something special, be it looks, performance or anything that appeals to the heart, you do need to keep an open mind, and be willing to comprimise. Iv learned big time from going from a very well rounded, well built car to something silly. the silly option is by far better, with all its quircks, it feels like the most value because now over 2 years later, it still feels as if i bought it last week.

If you after something thats more focussed on comfort, fit, finish, resale etc.... then criteria can change. It is however possible to get it all, at a price.

If you just after a commuter, then something comfortable and reliable is key.
 
princeofcpt said:
thanks for all the responses people- i will take heed of your opinions, will keep looking around to see what the best option is.
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Somebody mentioned your best option early on....get a 320d and be done with it. :D

Light on fuel,sporty enough with fun handling,lots of torque,ultra reliable(only somebody who hasn't owned one will claim it's a BMW so high on maintenance :rolleyes:),decent resale value and proper German engineering.It has a boot to boot so a bit practical too.

As to how much you spend on it well that's up to you to decide based on the advice you've been given,anything from the e90 (2005 up to current version) is reliable with the 320d variant.
 
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@falcon786 do automatic variant of 320d break well compared to the manual version? How much would I need to set aside for maintenance per year (subjective matter i knw but if you could give a good number? ) Also why do they say bmw cars are fun to drive more so than say audi or benz?
 
Lupus said:
Insurance on 300k cars is going to probably cost you about R3000pm maybe more, not having had insurance before yourself it will probably be more.
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Not true. My car's market price is 400K and I'm paying R1200 p/m comprehensive. First time I've taken out insurance.
 
princeofcpt said:
@falcon786 do automatic variant of 320d break well compared to the manual version? How much would I need to set aside for maintenance per year (subjective matter i knw but if you could give a good number? ) Also why do they say bmw cars are fun to drive more so than say audi or benz?
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Because they are RWD. (Rear wheel drive) whereas the others are front or four wheel drive in most cases.

Probably not a good thing for a first car. But with modern electronics as long as you aren’t an idiot and keep them on it’s not an issue.
 
princeofcpt said:
@falcon786 do automatic variant of 320d break well compared to the manual version? How much would I need to set aside for maintenance per year (subjective matter i knw but if you could give a good number? ) Also why do they say bmw cars are fun to drive more so than say audi or benz?
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BMW does sporty well. Rear wheel drive, steering feel, suspension etc. automatic BMWs have ZF transmissions which are regarded as one of the best transmissions out there. ZF also has transmission service specials from time to time. Around R3k for a service which you will only have to do every 60 000km as preventative maintenance.
 
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