Since im not rich, i've got myself a used and old car (peugeot/diesel) and a used bike (yamaha xt600). I normally use the bike, and only use the car when it rains. They were both payed in cash.
I dont like to use credits, only for the house or some big emergency.

Never taken a loan, bought first car for 400€ and drove it for few years until it couldn't pass annual checkup due to rust and bought next for ~1000€ and again drove few years without any problems, ditched it the day jack sank into body as I was changing tires. Currently I don't have a car since it's little bit too expensive to keep paying insurance and tax for something you need maybe couple times a month.

The only credit I run up is my fuel card. It was an idea I got from my parents. I needed to work on my credit rating, but I didn't want to get into debt, when they mentioned they use a credit card to buy fuel then at the end of the month pay it all off.

Given fuel is an item you'll constantly have to buy and a starter Capital One credit card will give you enough a month to cover keeping your tank filled it is a great way to build your credit up. Assuming you remember to earmark the cash to pay back at the end of the month as Capital One credit cards come with some painful API values if you don't.

Or if you're bringing in over 1,000GBP a month get a LloydsTSB Platinum Account (it is 15GBP a month, but the free AA membership makes up for that, let alone all the other perks that come with it) as it gives you a great credit card which you can do the same deal with. It means the bank loves you and you get a cracking credit rating.

But I try and buy cars with cash, that way I never have to worry about loosing it if I loose my job. If I start to make more money I'd probably consider finance, but for now cash in hand does the trick. But as I am on peanuts I'll buy a cheap car (2,000GBP is my limit, anything under is a bonus) and run it into the ground.

I dont have them yet in juni I wil

My own healths insurance school thinks.
Tax...(bacaus i share home with my mom siter and sis just becaus im 18 by then ridiculaous)
Im currently i ineed for some kid of job to pay it all becoming 18 sucks.

Il be stuck on my trustworthy bicycle for long time...

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

That ain't gonna be good for your credit score.

I don't use credit and my credit rating is really good (as I found out last year when I had to set up a bank account for a new business).

I do have an available overdraft on my current account but I never use it, and that's the only credit available to me, no cards, no loans, nothing.

I think so long as you pay your bills on time you don't have to be borrowing money to be considered a safe borrower.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

That ain't gonna be good for your credit score.

Interesting thought, but personally I reckon the bank will look much more favourably on me when I need to take out a mortgage or a loan if I don't have a load of cars and TVs that I'm paying off with the same wage. I absolutely refuse the idea of a credit card, it is just a retarded concept that only ends up in debt, I want my card to be directly connected to my bank account, if I can't afford something now I can't have it simple as that, and if I have to go overdrawn then that will be a psychological kick in the balls rather than just racking it up onto another piece of plastic.

I absolutely hate the way student bank accounts work, with large no hassle low fee overdrafts, the concept of taking out an overdraft with one bank account and then putting it in a savings account and earning interest on it is something I just cannot get my head round.

My credit rating still sucks from my younger days so I cannot get personel credit even now. My wife on the other hand who has not needed to work for the last 15 years gets any credit she wants, very strange.

I did a couple of years ago get a £25k overdraft on my business account in order to buy a used E46 M3. For the first couple of weeks I thought it was great, but after that it just became like any other car and was only used when I needed to go anywhere, so it was sold for almost what I payed for it.

If you are going to get credit for a car i would recommend getting a car that is 3 yrs old so most of the depresation has already happened.

I find the wanting, searching out and drooling over a car far better than the reality of owning one TBH.

Now a days even though I could probably afford a decent car I have currently an old soft topMG-f hairdressers car that is in the garage because the weather here is shite and a 2001 Ford Focus 1.6, both bought from the motor auctions for sweeties

God I am getting sadder by age

Edit: Oh does iRacing count as a monthly car outgoing before I vote?

Quote from ajp71 :

if I can't afford something now I can't have it simple as that.....

That's fine and dandy, but when my kids started complaining when it got down to below 20 F in the house, I figured it was time to buy some fuel for heat. Since it cost more than one of my paychecks to get heat per month last year, a lot went on a credit card. It is a necessary evil when you have to decide in being homeless, cold, hungry, or debt on a credit card.

Of course in hind sight now, I realize that 9 years ago instead of buying a reasonable house I could afford, I should have bought a McMansion I couldn't afford because now "The One" is going to bail them all out and leave the ones who truely can not afford to heat their home in the winter and feed their kids out to dry....

Quote from mrodgers :

That's fine and dandy, but when my kids started complaining when it got down to below 20 F in the house, I figured it was time to buy some fuel for heat. Since it cost more than one of my paychecks to get heat per month last year, a lot went on a credit card. It is a necessary evil when you have to decide in being homeless, cold, hungry, or debt on a credit card.

Of course in hind sight now, I realize that 9 years ago instead of buying a reasonable house I could afford, I should have bought a McMansion I couldn't afford because now "The One" is going to bail them all out and leave the ones who truely can not afford to heat their home in the winter and feed their kids out to dry....

There are sometimes when it is necessary to borrow, buying a car isn't one of them seeing as people are practically giving away good second hand cars at the moment.

Must be different over there. Good secondhand means car payment around me. I chose car payment on a brand new car because it wouldn't be any more than a used car. Cheap second hand means high mileage and repairs (lot of maintenance repairs, not breakdowns.) I'm Pennsylvania too, remember. High mileage (100k +) means rust and corrosion. Our cars drive on salt continuously from November until March. Once the rust starts for us, there's no stopping it.

I have a small 1 inch rust hole in my Altima. If I tried to fix it, I would end up with half the rear quarterpanel gone. If I leave it alone, it only creaps bigger slowly over time until it will no longer pass the yearly state inspection (MOT for you guys, I guess.)

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

The only credit I run up is my fuel card. It was an idea I got from my parents. I needed to work on my credit rating, but I didn't want to get into debt, when they mentioned they use a credit card to buy fuel then at the end of the month pay it all off.

Given fuel is an item you'll constantly have to buy and a starter Capital One credit card will give you enough a month to cover keeping your tank filled it is a great way to build your credit up. Assuming you remember to earmark the cash to pay back at the end of the month as Capital One credit cards come with some painful API values if you don't.

Or if you're bringing in over 1,000GBP a month get a LloydsTSB Platinum Account (it is 15GBP a month, but the free AA membership makes up for that, let alone all the other perks that come with it) as it gives you a great credit card which you can do the same deal with. It means the bank loves you and you get a cracking credit rating.

But I try and buy cars with cash, that way I never have to worry about loosing it if I loose my job. If I start to make more money I'd probably consider finance, but for now cash in hand does the trick. But as I am on peanuts I'll buy a cheap car (2,000GBP is my limit, anything under is a bonus) and run it into the ground.

thats a very good idea, i was contemplating getting a shell credit card to save a few pence on fuel for the sake of it, having just turned 18 itll probably be a good thing to get started on the credit ladder, so to speak.

Credit cards are also handy to use for transactions over the web, because you generally get good fraud cover and insurance that you don't get on bank-issued debit cards.

That's the only reason I'd own one, and I should really, but I don't.

I took out a personal loan to buy my car about a year ago. Got a little over 2 years left on it.

Quote from DeKo :

thats a very good idea, i was contemplating getting a shell credit card to save a few pence on fuel for the sake of it, having just turned 18 itll probably be a good thing to get started on the credit ladder, so to speak.

I'll be looking into it as well.

Quote from mrodgers :

Must be different over there. Good secondhand means car payment around me. I chose car payment on a brand new car because it wouldn't be any more than a used car. Cheap second hand means high mileage and repairs (lot of maintenance repairs, not breakdowns.) I'm Pennsylvania too, remember. High mileage (100k +) means rust and corrosion. Our cars drive on salt continuously from November until March. Once the rust starts for us, there's no stopping it.

A lot of it is more down to the build quality of cars on the American market, you lot tend to be much keener on lots of fads and a sense of luxury new for as little as possible without any concern over quality. European cars are typically much better built and now most become economic write offs and get scrapped because of relatively minor faults (ie. a head gasket) a long time before any rust appears. I've just picked up a 160000 mile Ford Cougar for £300, drives fine, very tatty exterior (paint/filler/surface rust where the previous owner has made a comically bad attempt to smooth out some minor surface dents and probably cut the value three fold) but most of the interior is exactly as it came out the factory in a car that has clearly been used and abused. There are lots of good examples of desirable cars going for under two weeks minimum wage over here, and certainly no reason why anybody in this country should actually feel forced to take out finance to get a reliable, economical and safe form of transport.

Quote from ajp71 :

A lot of it is more down to the build quality of cars on the American market

though i agree with you to some extent... dont you drive a lada?

Quote from Shotglass :

though i agree with you to some extent... dont you drive a lada?

Yes and the build quality is superb, everything is ridiculously robust and it requires very little maintenance, total opposite philosophy to an American car, there was so little to go wrong in the first place that very little has gone wrong with it

How many American cars have you driven, just out of curiosity?

I do not have lisence, car or any payments rellated to that. I pay some each month for using the .erhm name for it.. busses and other traveling methods within my city. Like a travel card each month on 950 NOK.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

How many American cars have you driven, just out of curiosity?

We hired a brand new Ford Taurus X when we went to California, we literally had to wait whilst they got it off the transporter and removed the protective wrapping from it. Within two weeks of reasonably light use (no small children) various bits of trim were past their best, most notably the roof lining that decided to fall off the rear. I've also serviced some of the more popular cars in the UK, notably Neons, Voyagers and Cherokees the build and trim levels of each one is pretty poor compared to European cars.

Taking the Ford hire car we have two similar European Fords, a 1998 Ford Galaxy and a 2001 Ford Focus. The Galaxy has been used and abused and apart from stinking of dog and having oil stains in the back still works perfectly, the seats haven't sagged the air con hasn't had to be serviced, the roof lining is still attached the only bit of trim that has been broken on it is a surround for one of the rear seat belts. The Focus has a fully working interior except for the boot struts which need replacing and the indicators have stopped self canceling. They both have pretty spartan interiors, less fake leather and tacky metal look plastic and they're both built strongly. Even the 1999 Cougar that I'm stripping has an interior that is generally in a better state than that Taurus came out of the factory with, despite clearly being abused with loads of evidence of small children (I removed a few kilos of toy soldiers wedged under the seats when I stripped it).

Quote from ajp71 :

Yes and the build quality is superb

the build i may agree with but using the words lada and quality in the same sentence doesnt compute

I bought a totaled 2006 Chevy Cobalt LT back in 2007 for about $2200. All it really needed was a radiator, front fender, front bumper, windshield, and a new airbag (the frame needed to be straightened as well). So altogether I payed $5500 for it which isn't bad for how it turned out. If you were to look at it you would think it was never in an accident.

The only problem I have with it is that the ABS decides to turn off every now and then. Other than that it runs very well, I've even brought to autox events for some laughs. (auto transmission and all-year tires :P)

I'm currently leasing a Chevy Malibu and plan on buying a Pontiac G8 when my current lease is up in a couple months. I'll probably pay off the G8 as fast as possible, unless I get lucky with some 0% financing.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

I'm curious due to the sheer number of young dudes I see riding around in new cars in this city.

no, i would never be that stupid.


my car was a freebie, just gotta keep her running and legal then pass it off to the next of kin who needs it until its deemed not road worthy where it will be brought to roscommon to be killed.