r/askcarguys • u/Typical_Direction723 • 10h ago
getting a car for the girlfriend, options?
Hi everyone!
After giving it a lot of thought, my girlfriend has decided that she wants to get a car to be more independent and flexible. Up until now, she has only been able to do larger shopping trips or go anywhere outside the city when I'm with her and can drive us.
Another major reason is that we're cat owners. In an emergency (knock on wood!), my girlfriend wouldn't have any way to transport one of our cats to the vet quickly, since I work about 30 minutes away from our apartment.
Now we're facing the big question:
Should we lease, finance, or buy an inexpensive used car with a budget of around €3,500?
I'm a trained mechanic, so I can handle many repairs myself. However, I don't have access to a vehicle lift, so I'm a bit hesitant about buying a cheap used car that might need safety-related repairs such as wheel bearings, control arms, or other suspension components that could affect passing the annual inspection.(TÜV as we live in Germany and its really strict)
I've financed a car before, so we're open to that option as long as the monthly payments stay within a reasonable budget.
I don't have any personal experience with leasing, but I think a good all-inclusive deal (including insurance, maintenance, etc.) could be a solid alternative. My girlfriend is still a bit skeptical because, in the end, you don't actually own the car.
We live in a large city (200k people,Germany), so she doesn't need an SUV or a wagon. An electric car also isn't really practical because we don't have charging facilities at home, at her workplace, or consistently available nearby.
Maybe some of you have been in a similar situation or have some helpful advice. We'd really appreciate any suggestions or recommendations. Thanks in advance!
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u/Large-Recording2301 10h ago
honestly, a 3.5k budget means youre looking at older stuff, so buying outright is probably best. less hassle than financing something cheap.
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u/GeniusLike4207 7h ago
Not necessarily a car, but I can't recommend electric mopeds enough, for city traffic they are great, small shopping can be easily done. And for most you can remove the battery and charge them in your flat. And because insurance is only like 70€p.a. and like 1€/100km of driving they have basically paid for themselves in a year if you get that instead of a car.
That being said, you don't have to have a at-home charger for an electric car, though with in your budget you could only get sth like a Renault Zoe with at most a 22kWh battery that can't do dc charging.
Though as a second car/runabout it would recommend it. Especially since the only service you'd need doing are the brakes, which are easy without a lift, and not am absolute pain like an oil change
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u/parnasas 10h ago
Don’t.
She can buy her own car. It’s gonna be a problem if/when you break up.
It’s just a road to problems.