On the subject of my car replacement, again; when it came to buying the new car, my easily-available savings fell short of the price by a couple of grand. I could have possibly put the difference on my credit card, but instead I decided to put it on a car finance agreement.
This has advantages and disadvantages: cheaper interest rates and penalty-free early payment, against a 200 quid admin charge upfront. However, it also gave me the statutory 14 days “no-reason-necessary” cooling off period, in which case, all I would pay was a flat-rate 77 pence a day interest, and no admin charge.