Getting a car, finance options

[Effendi]

We experimented with leased cars for two out of the last three.

”Fcuk, no”, would be my assessment. We had an Audi Q7 and traded it for a Merc. The residual were we to have bought it was “x”. Trading it for a different marque meant that it became “y” to acquiring dealer. Y>X.

I expect much the same with the Merc, which is also leased. Done with that kind of shenanigans. I dont want to tie up tens of thousands in capital, so leasing seemed attractive. The nickel & dime shit kills the deal. Nicht Mehr.

That said, for a long time (maybe still), you could ONLY lease many EVs because of the unknowns of the batteries and their eventual recycling. Until they’re in the 300-400 mile range for reasonable money, then they’ve got a way to go. That said, the F-150 train demo last year blew my socks off. Want one. But not leased.

The Mrs did the maths years ago when she could either take a car allowance and sort out her own wheels, or take a BMW 5, or similar level car. To her a car is a means of transport, unlike moi who would fill a garage with pretty ones, so she took the allowance of 6K and just used to buy herself cars like Renault Clio's.

Put a deposit down, pay $1000 a month for three years and at the end effectively just give it back with nothing to show for it. We buy them, put the money away over the period of resent car ownership so that when the time for a new one comes the cash is in the bank. I did initially pick up my present Merc on a Merc finance deal as they were offering the first three payments for free - its a late in the year incentive they offer when the market is cool. Basically I bought the motor, made the first three payments totalling around $4500, they returned the payments, and then I paid off the finance - the effect being I saved $4500 on the purchase price.

That said; as I am a few years away from pensionable age I thought I might go and splash on a Porsche GT3 as a lease through my company accounts so that if I peg it they just come and collect it and the Mrs has no liability. Alternatively take out a small life insurance policy to cover the cost of the vehicle and the nipper has it.

 

[GDog]

Sorry to hear about your dad.

For that range on an ev you are looking at the newer, top range ones. It might be worth looking at plug in hybrids or similar.

That said, depending on model and year of registration road tax is complex and worth thinking about.

Finally think about charging - are you guaranteed to be able to get back from visiting and charge for 8 hours to full before needing to go again? How seriously ill is your dad, might you need to make a dash and not be able to and miss something important? For me this is an argument for a PHEV, you can always drive on the petrol if needed.

The other charging consideration is the location to charge - can you plug it in easily? Will local piss heads unplug it as they think it is funny?

PHEV ranges seem to be quoted at ~50 miles max, which doesn't seem worth bothering with for regular trips up the M1/M40. The best option in this kind of category would be the BMW i3 Rex models that have a decent battery mileage but a 2cyl 650cc backup, but they have been discontinued recently and are a bit poky for Motorway trips.

At each end of my journey I have access to alternative cars - Zipcar etc in London and my parent's car up north. Ideally I'd be able to plan my life around the recharge cycle, but if the shit hit the fan with a flat battery down south I could drive a Zipcar flex 24/7 and suck up the cost (or get the bf to drive there and back in it).

London home has a drive and I've already wired an external 13A socket here, wouldn't be too bothered about tapping more off the ring main if the cost is reasonable. My parents home has a garage I could charge in too.

I may rent my own place up north for the sake of my sanity if I'm there often (a month with my mother has pushed my patience to the limit), which would complicate matters if the parking/power supply isn't viable. I could still juggle things at my folk's home with their car though.

There's rapid charging around London and on motorways, plus there's probably a few in my parent's town centre if it came to it.

So, unless I've overlooked something (or the range stats are orders of magnitude over-quoted), I think an EV is viable and could cut out a hefty tax and fuel bill. I'm seeing fairly unexciting brands like Renault touting ranges of ~200+ miles which means I can do the trip in one go, although it means buying the newest models.

 

[GDog]

Even a serious life threatening illness can qualify you!

I caught Covid whilst visiting him in hospital, would that count?

Could get a loan of about 5-7k? Maybe be about £170 a month to pay back ?
Then you can just get a diesel focus or some such that's been looked after with good mileage. Then doing 250 miles will cost you less than £30 in diesel.
Either swap every 2 years or get rid if put dont need it and you still get some good money back.
You cannot defeat depreciation, if you get some thing on finance your going to need to give them a lump sum at the end or leasing you end up with nothing and usually get stuffed with repairs when you hand it back.

My monthly fuel bill is likely to end up in the £150 arena for the foreseeable future, so it isn't insignificant.

I've had older cars before and would agree that they are the cheapest option for general motoring but this time around I'm not sure I want to be ******* about with the risk of flaky electronics etc. if I get an urgent call to the hospital - I can deal with spending more money to get better reliability.

 

[Wooden Wonder]

This will be a bit of an epic, bear with me, apologies ... we have a Skoda Karoq 1.5 petrol on a three year PCP; the interest rate was poor, but the car is good; 16k miles so far. Five months to go before I have to sort out what to do (hand it back or buy it). I will be 63 shortly after that decision point. I can not park near my house and the rural town I live in has narrow streets and pavements; there are two EV charging points in a town with a population of 10k. The injunction to move to all EV is just an epic fail waiting to happen, particularly in rural towns. How the hell do they expect to get the infrastructure in to cope?

 

[Oops]

This will be a bit of an epic, bear with me, apologies ... we have a Skoda Karoq 1.5 petrol on a three year PCP; the interest rate was poor, but the car is good; 16k miles so far. Five months to go before I have to sort out what to do (hand it back or buy it). I will be 63 shortly after that decision point. I can not park near my house and the rural town I live in has narrow streets and pavements; there are two EV charging points in a town with a population of 10k. The injunction to move to all EV is just an epic fail waiting to happen, particularly in rural towns. How the hell do they expect to get the infrastructure in to cope?

Or High rise flats, on street parking, non on street parking......

Hydrogen is the future, produced from 'green' energy sources..
The infrastructure is already there, just needs upgrading.
I've read somewhere very recently the Japs have created a 'honeycombed tank' that can hold the equivalent amount of hydrogen, energy wise, that comparable cars petrol tanks currently hold.

The oft quoted problem of pressurised hydrogen and crashes is also addressed.
How do you think regulatory bodies would deal with gallons of petrol being carried under a rear seat passengers' derriere, should it be submitted for approval today?

Apologies for thread drift.

 

[GDog]

The more I've looked into the practicality of EVs the shakier the case becomes. A lease on a new Zoe is affordable but when you put motorway speeds and winter temperatures into their online range calculator the number spat out is almost exactly the length of my one-way journey, suggesting that doing it in one go is unlikely.

A car that could do it is e-nero or Kona, but leases are approx £100 PCM more, which isn't far off what my petrol savings would be.

On top of that charging off a 13A socket would take nearer 30 hours rather than 7-9 hours so I would have to consider the cost and hassle of installing rapid chargers at both my own *and* my parents house - although my visits there would typically be at least that long, so maybe I could get by in my dad's car whilst it charges.

I'm maybe putting too much emphasis on getting the one-way range covered as I'm often getting coffee or naps on Motorways so waiting 30 mins for a rapid charge might not be such a bother... Unless my visit is an emergency...

 

[RBMK]

If you're doing more than 12,000 miles annually then a small diesel is the way to go. SWMBO has had an A1 1.6tdi from new and on the motorway it regularly clocks 65+ mpg driven sensibly. £0 road tax and cheap to insure.

Juinior has a Suzuki Swift bought 2.5 years old with 5,000 miles on the clock. Both kids have learned to drive on it. £30 tax, 58mpg, on the motorway, 50mpg round town. Has been totally reliable over 3 years. Total cost 2 new tyres plus annual service.

I do 18-20k miles annually. I buy my cars 1 year old with low miles and run them until they are uneconomical to fix. Current Volvo had 2,800 miles on it at 11 months old and 9.5k off list price.

In the OP's position, I'd go for a Toyota Auris diesel s/h, Cheap everything and almost unbreakable and 60+mpg on the mtorway.

 

[olafthered]

PHEV ranges seem to be quoted at ~50 miles max, which doesn't seem worth bothering with for regular trips up the M1/M40. The best option in this kind of category would be the BMW i3 Rex models that have a decent battery mileage but a 2cyl 650cc backup, but they have been discontinued recently and are a bit poky for Motorway trips.

At each end of my journey I have access to alternative cars - Zipcar etc in London and my parent's car up north. Ideally I'd be able to plan my life around the recharge cycle, but if the shit hit the fan with a flat battery down south I could drive a Zipcar flex 24/7 and suck up the cost (or get the bf to drive there and back in it).

London home has a drive and I've already wired an external 13A socket here, wouldn't be too bothered about tapping more off the ring main if the cost is reasonable. My parents home has a garage I could charge in too.

I may rent my own place up north for the sake of my sanity if I'm there often (a month with my mother has pushed my patience to the limit), which would complicate matters if the parking/power supply isn't viable. I could still juggle things at my folk's home with their car though.

There's rapid charging around London and on motorways, plus there's probably a few in my parent's town centre if it came to it.

So, unless I've overlooked something (or the range stats are orders of magnitude over-quoted), I think an EV is viable and could cut out a hefty tax and fuel bill. I'm seeing fairly unexciting brands like Renault touting ranges of ~200+ miles which means I can do the trip in one go, although it means buying the newest models.

PHEV, or plug in hybrids have an electric pure range in the order of 50 miles at the moment, and with something like the outlawed a full hybrid range of a lot more, and daft mpg, the engine is used only as a generator or a turbo really, so a small engine can power a bigger car.

 

[Border-Reiver]

I'm due to return my PCP in a few months time, I'm then going to have between 4-6 weeks from handing the car in and going abroad long term.

Does anyone know of any good deals for longer term car hire? I'm assuming Avis/Hertz will get expensive pretty quickly!

Sorry for the thread drift!

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[dingerr]

A1 1.6tdi

Cünt.

 

[shiny_arrse]

@GDog,

Have a look at Lings cars website, even if you don't find a suitable motor, you will enjoy getting a glimpse into the madness of Ling.

 

[jmb3296]

We got our paperwork through from the finance company for the end of our pcp deal on our Audi q3.
We went to Audi and were quoted on a like for like replacement through pcp. Audi would give us a grand in equity on the Audi, which is £500 more value than the same dealership six months ago.
The price differential on a brand new Q3 same spec but next model was £20 a month.

We went to Volvo and had a test drive in an xc 40. Again like for like, 2 litre engine, auto and all wheel drive. However the Volvo was loaded with extras and safety features.
We ramped up the spec and ended up putting £500 less into the deposit,
After reminding them of the Audi valuation of the existing Q3 we are handing back, they lifted their valuation to match it.
If we went pcp the monthly repayment on the very much higher spec Volvo was £30 less per month than the Q3.

Audi didn’t quote on a lease option . Volvo did.
Volvo also told us that lease is typically £50 per month less than pcp.

Paying Volvo £500 less deposit, and going lease we are getting a better equipped higher spec comparable vehicle that is actually a better drive for £60 less than the Audi quote, and £40 per month less than I am currently paying per month.

The Mrs new car is a Volvo.

 

[OneTenner]

Did they offer / did you look at a car subscription?
Basically it's like rental but you can up/down size the car as your needs change.

Car subscription from Volvo - Care by Volvo

A Care by Volvo car subscription includes your car payment, vehicle tax, maintenance and wear-and-tear cover for a clear monthly fee.

www.volvocars.com

 

[jmb3296]

Did they offer / did you look at a car subscription?
Basically it's like rental but you can up/down size the car as your needs change.

Car subscription from Volvo - Care by Volvo

A Care by Volvo car subscription includes your car payment, vehicle tax, maintenance and wear-and-tear cover for a clear monthly fee.

www.volvocars.com

No never mentioned

They have sent on a list of insurances I should consider ranging from gap insurance to paint dulling insurance.
I will look at gap insurance from my current insurer and then make a decision. Not touching the other stuff.

 

[cymraeg]

After years of running older cars decided that it would be worth while having something sat outside that swmbo could use day to day and as a back up if my work hack / shooty greenlane bus threw a cog for getting to work.

After looking at the options of a loan for a vehicle to pcp to leasing and subscription services we decided to test the water with a subscription with company called drover.

All in we chose a citroen ds3 crossback with 10k mpa and with the insurance and servicing etc all lumped in it came to 390 squids pm over 18 months.

At the end of it we just hand it back and pick a new one if we wish. The down payment was just the first month and the term of the lease can be anywhere from a month to 36months I think.

The longer the term the lower the monthly price.

Its worked out well for us and when I was having trouble with the gun bus due to a **** nugget mechanic it was a god send to have a new motor out the front. Just jump in and go

 

[GDog]

Circumstances moved faster than my plans to get a car sorted as my dad is back in hospital and from what I can see we will be fortunate if he ever drives again.

As such I'm driving his car - a '08 Lexus RX tank that does about 29 MPG on a good day.

Right now the best possible outcome would be him asking for it back.

 

[jmb3296]

Circumstances moved faster than my plans to get a car sorted as my dad is back in hospital and from what I can see we will be fortunate if he ever drives again.

As such I'm driving his car - a '08 Lexus RX tank that does about 29 MPG on a good day.

Right now the best possible outcome would be him asking for it back.

I am sorry to hear that. Good luck with your dad.

 

[ericthellama]

@GDog,

Have a look at Lings cars website, even if you don't find a suitable motor, you will enjoy getting a glimpse into the madness of Ling.

It appears that the lovely Ling is retiring at the end of October to cycle arond the world, but has gifted her business to her staff. They will no doubt take the same care of customers that the wonderful Ling did.