What do you drive?

[chrisp65]

I’m leasing, and I do a decent few miles.

I think where I’ve benefitted, I’m not overly bothered what the car is, other than a very few brands, I’m not even bothered what colour it is, I’m not that bothered about much as long as it’s comfy, economical on fuel and starts in the mornings. I think it’s when you want specific things then leases can get expensive.

My current lease, the excess mileage is 3p per mile, so effectively so low I can pretty much ignore it. £900 ‘fine’ if I go 30,000 miles over? I’ll take that. If I’ve gone 30,000 miles over, I’d have made double that on the additional travelling expenses.

What I’ve done with this latest lease, I worked out my budget, and hit the inter web leasing sites to see what I could get for my money. Pot luck, found a car that was a cancelled order up in Lancashire, free delivery anywhere in the country. 

It’s my first ever Skoda, only had it 2 months so still a bit of honeymoon, right now I’d happily have another one.

It’s got swooshy, no touch / hand gesture controls which I’ve finally got used to, it’s a bit like playing a theramin.

 

 

[choffer]

Ah, that's interesting, @chrisp65. I'd never seriously looked at it because I'd presumed the excess mileage would cripple the deal. I've just started looking at Skoda as a potential option next year so will do some research when the time comes.

[ferguson1]

[chrisp65]

11 minutes ago, choffer said:

Ah, that's interesting, @chrisp65. I'd never seriously looked at it because I'd presumed the excess mileage would cripple the deal. I've just started looking at Skoda as a potential option next year so will do some research when the time comes.

The excess per mile really is one to watch, I had one at 13p per mile and that makes you really keep an eye on it.

As I say, this one at 3p makes it less than I’d earn in expenses so it’s a worry removed.

Caution tells you to go high with your original estimated mileage, downside to that is you get nothing back if you end up doing less, but you’ve already paid the leasing company for those miles you haven’t done.

 

 

[chrisp65]

18 minutes ago, choffer said:

Ah, that's interesting, @chrisp65. I'd never seriously looked at it because I'd presumed the excess mileage would cripple the deal. I've just started looking at Skoda as a potential option next year so will do some research when the time comes.

Also!

Don’t presume all main dealers will have the same deal. My local Skoda dealer wanted nearly £50 a month more for a lower spec car.

The WhatCar Leasing website is a good starting point to get an idea what’s in your budget. But prices move quite frequently, depending on stock levels and demand I guess.

At the very least, it lets you know if your local guy is taking the piss.

 

[Xela]

2 hours ago, knoppy1987 said:

Puts the dross you see on roads today to shame. Lovely car especially when unmolested - distinctive exhaust note (stock exhaust). Good picture find. 

Cheers. That photo is from 2006 I think... just before I got rid. Purchased it in September 2001... just a few days after 9/11

Sold it for a pittance - £1,750 from memory. Would be worth 10x that now. One mint one sold for £50k at an auction pre-Covid

Loved that car... it felt fast, even though its specs today (2.5, straight six, 170bhp) are fairly pedestrian but at the time of its production, in the late 80's, it was high performance. It was light and it was lethal in the wet. Lost control of it twice in the first few weeks of ownership coming off a wet roundabout too quickly. 

I'd have another one in a shot but just too pricey now. Like most late 80's slice of nostalgia, the prices are mental. 

[villa4europe]

If you lease and like @chrisp65 you aren't overly worried about the spec and colour etc then ask the dealer to see their stock list, there's every danger they'll increase their contribution if you take something off their list rather than order your own bespoke model

I got an extra £500 out of them for taking a car with black brake calipers rather than red (there was something else too but I haven't got a clue what it was) 

And it of course gets delivered quicker 

I also started with car wow which I found really good, you say what car you want and the dealers get to see it and make you an offer 

[villa4europe]

And if you're worried about excess mileage then definitely go for voluntary termination when you've paid 50% of the money back, that'll cut some of the loss 

[knoppy1987]

3 hours ago, Xela said:

Cheers. That photo is from 2006 I think... just before I got rid. Purchased it in September 2001... just a few days after 9/11

Sold it for a pittance - £1,750 from memory. Would be worth 10x that now. One mint one sold for £50k at an auction pre-Covid

Loved that car... it felt fast, even though its specs today (2.5, straight six, 170bhp) are fairly pedestrian but at the time of its production, in the late 80's, it was high performance. It was light and it was lethal in the wet. Lost control of it twice in the first few weeks of ownership coming off a wet roundabout too quickly. 

I'd have another one in a shot but just too pricey now. Like most late 80's slice of nostalgia, the prices are mental. 

Just a very distinctive car was the E30. I have a 1:43 model of a Will Hoy Touring Car somewhere. You're not wrong on the prices either; even the 320i and 323i seem to fetch a good price these days. The 323i is fairly rare as well as I think as there were limited numbers as an early run model here. I could be wrong on that, just something I think I have read or been told. 

I think the charm of the car outweighs the performance even today, and as you say, it was light, you also had great visibility all around the car, and in that straight six, you have purist motoring. A shame it was sold, but good knowing that you got to experience it for the 5 years. 

[Stevo985]

18 hours ago, dubbs said:

Do you guys generally lease your cars or outright purchase them?

PCP for me

[Stevo985]

13 hours ago, villa4europe said:

If you lease and like @chrisp65 you aren't overly worried about the spec and colour etc then ask the dealer to see their stock list, there's every danger they'll increase their contribution if you take something off their list rather than order your own bespoke model

I got an extra £500 out of them for taking a car with black brake calipers rather than red (there was something else too but I haven't got a clue what it was) 

And it of course gets delivered quicker 

I also started with car wow which I found really good, you say what car you want and the dealers get to see it and make you an offer 

The only reason I got the deal on the car I just picked up that I did is because I got one they had in stock. They gave me a very good price and their current offer is to pay the first 3 monthly payments for you.

So all I'm doing is pretending I am paying it, putting it to one side, and then paying off a chunk of the finance after 3 months to make my monthly payments lower. Means I'm barely paying more per month for this one than my last one.

 

But yeah, if you can take something they have in stock it'll likely be cheaper. it also gives you a bit of an upper hand in negotiations as you can pretend you want something different and they have to try that bit harder to sell it to you

[Xela]

19 hours ago, knoppy1987 said:

Just a very distinctive car was the E30. I have a 1:43 model of a Will Hoy Touring Car somewhere. You're not wrong on the prices either; even the 320i and 323i seem to fetch a good price these days. The 323i is fairly rare as well as I think as there were limited numbers as an early run model here. I could be wrong on that, just something I think I have read or been told. 

I think the charm of the car outweighs the performance even today, and as you say, it was light, you also had great visibility all around the car, and in that straight six, you have purist motoring. A shame it was sold, but good knowing that you got to experience it for the 5 years. 

Yeah the 323i was only available early doors (up to '85 I think) before the 325i took on mantle as the top in-line 6cyl.

I love the Alpina versions as well as they bored out the 2.5 engine to 2.7. Remember looking at a burgundy one with cream leather once but was just out of my price range. Rare as hens teeth now. 

The South Africans had a 333i - bet that was a challenge in the wet! 

[darrenm]

On 07/09/2020 at 14:27, wazzap24 said:

What’s everyone’s favourite gear? 
 

love a bit of 3rd me. 

My DSG VRS has a torque limiter on 1st and 2nd so it's quicker in 3rd than 2nd which is a but weird. It pulls OK but then you're changing into 3rd as soon as you can to get full power. So yep, 3rd for me too.

[darrenm]

On 23/09/2020 at 13:56, dubbs said:

Do you guys generally lease your cars or outright purchase them?

I bought my Octavia on a 4 year PCP deal. £2k deposit and 6000 miles a year.

It's a nice car but I don't need it. I'm wondering about voluntary termination next year when it'll be 2 years. I'll have to ring VWFS at the time and see what they say.

I had a Toyota Auris hybrid 2015 on PCP 0% and massive discount that I did well out of.

Then 2017 did a lease (PCH) of a SEAT Ateca but the handing back process was a nightmare. The inspector gave me a bill for £80 even though I thought it was pristine. He said "trust me mate, you've kept this nice, this is a tiny charge. I'm normally giving out bills for thousands". 

Then swapped to the Octavia last year on PCP again. Kind of regretting it but now I'm in the habit of swapping cars every 2 years.

[wazzap24]

On 23/09/2020 at 13:56, dubbs said:

Do you guys generally lease your cars or outright purchase them?

If it drives, flies, floats or f**ks - lease it. 

[Xela]

16 minutes ago, wazzap24 said:

If it drives, flies, floats or f**ks - lease it. 

 

[TheAuthority]

We have a 2007 CRV with 170,000 miles on it which we picked up fo a song from a friend and has never given us a problem. For the last 5/6 years we've left it in Santa Fe, NM to use when we go for 10 weeks in the summer, (or the occasional winter long weekend visit when the AWD comes in handy.)

Having just moved to Colorado in the burbs of Denver (2 miles from downtown but compared to Manhattan its a farm in the middle of Kansas) we needed to get a 2nd car. So today I picked up a 2015 Infiniti QX60. I'm not sure if Infiniti has made it to the UK but it's Nissan's 'luxury' arm in the same way that Toyota has Lexus and Honda has Acura.

Normally I'm just for buying a used car outright and running it into the ground. I have no interest in having a 'flash' car and even less interest in having a $600 or $700 hundred per month lease payment. But I stopped by a credit union (US building society) who offered me 2.99% loan for 66 months. That's decent on a new car but it pretty unbelievable on a used car. So I thought sod it - I'll keep my money in my bank account and just put 20% down. The dealer also offered me the same terms which made it a lot easier than driving back and forth with Purchase Orders etc. So, we have nice newish car (definitely an upgrade on the CRV) sitting in the drive, which will make the 6 hour drive down to Santa Fe very pleasant (3 rows of seats.) Also any road trips we want to do here in the West (Utah, Montana, Arizona etc.) will be really comfy.

The best part. IT'S CLARET BABY YEAH!

[knoppy1987]

17 hours ago, Xela said:

Yeah the 323i was only available early doors (up to '85 I think) before the 325i took on mantle as the top in-line 6cyl.

I love the Alpina versions as well as they bored out the 2.5 engine to 2.7. Remember looking at a burgundy one with cream leather once but was just out of my price range. Rare as hens teeth now. 

The South Africans had a 333i - bet that was a challenge in the wet! 

Exotic colour scheme burgundy and cream - I wonder what the price was around that time. Interesting on the South African 333i because they also got the GTV6 with a 3.0 V6 Busso whereas we only got a 2.5 V6.   

[knoppy1987]

On 07/09/2020 at 14:27, wazzap24 said:

What’s everyone’s favourite gear? 
 

love a bit of 3rd me. 

I have a car nicknamed third gear. 

[Herman22]

I've just ordered a Tesla Model 3 long range a few days ago. Won't be delivered until Jan. I test drove one a few weeks ago and the acceleration is amazing. Really looking forward to getting it home.