M135i to C63 AMG (hopefully) - PCP FINANCE QUESTION

[DeltaTango]

Afternoon all.

I've had my manual 3 dr M135i for nearly 2 years since new, currently on 30,000 generally very happy miles. I really like it, disappointing steering and occasionally unsettled ride (non adapative dampers on mine) aside.

I drive 18,000 miles per year, much of that stop start commuting into West London on the A40. I average 28mpg. My car is on a 4 year pcp, with my settlement figure currently standing at £20,300.

I really (REALLY) want a C63. I would be looking at a pre-facelift example, with hopefully around 50,000 miles, for as close to £20k as possible. I am aware of the increased running costs etc blah blah. They matter not to me. I want that V8. My main concern is exiting my finance arrangement without taking a bath.

WBAC value my car at £17k. I imagine I could sell privately for £18-19k. I haven't asked Mercedes about part-ex yet.

My question is; who has experience of exiting a pcp early, when in a 'negative equity' like me. Is it possible to achieve a reasonable deal going forward? Should I leave this as a pipe dream for now until the deficit between what I owe and what my car is worth diminishes? What would you do?

Sorry if wrong forum.

[pfnsht]

Normally you'd have to pay the difference to get out of the deal. It's fine to part ex it against the Merc if that's the highest offer so you'll pay £xxxx on top of the deal to settle the PCP on the BMW.

Maybe try doing a deal on the Merc with and without the BMW as a part ex and see how the numbers stack up. You're going to lose money either way with cars regardless of the equity you may have the car.

[georgejoshington]

IIRC you can exit a BMW PCP for free if you're over half way through it. Unless I'm mistaken about this, could you hang on until you're at that halfway point and then return the car?

[Actus Reus]

I've done it twice thanks to my fickle nature and need to change cars every 10 minutes.

Once I px'd and rather than a discount on the new car the dealer simply upped his offer for my car. It's all about the cost to change, basically. It doesn't hurt the deal as such, but you're in a bad position - such is life, if you really (really) want that C63 you'll make the man maths work, but beware of dealers effectively upping the price of the car you're buying, as that'll plunge you further into negative equity come time to change the C63.

[chrispmartha]

georgejoshington said:

IIRC you can exit a BMW PCP for free if you're over half way through it. Unless I'm mistaken about this, could you hang on until you're at that halfway point and then return the car?

Thats not quite true, you have to have oaid over 50% of the total price of the car ibcludingvthe bubble, then you can hand it back.

Eg car cost £40k, if you owe £20k or less you can hand it back.

[iphonedyou]

chrispmartha said:

Thats not quite true, you have to have oaid over 50% of the total price of the car ibcludingvthe bubble, then you can hand it back.

Eg car cost £40k, if you owe £20k or less you can hand it back.

Yep - generally three years or so into the lease, maybe a little more.

[DeltaTango]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Yes I think I'll have to wait another few months until I am 'halfway' through.

Since I made the post above I have spoken direct to Mercedes about an approved used C63. I'm waiting on their quote but wasn't aware you can't finance an approved Merc once past 10 yrs old, meaning the only option in this instance is to finance the full amount via HP over about 26 months. That'll be a meaty monthly payment which, whilst technically affordable, isn't really sensible right now.

[_Neal_]

DeltaTango said:

Thanks for the replies so far.

Yes I think I'll have to wait another few months until I am 'halfway' through.

Since I made the post above I have spoken direct to Mercedes about an approved used C63. I'm waiting on their quote but wasn't aware you can't finance an approved Merc once past 10 yrs old, meaning the only option in this instance is to finance the full amount via HP over about 26 months. That'll be a meaty monthly payment which, whilst technically affordable, isn't really sensible right now.

Or borrow the money by way of personal loan, then it's not secured on the car and when you want to change cars just sell the C63 and pay it off? You could take the loan over a longer period to keep monthly payments down maybe? Or am I missing something?

[JockySteer]

I've done it a few times and each time they've added the difference on to the cost of the new (to me) car. Economically it isn't great, but man maths made it work. I think they're phasing out or doing less of that adding on to the new car nowadays so as soon as I was in a position not to have a financed car, I jumped at the chance.

[DeltaTango]

_Neal_ said:

Or borrow the money by way of personal loan, then it's not secured on the car and when you want to change cars just sell the C63 and pay it off? You could take the loan over a longer period to keep monthly payments down maybe? Or am I missing something?

No you're not missing anything. I will also explore that avenue. Still waiting for MB to come back to me with a finance quote.

I would like to get off the finance treadmill at some point. Have also been considering slightly cheaper metal to achieve that. SLK 55, X308 XJR (I worry it won't wear my mileage and type of use), C55 AMG, First Gen XKR.

Of the above options (and feel free to suggest hilarious alternatives up to £15k), only the SLK and to a lesser degree the C55 fulfil my noise requirements as standard.

Edited by DeltaTango on Tuesday 9th February 09:03

[_Neal_]

Monaro would seem to fit the bill too.

E39 M5 would need a bit more love, but it'd be reliable and pretty-much depreciation-proof (you'd need an aftermarket exhaust).

[DeltaTango]

_Neal_ said:

Monaro would seem to fit the bill too.

E39 M5 would need a bit more love, but it'd be reliable and pretty-much depreciation-proof (you'd need an aftermarket exhaust).

Yes have considered a Monaro. Sadly my company would probably be against it. For my sins, I am an estate agent in Notting Hill. It needs to be sort of new looking and not too yobby apparently. Although I used to have a '94 C124 E320 Coupe which I was told to get rid of, so there isn't much consistency.

Would love an E39 M5, but it is probably too old and in need of care. It is also slower than my current car, albeit far more satisfying and more desirable in every single measurable way than my M135i.

[_Neal_]

DeltaTango said:

Yes have considered a Monaro. Sadly my company would probably be against it. For my sins, I am an estate agent in Notting Hill. It needs to be sort of new looking and not too yobby apparently. Although I used to have a '94 C124 E320 Coupe which I was told to get rid of, so there isn't much consistency.

Would love an E39 M5, but it is probably too old and in need of care. It is also slower than my current car, albeit far more satisfying and more desirable in every single measurable way than my M135i.

You could get a very loved E39 M5 for £15k, but fair enough - expect the need for new-looking-ness would exclude the Jags you suggest too.

What does the guy who makes the decisions about your cars drive?

[giblet]

If you could stretch to 18k then I would recommend the Lexus ISF. I looked at the pre facelift C63 and a E90 M3 but settled on the ISF. Rarer sights on the road but can still economical on a run. Looks a lot more discreet but lacks the sound of the C63 which can be rectified with an after market exhaust. They wear the miles well too, plenty of them around in the states on 100k+ miles without any issues.

[SuperVM]

giblet said:

If you could stretch to 18k then I would recommend the Lexus ISF. I looked at the pre facelift C63 and a E90 M3 but settled on the ISF. Rarer sights on the road but can still economical on a run. Looks a lot more discreet but lacks the sound of the C63 which can be rectified with an after market exhaust. They wear the miles well too, plenty of them around in the states on 100k+ miles without any issues.

Plus running costs are so much cheaper with the ISF than they are with the E90 M3 and W204 C63.

[DeltaTango]

SuperVM said:

giblet said:

If you could stretch to 18k then I would recommend the Lexus ISF. I looked at the pre facelift C63 and a E90 M3 but settled on the ISF. Rarer sights on the road but can still economical on a run. Looks a lot more discreet but lacks the sound of the C63 which can be rectified with an after market exhaust. They wear the miles well too, plenty of them around in the states on 100k+ miles without any issues.

Plus running costs are so much cheaper with the ISF than they are with the E90 M3 and W204 C63.

Yes I would also love one of those. Only thing that irks me is the fake exhausts. Spotted one at £18k in the classifieds just last week. Haven't done any research into them yet though so thank you for the nudge.

I'm probably going to have to wait until summer until my pcp 'halfway' point when I can hand the M-lite back, plus some excess mileage charges, being semi sensible.

Still nothing from Mercedes Benz finance. I won't start a rant about it as there are many similar threads, but you seem to have to fight to give them your business rather than the other way round.

Are we missing any interesting cars?

-V8
-Somthing that will give me 'the fizz'almost as much as a C63
-£20k max. Ideally under £15k so I can get it soon.
-Manual or Auto.
-Loud
-Handling prowess unimportant. I enjoy unwieldy pigs provided they're fast, plus my kart racing means I get cornering out my system regularly

[giblet]

SuperVM said:

Plus running costs are so much cheaper with the ISF than they are with the E90 M3 and W204 C63.

Yup but ultimately if the numbers don't add up despite a healthy dose of man maths then I strongly suggest against it. I've been in a situation like that before and it just isn't sensible whatsoever. The C63 still has a way to go in terms of depreciation in my view so it might be sensible to wait it out for a while. When I was looking at them a month or two ago a clean pre facelift with less than 60k on the clock was around 24k. No point buying at the bottom end of the market and getting a ragged car with a load of previous owners and sketchy service history.

DeltaTango said:

Yes I would also love one of those. Only thing that irks me is the fake exhausts. Spotted one at £18k in the classifieds just last week. Haven't done any research into them yet though so thank you for the nudge

The tips are actually diffusers and seemingly help aero at higher speeds. They can be removed and replaced with a proper quad exhaust from the likes of Hayward & Scott though.

[P700DEE]

The Jags will take the mileage well, an X308 XJR is massively cheaper , even an X350/8 is half the price of a C63 AMG. If you want the sound you may need a different exhaust but they pootle along no problem before leaping like a scalded cat when the loud pedal is pushed. For Coupe / Convertible the X100/X150 are good value. My XKR convertible will be 18 years old in June and last year it was my daily driver for three months. Mileage is not an issue, happy in traffic but is quite wallowy until poly bushed and does not feel as solid as my 520 F11 BMW

[abarber]

SuperVM said:

Plus running costs are so much cheaper with the ISF than they are with the E90 M3 and W204 C63.

Is there much in it? You can get disks / pads quite cheap for the standard M3s and C63s. Tyres are pretty cheap on the C63 as they are pretty narrow (255 on the back).

Yearly servicing on the Merc will always add to the cost.

[DeltaTango]

P700DEE said:

The Jags will take the mileage well, an X308 XJR is massively cheaper , even an X350/8 is half the price of a C63 AMG. If you want the sound you may need a different exhaust but they pootle along no problem before leaping like a scalded cat when the loud pedal is pushed. For Coupe / Convertible the X100/X150 are good value. My XKR convertible will be 18 years old in June and last year it was my daily driver for three months. Mileage is not an issue, happy in traffic but is quite wallowy until poly bushed and does not feel as solid as my 520 F11 BMW

Thanks. Yes it is very tempting to get an X308 for around £5k or an XKR for around £8k, if only to enjoy for a few months. My father had an X308 in N/A 4 litre flavour for a long time and I have a real soft spot for them.

I could then wait until C63 prices fall further still.