Commuter - Petrol/Diesel - PCP/Lease - Page 1 - Car Buying

Sam1990

Original Poster

398 posts

187 months

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[news]

Wednesday 11th July 2018

After having changed jobs it's quickly become apparent that a tuned Mazda 6 MPS is not the right car to be commuting 80 miles a day in. It's currently costing me a small fortune each month in fuel. Along with the extra insurance cost, tax and servicing etc it's suddenly become a very expensive car to own eating in to the pay rise for the new job.

It needs to go and to replace it will be something new, comfortable, reliable and economical. There are plans in the pipeline to buy a 2nd car to get my driving fix so this car can be almost anything.

With the potential list so vague I'm finding it hard to narrow down the basics. My biggest decision yet to make is whether to go with a petrol or a diesel. Diesel has proven to be cheaper than small petrol as I've compared a petrol Hyundai i10 and a diesel Vuaxhall Mokka on the same journey, same speeds and conditions with the Mokka coming out on top but I'm also aware of the shifting public views on diesels, car tax changes and the potential for the cost of diesel likely to rise along with this trend so it could be a bad decision in the long run.

The 2nd decision is almost made as to whether leasing brand new or PCP'ing something nearly new is the way forward. As this whole exercise is to save money I feel that leasing may be cheaper given the smaller initial outlay and potentially lower monthly cost along with the car being brand new under warranty, taxed and usually including breakdown cover. I think leasing may just have the edge here.

Anyone with a bit of market knowledge able to offer some advice on which options are best? I'm currently buying a house so when the Mazda sells I'll be putting away a chunk of that cash so really only have a couple of grand to put down and am looking to pay something up to £175 a month to own it.

Any advice is appreciated

DoubleD

22,154 posts

128 months

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Wednesday 11th July 2018

Why dont you use that couple of grand to buy a car?

Wooda80

1,743 posts

95 months

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Wednesday 11th July 2018

DoubleD said:

Why dont you use that couple of grand to buy a car?

I know DD's post wasn't addressed to me, but I'm always bemused by these kinds of posts. If someone asked you to recommend a Curry House, would you tell them they should go for a pizza instead?

Reminds me of this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCpdO8nkmc8

DoubleD

22,154 posts

128 months

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Wednesday 11th July 2018

Wooda80 said:

DoubleD said:

Why dont you use that couple of grand to buy a car?

I know DD's post wasn't addressed to me, but I'm always bemused by these kinds of posts. If someone asked you to recommend a Curry House, would you tell them they should go for a pizza instead?

Reminds me of this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCpdO8nkmc8

What is so wrong with suggesting he buys a car rather than lease?

He is wanting to buy a house so saving money would be a wise option to look into.

ZX10R NIN

29,755 posts

145 months

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Wednesday 11th July 2018

Wooda80

1,743 posts

95 months

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Wednesday 11th July 2018

To try and give you a constructive answer, the advantage of both PCP and leasing is that it removes any real or imagined risks surrounding future residual value from the buyer. Therefore you can concentrate on buying a car that fulfills YOUR needs best without having to try and second guess how easy or hard the car will be to sell on in 2 / 3/ 4 years time.

So if you want the low fuel costs of a diesel, given your circa 500 miles per week then go for it. On the other hand, if the petrol car has a lower finance payment that offsets the higher fuel costs and you fancy a petrol then that's ok too.

On a PCP your budget of £2000 deposit plus £175 per month will borrow you around £10000. Is the kind of car that you want available at the age you are happy with at that sort of price?

Leasing is harder to quantify budget wise. Sometimes you can get a more expensive car for a lower payment than some cheaper ones if the manufacturer or finance company has a good deal on ( usually on cars about to go out of production ).

Whether you choose leasing or PCP will depend on how much you value flexibility. With leasing the penalties for early termination can be quite onerous. With PCP it is easier, if not always without cost, to come out of the agreement before the end. It just depends on how much you expect your circumstances might change ( for better as well as for worse ) during teh finance term.

nickfrog

23,724 posts

237 months

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Thursday 12th July 2018

I certainly wouldn't be doing over 20k a year in anything else than a very comfy very recent car and I doubt £2k would buy that so I can see the rationale in wanting something new with predictable depreciation and helping cash flow. Adding 10k miles a year on many 10k/year lease deals will cost less than £1,500/year so it could prove quite a good solution if the deal is competitive compared to other forms of payment including cash.

Sam1990

Original Poster

398 posts

187 months

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Thursday 12th July 2018

Thanks for the replies so far all.

The suggestion of buying used with some manufacturer warranty left is a good way to tick most of the boxes. I really like that idea so the Kia is well and truly on the radar. Does anyone have experience of the interior quality as the pictures do look fairly nice with a big step up in kit over my Mazda?

I am and will be keeping an eye on the leasing thread here just in case a bargain pops up but as has already been mentioned with the higher annual mileage it is very hit and miss as to whether they are good value for money or not.

In terms of residual value, I expect I'd keep the car for as long as I work the new role and as long as the car remains reliable so hopefully both my job and the car would last 5+ years without too much trouble on top of consumables and with the added bonus of car repayments being null after the balance has been cleared

It seems either PCP or a finance deal to buy nearly new would be best value. To remove risk a third-party warranty could be sourced to pick up where the manufacturer's leaves off.

Mo28

907 posts

120 months

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Thursday 12th July 2018

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Something like this should do you well for a while. Should be able to get a small bank loan if need be.

Herbs

4,993 posts

249 months

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Thursday 12th July 2018

I'm not sure a lease is the right option here.

I've moved recently increasing my commute from 4 miles a day to 50 miles a day as a minimum and an increase in fuel bills of £400 a month.

You say you have a couple of grand to put down and up to £175 per month - over 3 years that is going to cost you £8,300 PLUS the cost of fuel with nothing to show for it and you've spent 3 years in a pretty mundane car

If you want a new car and it's worth that to you then fair enough and go do it but your post reads like you want to do it to save money.

I'd rather spend a percentage of that amount on something like a BMW 320d or Golf which will give you good fuel economy, be a nicer place to be and still be worth something in 3 years time.

Also, don't forget, if you are trying to buy somewhere then a lease will affect how much you can borrow on your mortgage.

nickfrog

23,724 posts

237 months

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Thursday 12th July 2018

Herbs said:

I'm not sure a lease is the right option here.

I've moved recently increasing my commute from 4 miles a day to 50 miles a day as a minimum and an increase in fuel bills of £400 a month.

You say you have a couple of grand to put down and up to £175 per month - over 3 years that is going to cost you £8,300 PLUS the cost of fuel with nothing to show for it and you've spent 3 years in a pretty mundane car

If you want a new car and it's worth that to you then fair enough and go do it but your post reads like you want to do it to save money.

I'd rather spend a percentage of that amount on something like a BMW 320d or Golf which will give you good fuel economy, be a nicer place to be and still be worth something in 3 years time.

Also, don't forget, if you are trying to buy somewhere then a lease will affect how much you can borrow on your mortgage.

My 50 miles daily miles commute in a leased car only costs me £120/month worth of fuel so at £400+ that must be a thirsty car.

The "nothing to show for it" actually only makes sense if the total cost of leasing is under the actual depreciation of the car in question, ignoring opp cost.

I would call a Golf or a 320d very mundane - my A4 on a similar budget to the OP's certainly is tbh. But perfect for a longish commute.

I am not sure if leasing will affect the OP's borrowing capacity but buying will reduce the size of the deposit too so that's pretty neutral.

underphil

1,295 posts

230 months

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Thursday 12th July 2018

I'd agree with some of the above, any car that you'd want to spend 20k miles a year in that is new will cost a lot per month to lease, £400+ by my reconing

The problem with that kind of mileage is it will depreciate whatever you buy pretty rapidly - more you spend, more you lose!

I had a similar dilemma last year, spent £5K and have had to spend no money other than fuel and have got 50mpg - so a sound financial decision, but I am hating the 2.0 diesel and now looking for to change to petrol and swallow the additional fuel cost

Herbs

4,993 posts

249 months

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Thursday 12th July 2018

nickfrog said:

Herbs said:

I'm not sure a lease is the right option here.

I've moved recently increasing my commute from 4 miles a day to 50 miles a day as a minimum and an increase in fuel bills of £400 a month.

You say you have a couple of grand to put down and up to £175 per month - over 3 years that is going to cost you £8,300 PLUS the cost of fuel with nothing to show for it and you've spent 3 years in a pretty mundane car

If you want a new car and it's worth that to you then fair enough and go do it but your post reads like you want to do it to save money.

I'd rather spend a percentage of that amount on something like a BMW 320d or Golf which will give you good fuel economy, be a nicer place to be and still be worth something in 3 years time.

Also, don't forget, if you are trying to buy somewhere then a lease will affect how much you can borrow on your mortgage.

I would call a Golf or a 320d very mundane - my A4 on a similar budget to the OP's certainly is tbh. But perfect for a longish commute.

I am not sure if leasing will affect the OP's borrowing capacity but buying will reduce the size of the deposit too so that's pretty neutral.

True, but I consider a Golf/BMW and A4 a level above a Mokka or entry level Kia. A brand new, nearly new car is not where you need to be looking if cost saving is where you want to go. The only one that does make sense which i'm looking at at the moment is something like a BMW i3 which for me will reduce my £400 a month to £45 a month although its £15k to buy so will pay for itself in about 18 month if I decide to change.

Unfortunately, it's not neutral as the borrowing is scaled up by 5 times (or whatever it is now) so although he may have £2,000 extra deposit, he will lose £10k on borrowing so be £8k worse off.

Zetec-S

6,562 posts

113 months

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Thursday 12th July 2018

I was going to chime in with my own suggestions, but to be honest this post from ZX10R NIN (as per usual) hits the nail on the head:

ZX10R NIN said:

ZX10R NIN

29,755 posts

145 months

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Thursday 12th July 2018

Sam1990 said:

Thanks for the replies so far all.

The suggestion of buying used with some manufacturer warranty left is a good way to tick most of the boxes. I really like that idea so the Kia is well and truly on the radar. Does anyone have experience of the interior quality as the pictures do look fairly nice with a big step up in kit over my Mazda?

I am and will be keeping an eye on the leasing thread here just in case a bargain pops up but as has already been mentioned with the higher annual mileage it is very hit and miss as to whether they are good value for money or not.

In terms of residual value, I expect I'd keep the car for as long as I work the new role and as long as the car remains reliable so hopefully both my job and the car would last 5+ years without too much trouble on top of consumables and with the added bonus of car repayments being null after the balance has been cleared

It seems either PCP or a finance deal to buy nearly new would be best value. To remove risk a third-party warranty could be sourced to pick up where the manufacturer's leaves off.

The interior in the Kia's is very nice hard wearing & will feel plush after the Mazda, finding the Kia in 4 spec is the hard part.

Something like this one with 4 years worth of warranty would be spot on because you won't go outside the warranty mileage wise:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

3 years worth:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

If you go lower spec you can get a newer car but you'll break the 100k limit.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Remember a lot of warranties are mileage limited to so do your homework.

Otherwise maybe buy something just coming out of warranty & then extend the Manufacturers Warranty so you really need to look at 2015:

Mazda3 Sport Nav:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Giulietta QV Line

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

You can land a previous gen Insignia Elite for around 10k & that's a lot of car for the cash:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...