Buy / Lease or other for high mileage???

[Cmdee]

I'm driving myself insane wondering what the best route to go is.

I'm a high mileage driver, circa 30k per annum and I can only keep a car up to 5 years old max, company policy. I don't really want to have a car out of warranty just in case something breaks.

I want a c class c220d estate, facelift with a few extras. I can lease the car for a 3 year total of around £20k or I can buy one for about £32k pre reg only a couple of thousand on the clock and a slightly higher spec.

Would you lease or buy in the hope you can sell / trade in for at least £13k in 3 years and 90k miles time?

[SWoll]

Would buying one at 1 year old with minimal mileage for < £25k and selling it after a further 2 years and 60k not be the best bet? Still in warranty, misses the first years depreciation and keeps the eventual mileage at a level buyers may still find palatable? Then do the same in 2 years and still be cheaper in the long term?

https://stock.mercedes-benz.co.uk/used/vehicle-det...

[interstellar]

As above.

Turn the car yearly will be the cheapest option. Buy used and on low mileage and turn it at a year or 18 months.

Leasing is £500 a month with nothing to show for it. High mileage drivers usually buy

[Cmdee]

I was thinking depreciation will run around £7k per annum regardless, up until years 4 or 5 anyway?

[SWoll]

Cmdee said:

I was thinking depreciation will run around £7k per annum regardless, up until years 4 or 5 anyway?

Depreciation is a curve that softens year on year. The combination of first year deprecation and high mileage is the biggest money loser by far.

[RammyMP]

I’m in the same boat as you, I tend to buy a 6-12 month old car from a main dealer then swap them at 3 years old. There are usually decent offers if you take their finance out.

[A900ss]

Have you checked Drive the Deal?

E220d estates are sub £30k new.

I was in a similar situation last year. 30k a year and opting out of company car. Also with a 5 year limit.

I went ‘cheap’ but did buy as it was cheaper in the long run than leasing. I jumped out of my company Merc and bought a top of the range, brand new Passat with all the toys for £25k. A year old had very little saving over the online brokers.

I could have gone MB/BMW but kept the cash in my back pocket instead. (However a sub £30k E class albeit with less kit than I’ve got could have been tempting)

Good luck either way.

Edited by A900ss on Wednesday 27th February 09:46

[Camelot1971]

interstellar said:

As above.

Turn the car yearly will be the cheapest option. Buy used and on low mileage and turn it at a year or 18 months.

Leasing is £500 a month with nothing to show for it. High mileage drivers usually buy

Of course they have something to show for it - a new car they are driving! If you like a new car every 2 or 3 years, leasing can make perfect sense. If you like to keep cars for a while, then it won't.

[egoold]

I do similar mileage and have been lucky with last 3 cars on lease even with the big mileage. Current Volvo v90 r design costs me £485 inc vat on a 1+17 deal. And 30k miles annually

However current lease deals are not as good now and even though I’m a fan of leasing I can see myself having to go down the low mileage used car next time and running it for 18-24months

[Welshbeef]

Why would you not say buy one at £20k and run it for 10years - assuming zero or tiny value at the end rinse and repeat? Far better than finding a £10k version and running it for a further 5 years with likely identical effective PCM all up costs.

[SWoll]

As per the OP his car allowance specifies the car must be < 5 years old. Mine is the same.

[Welshbeef]

SWoll said:

As per the OP his car allowance specifies the car must be < 5 years old. Mine is the same.

Out of interest how do they know?
When I had age restrictions they never asked for the V5 (or annual disclosure of what the car was).

A personal plate also masks the age a car is. Take mine (no private plate) it’s a 10 reg F10 BMW but unless you knew what LCI changes were you might think it’s a run out 2018 or at worst 2017 model.... so could be run for another 5 years.
In addition to this not many people have the same line mgr for 5 years so awareness is low.

In the companies which had those policies they only requested the confirmation on joining then that was it - one company I’d literally just bought another car before joining and negotiated that I had a 2 year period of grace manager had changed so I simply carried on running it (was there 5 years before changing company).

[SWoll]

Welshbeef said:

SWoll said:

As per the OP his car allowance specifies the car must be < 5 years old. Mine is the same.

Out of interest how do they know?
When I had age restrictions they never asked for the V5 (or annual disclosure of what the car was).

A personal plate also masks the age a car is. Take mine (no private plate) it’s a 10 reg F10 BMW but unless you knew what LCI changes were you might think it’s a run out 2018 or at worst 2017 model.... so could be run for another 5 years.
In addition to this not many people have the same line mgr for 5 years so awareness is low.

In the companies which had those policies they only requested the confirmation on joining then that was it - one company I’d literally just bought another car before joining and negotiated that I had a 2 year period of grace manager had changed so I simply carried on running it (was there 5 years before changing company).

Anything like mine they want to see your insurance documents to make sure it's covered for business use + MOT certificates.

Too many people taking the piss by banking the £500 a month and trying bangernomics I would assume.

[Welshbeef]

SWoll said:

Anything like mine they want to see your insurance documents to make sure it's covered for business use + MOT certificates.

Too many people taking the piss by banking the £500 a month and trying bangernomics I would assume.

Sounds like it - my allowance is purely a perk no need for a co car to do my role but it is a way to reduce pensionable pay & in every company I’ve worked for not once has car allowance had any annual increase.... so a cute way to cut down the total inflation increases

For OP if that’s the case I’d switch back to company car and suck it up.
You’d be running it to 120k then changing - even then it might not be worth buying from the lease co.

[SWoll]

Welshbeef said:

SWoll said:

Anything like mine they want to see your insurance documents to make sure it's covered for business use + MOT certificates.

Too many people taking the piss by banking the £500 a month and trying bangernomics I would assume.

Sounds like it - my allowance is purely a perk no need for a co car to do my role but it is a way to reduce pensionable pay & in every company I’ve worked for not once has car allowance had any annual increase.... so a cute way to cut down the total inflation increases

For OP if that’s the case I’d switch back to company car and suck it up.
You’d be running it to 120k then changing - even then it might not be worth buying from the lease co.

I'm in a similar position at the moment but when I look at the amount of BIK I would be paying for a CC, the loss of allowance and the 45p per mile you can claim for your own car it's still a much better idea for me to opt out and do it myself. All depends on salary and tax rate though I suppose.

[Welshbeef]

SWoll said:

I'm in a similar position at the moment but when I look at the amount of BIK I would be paying for a CC, the loss of allowance and the 45p per mile you can claim for your own car it's still a much better idea for me to opt out and do it myself. All depends on salary and tax rate though I suppose.

I like the freedom to run and choose what car I want - what options etc etc. Plus as you point out yes it’s much better value to me

[SWoll]

Welshbeef said:

SWoll said:

I'm in a similar position at the moment but when I look at the amount of BIK I would be paying for a CC, the loss of allowance and the 45p per mile you can claim for your own car it's still a much better idea for me to opt out and do it myself. All depends on salary and tax rate though I suppose.

I like the freedom to run and choose what car I want - what options etc etc. Plus as you point out yes it’s much better value to me

Indeed. As I say though I am limited to < 5 years old as the car is a necessary part of my job due to customer visits etc.

[Nors]

Here's a conundrum:-

I do the same miles as the OP but I am a one man limited company who put's their PCP through the buisness and also gets the business to pay all the fuel minus private use. I do the majority of miles for business use.

I was told I can only do this with a new car. I reckon I could also go to the dealer and get a nearly new car with low miles at a discount, but don't know if I can still do that?

Your Benefit in Kind tax is based on the value of the car? If I got a bigger car (used) but was the same value as the brand new car would this affect my BIK?

Sorry for the thread hijack OP!

[SWoll]

Probably better off starting a thread in the finance section TBH.