Car Decision and Electric question

[quintonside]

I've posted before around picking my new car, but have had a rethink.

My Cupra goes back in a month.

I know amazing lease deals are non existent, but i've found a few which are, i think, tolerable.

In terms of driving, i'm mainly doing around town. The school run is a 24 mile round trip.

I have a football season ticket so will occasionally drive to an away game, sometimes a 300 mile round trip.

UK holidays would be done in the other halves XC60

The below 5 cars I am considering, all would be on a 2 year lease, 10k miles.

3 series 320i
3 Series 330e
5 series 520d
Q4 e-tron 35 (would have to be 3 year lease to be viable)


The deals as a % of list price very from 27% to 34% (Q4 is 49% on a 3 year)

All are dearer on PCP, and would probably see me stuck in them for 3 years minimum.

Any thoughts on the cars themselves?



Separate question, is for the Q4 (or any fully electric). The real world range looks to be about 200 ish miles. If i was driving 150 miles somewhere, clearly i wouldn't have enough charge to get back. How long roughly would it take to charge to get it back up, are we talking minutes or hours? (i only ever seen 0-100% charging times)

[georgeyboy12345]

Out of your list, I’d probably pick the 320i. The Q4 seems appealing, but I can’t stomach those looks - the infotainment/hvac control is supposed to be terrible too. A diesel would just about work with your mileages, though personally I wouldn’t need something the size of a 5 series. I think your mileages are too high for a 330e to be viable.

What are the deposits and monthly costs for them all?

[georgeyboy12345]

To answer your question about charging EVs, the first thing to do is ignore any info given on autotrader as it’s a load of rubbish. Extremely rare to charge from 0-100%.

EV database is better

https://ev-database.uk/car/1490/Audi-Q4-e-tron-40#...

It’s estimating a charge time of 33 min to charge from 25 to 200 miles, providing you can get the max power of 135 kW. You wouldn’t need 200 mi to complete your journey, so it could be a bit less.

[quintonside]

georgeyboy12345 said:

Out of your list, I’d probably pick the 320i. The Q4 seems appealing, but I can’t stomach those looks - the infotainment/hvac control is supposed to be terrible too. A diesel would just about work with your mileages, though personally I wouldn’t need something the size of a 5 series. I think your mileages are too high for a 330e to be viable.

What are the deposits and monthly costs for them all?

Thanks for the info on charging. It would be the Q4 35 so its even worse than the 40. Real life range is 185 miles.

I was actually thinking the 330e would work well. The school runs would be able to done on solely electric. As would nipping around town, home football games and training etc. It would only be the long runs that wouldn't benefit and they are likely to be once a month if that.

Prices on 6+23, 10k miles

320i - £420
330e - £536
520d - £461 touring or £480 saloon
Q4 35 - £547 (6+36) 2 year is stupid high

[jaydeeuk1]

Those prices are a bit hideous, esp for the Q4, thats about what I'm paying for a model Y but with a years insurance and charge point included, granted only 6k pa

[quintonside]

jaydeeuk1 said:

Those prices are a bit hideous, esp for the Q4, thats about what I'm paying for a model Y but with a years insurance and charge point included, granted only 6k pa

They aren't amazing, but best about currently though.

I'd take a tesla over the Q4 all day, but on the same terms a model Y is £670 and a model 3 is £601

[SWoll]

2 year terms always pricey, but would agree that the Q4 is a dreadful deal for a base spec car, especially over 3 years. Not much good to say about it having driven a 40 spec S-Line car with C+S pack. Slow, a bit cheap inside, dreadful ride, naff range etc. An EV to avoid IME.

5 series a significant step up in every way over the 3 series and would always take a touring so a bonus it's cheaper and would be my pick over the 320i for a little more.

I struggle with the 330e as unless you keep it charged all the time the running costs are pretty dreadful due to lugging around all the extra weight/complexity.

EV lease costs are through the roof at the moment unfortunately due to the popuarity of salary sacrifice/company cars deals and the huge savings on BIK and income tax. This makes them horribly expensive for anyone looking to lease on a personal basis without those benefits.

Good luck.

Edited by SWoll on Monday 15th August 17:37

[quintonside]

Thanks for your thoughts, good to hear from someone who has actually driven a q4.

3 series is definitely out, can’t have it until Q1 2023 and it wouldn’t be price protected, so probably end up being an even worse deal.

Only concern with a 5 series is, isn’t it about be facelifted and get the new tech?

Other options creeping in are a4 (but dull) a5 (had one before) or a CLA. Also an A6 deal has come about at a similar price.

Or I just get the cheapest decent sized car for 18 months /24 months then, maybe a Tucson or a 2008 (zzzzz)

[SWoll]

quintonside said:

Thanks for your thoughts, good to hear from someone who has actually driven a q4.

3 series is definitely out, can’t have it until Q1 2023 and it wouldn’t be price protected, so probably end up being an even worse deal.

Only concern with a 5 series is, isn’t it about be facelifted and get the new tech?

Other options creeping in are a4 (but dull) a5 (had one before) or a CLA. Also an A6 deal has come about at a similar price.

Or I just get the cheapest decent sized car for 18 months /24 months then, maybe a Tucson or a 2008 (zzzzz)

It's an all new 5 series that is due late 2023/2024. the current model had a major facelift in 2021 as has been around since 2017.

Only you know what the upgrade is worth to you. I'd always pay a bit more for a car i want to spend time in personally as all motoring is expensive, but each to their own.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say the 5 series is the pick from those.