Is this a worthwhile deal?

[sawman]

I have been offered a salary sacrifice car lease deal, I have obtained a quote for a couple of cars on a fully maintained(inc tyres) insured and taxed basis:
fiat 500 twinair, including a couple of options ticked for £220 per month,
or mini countryman 4x4 cooperD for £345 per month , 3 year deal with 10k per annum.

This is the cost to me after all the shenanigans with tax etc.

Until I had the flyer I hadnt heard of salary sacrifice leases, are there any issues with these type of deals.

I wasn't actively pursuing swapping a car, but this would allow me to offload either our jeep or forester, depending on which is most sale-able (they are probably worth about the same)

[Baryonyx]

I wouldn't pay a penny for either of those dodgy cars. Go and buy a cheap Impreza, save money and enjoy having a great car when you could have been landed with a right stinker.

[maxdb]

Sounds like alot of money for the cars you are getting. I would just buy a car for yourself then sell it on when you get bored etc.

[sawman]

Baryonyx said:

I wouldn't pay a penny for either of those dodgy cars. Go and buy a cheap Impreza, save money and enjoy having a great car when you could have been landed with a right stinker.

I drove a twin air last week and it was a hoot, not so sure about the mini though!

I'm not adverse to running older cars - the jeep and fozzie are both 8 years old, but I am concerned they are going to start costing money at some point. I guess thats the dilemma really.

[Baryonyx]

sawman said:

I'm not adverse to running older cars - the jeep and fozzie are both 8 years old, but I am concerned they are going to start costing money at some point. I guess thats the dilemma really.

An old car is never going to cost you as much as a new one. And even then, I'd rather spend a little looking after a nice old Impreza than a lot on a Fiat 500. You'll be buying polo neck shirts and getting a job as a social worker soon!

[sawman]

maxdb said:

Sounds like alot of money for the cars you are getting. I would just buy a car for yourself then sell it on when you get bored etc.

I guess it depends how you do the math. Taking into account the insurance, RFL and difference in fuel consumption compared to the forester my outgoings would be reduced by about £1500 a year, meaning that the monthly cost of the fiat would be less than £100, thats before you start looking at any mechanical issues the subaru may run into. I reckon the subaru is probably worth about 3k so after 3 years I am even (thereabouts).

btw I still have my morgan for motoring fun,so this is really just a commuter

[sawman]

Baryonyx said:

An old car is never going to cost you as much as a new one. And even then, I'd rather spend a little looking after a nice old Impreza than a lot on a Fiat 500. You'll be buying polo neck shirts and getting a job as a social worker soon!

All maintenance is included in the lease as is insurance and car tax,

[Baryonyx]

sawman said:

All maintenance is included in the lease as is insurance and car tax,

Indeed, now think about - over £200 to drive a Mini or a Fiat 500 for a month. When you put it like that, doesn't it sound daft?

[randlemarcus]

Baryonyx said:

Indeed, now think about - over £200 to drive a Mini or a Fiat 500 for a month. When you put it like that, doesn't it sound daft?

Actually, no. Sounds quite reasonable to me.

[eliot]

Crappy tiny cars - i hate all this down sizing lark.

[ColinM50]

Nephew bought a new Fiat 500 Twinair in May and though he likes the car the fuel comsumption is dreadful. In their promotional blurb Fiat claim 62 or 68mpg, which was a big reason for him to buy it, but he can't get better than 42 no matter how he drives it. He did manage to get the dealer to check it and gave it back to the dealer, they drove it 28 miles in 1 hr 15 minutes and managed to get 52 with no aircon, heater, lights, or wipers on and all windows closed. Both the dealer and Fiat claim that's "within industry limits". He paid over £12k for it and they've offered him £9k as a trade in against any used car in their dealership. Crap company IMHO.

FIAT = Fecked It Again Tony?

[Baryonyx]

randlemarcus said:

Actually, no. Sounds quite reasonable to me.

You'll notice I mentioned you were paying to drive a Mini and a Fiat 500, not something good.

[valiant1]

ColinM50 said:

Nephew bought a new Fiat 500 Twinair in May and though he likes the car the fuel comsumption is dreadful. In their promotional blurb Fiat claim 62 or 68mpg, which was a big reason for him to buy it, but he can't get better than 42 no matter how he drives it. He did manage to get the dealer to check it and gave it back to the dealer, they drove it 28 miles in 1 hr 15 minutes and managed to get 52 with no aircon, heater, lights, or wipers on and all windows closed. Both the dealer and Fiat claim that's "within industry limits". He paid over £12k for it and they've offered him £9k as a trade in against any used car in their dealership. Crap company IMHO.

FIAT = Fecked It Again Tony?

Is the twinair one of those small turbo things that seem to popping up everywhere?

You have to drive like a comatose nun to achieve manufacturers claimed figures as it is a (slightly) naughty way to keep C02 figures down to under 100-110 levels to benefit cheaper tax and offset bigger engined models to please the EU. You do this by changing up before the turbo kicks in but is a pain the arse to drive it that way hence the lower MPG.

BTW had a load of fiats and never had any issues.(bar the crappy residuals!)

[sawman]

valiant1 said:

Is the twinair one of those small turbo things that seem to popping up everywhere?

You have to drive like a comatose nun to achieve manufacturers claimed figures as it is a (slightly) naughty way to keep C02 figures down to under 100-110 levels to benefit cheaper tax and offset bigger engined models to please the EU. You do this by changing up before the turbo kicks in but is a pain the arse to drive it that way hence the lower MPG.

BTW had a load of fiats and never had any issues.(bar the crappy residuals!)

There are some folks on the alfa,fiatetc board that reckon they are getting 44-55 out of their twinair.