Buy existing Scirocco currently on PCP or new deal ????

[braddo]

That is equivalent to putting down a £7k prepayment on depreciation.... I'd rather just pay higher monthly payments that spread the cost of the car more evenly over the ownership period.

[JuanGandini]

Yep true as you then still have your cash in the bank in case you need it for something else.

[Ari]

JuanGandini said:

If you look at a base, manual 3 door model at £30,555 (minus the current £1,500 dealer deposit contribution) the BMW website shows a GFV of £14,085 after 3 years, or £11,475 after 4 years. Both of these GFVs are based on a 10k mileage per year. So, ignoring any variations of dealer discount on list price, increased spec and different mileage, you'd need to put in a deposit of c.£6,850 for the 3 year deal or c.£6,550 for the 4 year deal to get the monthly payments to £300.

£17,650 to have a base model bog standard (albeit big engined) tiny BMW for three years, with nothing to show for it at the end, and you can only do 10,000 miles a year!?

I refer you to my earlier comment, car dealers must love people with "car allowances" that merrily write off everything they earn within that allowance as "free money to spend on a car".

[Deva Link]

Ari said:

Ok, so your car allowance is £300/month after tax and you spend £200/month leasing a car. What happens to the other £100?

From a previous answer:

Deva Link said:

By a million miles the main issue the top management had with the scheme was people down-sizing and putting the cash in their back pockets.

[JuanGandini]

Ari said:

JuanGandini said:

If you look at a base, manual 3 door model at £30,555 (minus the current £1,500 dealer deposit contribution) the BMW website shows a GFV of £14,085 after 3 years, or £11,475 after 4 years. Both of these GFVs are based on a 10k mileage per year. So, ignoring any variations of dealer discount on list price, increased spec and different mileage, you'd need to put in a deposit of c.£6,850 for the 3 year deal or c.£6,550 for the 4 year deal to get the monthly payments to £300.

£17,650 to have a base model bog standard (albeit big engined) tiny BMW for three years, with nothing to show for it at the end, and you can only do 10,000 miles a year!?

I refer you to my earlier comment, car dealers must love people with "car allowances" that merrily write off everything they earn within that allowance as "free money to spend on a car".

Yes I'm not saying I disagree with you but sometimes buying a car is a more emotional and irrational thing as would be the case if I plump for the M135i. The OP has spent £12,336 over two years and will have nothing to show for it if she hands it back. However, that's not so much the issue. Had the car been bought outright and she now sold it, you'd probably find that's roughly how much value it would've lost anyway. Cars are depreciating assets so they should be seen in terms of cost of ownership over the term you have it. It doesn't always make financial sense to 'own' cars outright - if for example you want to keep your money for a rainy day rather than plough it all into equity in a car that will lose value anyway.

[sw67]

I am 1 year into my first pcp. i looked at various deals around the same monthly figure and went for a year old A6 Avant. I put in a low deposit and have a low gfv.

If i dont get my deposit and gfv back in a trade in ( salesman assured me it would happen ) i am going to pay the gfv and keep the car.

When i was looking i compared all the ways of financing and pcp was cheaper than a bank loan or hp. I was comparing the total cost inc gfv and interest rather than monthly payments.

I upset one mercedes salesman when i pointed out that over 4 years i was paying 4k more with the gfv included for a car the same price and age as the Audi. All he kept saying was the monthly price was the same

[Deva Link]

Ari said:

£17,650 to have a base model bog standard (albeit big engined) tiny BMW for three years, with nothing to show for it at the end, and you can only do 10,000 miles a year!?

You just don't get it do you?

Some people WANT to drive a shiny new tiny BMW with a big engine. Paying for it is all the more bearable if it's covered by a car allowance as that money is ear-marked for a car.

In fact the allowance doesn't even have to cover the total cost - some of the people I worked with went mad and bought cars above their allowance, using the logic that, "well, it's really only costing me £100 (or whatever) a month".

[Ari]

Deva Link said:

Paying for it is all the more bearable if it's covered by a car allowance as that money is ear-marked for a car.

I give up, you're a car salesman's dream with your "free money"!

[Deva Link]

sw67 said:

I upset one mercedes salesman when i pointed out that over 4 years i was paying 4k more with the gfv included for a car the same price and age as the Audi. All he kept saying was the monthly price was the same

I would be pretty surprised if you couldn't get a new Merc on PCP for the same or less than a year old one. MB hoses money at PCPs on new cars, and PCPs generally don't work so well on used cars.

[Deva Link]

Ari said:

I give up, you're a car salesman's dream with your "free money"!

I keep mine to myself - I run a fully paid for old Merc. I'm making about a grand a month in allowance, mileage and tax rebate.

[Ari]

Deva Link said:

I keep mine to myself - I run a fully paid for old Merc. I'm making about a grand a month in allowance, mileage and tax rebate.

But but but..... It's ear-marked!!!!!

[AllNines]

Ari, you do realise that a car allowance is in lieu of a company car, where you might not get much of a choice? Thus, it's not part of the salary, it's an extra, a benefit. If you can manipulate it such that you keep some of it for yourself, all the better.

[Deva Link]

Ari said:

But but but..... It's ear marked!!!!!

The snag with my approach is I've left it so long I really have merged the money in with my salary and I'd find it a real struggle (mentally) to suddenly start spending £500 per month on a car.
Strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to run a car over 6yrs old, but it's not enforced.

[5678]

CooperS said:

tbc said:

unless you wipe your backside with £100 notes these days

I just cannot understand why any would buy a new car over a pre reg or year old and save yourself 25%

and it's a VW so reliability is hardly an issue

2011 Scirocco GT for £15-16k

I thought this until BMW offered a 3.9% rate apposed to buying an 18 month old car (and out dated model) at a rate of 8.9%.

I'm waiting on my new 1 Series

Agreed. If buying on finance then new can be significantly cheaper than nearly new at the moment. I found exactly this with my A6. A new one to my spec worked out cheaper than buying a 6 month old one.

[Deva Link]

5678 said:

CooperS said:

tbc said:

unless you wipe your backside with £100 notes these days

I just cannot understand why any would buy a new car over a pre reg or year old and save yourself 25%

and it's a VW so reliability is hardly an issue

2011 Scirocco GT for £15-16k

I thought this until BMW offered a 3.9% rate apposed to buying an 18 month old car (and out dated model) at a rate of 8.9%.

I'm waiting on my new 1 Series

Agreed. If buying on finance then new can be significantly cheaper than nearly new at the moment. I found exactly this with my A6. A new one to my spec worked out cheaper than buying a 6 month old one.

That's why sw67's post above is surprising.

A colleague just got a very loaded 520d Touring on the 3.9% deal and BMW have put about £8K into the deal. MB is known for good PCP deals on new cars so it would be surprising if Audi wasn't too.

[Ari]

AllNines said:

Ari, you do realise that a car allowance is in lieu of a company car, where you might not get much of a choice? Thus, it's not part of the salary, it's an extra, a benefit. If you can manipulate it such that you keep some of it for yourself, all the better.

Perfectly.

You do realise that a pound saved from your "car allowance" is worth precisely the same as a pound saved from your normal salary?

[Deva Link]

Ari said:

You do realise that a pound saved from your "car allowance" is worth precisely the same as a pound saved from your normal salary?

That's where your argument is a bit pointless.

Why not sit in the dark and cold - saves you money from your salary?

[Ari]

Deva Link said:

The snag with my approach is I've left it so long I really have merged the money in with my salary and I'd find it a real struggle (mentally) to suddenly start spending £500 per month on a car.
Strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to run a car over 6yrs old, but it's not enforced.

Which is exactly my point (ironically).

Far better to ignore the "car allowance" bks, treat all the money as normal income, and work out what's best for you (as you have done).

Look, I'm not saying don't finance a car. And I'm certainly not saying buy the cheapest car you can get away with (hell, I certainly didn't).

All I'm saying is, many people regard the car allowance as separate "free money" that they can just go out and blow on a PCP and it doesn't affect them as it's "car allowance".

The reality is, (as you prove with your situation) it is income, and people should treat it that way and buy accordingly rather than chucking it away on some PCP that they wouldn't touch with a barge pole if it were their "own" money (because it is their "own" money, they get to keep what they don't spend, just as you do in your situation).

[Ari]

Deva Link said:

That's where your argument is a bit pointless.

Why not sit in the dark and cold - saves you money from your salary?

Then why run a six year plus old Merc?

A grand a month you say, well that's a brand new E Class on a PCP surely, maybe even an S Class, so why aren't you doing it?

You're arguing against yourself on this one mate!

[AllNines]

Ari said:

All I'm saying is, many people regard the car allowance as separate "free money" that they can just go out and blow on a PCP and it doesn't affect them as it's "car allowance".

But it doesn't affect them if the alternative is to take whatever car their company chooses for them. It's giving them a choice. The OP chooses to finance a Scirocco and fair play to them; is a new PCP better than buying the existing car? No idea, sorry.