Why do buyers of £50k cars care about MPG?

[Xenoous]

Because very few people buy a car for £50k. With PCP, low APR loans and leasing, the actual percentage of cars purchased in cash must be very low.

If I had £30k sitting in the bank, and I wanted a nice £20k car, I'd probably put £5k down and pay monthlies on the lowest APR loan I could find to cover the rest. Having actual money in the bank is far more important to me than paying for a car monthly.

[jamieduff1981]

It's the height of folly to spend money either outright or financing a £50k car to "save money". If you want to save money, don't buy a generic Eurobox that will depreciate like an egg sandwich left out in the sun.

Likewise, if someone cares about the environment, unless they cover mega milages, the worst thing they can do for Planet Earth is have a massive supply chain build them £50k's worth of complex machinery with an enormous carbon footprint just to make the thing exist.

[SWoll]

All becomes rather pointless in the face of EV's anyway? Most £50k cars will be company provided I would assume so a no brainer with current tax legislation for most?

If you can charge at home and aren't doing 250+ miles a day regularly you can get a car that's smoother, quieter and more responsive than any ICE car in its class and pay 1% BIK and 3-4p per mile in fuel.

If you've got a 100 mile a day commute (25k per year ish) then the saving compared to even a very efficient 50mpg diesel in fuel alone is huge, easily £200+ a month.

Edited by SWoll on Wednesday 9th June 09:41

[PurpleTurtle]

SWoll said:

All becomes rather pointless in the face of EV's anyway? Most £50k cars will be company provided I would assume so a no brainer with current tax legislation for most?

If you can charge at home and aren't doing 250+ miles a day regularly you can get a car that's smoother, quieter and more responsive than any ICE car in its class and pay 1% BIK and 3-4p per mile in fuel.

If you've got a 100 mile a day commute (25k per year ish) then the saving compared to even a very efficient 50mpg diesel in fuel alone is huge, easily £200+ a month.

Edited by SWoll on Wednesday 9th June 09:41

Agreed, the operative word being current tax legislation.

Without wishing to take the thread off piste, that legislation will change after 2035 as there will be an ever increasing hole in Treasury finances as more people migrate to EVs. No prizes for guessing what will then be taxed.

[SWoll]

PurpleTurtle said:

SWoll said:

All becomes rather pointless in the face of EV's anyway? Most £50k cars will be company provided I would assume so a no brainer with current tax legislation for most?

If you can charge at home and aren't doing 250+ miles a day regularly you can get a car that's smoother, quieter and more responsive than any ICE car in its class and pay 1% BIK and 3-4p per mile in fuel.

If you've got a 100 mile a day commute (25k per year ish) then the saving compared to even a very efficient 50mpg diesel in fuel alone is huge, easily £200+ a month.

Edited by SWoll on Wednesday 9th June 09:41

Agreed, the operative word being current tax legislation.

Without wishing to take the thread off piste, that legislation will change after 2035 as there will be an ever increasing hole in Treasury finances as more people migrate to EVs. No prizes for guessing what will then be taxed.

100%, but that's a lot of years saving £2500 to go yet.

Back on topic, the last CC I had was an Audi A6 estate. Had the choice between a 2.0TDI with every option possible or a 3.0TDI is base spec. Went for the 2.0 with all the kit and the MPG/BIK saving was just a bonus.

Going up and down the UK motorway network covering 25k+ miles per year the size of the engine was meaningless. The better seats, stereo, nav, matrix lights etc. made a much bigger difference.

[otolith]

PurpleTurtle said:

Agreed, the operative word being current tax legislation.

Without wishing to take the thread off piste, that legislation will change after 2035 as there will be an ever increasing hole in Treasury finances as more people migrate to EVs. No prizes for guessing what will then be taxed.

Could be personal transport. Could be domestic energy. Could be carbon. Could be income. Could be VAT. Could be the number of windows in your house.

[Mouse Rat]

MercAudi342 said:

Why is MPG so important on cars like the E/S class, 5/7 series, A6/A8?

Why are people happy to pay £5k for a pack that gives them leather seats and a few other comforts but aren't willing to pay £5k extra over 3 years to fuel a smoother engine?

Is it simply because they are happy to give a car company extra money but don't want to give the tax man extra fuel duty?

There aren't that many options (apart from new) other than diesel on these type of cars.

However diesels are better than petrol's for the type of journey most of these cars are designed to do. My E350cdi is super smooth and better than a petrol for motorway commutes, returning 50mpg @ 75mph @ 1200rpm. 1500rpm is 85mph and 40mpg.

[Pixelpeep Z4]

Buyers of £50,000 cars are not as 'loaded' as i presume you presume.

Man math on a £50k on a monthly PCP deal can be made a lot easier with pleasing headline (and unrealistic) MPG figures.

I find this especially relevant when asking (read: begging) the other half to be 'ok' with getting rid of an older performance car in favour of a newer and more powerful variant.

(and yes, i am currently exchanging my 11 year old Z4 35i for a brand new m135i using this very method LOL)

[sean ie3]

I guess that it depends on where your 50K is going. My 50K would be aimed at an M2C where MPG is almost part of the pleasure of running the car, road tax on the other hand is a pain at top rates, but then, it is really only a tenner a week.

[PH User]

sean ie3 said:

I guess that it depends on where your 50K is going. My 50K would be aimed at an M2C where MPG is almost part of the pleasure of running the car, road tax on the other hand is a pain at top rates, but then, it is really only a tenner a week.

That's more like it. I couldn't spend £50k on something dull!

[Psycho Warren]

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

Buyers of £50,000 cars are not as 'loaded' as i presume you presume.

Exactly, the same kind of "keeping up with the jones" types or image concious idiots. They will also be the same people with cheap chinese tyres on their high performance range rover or moaning that the wipers smear all the time having not changed them in years or again, used chinese rubbish.

But hey, they think they are lording it up against their neighbours and shallow friends. I guess amongst thick people, they may well think that. Anyone with a few brain cells will know its likely financed to the hilt and they are breaking the bank to afford it for no reason other than shallow image that in reality is irrelevant in the real world.

[PH User]

[Jaguar steve]

PurpleTurtle said:

I've always thought that those who made enough money (let's assume outright purchase rather than PCP/Lease) are savvy enough with their money to not wish to give the Govt loads of their hard-earned in fuel duty.

Outright purchasers will still be pouring several thousands of pounds down the toilet every year in depreciation though even if they have saved themselves a few quid on fuel duty. There's not much very savvy about that.

Money is money after all and it makes no difference to your bottom line where it gets spent.

[ITP]

Diesel cars are not all bought as company cars these days, and haven't been for years.
Plenty of people bought diesel cars because they were purely deemed 'cheaper to run' than petrol cars, by the masses. The reality is many many people bought them just to run around locallly, just like petrol cars. The savings on fuel, minimal on short urban journeys, offset by dpf problems caused but low mileage. saving lost. Plus using diesels for local short journeys, generally in highly populated areas is hardly doing your bit for the enviroment.

High mileage motorway users are key users of diesel cars, where range and cost comes into play.

Maybe any diesel car doing less than 15k/year should pay an annual extra tax for innapropriate use.

[otolith]

Jaguar steve said:

PurpleTurtle said:

I've always thought that those who made enough money (let's assume outright purchase rather than PCP/Lease) are savvy enough with their money to not wish to give the Govt loads of their hard-earned in fuel duty.

Outright purchasers will still be pouring several thousands of pounds down the toilet every year in depreciation though even if they have saved themselves a few quid on fuel duty. There's not much very savvy about that.

Money is money after all and it makes no difference to your bottom line where it gets spent.

That is like assuming that anyone who pays for first class flights shouldn't care about getting their pocket picked in the airport.

[Pastie Bloater]

'Buying' is a debateable term

[Pixelpeep Z4]

Psycho Warren said:

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

Buyers of £50,000 cars are not as 'loaded' as i presume you presume.

Exactly, the same kind of "keeping up with the jones" types or image concious idiots. They will also be the same people with cheap chinese tyres on their high performance range rover or moaning that the wipers smear all the time having not changed them in years or again, used chinese rubbish.

But hey, they think they are lording it up against their neighbours and shallow friends. I guess amongst thick people, they may well think that. Anyone with a few brain cells will know its likely financed to the hilt and they are breaking the bank to afford it for no reason other than shallow image that in reality is irrelevant in the real world.

'Savvy people' will purchase via whatever means cost the least for their requirements.

and seriously, have you paid for your house outright?

No?

Clearly you can't afford it then and just overstretched yourself to impress your friends ?

[Psycho Warren]

You are seriously trying to tell me those people don't exist literally everywhere? takes 2 seconds to see it is the case. Sure not everyone who finances a car (or a house) will overcommit for image reasons to lord it up over the neighbours or because they think they really need a silly big premim suv or range rover...... But there are plenty that do.

[Pixelpeep Z4]

Psycho Warren said:

You are seriously trying to tell me those people don't exist literally everywhere? takes 2 seconds to see it is the case. Sure not everyone who finances a car (or a house) will overcommit for image reasons to lord it up over the neighbours or because they think they really need a silly big premim suv or range rover...... But there are plenty that do.

to assume either way is still an assumption.

and what you class as 'overcommitting' might actually be ok and accepted by others.

Let's not end up down the 'benefit claimants shouldn't be spending money on cigarettes and alcohol' rabbit hole eh?

[Psycho Warren]

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

Let's not end up down the 'benefit claimants shouldn't be spending money on cigarettes and alcohol' rabbit hole eh?

If they are feeding their kids, paying their bills and debts then none of my business.....

If however they are pissing the money away on booze, drugs, sky tv etc while relying on generosity of charity to feed their kids (or just neglecting them), then yes its my business.