Best way to drive/own many different nice cars?

[TB404]

Maybe a bit theoretical,
But I wonder what the most economical way of seriously sampling several nice cars?
My definition of nice cars are luxury/sports BMW/Audi/Tesla

I guess there are two options here, the first is hiring cars (maybe on trips abroad) and secondly, leasing/owning a car and changing every year or two?

There are downsides in both cases, rental cars are often basic spec and can be expensive (depending on location and time of year etc).

Leasing a different car every year is more expensive than leasing for 2-3 years usually.

Maybe buying used and changing those frequently?

Appreciate your thoughts,

EDIT: doing a test drive at a dealer isn't quite the thing

[bunn89]

Keen to follow this with a bit of interest. 24 month deals are sometimes too long and a 12 month deal is too expensive

[Joelonghair]

I think the best way would be to be rich.

[akirk]

But older cars...
The cost is in buying new...
New golf or secondhand Aston?!

[ChrisH72]

Cheapest way would definitely be to buy older interesting cars. Many luxury and sports cars become very cheap when around 10 years old and most of the depreciation is done. So you could buy private, keep for a year and sell without losing a lot. The risk is that something will go wrong and you'll get a large bill so you would need to have some cash in reserve as back up.

[ZX10R NIN]

As above buy older interesting cars.

[av185]

Buying and selling anything and getting the best deal is all about timing.

If you buy the right car at the right time of year at the right point in its production cycle it can be relatively painless financially as long as you sell at a crucial point.

This includes high end newish stuff too. The principles are the same.

[TB404]

av185 said:

Buying and selling anything and getting the best deal is all about timing.

If you buy the right car at the right time of year at the right point in its production cycle it can be relatively painless financially as long as you sell at a crucial point.

This includes high end newish stuff too. The principles are the same.

This is very interesting, can you please elaborate?

[av185]

TB404 said:

av185 said:

Buying and selling anything and getting the best deal is all about timing.

If you buy the right car at the right time of year at the right point in its production cycle it can be relatively painless financially as long as you sell at a crucial point.

This includes high end newish stuff too. The principles are the same.

This is very interesting, can you please elaborate?

Unsure how much you are looking to spend and specifically which model but for example now would be a good time to buy a convertible as we approach February as demand is relatively low as they are obviously seasonal cars and priced accordingly. Snowfall in February has a further depreciating effect. The price differential between say December and the following Spring can be up to 15 % and even more depending on the exact car.

To a lesser degree sports cars are seasonal too. Prices plummet in the winter but always recover into the following Spring.

Whilst the seasonal difference is still there, with milder winters it has lessened to a degree although still worth maximising and effectively you can get free motoring if you buy and sell smartly.

[TB404]

Thank you, I'm more interested in cars like the 3/5 series A4/5/6 etc

I wonder fo exmaple if it makes sense, to buy use (Say 2 years old), pay for it with a proper bank loan (so low APR) then sell it after 2 years and recycle? I guess you could vary that with PCP or leasing?

Just thinking out loud, your ideas are welcome

[Frankthered]

A couple of left-field ideas.

First one is I remember seeing a lease deal many years ago that let you change the car every six months or so. You were still tied in for three years (or whatever) but you could swap. They were relatively high-end too, so you could swap say Boxster to M3 to AMG or Jag. (Can't remember the specifics.) I do recall it wasn't cheap though and these deals may not be around any more.

The second would be to set yourself up as a lease broker. If you were doing enough business, you could probably get yourself some cracking deals.

[London1986]

Have you thought about Turo? Like Airbnb but for cars.

Much cheaper than a normal car rental company like Hertz/Sixt and better range of cars.

I've done it a few times and can work out a lot cheaper than a lease/PCP option.

[Z4MCSL]

I would say look at some used cars and just buy them, whether on finance or ideally on 0% credit card.

If you are savvy with what you buy then it is going to cost you much less than leasing and should get you some interesting motors, you may even make money if you are lucky.

If you look at a 12 month £200/month lease you are talking £2,400 in a year, if it was £300 /month £3,600

So if you were considering a £300/month lease for 1 year then you just have to ensure that what you buy wont depreciate by 3600 in a year..

It depends what youre after but e.g. E90 M3 - pick one up for £15k...after 12 months I doubt you would have lost 3600 on it depending on how much you drive it. At some point the E90 M3s are going to bottom out and start picking up value

There are many cars that sit in this category.

[edc]

Buy older and a bit niche and you do those much if anything in depreciation. I ran C55 AMG as my practical car, Boxster for fun, moped to get to station for train to work. £18k purchase total.