Best lease deal for 25k miles per year

[Stephen-733s2]

Got a new job that I start mid June. Only problem is it’s going to be a 90 mile commute daily, 5 days a week.

I currently own outright a low mileage 2017 540i. So not only will it cost a fair bit in petrol but it will also drop like a stone value wise putting that sort of mileage on it.

Trying to decide what the best option is going forward. I don’t really want to be stuck in an old banger for two hours a day, but likewise I don’t want to be throwing money down the drain if I can help it. My current thinking is sell the 540 and invest the money I get out of that. Car wise I was thinking maybe electric would be the best answer. Fuel would be costing me around 375-400 a month with work and personal mileage. Before you even start on depreciation. So I was figuring a lease deal on an electric car might be the right choice. Budget around 500 pounds a month but would need a 25k a year mileage allowance on it.

Never leased a car or pcp or anything like that so all new to me. Never gone electric either.

Does anyone know of any good deals on electric cars please? Or another option I haven’t considered.

I was initially thinking tesla model 3; polestar; mini electric; id.3; ipace; Audi etron etc., but not sure I’ll get that without spending a fair bit more.

Any advice would be very gratefully received. Thanks a lot.

[SWoll]

EV certainly makes sense for those mileages and you would be able charge on a 3 pin or dedicated charger for the daily mileage required.

A few options in budget by you'd be looking at a 3 or 4 year term.

https://leasing.com/independent-brokers/jet-vehicl...
https://leasing.com/car-leasing/bmw/i3/hatchback/1...
https://leasing.com/car-leasing/peugeot/208/e-208-...
https://leasing.com/car-leasing/volkswagen/id-3/el...

The larger cars like the Tesla, Polestar, Mustang, ID4, ETron etc. well out of budget unfortunately even with lower mileage requirements.

For the cost you also want to look at buying a lightly use example of some of the above as will cost a similar amount over the term and you'll at least have something to show at the end and flexibility should your circumstances change.

Edited by SWoll on Saturday 1st May 23:49

[Stephen-733s2]

Thanks a lot mate. I’ll take a look at these.

[sjg]

VW ID3 would be comfortably under that on PCP if you don’t go too mad on spec. Drivethedeal prices are very good.

Personally though I’d spend £15-16k on a used Ioniq 28kwh. It’s a bit boring but well suited to plodding along the motorway, has all the assists like adaptive cruise to make it easier, and plenty of warranty left. Get a loan for 3 years and it’s in budget, and if you’re still doing the miles after that then it’s virtually a free car.

[Stephen-733s2]

Yes very true. Thank you.

I’ll look into the ID.3 deals too. Thanks again. Really appreciate it.

[Rich135]

Hi Stephen,

I had almost exactly the same conundrum. I do 25,000 miles a year, with a round trip of about 130 miles a day, 4 days a week.

For the first 2 years I did it in an old beater, Honda Accord 2.2 diesel. Top spec but 10 years old, cost me £4k and I took it from 90k miles to 155k miles and it didn't miss a beat - but I had car envy a LOT of the time on the motorway.

So I upgraded to an almost new Skoda Superb L&K time. Cost £28k and look it from 2k miles to 70k in 2-3 years. It was good on fuel but still cost me £320 a month, and I sold it to WBAC for £12k last year. Quite a hit on depreciation!

I sold it to lease a Tesla Model 3. 3 year lease with 25k miles per year, so the monthlies are not cheap, but the car is great. Effortless driving and costing beans to run in terms of "fuel" and servicing as you don't have an engine to service or a DSG gearbox to worry about.

I would thoroughly recommend going down this route, especially if you can get it as a company car/salary sacrifice as the benefit in kind tax is next to nothing. I did consider a BMW i3, but having come from the big Skoda, I am glad I went Tesla. The Kia looks fine but was hard to get hold of at the time.

All the best

Rich

[Stephen-733s2]

Thank you very much Rich.

Do you mind me asking what deal you got with your lease please? Duration/upfront/monthly etc. Thanks a lot.

[Rich135]

I will drop you a PM Stephen. Cheers.

[Rich135]

It doesn't look like you accept messages at the mo. Drop me a line and I can share the details with you.

[Stephen-733s2]

Rich135 said:

It doesn't look like you accept messages at the mo. Drop me a line and I can share the details with you.

Sent.

Sorry, no idea why I can’t get messages?

[Stephen-733s2]

Sent mate.

Sorry - no idea why I can’t accept them?

[Stephen-733s2]

Yes that’s what I have done. It’s hard guessing a figure on my car with the mileage though.

[Rich135]

The message hasn't come through to me either - weird. Oh well, the figures I had were all based on 3+35 for a 3 year lease and were £606+vat pm for a short range, and £696+vat pm for a long range. I went for long range as you get improved sound system and dual motor, as well as the extra range. All quotes were non-maintened.

All the best

Rich

[Stephen-733s2]

Thanks a lot Rich.

[HughG]

I’ve got a leased Renault Zoe ZE50.
I don’t do your mileage but am likely to exceed the 8k/yr that I signed up for. My additional mileage charge is 6ppm. So even with that, and electricity at 1.25ppm it is still significantly cheaper to run than just fuelling an economical diesel.

For comparison, 25k miles a year would cost me £312/month (inc lease, additional mileage and electric)

[Stephen-733s2]

That’s great figures. Thank you.

I think petrol alone is going to be around £325 for me.

[SWoll]

CheesecakeRunner said:

I’d work out the cost in depreciation and fuel on the BMW and compare it to the total cost leasing something more fuel efficient. I’d suspect it may be cheaper to run the BMW.

Depends what Ev you go for. You're looking at a £4-5k a year fuel bill in the 540i before taking into account depreciation, servicing, RFL, warranty extension, consumables etc. A 2017 car still has a long way to fall value wise and I reckon all in it's got to be costing £8-10k a year?

25k miles is approx 100 full battery charges on a 70kWh EV. At 10p per kW (possible to get cheaper than that) you are looking at a 'fuel' cost of
£700, so as the OP says a £500 a month EV lease is still going to see him better off.

You won't be driving anywhere near as nice a car though for £500 a month, which for 25k miles does need to be considered. A 4 year 25k mile a year deal on a Model 3 SR+ or Polestar 2 is going to cost you £650 a month and still not as nice a place to spend time as the BMW, but then always the case with used vs new.

[Stephen-733s2]

Yeah this is what I’m trying to weigh up. Thank you.

Thinking I might try it for a year and see what the i4 is like by then and what sort of deals are going on them.

[SWoll]

Stephen-733s2 said:

Yeah this is what I’m trying to weigh up. Thank you.

Thinking I might try it for a year and see what the i4 is like by then and what sort of deals are going on them.

i4 guaranteed to be pricey unfortunately, especially with big mileages. I'd expect £800 per month at a minimum for a German EV with a list price of £55k+ They are asking £500 for the aging and < £35k i3 on 4 year 25k mile terms, and that includes the £3k grant.

Manufacturers taking the p*ss on costs at the minute for the prestige EV's especially on lease as many being bought through businesses and offer a significant tax saving so they are able to gouge. Does anyone really believe a 4 year old, 60k mile Model 3 SR+ is only going to be worth £13k? Yet that's what the official PCP figure suggests..

Edited by SWoll on Monday 10th May 14:20

[Stephen-733s2]

Yeah. I’m thinking I might be better off buying outright? Evs don’t seem to lose value as much mileage wise compared to ice.