Car purchasing advice UK

[quintain]

Hi good people
In the next year I will need to consider replacing my 10 yr old Honda CRV.
I hear these days about 'leasing' a vehicle and even such as 'rent to buy'.

I welcome anyone advice on the best purchase procedures at this time.

BTW
I am far from a car nut, I am happy as long as it stops when I want it to, steers where I direct it and starts when I want it to.
I want, safety, comfort and a bit of carrying capacity.
I have no need for the replacement to be new, used with service history is good for me.
I am not particularly interested in electric engine.

 

[marcros]

Are you planning on keeping the vehicle for a number of years or replacing every 3-4 years?

 

[Argus]

...........watching this one.
After many years of company cars, I'm well and truly retired and the rent/lease arrangements largely passed me by. I believe that you need to be careful with the contract mileage...... others will tell us in due course.


However, my most recent car is a Hyundai Hybrid. Not completely electric, as I live in very rural mid Wales - in the central Cambrians - and charging ports in the wild are very rare here and far apart.
In 16,000 miles of all-country roads, seldom over 50 mph, it is returning a little over 64 mpg on a nominal 1600 cc engine since new. I have kept a precise log of fuel use and it agrees very well with the on-board computer.

So, if you ask me, until something better comes along and electric car battery prices, battery life and performance improve, I'll recommend a hybrid.

 

[artie]

Hi good people
In the next year I will need to consider replacing my 10 yr old Honda CRV.

May I inquire why you need to change your CRV?

 

[Jacob]

May I inquire why you need to change your CRV?

Well yes if you don't drive until it's scrap you aren't getting your money's worth! 3 or 4 more years?

 

[Ozi]

Can I ask how much you plan to spend and how many miles you drive a year

 

[danst96]

If its your own money (i.e. not a company car) then buying is generally more cost effective than a lease especially if you will do over 10k miles per year. Rent to buy schemes I am lead to believe are not good.

 

[eribaMotters]

I was banned from buying another diesel 2 years ago as they kill the polar bears. I thought of a Hybrid but you are carrying extra weight and they are not really any more efficient than a good petrol. They also cost more. As such I ended up with a 1.5L petrol Audi A3. It returns 48/50mpg everyday average, nearly 40mpg towing a 1200kg caravan and into the high 60's solo.
How to go about purchase, rent or pcp is down to your desire to own a vehicle or not. My mindset is that if you are renting a car then the company supplying it does not do so out of love. They are in a business and they need to make money, out of you.
I bought, but through an internet broker, CARNET, and a pcp deal . Going this route I had a dealer discount of £2K and an Audi finance contribution of £3K. £5K discount was more than I could get for a cash purchase. I collected the car on a Friday and then phoned up Audi finance Monday morning for a settlement fee and paid it off. I think I paid about £8 in interest so only saved £4,992. This means it was cheaper to buy a new factory order than a 2 year old vehicle off the forecourt.

Colin

edit - I have generally kept each car for about 5 years

 

[Terrytpot]

My previous car (a Land Rover Discovery Sport) I financed via a scheme called PCP (private contract purchase) which is one of the current popular options to buy a vehicle. In these deals you make a deposit and then make further monthly payments over the contract duration, all of which adds up to a sum shy of the final purchase cost. When the contract ends you're left with the choices of either returning the vehicle and walking away or making a further "balloon payment" to own the vehicle outright. Obviously walking away from the car at the end is rather pricey ,and that's not taking into account any further fee's you would receive if the vehicle was deemed to be below condition for it's age, and if you do opt to make that final payment and keep the vehicle it works out slightly more expensive than a standard HP type of scheme. In my case , I was not at all happy that the vehicle would provide trouble free motoring in the future so sold it off to a 3rd party before the contract expired who settled any outstanding finance.
My current vehicle (BMW X3 M Sport) I sourced on a lease arrangement. My 3 year lease is costing less than my previous car and is for a vehicle that retails (at the specs I wanted) for roughly 20% more although I will obviously have no car at the end of the lease unless I either start a new lease or , in some cases , the lease provider gives an option to purchase your existing vehicle. When my current lease expires I'm not sure what car I'll get next but I think it will still be on a lease as anything over 40k with performance kills you on road tax unless it's electric and that tech is all still a bit too new to class as fully developed imho. (and yes,I know lease arrangements are priced to include the fact that the lease provider ,who technically own the vehicle ,pay the car's road tax but it doesn't feel like it when you don't have to find it yourself every year )

 

[marcros]

We had a small VW up! That we had as a lease. It was a couple of years ago now but the monthly cost was less than we were making for maintenance keeping an old Mégane going. We handed it back after 3 years with no regrets. Paying the balloon payment wasn't worth it for us, it was approx the same as the value on auto trader.

I would say that if you plan to keep the car for a few years, buy. If you want to have a new car every 3 years, the other options may work out better, particularly if you don't have the cash to purchase outright. You can sometimes get some good lease deals if you time it right, but if cars are not a great passion for you then these may be less interesting to you.

 

[clogs]

Please note that low mileage used cars in nice condition are fetching premium prices right now...
personally if I were in the same position I'd
a, keep the Honda longer
b, find another or a Toyota.....
both premium brands with good reliability.....

out of interest my forever vehicle is a 1999, VW kombi, 1.9TD.....pre electronic with a new engine etc.....
owes me nothing now....oh, it was Waxoiled from new and has no rust whatso ever other than the scratches.....
to rebuild it with a recon engine and gearbox, replace all the brakes and steering along with the Alt and starter would cost less than £4,000 in parts..cheap motoring I'd say as it should do another 400,000miles....
by then I wont be here.....hahaha.....

 

[brocher]

Hi - just bought a Honda Jazz Hybrid 2020 reg. Very satisfied with this as it is returning approx 72/73mpg after recent very long journeys to Northumberland and Scotland - so good as far as I am concerned. Bought outright from a main Honda dealer in West Bromwich. And it is our first automatic as that what hybrids are now - it performs extremely well for me on inclines.

 

[Jameshow]

Please note that low mileage used cars in nice condition are fetching premium prices right now...
personally if I were in the same position I'd
a, keep the Honda longer
b, find another or a Toyota.....
both premium brands with good reliability.....

out of interest my forever vehicle is a 1999, VW kombi, 1.9TD.....pre electronic with a new engine etc.....
owes me nothing now....oh, it was Waxoiled from new and has no rust whatso ever other than the scratches.....
to rebuild it with a recon engine and gearbox, replace all the brakes and steering along with the Alt and starter would cost less than £4,000 in parts..cheap motoring I'd say as it should do another 400,000miles....
by then I wont be here.....hahaha.....

T4 combi?

Bullet proof the 1.9 vag engine.

Cheers James

 

[powertools]

I don't think that this is a question that any one can advise on without a lot more info.
The only advise I would give without knowing more is to delay your purchase for 6 to 12 months if you can as demand for cars at the moment is high and supply is low.

 

[gog64]

There used to be some excellent leasing deals about if you were prepared to be flexible on which car and got lucky on the timing. There’s very little about now. Have a read of the latest lease deals thread on PistonHeads for a flavour of what’s available now.

One tip to be aware of if buying new is that you can (or used to pre COVID) get some great incentives by taking out a PCP finance. You generally have to keep it going for only a few months (to make sure the sales rep gets their commission!) and can then pay off the PCP early in full. I’ve saved quite a few thousands that way.

You should get on the web and read up about the different finance options.

One other wheeze to be aware is pre-reg vehicles. Mainly available on the cheaper more mainstream brands. It’s a con to massage sales figures. You need to do a bit of leg work and find out who are the current “favoured” dealers who are selling these. I’m waiting for delivery next week of a new work van. Delivery miles, list price over £30k+vat, mine for £18k+vat. No choice of colour or spec, but I’m not complaining!

 

[doctor Bob]

Well yes if you don't drive until it's scrap you aren't getting your money's worth! 3 or 4 more years?

is everything about money's worth, sometimes wasting dough is enlightening and fun.

 

[Tim Nott]

"...hard alloy forging, turdy and durable..." Holy dung!

 

[Steve_Scott]

One tip to be aware of if buying new is that you can (or used to pre COVID) get some great incentives by taking out a PCP finance. You generally have to keep it going for only a few months (to make sure the sales rep gets their commission!) and can then pay off the PCP early in full. I’ve saved quite a few thousands that way.

listen to this… most dealers will offer “dealer contribution” if you take out their PCP and this won’t be offered in a cash sale. Even if you don’t want the finance or it would make it more expensive in the long run, take it out to get the discount then pay off the finance…. This can even be done the same day in some cases.

Also, have a nose at “drive the deal” or other broker services for an indication of what deals can be had. Even if you don’t plan to use them, you can use it as ammunition to lower the cost at your local dealer (I’ve used drive the deal and it was fine and used them to negotiate the price of a pre built car on a forecourt).

 

[Terrytpot]

Also, have a nose at ..other broker services for an indication of what deals can be had… use it as ammunition to lower the cost at your local dealer..

Sound advice..the dealership I had my Landrover from (my local one) were adamant that I couldn’t get the car I wanted from them for the price I was prepared to pay (to the point of actually being quite rude and derisive about it) until I went and got a quote from the other end of the country at which point they were happy to price match.
As a fairly simple start point have a look at carwow dot com and see what different deals they can find for the car you want

 

[ian33a]

I cant vouch for prices at this very moment but, in the past (under a year ago), I've purchased nearly new examples from dealerships at quite reasonable prices. Our last four cars were previously owned and leased to head office employees of each of the brands that we bought. I don't care if the car is six months old and has 5k miles (or whatever) on the clock. Provided it is in near mint condition, has the stuff on it that I want and is at a price that suits me, I'm happy. We tend to then keep the car for five years plus, look after it and still get a reasonable trade in price against another one.

We always pay for the cars outright, no loans, PCP or whatever. While loans are cheap, ready cash is also attracting poor interest rates at the bank and I can't take the money if I pop my clogs. As the cars become ours, we can keep them for as long as we wish and are not limited in annual mileage or contract return condition. I appreciate, however, that not everybody can pay outright for a car.

While nobody should be paying RRP, sourced carefully, late cars with a high specification could (and maybe still can) be bought for around half RRP yet be less than a year old - or that's what we found.