Right my Folks are looking for a new car. At the minute they have a 55 bmw 320d, payments are getting too much so a cheaper car is needed.

They still want nice spec, diesel, quite sporty, 5 doors (big car feel)

What do you guys recommend?

I said a Octavia PD170 vRS?

They have been looking at a Honda Civic 2.2 cdti 5 door sport and a petrol 5 door Golf. They werent impressed with the Golf due to lack of Kick ( dont know model specifics )

Passat would spring to mind...

Are they looking to buy new? If not, an older 320d.

Steve

Yes buy new, hire purchase, same as the BMW they had the old 320d bmw aswell 53reg, what an unlucky car that was

Mondeo 2.2 TDCI?

Laguna 2.0dCi 180 GT?

Rob.

If it's HP, final car value needs to be taken into account does it not? (correct me if I'm wrong, the range of packages available is baffling!)

If that is the case, you're quite often better off with vehicle that's likely to have stronger 2nd hand residuals. This quite often makes the likes of a Laguna/Mondeo/407 a similar monthly price to BMW/Merc with a more expensive list price.

Just a thought....

Steve

Isn't HP just a straight monthly thing, no final payment?

PCP (Like VAG Solutions) has a final payment.

Might be beneficial to switch to one of those, if possible?

If payments are too much on a Beemer then perhaps a new car isn't going to be worth it.

HP is where you pay a deposit (or maybe no deposit but you may not get 0% finance)

PCP is monthly but at the end of the period you get the option to buy or take a new PCP at the end

If your folks tested the 1.6FSI Golf get them to test drive the 1.4TSI 140 or the 170 even the 125 version shouldn't be too bad.

If payments are getting dear on a Beemer and you're loking to economise then cutbacks will have to be made somewhere unfortunatly. Unless you buy a 10yr old Primera GT or a Mondy V6 or similar.

What about a Roomster

Im sure its PCP.

There was a deposit on the BMW and now its reaching 3 years old they can buy or hand it back

mmm thats a dodgy way of buying a car in my eyes.....i know someone atm who has bought a car that way and they always complain they never have any money etc as there car takes it all every month.

In my eyes why not either buy a car outright even if it is second hand ?

i know someone atm who has bought a car that way and they always complain they never have any money etc as there car takes it all every month.

Surely that's just an inability to work to a budget rather than PCP being "dodgy"?

Rob.

I wonder if keeping the current BMW and doing a bit of hard saving to put an extra amount of money down against the car payments might work out cheaper in the long fun.

I wouldn't touch a PD170 and I can't see it being a great finance deal since by the book it has weak residuals and these companies base the price on the book residuals.

mmm thats a dodgy way of buying a car in my eyes.....i know someone atm who has bought a car that way and they always complain they never have any money etc as there car takes it all every month.

In my eyes why not either buy a car outright even if it is second hand ?

The warranty is a good plus for a start

Buying ouright is fine but you have to look after it, PCP you dont really care lol

Thing is with PCPs are the terms and conditions.

Some impose mileage limits etc......

is PCP just like long term rental then?

is PCP just like long term rental then?

Essentially, yes.

The costs are based around depreciation rather than vehicle value...so, roughly speaking, instead of buying a car for £30k and paying back £30k+interest over 3 years (for example), you only pay back £15k+interest (assuming a 50% depreciation over 3 years).

Where it differs from rental is that after the term is up, you have the option to pay the outstanding amount on the vehicle or hand it back. Usually the latter is more favourable, as it means you can get yourself another brand-spanking £30k car, rather than having to find another £15k to buy a three year old car that will need MOTs, won't have a warranty, will have lost that new car smell, etc.

Rob.

So if I understand properly a Brits PCP is what Yanks call a lease. Sounds like a closed end one as well. If they were an open end variety at 1st popular, when the vehicle depreciated more than what the contract originally stipulated. Then you really got stuck holding the bag... HP on the other hand might also be referred to as a Balloon payment loan?

Assuming I've got you right. Then an HP makes sense for someone looking for a lower monthly payment. Yet really intending to keep the vehicle longer than the term of the payments. Making a large final payment from say an expected bonus or inheritance.

While a PCP is most worthwhile to those looking to keep their car only as long as the warranty is in place. As it's easy to walk away at payments end.

From my experience with American leases the most worthwhile are when the manufacturer subsidizes them. This can be done in a# of ways. Two most common are offering an artificially low money factor(similar to a % rate) &/or by overstating the vehicles future value(say using a 55% residual value in place of their truer expectations of 40%ish)...

Back on point! JASC1988 asked for assistance with finding his folks a replacement for their 320D...

Do they want the diesel because they do significant mileage? If so then a PCP is out & an HP might be something to consider, keeping in mind that when it depreciates greater than their end of contract payment trading in won't be an option!

If mileage isn't a real concern & the desire for the diesel is more driving related (like the torque for a relaxed ride/option of towing a load)...

Then a torquey engine like the new VAG 1.8TfSI-160/170 would be a great option. This can be had in a wide variety of VAG offerings yet based on them coming out of a BMW 320D. I'd recommend they look at Skoda SuperbII, OctaviaII or VW PassatVI, JettaV, or Audi A4...

Preferably they won't fall in love with any of them & they then can start hunting for which will give them the best payment savings. If a sedanish look isn't important, then other than all the above in wagon form could be considered as well yet I've rarely found them a cheaper option. While going to a hatchback form would open open the field a bit more quite possibly the cheaper way to go as well {Audi A3-II, VW GolfV, Sirocco, Seat LeonII, & odd ball offerings like the VW GolfPlus, Seat ToledoIII, Altea}...

A good example of this VAG cross shopping took my sister in law out of a entry level Jetta & put her in a mid-line Passat for 25% less than taking an equivalent base Jetta to hers would of cost her besides dropping 10% from her current payments! Plus no money down & VW payed the 1st payment!!!

My dad has a Toyota Avensis on a 54 plate

T4 diesel,built in Sat Nav,climate control,cruise control,elec windows front and back,elec mirrors,sunroof,

Very comfortable! returns between 50 and 60mpg! £7000 he paid for it and has 17''alloys with 205 tyres,its not got bad performance either and has a really nice size boot and cheap tax

Great car,very reliable:)