I'm (still) thinking about a new Fabia vRS, but I normally do a higher than average mileage (about 15,000 miles per year), plus I'm also considering moving house, which would add another ~3-4,000 miles due to a longer commute.

At the moment, my choice of next car is between a Fabia vRS and a Seat Leon FR diesel. The higher initial cost of the Leon is offset by the lower running costs when compared to the Fabia, but the only imponderable is the depreciation. Most depreciation calculators are based on 'average' mileages. If I were to go to a dealer in three years time with a petol Fabia with 50-55k miles on the clock, would they offer a wildly reduced price when compared to a diesel?

If as you say you'd save the price diffrence between the skoda and the leon in running costs I'd imagine you'd be better of with the leon from a depeciation point as assuming the same deperciation factor of say 20% per year the calculations are as follows

VRS

Price new 16k

Year one 12.8k

Year two 10240

Year three 8192

Leon

Price New 19k

Year One 15200

Year Two 12160

Year Three 9728

So if you can save the price diffrence in running costs as you can see the leon would have to out depreciate the skoda to overcome its higher starting price.

Hope this helps

As a reverse of this I am trading in a very low mileage car to get the fabia and they gave practically no credit for it being 'low mileage'

Something to think about too - dealer should give you the deal to make you change cars so low or high mileage seems to make little diffence at the moment.

SEAT cars usually depreciates faster than Skoda due to poorer build quality and some other factors. I'm not anti SEAT but it's a realism that may affect your decision.

SEAT cars usually depreciates faster than Skoda due to poorer build quality and some other factors. I'm not anti SEAT but it's a realism that may affect your decision.

I will second that,poor build quality definate I had a seat altea reference sport 1.9tdi although nicely put together build quality shoddy I got rid of mine in less than a year hence I went back to skoda best thing I did,plus the aftercare from seat is awful,I would go for the skoda all day!

If as you say you'd save the price diffrence between the skoda and the leon in running costs I'd imagine you'd be better of with the leon from a depeciation point as assuming the same deperciation factor of say 20% per year the calculations are as follows

VRS

Price new 16k

Year one 12.8k

Year two 10240

Year three 8192

Leon

Price New 19k

Year One 15200

Year Two 12160

Year Three 9728

So if you can save the price diffrence in running costs as you can see the leon would have to out depreciate the skoda to overcome its higher starting price.

Hope this helps

Not really, no.

IME, a high mileage diesel car is always less devalued than a high mileage petrol car (especially a highly-tuned ones like the 1.4 l 180 bhp in VAG's current crop of small GTis). From a purely financial viewpoint, a Skoda vRS only makes sense if the retained value is about 38% compared to 43% of the diesel Leon. Substantially less than this, and the vRS would end up costing too much.

What I'm asking is whether the depreciation on a 3 year old vRS with >50,000 miles on the clock is effectively 100%.

I point was that the comparison is a bit unbalanced as the Leon strarts from a higher starting point for depreciation than the fabia so it would have more value to lose before your worse off by buying it over the VRS. Normaly this price diffrence would be relevent but you said you would save the diffrence between then in the diffrence in running costs.

Then again that aside I remember being told anyone who thinks buying a car is an investment is deluding themselfs, buy the car you'll look forward to driving everyday and just accept it's never going to be worth what you pair once it's left the dealer.

I point was that the comparison is a bit unbalanced as the Leon strarts from a higher starting point for depreciation than the fabia so it would have more value to lose before your worse off by buying it over the VRS. Normaly this price diffrence would be relevent but you said you would save the diffrence between then in the diffrence in running costs.

Then again that aside I remember being told anyone who thinks buying a car is an investment is deluding themselfs, buy the car you'll look forward to driving everyday and just accept it's never going to be worth what you pair once it's left the dealer.

100% nail on head,the only way you wont loose money on a car,simply buy a classic car cover it in cotton wool and seal it in a vacuumed glass case,leave it until you are about to retire and sell it

I point was that the comparison is a bit unbalanced as the Leon strarts from a higher starting point for depreciation than the fabia so it would have more value to lose before your worse off by buying it over the VRS. Normaly this price diffrence would be relevent but you said you would save the diffrence between then in the diffrence in running costs.

Proportionally the Fabia vRS will lose more of its value, but in actual value they appear(*) to be the same, i.e., about £9,500. However the initially higher price has to be paid for, either in repayments or in opportunity cost of loss of savings.

My figures are these: Difference in purchase price of £4000. If borrowed at 0% would be £111/month. Difference in running costs excl. depreciation, is about £30/month. Therefore if the difference in resale values between the Leon & the Fabia at the end of three years is less than [£4,000 - (£30*36) =] £2,920, then the Fabia 'wins'.

(*) This is the question I'm trying to get an answer to; is a resale value of ~£5,500 realistic for a 3-y-o, 55,000 mile vRS?

Then again that aside I remember being told anyone who thinks buying a car is an investment is deluding themselfs, buy the car you'll look forward to driving everyday and just accept it's never going to be worth what you pair once it's left the dealer.

True, but if you can't afford to run it, or if it takes up so much of your spare cash that you can't do other things you enjoy, then you start to regret the decision.

I realise that a new car is a luxury, and that the sensible thing to do would be to keep my current, perfectly adequate, 3 year old car for a few more years, but the lure of shiny new things is pulling me! I've reached the point in my life where I can afford to live well, put aside savings for my future and still have enough for new cars. I wouldn't want to make a bad decision & jeopardise one of those.

I've reached the point in my life where I can afford to live well, put aside savings for my future and still have enough for new cars. I wouldn't want to make a bad decision & jeopardise one of those.

Lucky you

You're not a Lib Dem MP are you?

I'd think you'd need to speak to someone in the trade for a more realistic opinion but I'd say privately and well looked after probably, trade in not so much. The other thing is have you test driven them both as some have commented that the seat suspension can be crashy and the engines drive differently.

The only other thing I can think of that may sway your decision is the Leon is slightly bigger which may sway you if you've have kids or plan to.

I'm ignoring the DPF regen thing as it sounds like you should be doing enough miles to avoid it but might be worth looking at.

Edited 22 January, 201115 yr by Can

Get a PCP quote on the both, even if you dont plan to go down that route it will give you an idea of what VAG finance think they will retain.