Car options

mark7062

Hi all,

My wife and I are currently in Australia, returning to UK mid June and having a baby at the end of August. When we came out here in September we got rid of our current car ( which was a personal lease) and so will be returning home to no car.

There is a potential opportunity to return to Australia for the long term after the year, as such I'm reluctant to commit to car finance (of whatever type) at the risk of suffering a financial penalty if we need to get out of it after only 6 months or so. I can't seem to find a suitable short term lease, and a long term hire is really expensive!

We've found a pretty good deal for a 3 year Personal Contract Hire on a Mercedes C-Class, but as I've mentioned we're reluctant to go down this route - although I admittedly haven't explored the termination penalties. We are looking for a vehicle similar to the Mercedes, such as an Audi A4 or BMW 3-Series.

Does anyone have any experience or advice they are willing to share?

Thanks in advance!
Mark

Strider590

Why don't you buy something cheap 2nd hand, then get shot of it as and when (especially as it's only potentially needed for a year).... Got to be better and cheaper than being tied to a lease/finance agreement at several hundred £ a month.

With a baby on the way, your going to need to save those pennies, is looking like a wannabe middle class prat really THAT important that you'd tie yourself into more debt for it?

mark7062

Bit harsh....

I'm asking for opinions on the best way to get a car for the short term, not be judged for the vehicle I want to drive.

In response to your question, no its not important at all. One of the reasons I mentioned the cars I'm looking at is that I noticed there are some short term lease deals but they typically seem to be for Fords for some reason.

MX5huggy

Plenty of 3 series on autotrader for less than a return ticket to Austrailer.

Strider590

mark7062 wrote: »

Bit harsh....

Perhaps, but I thought i'd appeal to your common sense.......

jase1

Must admit I think your best bet is to get hold of something that's a few years old, so you're not losing a fortune, rather than leasing when you don't know how long you'll remain.

By all means buy a premium car.

RDG

Id avoid new mercs if you want it to be reliable the quality of the current breed is poor at best. Ok its covered by the warranty but its a real pain.

As sucggested second hand will be the best value as you can get a lot of car for your money over here, just browes autotrader.

But if you want new then id steer away from the german marques as they arent what they used to be and you can get a lot more for your money by taking a step down the perseived quality scale. Accords, Mondeos etc. are all very good cars for a lot less money a month.

neilmcl

RDG wrote: »

Id avoid new mercs if you want it to be reliable the quality of the current breed is poor at best. Ok its covered by the warranty but its a real pain.

As sucggested second hand will be the best value as you can get a lot of car for your money over here, just browes autotrader.

But if you want new then id steer away from the german marques as they arent what they used to be and you can get a lot more for your money by taking a step down the perseived quality scale. Accords, Mondeos etc. are all very good cars for a lot less money a month.

Do you speak from any experience on this or just like making sweeping statements?