Lease/buy - help please!

PJMardy

OddballJamie wrote: »

What problems have you had with the KA?

It's all been little things that have added up (and, I'm sure, I could well have been ripped off at the garage as I know NOTHING!)... when I first got it, the engine management light came on after a couple of weeks and I replaced spark plugs, ignition coil, lamda (sp?) sensor and another thing I can't remember... ooh, maybe something on the exhaust?! (I hate that I'm conforming to all gender stereotypes here...)

Then at its MOT in April I replaced brake tubes, rear axle bushes, and again something else (sorry, I'm at work and don't have the info to hand).

Then had a puncture (which is not the Ka's fault!) but when I went to get the tyre replaced they informed me that I'd been driving around with different sized tyres... so had to replace a couple of them.

Now, the engine management light is back on, and I lose power often while driving. If I pull over and turn engine off then back on it seems to be OK again, but I generally have to do this 3-4 times a journey home! I've also noticed a funny smell - poss burning rubber? when I am driving... :eek:

I know all these things are relatively minor - I think it's more the psychological battle of spending yet more money on a car that I really hate driving!

That said, I want to do the most economical thing and use my money in the wisest way - I've been in trouble before (clearly, as my signature suggests) and am really trying to sort myself out - hence buying the cheapest car I could find to buy and run at the time... or so I thought!

Ta
PJ

Idiophreak

plane_boy2000 wrote: »

For me its a no brainer, I get to keep my 20K in the bank and drive a new car for less than I could buy it for.

This is exactly how I feel...The Mrs' car is a great example...She's on a PCP for an Aygo, costs her £115/month, something like that. For that amount, she gets three years use of a brand new (initially ) car, with all the mod cons. It's £0 VED, includes free breakdown and does something approaching 70MPG. There's no MOT in the course of the agreement, just a couple of services (which can be bought for fixed price if bothered) and tyres. If she went through a £1k banger every couple of years, she'd have to save £50 or so each month anyway, plus pay higher fuel costs, higher VED, MOT costs, breakdown, not have a warranty and have to drive a banger. Seems a no brainer to me, too.

PJMardy

Idiophreak wrote: »

This is exactly how I feel...The Mrs' car is a great example...She's on a PCP for an Aygo, costs her £115/month, something like that. For that amount, she gets three years use of a brand new (initially ) car, with all the mod cons. It's £0 VED, includes free breakdown and does something approaching 70MPG. There's no MOT in the course of the agreement, just a couple of services (which can be bought for fixed price if bothered) and tyres. If she went through a £1k banger every couple of years, she'd have to save £50 or so each month anyway, plus pay higher fuel costs, higher VED, MOT costs, breakdown, not have a warranty and have to drive a banger. Seems a no brainer to me, too.

This is my problem - there's no guarantee another cheap car isn't going to need loads of work doing again... but then again, if it doesn't then I'm going to be much better off and can save for something better... and this is why I keep going round and round in circles!!

OddballJamie

Leasing may be an option for you, Ling Cars have Seat Mii and VW Up for about £115 a month. Problem is it's over three years and you're currently on a rolling contract.

It does sound like you've changed a lot on the car, but with the issues and odd tyre sizes it sounds like it's had a hard life in the past, possibly not much spent in the way of maintenance.

I'm still on the side of getting a Micra, my partners sisters car averages 45mpg and has only not started once in almost four years.

PJMardy

OddballJamie wrote: »

Leasing may be an option for you, Ling Cars have Seat Mii and VW Up for about £115 a month. Problem is it's over three years and you're currently on a rolling contract.

It does sound like you've changed a lot on the car, but with the issues and odd tyre sizes it sounds like it's had a hard life in the past, possibly not much spent in the way of maintenance.

I'm still on the side of getting a Micra, my partners sisters car averages 45mpg and has only not started once in almost four years.

Yeah, that is the problem with the leasing thing... it's probably unlikely that I'd lose my job (main reason I'm on rolling and not permanent is because I got my job through an agency and they'd have to pay a big lump sum to take me on permanently)... but I don't want to be in the position of not being able to pay, either.

I'll have a look at Micras... as I say, I took my test in an 03 Micra and loved driving it...

Thanks again

plane_boy2000

TradePro wrote: »

I have to say these numbers don't appear to stack up - who did you the favour of 'subsidising' your use of a brand new car for three years?

Somebody somewhere must have made a profit...

I'm sure they did. Car manufacturers have huge marketing budgets which are put behind specific models at certain times (my current lease actually states that it is being subsidised by Volvo in the contract). My V60 was not selling in the UK, so by offering a really cheap lease deal they could get units on the road and raise the profile. Its not a car I would have picked, but at the price I'm paying its hardly any more than a fiesta.

In the case of the example I gave it was a Citroen and the lease company was Banque PSA Finance who just happen to be owned by Citroen / Peugeot....... so nobody outside of that organisation will know what the finance co paid for the car, and the finance co can claim some of the VAT back - an option not option not open to me.

You also need to remember that the finance company can only make a best guess at what a car will be worth at the end. Sometimes they get it wrong and its worth less than they forecast.