The cost of small cars is no longer small!

Brummie85

Herzlos wrote: »

That's (IIRC) the top range model with all the bells and whistles. It's still a small car but it's not mid range.

Hi,

Top trim is a Tekna with the Vision & Appearance packs, which lists at an incredible £21,500 :rotfl:

For fun I built one of those on Car Wow last night. The cheapest offer (including a £2000 PCP finance contribution) is £17,250, a discount of 22.5% from the list price. Nissan also have an offer for a further £750 off if you take a test drive, which would bring it down to £16,500 (if the dealer honours it and doesn't say the discount was already included in their offer, like they often do!).

Would I pay £16k+ for a new Micra? Still probably not. I'm sure that in that spec it's a nice car (if the QQ Tekna is anything to go by), but it still doesn't represent something I would find practical or good value.

In saying all this, my gf revealed that her 108 was just under £14k. I find that bonkers. It's such a small and basic car. I think I'll make sure I go car shopping with her this time :money:

peter_the_piper

New Picanto starts at £9700 less scrappage. not much wrong with that price for a relable, economical car.

Jackmydad

I suppose that you get pretty well hassle free motoring if you lease. Or as near as you're ever going to. I've got a friend who does. I can see the attraction to some extent, but I'm allergic to monthly payments, especially when they "go on forever"

The "options" thing has been going on for years. I can remember a friend's father having a brand new Toyota sometime back in the early 80s.
It came with all the bells and whistles for a car at the time.
Offerings at the same price from some other main manufacturers at that time, were very, very basic. Carpets were extra in some.

greengiant00

...and it holds its value

jaybeetoo

So getting a car on PCP is stupid?

My current car is on PCP. I got it at a lower price than if I’d paid cash plus I got a £2000 deposit contribution plus 1 year free insurance plus a ridiculously low interest rate. I did the maths and I couldn’t have got a 1 year old car for less.

motorguy

James2k wrote: »

Thats the point, they don't need to be rich, id say a good majority of the new cars you see on the roads are driven by people who couldn't afford to buy it outright and go month to month because it makes the cars achievable for them. hence all the pcp deals with massive final payments and low monthly payments. -not very sensible in my opinion, but in the uk its become a 'status' thing to have a fancy car and or new car, even if you don't own the thing!

personally i like to own my cars

Massive final payments and low monthlies = result. :beer:

95% of people on a PCP deal hand the car back anyway.

A lot of people dont want to be bothered with running an older car so a PCP deal and a fixed monthly sum they can budget for makes sense.

I'm not saying you're wrong for your circumstances by the way, just that you're looking at it subjectively. Objectively, it can make a lot of sense for a lot of people (and clearly does).

James2k

jaybeetoo wrote: »

So getting a car on PCP is stupid?

My current car is on PCP. I got it at a lower price than if I’d paid cash plus I got a £2000 deposit contribution plus 1 year free insurance plus a ridiculously low interest rate. I did the maths and I couldn’t have got a 1 year old car for less.

yeah you could have withdrawn from the finance within 14 days and kept all the discounts, extras etc. its what i did on my S5.

then you pay no interest, only time it works out staying with pcp is if your interest on your savings is more than the interest on the finance, which is unlikely, unless interest free

motorguy

Brummie85 wrote: »

Hi,

Top trim is a Tekna with the Vision & Appearance packs, which lists at an incredible £21,500 :rotfl:

For fun I built one of those on Car Wow last night. The cheapest offer (including a £2000 PCP finance contribution) is £17,250, a discount of 22.5% from the list price. Nissan also have an offer for a further £750 off if you take a test drive, which would bring it down to £16,500 (if the dealer honours it and doesn't say the discount was already included in their offer, like they often do!).

Would I pay £16k+ for a new Micra? Still probably not. I'm sure that in that spec it's a nice car (if the QQ Tekna is anything to go by), but it still doesn't represent something I would find practical or good value.

In saying all this, my gf revealed that her 108 was just under £14k. I find that bonkers. It's such a small and basic car. I think I'll make sure I go car shopping with her this time :money:

How many top end ones will they actually sell? Probably very few. To me a Micra should be cheap, basic, reliable motoring. There will be a minority who want to get the top end one, but the standard car at maybe £11.5K after discount makes a lot more sense for a lot more people.

motorguy

Jackmydad wrote: »

I suppose that you get pretty well hassle free motoring if you lease. Or as near as you're ever going to. I've got a friend who does. I can see the attraction to some extent, but I'm allergic to monthly payments, especially when they "go on forever"

The "options" thing has been going on for years. I can remember a friend's father having a brand new Toyota sometime back in the early 80s.
It came with all the bells and whistles for a car at the time.
Offerings at the same price from some other main manufacturers at that time, were very, very basic. Carpets were extra in some.

They dont need to "go on forever" though. Set up a 2 or 3 year commitment, next time suit yourself - buy something cheap for cash, take out a personal loan, whatever. Nobody makes anyone continue leasing. Thats the beauty of it.

I've had cars via PCP, regular HP, bank loan or cash in the past. I've driven cars costing between £50,000 and £90 over the years. I look at what i want to drive, then work out the best way to achieve that. It might be finance, it might be cash.

motorguy

James2k wrote: »

yeah you could have withdrawn from the finance within 14 days and kept all the discounts, extras etc. its what i did on my S5.

then you pay no interest, only time it works out staying with pcp is if your interest on your savings is more than the interest on the finance, which is unlikely, unless interest free

Whilst you've saved on the interest payments, it wont stop your S5 depreciating at what can be roughly defined as a monthly amount anyway.