Car decision

thomas812

Hey all,
I'm currently debating what to do regarding my car and future car.
I am into cars, and am enthusiastic about cars and it's essentially a hobby. I am currently on a PCP finance for a fiesta ST-2 2019 which I am paying £230 a month for and £860 a year for insurance (paid it in full) - Average MPG is 36 and I drive 300+ miles a week, so I'm spending close to £200 a week on fuel alone. 
I love the fiesta, it's fast and decently priced to run, however I want something faster but at the same time nothing too crazy expensive however at the same time I also want to save money!

I will not be stating my salary, as I spend my money differently to how some people may spend it, I like to prioritize what I enjoy, and some people do it differently.

I am currently stuck deciding if it's worth going for a less performance car and saving money, or sticking to my hobby and using a lot of my money on the car.
The performance cars I have as options are a BMW 435D, audi S3, golf R and focus RS. 
BMW 435D - £350-400 a month for the car, £1900 to insure for a year - Average 45MPG - £152.63 a month on fuel
Audi S3 - £300-350 a month for the car, £1500 to insure for a year - Average 40MPG - £171.71 a month on fuel
Golf R - £275-£325 a month for the car, £1300 to insure for a year - Average 38MPG - £180.74 a month on fuel
Focus RS - £370-400 a month for the car, £1600 to insure for a year - Average 25MPG - £274.73 a month on fuel
Now, please note these are the options I am considering for my performance car, the focus RS and 435d being my favorite, and I can justify the price, but I'm not sure if it'll be worth it.

After talking to my partner, I have started to look at lower performance cars for cheaper and better fuel efficiency for the sole purpose of saving money and having a faster car later on in life as I am still quite young. I am trying to be smart yet have a luxury life style that I can afford.
The lower spec options are: (I am a BMW fan) - I know there are some other decent performance high economical cars, and I'm open to suggestions.
BMW 430D - £260-300 a month for the car, £1400 to insure for a year - Average 50MPG - £137.36 a month on fuel
BMW 420D - £210-250 a month for the car, £1000 to insure for a year - Average 60MPG - £114.47 a month on fuel

At the end of the day, I could spend £400 on a car, spend £200 a month to insure it and spend £300 a month for fuel, which would put me £900 a month back on the car or I could be sensible for a few years and spend £250 a month on a car, spend £100 a month to insure it and spend £115 a month for fuel which would only put me £465 a month on the car.. saving the £435 (which is very tempting, but so is a nice fast car!)

I just wants some advice on where to go, if I should just hold my fast car until I go up on the pay scale (hopefully) and have more saved, or just to go out and have fun (but potentially not be able to save)
Also, as a side note, my car is worth £14,500 to webuyanycar, and the settlement figure is £14,950 - If I went for something like a BMW 420D, they're only about £12,000 how would that work if I transferred the PCP, would it be a £2000 deposit?

If anyone is interested about the performance here are below:
BMW 435D -  313bhp - 630nm - 0-60 4.8 seconds
Audi S3 - 306bhp - 400nm - 0-60 4.6 seconds
Golf R - 306bhp - 390nm - 0-60 4.6 seconds
Focus RS - 345bhp - 440nm - 0-60 4.7 seconds
BMW 430D - 254bhp - 560nm - 0-60 5.3 seconds
BMW 420D - 190bhp - 400nm - 0-60 7.6 seconds

Thanks!

daveyjp

I'd stick and be patient.  Save like mad now, then buy a car which isn't in essence a boring Euro box with a large engine.

DrEskimo

thomas812 said:

Also, as a side note, my car is worth £14,500 to webuyanycar, and the settlement figure is £14,950 - If I went for something like a BMW 420D, they're only about £12,000 how would that work if I transferred the PCP, would it be a £2000 deposit?

You can't transfer a PCP. You would need to settle the current finance agreement, which would require selling the car to WBAC, and then finding £450 from your savings to cover the shortfall. You would then start a new finance agreement on the BMW, where again you would need to find money from your savings to act as an upfront payment.

JohnDorian

Unless you do only motorway miles, your mpg figures for the 435d are very optimistic. Most people I know with the 335d or 435d only get mid 30s at best with these cars. I have that engine in a bigger X3 and I’m lucky to get high 20s.

Lovely engine though and worth cost for me personally.

k3lvc

Your fuel figures and basing your costs on these are wildly optimistic and a 435D is a very different animal from any of the others. Why not a 125/225D that'll be in a closer class ?
I've an S3 and struggle to top 30mpg
If you enjoy the driving experience then surely it's a money saving decision on the car you like rather than the potential to save £10pm on something that's not your preference ? 

DD265

I think I'm probably suggesting this in the wrong thread, but would buying something older outright - or even having a cheap economical run about and then a fun car - be viable?

thomas812

daveyjp said:

I'd stick and be patient.  Save like mad now, then buy a car which isn't in essence a boring Euro box with a large engine.

Probably right, I think i'd potentially regret going all out now.

DrEskimo said:

thomas812 said:

Also, as a side note, my car is worth £14,500 to webuyanycar, and the settlement figure is £14,950 - If I went for something like a BMW 420D, they're only about £12,000 how would that work if I transferred the PCP, would it be a £2000 deposit?

You can't transfer a PCP. You would need to settle the current finance agreement, which would require selling the car to WBAC, and then finding £450 from your savings to cover the shortfall. You would then start a new finance agreement on the BMW, where again you would need to find money from your savings to act as an upfront payment.

Ah, that sucks. I thought some car firms can pay the settlement figure off for you and just implement it into a new pcp agreement?

JohnDorian said:

Unless you do only motorway miles, your mpg figures for the 435d are very optimistic. Most people I know with the 335d or 435d only get mid 30s at best with these cars. I have that engine in a bigger X3 and I’m lucky to get high 20s.

Lovely engine though and worth cost for me personally.

Hmm, interesting to know, and I love the engine too seen lots of them about etc.. Most people have told me they get higher than mid 30's.. Guess they drive like grannies 90% of the time.

k3lvc said:

Your fuel figures and basing your costs on these are wildly optimistic and a 435D is a very different animal from any of the others. Why not a 125/225D that'll be in a closer class ?
I've an S3 and struggle to top 30mpg
If you enjoy the driving experience then surely it's a money saving decision on the car you like rather than the potential to save £10pm on something that's not your preference ? 

I'm not a fan of the 1 or 2 series, unless it's the M140i
Thanks though ^

DD265 said:

I think I'm probably suggesting this in the wrong thread, but would buying something older outright - or even having a cheap economical run about and then a fun car - be viable?

I've definitely considered buying an older car with high MPG and saving, however I feel like the car would have potential issues as it's older, and a lot of older cars are actually more expensive to insure due to NCAP ratings. But I have considered it as I'm currently only looking at 2016+ models. 

eamon

Think a little out of the box and consider an EV. Sure the Leaf looks like a box of groceries but other styles are available. Surely worth some of your time investigating and getting to grips with the costs.

DrEskimo

thomas812 said:

DrEskimo said:

thomas812 said:

Also, as a side note, my car is worth £14,500 to webuyanycar, and the settlement figure is £14,950 - If I went for something like a BMW 420D, they're only about £12,000 how would that work if I transferred the PCP, would it be a £2000 deposit?

You can't transfer a PCP. You would need to settle the current finance agreement, which would require selling the car to WBAC, and then finding £450 from your savings to cover the shortfall. You would then start a new finance agreement on the BMW, where again you would need to find money from your savings to act as an upfront payment.

Ah, that sucks. I thought some car firms can pay the settlement figure off for you and just implement it into a new pcp agreement?

Well yes, but you are just consolidating your debt from this car into another credit agreement. You are already incredibly exposed to financial risk by the fact you are borrowing heavily on a depreciating asset. Rolling further debt on top is just compounding on the issue...

It's the reason I strongly advise people against borrowing against a car. It's usually the second biggest purchase you will make, and depreciates very heavily. If you are going to borrow against it, don't borrow anymore than 50% of the cars value for anything over 3yrs. This ensures you are never in a position where you owe more than the car is worth. 

DrEskimo

eamon said:

Think a little out of the box and consider an EV. Sure the Leaf looks like a box of groceries but other styles are available. Surely worth some of your time investigating and getting to grips with the costs.

I went from PCP on a £40k Audi S5 to a used Renault Zoe I bought with cash. The difference in cost is beyond remarkable....!
Funnily enough, I actually think I enjoy driving the Zoe more too....the instant torque is addictive, and the silence is serene!

JohnDorian

It is very possible to get high 30s from a 35d in a 3 or 4 series but it depends on your mix of driving. Any significant amount of town driving will kill that high 30s average as these cars don’t do well at all in stop start traffic when it comes to MPG. As an example, I get get high 20s on my commute which is 0.5 miles to the motorway, 13 miles on the motorway and .25 miles off the motorway to work. In a 435d I reckon that would be around high 30s. At weekends when I am the kids taxi and add around town driving I drop off to high teens or low twenties. 

But the 435d is a different type of car to every other car you have listed so it’s up to you to decide if you want to take it on.