Thinking for car change

Herzlos

Ibrahim5 said:

Only £250 per month. LOL. Plus electricity. Petrol Fiesta nowhere near that cost.

What planet are you on?
The best monthly rate I can see for a new Fiesta (I know you hate like for like comparisons) is £249/month.

Not that it matters because he said he's overpaying and totally £250/month, not that his car is costing him £250/month.

Unless on extremely low mileage, the MG is almost certainly going to prove cheaper to own than the Fiesta over maybe 3+ years.

Ditzy_Mitzy

Herzlos said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Only £250 per month. LOL. Plus electricity. Petrol Fiesta nowhere near that cost.

What planet are you on?
The best monthly rate I can see for a new Fiesta (I know you hate like for like comparisons) is £249/month.

Not that it matters because he said he's overpaying and totally £250/month, not that his car is costing him £250/month.

Unless on extremely low mileage, the MG is almost certainly going to prove cheaper to own than the Fiesta over maybe 3+ years.

Earth, in this case.  The OP already owns the Fiesta, so keeping it results in a monthly cost of no pounds and no pence.  His only costs will be the usual road tax, insurance, petrol and maintenance.  We are discussing whether it would be cheaper to keep the Fiesta he already owns or to buy a comparatively expensive electric car.  It ought to be blindingly obvious that keeping the car already owned will cost less than shelling out £25,000 plus on a new set of wheels.  

ontheroad1970

I find myself in the unusual position of agreeing with one of the Freds.  There being no expensive issues with the Fiesta, in the OP's position, I'd put aside some money per month to either: insure against upcoming issues or for the deposit or payment on a new car n a few years.

Petriix

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Herzlos said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Only £250 per month. LOL. Plus electricity. Petrol Fiesta nowhere near that cost.

What planet are you on?
The best monthly rate I can see for a new Fiesta (I know you hate like for like comparisons) is £249/month.

Not that it matters because he said he's overpaying and totally £250/month, not that his car is costing him £250/month.

Unless on extremely low mileage, the MG is almost certainly going to prove cheaper to own than the Fiesta over maybe 3+ years.

Earth, in this case.  The OP already owns the Fiesta, so keeping it results in a monthly cost of no pounds and no pence.  His only costs will be the usual road tax, insurance, petrol and maintenance.  We are discussing whether it would be cheaper to keep the Fiesta he already owns or to buy a comparatively expensive electric car.  It ought to be blindingly obvious that keeping the car already owned will cost less than shelling out £25,000 plus on a new set of wheels.  

Clearly you've missed the detailed calculations which show that buying a brand new EV effectively works out as free over a 7 year period. £125 per month in savings and £125 per month in retained value. By selling the Fiesta now, you're up by whatever its value is. Seems like a crazily good deal to me; and in fact lots of other people which is why MG have closed the order book on the current MG5 model. You'll have to wait until the revised model is announced later this year if you want to order a new one, otherwise you can only buy pre-reg or second hand (for roughly the price we paid new over a year ago).

Ditzy_Mitzy

Petriix said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Herzlos said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Only £250 per month. LOL. Plus electricity. Petrol Fiesta nowhere near that cost.

What planet are you on?
The best monthly rate I can see for a new Fiesta (I know you hate like for like comparisons) is £249/month.

Not that it matters because he said he's overpaying and totally £250/month, not that his car is costing him £250/month.

Unless on extremely low mileage, the MG is almost certainly going to prove cheaper to own than the Fiesta over maybe 3+ years.

Earth, in this case.  The OP already owns the Fiesta, so keeping it results in a monthly cost of no pounds and no pence.  His only costs will be the usual road tax, insurance, petrol and maintenance.  We are discussing whether it would be cheaper to keep the Fiesta he already owns or to buy a comparatively expensive electric car.  It ought to be blindingly obvious that keeping the car already owned will cost less than shelling out £25,000 plus on a new set of wheels.  

Clearly you've missed the detailed calculations which show that buying a brand new EV effectively works out as free over a 7 year period. £125 per month in savings and £125 per month in retained value. By selling the Fiesta now, you're up by whatever its value is. Seems like a crazily good deal to me; and in fact lots of other people which is why MG have closed the order book on the current MG5 model. You'll have to wait until the revised model is announced later this year if you want to order a new one, otherwise you can only buy pre-reg or second hand (for roughly the price we paid new over a year ago).

I haven't missed the 'detailed calculations', I simply haven't commented.  All I shall say is that your optimism is admirable and that I, personally, would choose to be more circumspect.  

ontheroad1970

Petriix said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Herzlos said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Only £250 per month. LOL. Plus electricity. Petrol Fiesta nowhere near that cost.

What planet are you on?
The best monthly rate I can see for a new Fiesta (I know you hate like for like comparisons) is £249/month.

Not that it matters because he said he's overpaying and totally £250/month, not that his car is costing him £250/month.

Unless on extremely low mileage, the MG is almost certainly going to prove cheaper to own than the Fiesta over maybe 3+ years.

Earth, in this case.  The OP already owns the Fiesta, so keeping it results in a monthly cost of no pounds and no pence.  His only costs will be the usual road tax, insurance, petrol and maintenance.  We are discussing whether it would be cheaper to keep the Fiesta he already owns or to buy a comparatively expensive electric car.  It ought to be blindingly obvious that keeping the car already owned will cost less than shelling out £25,000 plus on a new set of wheels.  

Clearly you've missed the detailed calculations which show that buying a brand new EV effectively works out as free over a 7 year period. £125 per month in savings and £125 per month in retained value. By selling the Fiesta now, you're up by whatever its value is. Seems like a crazily good deal to me; and in fact lots of other people which is why MG have closed the order book on the current MG5 model. You'll have to wait until the revised model is announced later this year if you want to order a new one, otherwise you can only buy pre-reg or second hand (for roughly the price we paid new over a year ago).

Just because you have saved money, doesn't make it free.  There is still a cost.  I often use the fact that it is 'effectively free' via savings to justify purchases to my wife.  Doesn't change the fact that it does have a cost.  You can say that a 25k purchase means that you don't have to pay for fuel, but instead pay for energy that is x% cheaper than the fuel.  It still doesn't make  the purchase free of charge.  

The car still has to be paid for in real cash or via finance which means cash + interest - a commodity which is on the increase.  Those rose tinted glasses may not have a very deep tint, but you should remove them occasionally.

Grumpy_chap

Petriix said:

Seems like a crazily good deal to me; and in fact lots of other people which is why MG have closed the order book on the current MG5 model. 

The current supply constraints on new cars are affecting many makes and models of cars, not just the MG5.  Being "sold out" doesn't directly equate to a good deal in the current time.  Supply of new cars will not improve for a long time yet.

jimjames

Herzlos said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Only £250 per month. LOL. Plus electricity. Petrol Fiesta nowhere near that cost.

What planet are you on?
The best monthly rate I can see for a new Fiesta (I know you hate like for like comparisons) is £249/month.

But the OP already has their car so they're not paying out for it any more. Anything that increases costs to save a small amount doesn't seem very sensible.

Herzlos

jimjames said:

Herzlos said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Only £250 per month. LOL. Plus electricity. Petrol Fiesta nowhere near that cost.

What planet are you on?
The best monthly rate I can see for a new Fiesta (I know you hate like for like comparisons) is £249/month.

But the OP already has their car so they're not paying out for it any more. Anything that increases costs to save a small amount doesn't seem very sensible.

Oh I entirely agree, like I said on an early post it's almost certainly not worth spending money on a new car to save a bit of fuel unless you went the whole way to an EV.

I may have misinterpreted Freds claim that an MG5 was more expensive than a Fiesta, when he may has been trying to say that any car was more expensive than the OP's current Fiesta. I don't think the OP would be saving enough in fuel to justify going to a £25k MG5, though it may be a lot closer with something like a £5k Zoe. They'd be about the same size too.

Petriix

jimjames said:

Herzlos said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Only £250 per month. LOL. Plus electricity. Petrol Fiesta nowhere near that cost.

What planet are you on?
The best monthly rate I can see for a new Fiesta (I know you hate like for like comparisons) is £249/month.

But the OP already has their car so they're not paying out for it any more. Anything that increases costs to save a small amount doesn't seem very sensible.

I made a simple spreadsheet to demonstrate how paying more each month can save you money... 



That depreciation figure is the key variable. It's highly unpredictable and represents the element of risk with my approach. Obviously fuel costs may change too. But I demonstrably have more money by switching from a 16 year old (fairly economical) diesel to a brand new EV; albeit some of that is locked in the equity in the car.

In reality it's actually better than those figures. Maintenance on the EV has been just £33 in 16 months and depreciation has been zero. The old diesel needed £800 of work to keep on the road. I owe £17,500 on the mortgage (having paid off £2,500 and paid £3k towards the EV from savings) so would be £5,500 in credit if I sold it today.

So, with capital outlay equaling equity, I can currently ignore those costs. I could stop paying the mortgage for the next year without penalty due to the overpayment reserve. While I'm happy to risk the value of that equity dropping, for comparison I only need to look at the running costs and interest.

The old diesel would have cost ~ £2,600 to cover the same 14k miles. The EV has cost ~ £600. That's a £2,000 contribution towards the current equity and potential future depreciation. But, if I sold it today, I'd have that £2k as profit.

But, it gets even better... The next 14k miles would cost more like £3k in the diesel while it will still be around £600 in the EV. With inflation at such a high level, money already paid for an asset effectively appreciates in value. The best deal on a new MG5 is around £4k more than I paid. The money I owe is devaluing faster than the interest rate I fixed at.

It's not rocket surgery. I know it's counterintuitive and not without risk, but sometimes spending money saves you more.