PCP Question

eidolon · 10 Apr 2006 at 11:51

As some of you know I'm considering selling the MR2 and whilst I haven't actually formally advertised it yet I've had one person contact me through the owners club who is very interested in buying it. If I decide to let it go and if he buys it then I guess I should think about what the replacement is gonna be.
Top of my list is the VX220 turbo but I'm also considering an Elise 111R (if I test drive it and find that it's quick enough). Whilst surfing I noticed that my local LOTUS dealership are doing a pretty good deal on an Elise at the moment, a 3.9% APR PCP deal.

I was planning to just buy the car outright with my savings however it seems to make more sense to finance it at 3.9% and keep my savings in my account earning 5% for the next 3 years.

If I go for the Elise would that the sensible way to do it or am I missing something blindingly obvious and over simplifying it?

merlin · 10 Apr 2006 at 12:03

Seems a good deal - in total you pay £31,051 to own the car (deposit, monthly payments and lump sum to clear the baloon payment).

The only thing you have to consider really is to make sure the car will be worth plenty more than the baloon payment in 3 years time. If it is - that's bang on - you can either pay up the baloon payment and keep the car, or you can chop the car in using the equity as a deposit. If not, well - you've lost a lot of money.

The APR is pretty damn good I'd say, especially considering with these plans you usually pay interest on the unfinanced portion (£13k) as well as interest on the financed portion.

Maz · 10 Apr 2006 at 12:21

Pay outright and you can usually get quite a substancial saving off list price.

iv-tecman · 10 Apr 2006 at 12:27

Nah,

If you have the cash, pay for it. I’d doubt though that the dealer is excited about a cash deal though. They make profits from selling the HP agreements etc, cash is not the deal he’d want. So I’d pay cash just to pee them off…

Also, if you have the money in the bank,, you might be tempted to dip into it, as you then have your motor, and you think, hmm fancy a new 42” plasma now.

eidolon · 10 Apr 2006 at 14:07

Maz said:
Pay outright and you can usually get quite a substancial saving off list price.

Just the man I was hoping for! I've got a question about discounts.
With a £5k Fiesta, a full tank of petrol and a set of mats might be the only discount you get but what should you push for with more expensive cars, say £20k or £30k cars?

iv-tecman said:
If you have the cash, pay for it. I’d doubt though that the dealer is excited about a cash deal though. They make profits from selling the HP agreements etc, cash is not the deal he’d want. So I’d pay cash just to pee them off…

That's what I always thought but Maz above seems to think otherwise (and he sells cars for a living I believe). When I bought the Type-R I paid cash as they couldn't care less if I took out their finance or not.

iv-tecman said:
Also, if you have the money in the bank,, you might be tempted to dip into it, as you then have your motor, and you think, hmm fancy a new 42” plasma now.

Nahh, I'm really boring I'm afraid. My savings account gives a bonus every month if you don't touch it so I don't

The money would be safe in there.

Ev0 · 10 Apr 2006 at 17:12

Yeah I'd be so tempted to leave the savings and do the monthly thing, money in the bank counts for a lot.

On the other hand, if it's not going to dent the savings too badly see what kind of cash discount they are offering

Maz · 10 Apr 2006 at 19:36

eidolon said:
Just the man I was hoping for! I've got a question about discounts.
With a £5k Fiesta, a full tank of petrol and a set of mats might be the only discount you get but what should you push for with more expensive cars, say £20k or £30k cars?

That's what I always thought but Maz above seems to think otherwise (and he sells cars for a living I believe). When I bought the Type-R I paid cash as they couldn't care less if I took out their finance or not.

Nahh, I'm really boring I'm afraid. My savings account gives a bonus every month if you don't touch it so I don't The money would be safe in there.

Two ways of doing it.

The PCP is a great way of funding the Elise.

Or if you can get a substancial discount then cash might be better.

Unfortunately not many Lotus dealers around so it will be very difficult to play them off each other.

You can try the Genuinely can't afford it method - Where you go in and you tell them you want to buy one there and then but you can't afford to pay the asking price - You decide how much discount you want and see if you can get it.

If you can't get much then no problem do what you like, if you get a massive chunk off then you've won! buy the car.

Personally I'd PCP it, but if I had savings to pay for it - I'd see how much the savings are making me and how much it will cost to finance it.

Best method wins.

If paying cash - then buy a Pre registered one or an Ex demo if you can get one.

Finance a new one.

Muncher · 10 Apr 2006 at 19:44

A 111R is not worth double the price of a second hand VXT imho.

I don't think the 111R is quick enough anyway, certainly not for the money.

eidolon · 10 Apr 2006 at 20:18

Maz said:
You can try the Genuinely can't afford it method - Where you go in and you tell them you want to buy one there and then but you can't afford to pay the asking price - You decide how much discount you want and see if you can get it.

Ok then, as an example I've seen an 05 plate VX220 turbo in a Vauxhall dealers for £19,995 (it's been there a few months now). What sort of price is realistic to offer then? £19k? or will they laugh and tell me where to go?

Muncher said:
A 111R is not worth double the price of a second hand VXT imho.

I don't disagree but I'm just weighing up my options. I prefer the looks of the LOTUS, the fact that air con is available and the amount of tuning products available but I'm still a sucker for a turbo engine so I can't make my mind up. I'm gonna try and test drive the 111R at the weekend to see how quick (or not) it is.

Muncher · 10 Apr 2006 at 20:25

I don't think any of Elise/VX needs aircon, even in the Exige you can just take the roof off.

Maz · 10 Apr 2006 at 20:46

I don't know what sort of margins Vauxhall dealers keep across they're car.

Hit them with £19k and see what they say.

If its no then you've lost nothing and he might meet you halfway at £19500

Best thing to do is just pay the price but get as many extras as you can for free which is something the dealer will be more prepared to do

zain · 10 Apr 2006 at 21:48

Forget online and :O at the monthly payments. An Audi dealer went on the system and for an s line a3 WITH £5k deposit he wanted £550 a month which is more than a range rover lmao, after a bit of bargaining its £350/month with £5k deposit AND have it for 3 1/2 years - the hell yours is so low is shocking! I mean really shocking! Not only does yours cost more but your paying less deposit yet that monthly fee is lowwwww - ok anyway,

Go and talk in person its much better and they should provide you with a minimum price guarantee which is what the car will be valued at after 3 years, which is probably 12k or something.