What do I do!?

Blue

Active member
Just found out on the rumour mill at work that the local dealers have offered someone a brand new Z4 23 S Drive for £349 per month for 3 years with a £14.5K balloon at the end.

This suddenly puts a brand spankers Z4 within my price range! I wish I hadn't even heard about this deal!

My heart says do it, my head says that the total cost of repairs to my Z4 this year is only just over 1 month's payment on a new one. But then at the same time my head also says that if I part exed my current Z4 it would clear the finance (3 years left to go) and the payment on a new one would only be £200 a month more, but then I won't own it at the end.

God I'm gonna struggle to concentrate on my work this afternoon!! :?

I've already arranged to go to the dealers with a mate who's after a new car on Saturday, see what sort of other deals are on offer, I must be mad! :driving:
 
I would get a realistic part-ex valuation on your car first. Try WBAC or vauxhall free CAP valuation and take the bottom end figure.

Would they not be a little basic for that prive too?
 
It's ok, I've decided against it.

I did some thorough calculations of likely residuals in my current car when it is paid off, vs. the likely residual of a new one (I guessed at nil residual for that) and worked out that to buy this would cost me roughly an additional £9-10K over three years.

There's no way my current car will cost me that much in repairs over 3 years, also, that lump of money is a deposit on a house that I could let out which would pay me back many times over. No, I think for now, this will have to be a no go!
 
Doesn't matter how good the deal is on a new car, albeit some, you will never fight off depreciation to an acceptable level, no matter what.

My Z4 was close to 40K as a demo, and it's only worth £27K trade, only £29K private....so as lovely as I think my car is, I try not to think about what it's worth, as it would ruin the enjoyment
 
My workmate just bought a new one under the current deal - sales guy says they are trying to get rid of the current 6 cylinder line up to make way for the new 4 cyl. engines....... :thumbsup: On a cash a p.ex deal he got £6k off the full price!
 
Despite sDrive23i/30i has higher fuel consumption and emissions, I would rather have the straight-six instead of staight-four with twin turbo and electronic sound generator.

Blue: If my head always wins, I would have already paid off my mortgage. But my heart tells me life is too short. I would rather enjoy every moment now as long as I can afford.
 
I got mine through this current deal a few weeks ago. £3k deposit and £310 per month. 23i Highline (19" wheels, kansas leather, bluetooth prep, black grill) with about £1k of extras (black saphire paint, brushed alu dash, heated seats). I get 12k milage allowance. Payments are over 2.5 years/ 30 months. Seemed like a no brainer to me as i'm going to pay out less than the depreciation if my calculations are correct.

However i'm not that bothered about the outlay when its such an amazing car :) (imo at least).

My mums boyfriend thought my deal was good and ended getting one the week later, different colour and automatic, also got dimming mirrors and adaptive headlights, his worked out to be £360 ish per month.
 
I'm sure that the car is amazing, but I really need to get my priorities straight, at my age I think it's really about time I got myself a house (already rent a nice place so would want one as a BTL)

I may however treat myself to one of these if I get a job that I have my beady eye on... :wink:
 
Blue said:
I'm sure that the car is amazing, but I really need to get my priorities straight, at my age I think it's really about time I got myself a house (already rent a nice place so would want one as a BTL)

I may however treat myself to one of these if I get a job that I have my beady eye on... :wink:

I'm in the same boat actually, just renting and trying to save for a deposit.. But driving an old 1.2 clio 40 miles per day was really starting to get me down! So looks like the purchase of a house has now been pushed back a few years unless they start excepting tiny deposits again.
 
JimC said:
Blue said:
I'm sure that the car is amazing, but I really need to get my priorities straight, at my age I think it's really about time I got myself a house (already rent a nice place so would want one as a BTL)

I may however treat myself to one of these if I get a job that I have my beady eye on... :wink:

I'm in the same boat actually, just renting and trying to save for a deposit.. But driving an old 1.2 clio 40 miles per day was really starting to get me down! So looks like the purchase of a house has now been pushed back a few years unless they start excepting tiny deposits again.

I was lucky to buy my first house (2-bedroom semi-detached) for only £43k with my partner in 1999. We sold it in 2001 and bought a 3-bedroom detached.

I have to agree that buying your own property must be the highest priority.
 
Yeah I'm pleased someone is saying something to help me fight my heart on this one!

I'm in an unusual position in that although I rent the house I live in, I would continue to live here even if I bought somewhere. Any house I buy will be for rental only, there's absolutely no way I could afford to buy a house like the one I currently rent. Getting a BTL property would help me keep a foot on the ladder and add a little to a pension pot!
 
Oh good god, I just checked Glass's.

My car books at £6,460 in average condition. I paid about £12,500 for it in April 2010. These things have taken a much greater knock than I ever expected!

Ho hum, at least I'm not in negative equity, could be worse :)

I think if I were in a position to be a cash buyer for a new Z4 then I'd be stupid to say no, what seems to worry me is the prospect of:-

a) been tied to a car for 3 years, I've never kept a car that long
b) having to finance the £14K at the end.

Does anyone have a view on whether a new Z4 will be worth more, or less than £14K when it is 3 years old?

I wish that my resolve to NOT buy one had lasted more than 20 minutes... :roll:

Anyone know the realistic mpg from the Sdrive23? I'm getting about 26-27mpg from my 3.0i at the moment. Would expect an SDrive to be a little better? Say 30-32mpg?
 
OK, more special maths from the school of heart vs. head:-

Total payments left on current Z4 over 44 months = £6,779 if I don't settle early.
Value of my 2005 Z4 in 44 months time, guess low at £3,800?
Total cost = £6,779 - £3,800 asset = .£2979

Payments to be made on new Z4 over 36 months = £12,564
Equity in car at 36 months, I'm guessing at £0.
Total cost = £12,564

I cannot see a 3 year old Z4 with a discontinued engine been worth more than the settlement of about £14.5K. They're only booking at £23,500 now on a 10 plate with 12K miles. Does anyone disagree?

So, I reckon it's going to cost me almost £10,000 more to run a new Z4 for three years than it will to keep my current one for 44 months. The only thing that I haven't accounted for is that the current one may need money spending on it over time.

£10,000. Is it worth it?
 
You can simply return the car (within the mileage allowed) back to BMW Finance after 3 years and then you owe nothing. Although they always say that if the car has higher trade-in value than the final settlement figure, the surplus will be the deposit for the new car.

I paid £32k in May 2010 for mine. If I trade-in my car to dealer now, it will be worth around £21-22k (loss of £10k in 16 months). But owning a car from new is fantastic experience. :D
 
Blue said:
Oh good god, I just checked Glass's.

My car books at £6,460 in average condition. I paid about £12,500 for it in April 2010. These things have taken a much greater knock than I ever expected!

Ho hum, at least I'm not in negative equity, could be worse :)

I think if I were in a position to be a cash buyer for a new Z4 then I'd be stupid to say no, what seems to worry me is the prospect of:-

a) been tied to a car for 3 years, I've never kept a car that long
b) having to finance the £14K at the end.

Does anyone have a view on whether a new Z4 will be worth more, or less than £14K when it is 3 years old?

I wish that my resolve to NOT buy one had lasted more than 20 minutes... :roll:

Anyone know the realistic mpg from the Sdrive23? I'm getting about 26-27mpg from my 3.0i at the moment. Would expect an SDrive to be a little better? Say 30-32mpg?

This is why I said get a realistic valuation. Glasses guide is also pretty optimistic so I would go with the low end figure not the average (even thought the car might be immaculate).
 
Blue said:
Just found out on the rumour mill at work that the local dealers have offered someone a brand new Z4 23 S Drive for £349 per month for 3 years with a £14.5K balloon at the end.

Sorry if you've covered this already - but what was the deposit on this deal?
 
I can well understand the pull of owning a new car but personally I couldn't live with how much money is lost over the first few years - particularly with an expensive car such as a Z4. The only new car I have ever bought was my wife's Fiesta that cost only £7500 ( Ford deal at the time ) back in 2004 and still looks like new now and is probably worth £3k as a private sale. A friend bought a top of the range 3.0 Zed with hardtop back in 2004 that cost £36k and sold it after only barely 2 years for £18 !! ( £180 loss every week for 2 years !! ) It depends on your circumstances - if you're rich enough not to worry about losing so much money then it doesn't matter - and as I'm being constantly reminded you only live once and there's no pockets in shrouds. I'm an old git now with no mortgage , a lovely house and I could go out and buy a new z4 if I wanted but I would rather give the money I would lose in depreciation to my children/grandchildren - my own solution is to buy an older car that looks just as good and put a personal plate on it that disguises its true age - one with low mileage and original as you can get ( probably paying more but you only get what you pay for )

The choice between a house or new car is to me a no brainer - there is nothing like the feeling of walking down the path of your new home knowing its yours ( eventually ). I feel so much for younger people today though because its so hard to get on the housing bandwagon - my own "kids" included - one of my daughters is paying £1000 a month rent in London with no chance of ever owning her own home - that is till I snuff it !!!!!
 
Without even looking at my car the dealer offered my £800 more than the top limit on the Vauxhall website.
 
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