[330Stevie]

Anyone see this last night?

I went into mine with my eyes open and it suits me fine; couldn't believe some of claims made by dealers last night on under cover cameras though!!

It did get me thinking about the return of the vehicle; although I may keep mine; how picky are bmw on fair wear and tear before the penalty police step in? Aware of the £50 ish per alloy repair but what about average stone chips etc, and the inevitable scratches to the underside of the front bumper!

[Goneinsixtyseconds]

Originally Posted by 330Stevie

Anyone see this last night?

I went into mine with my eyes open and it suits me fine; couldn't believe some of claims made by dealers last night on under cover cameras though!!

It did get me thinking about the return of the vehicle; although I may keep mine; how picky are bmw on fair wear and tear before the penalty police step in? Aware of the £50 ish per alloy repair but what about average stone chips etc, and the inevitable scratches to the underside of the front bumper!

Don't know about BMW, but I VT'd my Audi and expected a bill to contest. Didn't hear a word back.

If you do some searching there's and industry standard guide as to what's considered fair wear and tear by mileage covered. I'd be surprised if BMW don't use it as most other manufacturers do.

[Rukka]

I don't think the C4 programme tells us anything we didn't know really.

Re returning your car, as Alex440 says, BMW use the standard BVRLA guidelines for assessing your car on return - guidelines are here for your reference


http://www.drive-electric.co.uk/wp-c..._Wear_Tear.pdf

[Scottiedog]

Did you see the silly cow moaning about the fact that she had an incident, got the car repaired (on the cheap) to a sub standard repair, then couldn't afford the monthly payments so had to give the car back and she was bitching about the fact that the money lender wanted £1000 to get the car up to standard again. As mentioned Iv gone into many pcps with my eyes open and so I think that the program was very biased on running pcps down because people are stupid and don't do there research.

[moonshine]

I didn't see the show.
But when I took out my pcp on my (ex)335, I hoped I might have a small amount of equity in the car at the end of the 4yr period.
It became pretty clear (by yr 2) that in all likelihood I was going to be in a zero / negative equity situation and yr 4 point and I chose to VT it at 3 yrs.
I learned the hard way that owning a new car is a very expensive (almost a mugs) game And doubt I'll buy new ever again.

The sensible way is to buy a 2/3 yrs old car and keep it for 6 yrs and spend money doing nice things instead.

[dopper99]

Not quite the same thing but when my car was in for a diff recall last year I had a 5 series "BMW Experience car" for 9 weeks. Essentially a loaner till mine was sorted.

I clipped the front left alloy and was expecting a bill sometime after handing it back - heard nothing.

[330Stevie]

I was surprised that people were as easily caught out; but totally unsurprised about the selling tactics.
Thanks for the linky folks; will have a read through. If I do swap in I'm working on the basis i need to keep it as immaculate as poss.

[Jeff123]

Originally Posted by moonshine

I didn't see the show.
But when I took out my pcp on my (ex)335, I hoped I might have a small amount of equity in the car at the end of the 4yr period.
It became pretty clear (by yr 2) that in all likelihood I was going to be in a zero / negative equity situation and yr 4 point and I chose to VT it at 3 yrs.
I learned the hard way that owning a new car is a very expensive (almost a mugs) game And doubt I'll buy new ever again.

The sensible way is to buy a 2/3 yrs old car and keep it for 6 yrs and spend money doing nice things instead.

The above is broadly true IMO. I have just upgraded from an E90 and bought one 2 years old. The trade-in value for this vehicle must have been somewhere around the £17.5k mark, based on my retail price from a dealer. Thats roughly £18k of depreciation in 2 years. There is no such thing as a good deal where cars are concerned, but at least avoiding the fall in value over the first 2-3 years can make things slightly more bearable.

[moonshine]

Originally Posted by Jeff123

The above is broadly true IMO. I have just upgraded from an E90 and bought one 2 years old. The trade-in value for this vehicle must have been somewhere around the £17.5k mark, based on my retail price from a dealer. Thats roughly £18k of depreciation in 2 years. There is no such thing as a good deal where cars are concerned, but at least avoiding the fall in value over the first 2-3 years can make things slightly more bearable.

In hindsight I can't afford such an expensive outlay. The true cost per month of ownership and per mile is sobering

[225]

Originally Posted by moonshine

In hindsight I can't afford such an expensive outlay. The true cost per month of ownership and per mile is sobering

7k in and still a 480 monthly? Was it an M3/5?


However yes when you write down in a sensible way like that it A becomes clear the true cost and B makes you miserable! Man maths versions far better.

[moonshine]

No, nor a M3/M5 just a very well spec'd 335d with 20% discount.

I think I'm a fair bit poorer and wiser now tho and won't PCP and let man maths rule my sensible side again.

[Jeff123]

The worse thing is that you have nothing to show for it in the end.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by moonshine

In hindsight I can't afford such an expensive outlay. The true cost per month of ownership and per mile is sobering

That doesn't look too bad considering you have no risk of any repair bills at all

I budget 1/6th of my wages for total car costs (considering I do 25K per year) then 1/6th for my (lions) share of the bills and mortgage, leaving me with 2/3 to do everything else.

[moonshine]

Let's just say I don't clear £5400 after tax per month

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by moonshine

In hindsight I can't afford such an expensive outlay. The true cost per month of ownership and per mile is sobering

I think it would very interesting to see how many people have ever tried to work it their true costs of having a new car like that?

Mines looks similar except for more like 30k per year. The monthly cost is higher though the cost per mile is quite a bit less.

Then add on the cost of the many mods!

[JD6]

Originally Posted by moonshine

In hindsight I can't afford such an expensive outlay. The true cost per month of ownership and per mile is sobering

Working out the figures for my 335d, also bought new, at 3.5 years, 48k miles It has cost £681/month or 59.6p/mile

I estimate I'll keep it for a further 3.5 years, 40k miles. Including the cost of BMW warranty, I estimate the next 3.5 years to cost £418/month 43.9p/mile which is fairly cheap motoring for a decent car.

As you suggest buying a couple of years old does give better overall value, but whether it is worth doing depends on how much value you attribute to having that nice new car!

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by moonshine

Let's just say I don't clear £5400 after tax per month

Not very many people do- less than a few percent. So when you consider the number of expensive new cars on the roads you can get an idea of just how up their necks in debt many of the population are.

If interest rates have to rise, or any other thing that causes house prices to fall significantly, like unemployment going up, then there will be a day of reckoning for sure.

[goodbyalfa]

Originally Posted by moonshine

Let's just say I don't clear £5400 after tax per month

Sadly, me neither...

[teaston]

Originally Posted by moonshine

Let's just say I don't clear £5400 after tax per month

I meant before tax, I'm self-employed so I see my income tax as an expense.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Jeff123

The worse thing is that you have nothing to show for it in the end.

Not sure that matters much unless you whacked a great deposit in and expected it back at the end for the next car. That's why it's known as "renting" by some people, in a derogatory manner!

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by teaston

I meant before tax, I'm self-employed so I see my income tax as an expense.

Ha! And there was me thinking I need a career change!

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by JD6

Working out the figures for my 335d, also bought new, at 3.5 years, 48k miles It has cost £681/month or 59.6p/mile

I estimate I'll keep it for a further 3.5 years, 40k miles. Including the cost of BMW warranty, I estimate the next 3.5 years to cost £418/month 43.9p/mile which is fairly cheap motoring for a decent car.

As you suggest buying a couple of years old does give better overall value, but whether it is worth doing depends on how much value you attribute to having that nice new car!

Unfortunately it isn't a brand new car for long. I'd say that feeling lasted about a year for me. After that you're still forking out for the brand new car, but it's just another nearly new used car then.