Should I....

[rockits]

Yup, looks like 2.2 diesel 4 pot according to DVLA on that VRN so would explain the lack of desire to go! Definately the 275 TT V6 is the one to have. That must feel very lethargic.

 

[Felonious Crud]

The XFR is blistering, immensely comfortable in front and back and used are quite cheap (£18k upwards) but starting to look dated now. The XJ is, as has been said, a different league inside but a huge car. An XJR would be a lot of fun, but only on big wide roads.

 

[safrane]

Well I am 'entitled ' to a B group car for rental...but I have a wonderful relationship with my friends at the Tower Hill branch who could give me a Corsa but always uograde me...I guess being the square miles they cover they have a nice fleet...Bristol branch are t o s s e r s...and even replace cars if I ask to extend a rental to the **** that I get under the normal Gov contract despite being a very senior manager...hmmm did that come across as bitter???

 

[CatmanV2]

Well I am 'entitled ' to a B group car for rental...but I have a wonderful relationship with my friends at the Tower Hill branch who could give me a Corsa but always uograde me...I guess being the square miles they cover they have a nice fleet...Bristol branch are t o s s e r s...and even replace cars if I ask to extend a rental to the **** that I get under the normal Gov contract despite being a very senior manager...hmmm did that come across as bitter???

Yes. Next question, please

C

 

[MAF260]

Back to Athol's original post - as you're thinking of spending your own money in this way I'd say no, it's not a great deal. The Ghibli diesel isn't a fantastic car and the costs tell you how heavily the car will depreciate. There are better cars out there for less cash.

 

[hilts uk]

The XFR is blistering, immensely comfortable in front and back and used are quite cheap (£18k upwards) but starting to look dated now. The XJ is, as has been said, a different league inside but a huge car. An XJR would be a lot of fun, but only on big wide roads.

XFR was one of the best cars I ever owned. Amazing performance and understated.

 

[Felonious Crud]

XFR was one of the best cars I ever owned. Amazing performance and understated.

MrsN still mourns its sale. More comfortable than the GTS (I have to agree with her on that) and better equipped. Felt special, too. Nothing like as special as the Maser though, let's be clear. But still a nice place to be for a long journey.

 

[Bianco]

I think some folks miss the significance in contract hire versus purchase. For a start depreciation isn't a factor as it's a lease and with the deals available on new cars it's much cheaper to lease a brand new car than it is to purchase a second-hand one.

If it helps you, Outrun. My deal was 6+36 at £644 per month inc. VAT on a personal lease with 8k miles. This for a white (solid paint) diesel, with extended black leather with red stitching and 20" Urano alloys and privacy glass. The offer from FGA Capital (Now FCA Automotive Services) was 15% off list price. I got the dealer to get the rear windows tinted as per the privacy glass option.

The diesel can be a bit gruff and isn't as good the 3.0 BMW equivalents, but the car is a welcome change from the rest of the Jag/Merc/BMW/Audi barges so it's nice to have the prospect of being in something a bit more exclusive for the next 3 years. Personally I didn't find much in it in terms of performance from the base petrol model, having test driven the both of them. It's not exactly a car that you'll throw around every day.

 

[safrane]

I must be missing something. ..the amount the car looses over tbe three years is linked directly to the cost of the lease?...so if it looses say 30k that is the amount you pay plus the profits of the company you lease from.

 

[bigbob]

I must be missing something. ..the amount the car looses over tbe three years is linked directly to the cost of the lease?...so if it looses say 30k that is the amount you pay plus the profits of the company you lease from.

I doubt you are. At the end of the day the total payment is simply a function of:

-price leasing company pays for the car;
-price leasing company thinks it will sell the car for; and
-a cost of capital.

Leasing can be cheaper if the leasing company is getting bigger discounts than you could get privately and/or the manufacturer is underwriting an excessive terminal value to help sell units. Other than that it is just an APR play for a private punter. For a company it is a completely different story.

What winds me up is that the market used to be 3+35 but companies are now playing all sorts of games such as 9+23 to make the monthly payment less. Changes nothing in the end. Personally I would prefer to keep a nice car five or six years rather than three years as the annual cost is far less that way and thus I can afford something nicer or save some money to spend elsewhere. Leasing rarely offers that option.

PS The Maserati offers are hugely affected by miles which shows that the market is still not confident with the idea of, say, a Maserati diesel having more than 30,000 miles on it when it is traded at 3 years old.

 

[Bianco]

Don't see how it's a completely different story for a company? If I lease it through my business I claim half the VAT back but pay company car tax. If I lease it privately I swallow the VAT but have no BIK to worry about and can claim mileage through the business. Price for the lease is the same.

Also FYI same car on PCP was £750+ per month.

 

[outrun]

Bianco

I've been comparing a new lease to a £45k well specced 2nd hand car (ex-demo 3000 miles) on PCP. The price is similar and actually I like the better specced car and am leaning that way.

There's been a lot of obvious stuff said - you can buy others, better spec, get an M5, the 535d is better blah blah but if these things mattered, we'd all be driving the same thing! I want a Maserati, I don't want anything else. I like the diesel and am happy with the drive.

The lease deals are good, they're not amazing but they are good. For example I was offered a Range Rover Sport for 1+48 today £599 inc vat a month 10,000 miles. The low deposit and very keen price interest me, the 4 year term does not.

Anyway, i'm still deliberating and as I have a grand plan to buy a Stradale underway, i think that's becoming a factor. I may choose to wait a little for the Strad and pull together more cash towards, perhaps all of it (instead of any finance) and grab a Ghibli to slum it in while I wait

Hope you're enjoying yours. Looks like it came from Glasgow or Edinburgh from your avatar.

 

[Bianco]

Hope you enjoy it what ever way you go. Not like it's a lifelong purchase and personally I don't think the Ghibli will make me become a Maserati die-hard, but then I've never been particularly loyal to one brand anyway. If you look at it that way there's nothing to lose.

 

[bigbob]

Don't see how it's a completely different story for a company? If I lease it through my business I claim half the VAT back but pay company car tax. If I lease it privately I swallow the VAT but have no BIK to worry about and can claim mileage through the business. Price for the lease is the same.

Also FYI same car on PCP was £750+ per month.

I am sure that the latter is as you say but in PCPs they build in a lot of equity in the terminal value so you have to deduct that from the total payments to get a fairer comparison.

 

[Bianco]

Maybe, but the PCP deal also didn't have the 15% manufacturers support.

 

[bigbob]

Maybe, but the PCP deal also didn't have the 15% manufacturers support.

Indeed, that's why it's best to look at all options as with leasing, a manufacturer can hide discounts that they would not like the retail market to see. That said you can get at least half that off as a retail customer so it's not the whole 15% to work out for comparison purposes.

The only issue with leasing is that it backs you into keeping the car for a set period and does not allow you to keep it at the end of that period whereas most other finance options can accommodate both. All depends how it suits your personal circumstances but by and large the shorter a period you keep a car that was acquired new then the more it is going to cost you per annum.

 

[drewf]

I'm struggling with the idea that people who 'need' a company car manage to drive less than 10k pa.

My work car easily does more than 20k pa, plus I use the other cars as the fancy takes me, so the business mileage is over 25k, sometimes over 30k pa. That just doesn't work on a lease, the prices are astronomical. Does it have to be a brand new car? If so, why? The quality and reliability of cars now is stunning - my BMW 520d (obviously) is approaching 90k, and looks/drives like a new car. OK, at 5 years old, I'm about to change it, but how much has it really cost me compared to leasing the same car?

Rough figures @ 25k pa:

BMW 520d 3+35 (@£500pm) = £19k.

I bought the car at 2 years old with 18k on it for £19k. What's it worth today? A quick look at Autotrader suggests £11k for same year, same spec, same mileage cars...

So, in simple business terms the leasing arrangement costs £8k more than actually owning it. OK, not a brand new car, but so what? Effectively I get the servicing on one of the Masers 'free' each year; money I'd otherwise be giving to a leasing company. And I can change it on a whim, at any time I like.

I get that if you drive very low miles, and don't really need a company car as such, then the leasing works. It doesn't if you really use a car for high business miles.

 

[hilts uk]

I looked at leasing when I bought the macan. As it's a new car they assume it will lose more than 50% of it's value over 3 yrs. This means the base cost of about 43k would fall to around 20k. Given one year old cars sell at list price I think this is much too low. Add ons are then 100% written off over the three years. On porsche everything is an option (eg sat nav) so most people are spending mid 50 's but the formula assumes these cars are worth the same as ones with no sunroof, leather and comedy wheels. The net result is that the monthly payments are stupidly high and after 3 years you will have overpaid by about 15k. Porsche then use this equity to try get to you roll into a new lease. Interest rate is also high at about 7%. All in all a bit of a Rip off to be honest.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[Contigo]

Normally they price in cars like the Macan with good residuals as a lower lease value because they know the car will retain 70% of its value after the 2 or 3 year lease deals so I don't understand their pricing there at all.

 

[outrun]

It's just a trap to get you to stay with the brand and also to ensure a good supply of 1 owner 2nd hand cars down the line for their pre-approved program. Finance can usually be found for much more competitive rates than dealers will offer. I use a specialist who always beats the best offer and places the funding where the best rates are. For example, I used Alphera for a Touareg after owning a BMW as Alphera is BMW Financial Services for non-BMW products effectively. As they had a good history of me, they offered a great rate to keep my business when I left the brand.

As with everything, there are several ways to buy the same thing and each appeals to the individual in their own way according to circumstances.