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I need a stopgap car. The car will stay for no longer than 3 years.
If I have monthly budget of £450 to £500 (excluding insurance) for the next car, while spending less on fuel (going hybrid) and fixing the car, I can get a much more modern car. The next car MUST have adaptive cruise control (55 of my 60 mile daily commute is on motorway), I’d like as much autonomous driving capability as possible. The car itself also must have rear passenger doors and 5 seats and enough boot space for baby buggy, due to addition of 3rd member of family in 9 months. Keep in mind the deposit must also be factored into calculation, (eg £1000 deposit + £300pm or £8000 deposit + £105pm are the same. I’m looking at cost of deprecation, not monthly payment. Dealers get really mad when I do this)
My current 56reg Mercedes C class C220 CDI sportcoupe costs me £400 per month, that’s including everything (depreciation to private sale value, road tax, servicing, fixing, and fuel) but except insurance. MOT over 3 years of my ownership tells me I drive 16,000 miles annum, I know that costs me £2100 in fuel. Yearly servicing cost average to be £676 due to suspension fixes. Luckily powertrain had been really reliable on this car. This is my first diesel, personally I feel the turbo laggy, smelly and loud diesel is not for me.
Endgame for me is spending up to £39k of my savings on a Tesla Model 3. I’ll use it for as long as possible. Traditional car manufacturer’s idea of selling a car and no future firmware updates bugs me. Tesla is currently the only company offering over the air firmware updates. So Tesla is the only car I’m willing to keep for prolonged period. Unfortunately I need a stop-gap car before Model 3, because I’m not reservation holder and I doubt they will be available to the public before 2019.
I looked at the BMW i3 end of last year, they had 0% finance offer and a REX model would cost £350 per month with £2k deposit. With similar fuel and servicing budgeting as Model 3, it would be affordable. Unfortunately 4 seats and lack of boot space received a veto from the wife.
I looked at new Toyota Prius, but depreciation of a new one is out of my price range, I don’t think older generation Prius have adaptive cruise? I also looked at Hyundai Ioniq hybrid, but because no dealer can get the car in March, the new tax scheme pushes it out of reach. Dealers also got mad due to my calculation method. I don’t feel confident in my commute with the Ioniq EV, it only has 110 miles real world range, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable drive anywhere else if needed (eg. Occasional evening Stratford shopping needs 98 miles). I also need at least 150 miles motorway range to visit my parents.
So what cars would you recommend? Requirements are:
- Adaptive cruise control is a must, preferably able to follow a car in stop-go traffic
- 5 seat 4/5 door family car with large-ish boot
- £10000 to £12000 3 years car depreciation budget for 16000k annual mileage
- £1600 annum for petrol in 55 mpg car (compared to £2100 annum for my 42mpg)
- £300 servicing budget
- Above works out to be £440 - £490 per month
- No diesel!! No SUV, I like low, coupe driving position.
- Based on these, I think it has to be a hybrid?
- Or £15000 3 year depreciation budget for 200 miles EV?
If I have monthly budget of £450 to £500 (excluding insurance) for the next car, while spending less on fuel (going hybrid) and fixing the car, I can get a much more modern car. The next car MUST have adaptive cruise control (55 of my 60 mile daily commute is on motorway), I’d like as much autonomous driving capability as possible. The car itself also must have rear passenger doors and 5 seats and enough boot space for baby buggy, due to addition of 3rd member of family in 9 months. Keep in mind the deposit must also be factored into calculation, (eg £1000 deposit + £300pm or £8000 deposit + £105pm are the same. I’m looking at cost of deprecation, not monthly payment. Dealers get really mad when I do this)
My current 56reg Mercedes C class C220 CDI sportcoupe costs me £400 per month, that’s including everything (depreciation to private sale value, road tax, servicing, fixing, and fuel) but except insurance. MOT over 3 years of my ownership tells me I drive 16,000 miles annum, I know that costs me £2100 in fuel. Yearly servicing cost average to be £676 due to suspension fixes. Luckily powertrain had been really reliable on this car. This is my first diesel, personally I feel the turbo laggy, smelly and loud diesel is not for me.
Endgame for me is spending up to £39k of my savings on a Tesla Model 3. I’ll use it for as long as possible. Traditional car manufacturer’s idea of selling a car and no future firmware updates bugs me. Tesla is currently the only company offering over the air firmware updates. So Tesla is the only car I’m willing to keep for prolonged period. Unfortunately I need a stop-gap car before Model 3, because I’m not reservation holder and I doubt they will be available to the public before 2019.
I looked at the BMW i3 end of last year, they had 0% finance offer and a REX model would cost £350 per month with £2k deposit. With similar fuel and servicing budgeting as Model 3, it would be affordable. Unfortunately 4 seats and lack of boot space received a veto from the wife.
I looked at new Toyota Prius, but depreciation of a new one is out of my price range, I don’t think older generation Prius have adaptive cruise? I also looked at Hyundai Ioniq hybrid, but because no dealer can get the car in March, the new tax scheme pushes it out of reach. Dealers also got mad due to my calculation method. I don’t feel confident in my commute with the Ioniq EV, it only has 110 miles real world range, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable drive anywhere else if needed (eg. Occasional evening Stratford shopping needs 98 miles). I also need at least 150 miles motorway range to visit my parents.
So what cars would you recommend? Requirements are:
- Adaptive cruise control is a must, preferably able to follow a car in stop-go traffic
- 5 seat 4/5 door family car with large-ish boot
- £10000 to £12000 3 years car depreciation budget for 16000k annual mileage
- £1600 annum for petrol in 55 mpg car (compared to £2100 annum for my 42mpg)
- £300 servicing budget
- Above works out to be £440 - £490 per month
- No diesel!! No SUV, I like low, coupe driving position.
- Based on these, I think it has to be a hybrid?
- Or £15000 3 year depreciation budget for 200 miles EV?