Mpg obsession???

[Frugal]

I know it's not a tangible thing but I've leased cars in the past and it's never quite felt that they were 'mine'. On the deisel v petrol issue, one small point is that current deisels are more 'green' than petrol and carry a lower road tax ....

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Well - my new C220cdi coupe (edition 125 auto, list price £34,996) is £269 a month for a 2 yrs lease.....about the same as a Ford Focus.

I have just been quoted £430 a month for an E350cdi sport estate Edition 125 over 3 years and doing 20k miles a year.

Those are incredible prices. I don't suppose you guys would mind sharing your source would you?

I've considered leasing in the past, but preferred to buy. Just as well as we've kept the last two cars for much longer than planned because we've enjoyed them so much. Problem is it makes the differential so big it's difficult to justify a replacement.

A lease takes that away altogether, and at those prices, I'm interested!!

 

[Will]

Horses for courses and all that.

Most new cars these days seem to be bought 'on drip' or leased, easy credit/financing (yep, even these days!) means that almost anyone can have a new car if they want.

I don't think there's really much moral high ground to be had by owning a new car instead of leasing though. Sure, it might prove that you've 'got money' to stump up the purchase price up front, but you'll be losing a similar amount every month in depreciation to what the leasing figure would be anyway. Who's the mug?

Best to buy what you can afford, and enjoy. Life's too short to worry what everyone else thinks.

I've owned/bought/driven all sorts of cars over the years (and even leased one!). Cars are cars at the end of the day. Some are nicer than others, as long as you're happy with your choice, who honestly cares?

 

[steve333]

I'm just wondering.When you buy a brand new merc from a dealer why diesel?
Shoudn't be for a person who can spend such amount of money easy to pay fuel bills?Why not AMG and spend few K on a drive around passat or whatever?

It's all down to personal choice/mileage you do & i'll explain my reasoning for choosing a used v8 petrol as my current car,i bought the car when it was 21/2 years old so the big hit in depreciation was had by the previous(only)keeper(£67k new in early 2008,£23k i paid in september 2010 with 19k/full mb history),i only do 6k miles a year in it & my insurance is £575,road tax £465,annual petrol £1500,add on to that servicing +wearing parts(tyres,brake pads/disks etc)& the depreciation i will have if i keep the car until it's 8 years old(which i do) i reckon the car will cost me no more than someone that does say 15k miles a year in a diesel mb of the same age over the same time period of ownership(around 6 years).On top of that i do 30k miles a year in a diesel van so it's nice to jump into a v8 petrol now & then

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Horses for courses and all that.

Most new cars these days seem to be bought 'on drip' or leased, easy credit/financing (yep, even these days!) means that almost anyone can have a new car if they want.

I don't think there's really much moral high ground to be had by owning a new car instead of leasing though. Sure, it might prove that you've 'got money' to stump up the purchase price up front, but you'll be losing a similar amount every month in depreciation to what the leasing figure would be anyway. Who's the mug?

Best to buy what you can afford, and enjoy. Life's too short to worry what everyone else thinks.

I've owned/bought/driven all sorts of cars over the years (and even leased one!). Cars are cars at the end of the day. Some are nicer than others, as long as you're happy with your choice, who honestly cares?

Spott on Will. If you can afford the payment, then you can afford the car. Whether it's one big lump or lots of smaller ones, if you pay what is due when it is due then you can afford it.