Questions about the future of diesel in the UK

Delvey

If you are only in the UK for 3 years initially why not look at a lease?

Enigma2k4

I parked next to an Adam S the other day, I was quite impressed. Those reviews also look pretty decent too.

Admittedly, I know Germanic design isn't particularly exciting, but I am a fan! Its certainly got appeal for me, so in all likelihood, thats the way I will go.

I am fully aware of the insurance per driver. Thats the beauty of my test above, I used all the same information for all cars so that I have an idea what the insurance would be like just based on the type of car, prior to going for a formal quote. Sadly, I have no insurance history in the UK, so I suspect I am going to be nailed.

In terms of leasing vs cash purchase vs finance vs PCP, I could do any of them, and really dont mind any of those options. It would become a purely financial decision in the end. The winner will be the option that makes the most financial sense.

gibbsy

The Golf GTD is a lovely car, especially with the DSG auto box. For a car with a heavy lump of an engine up front it handles beautifully with a nimble turn in. Bags of torque on offer from a 184ps engine. I prefer driving my GTD over my old Scirocco.

ChuckMountain

I realise that you have no history of insurance on the UK but those prices seem a little high even for that.  You haven't put your exact circumstances but given your age on your profile and assuming you have been driving a while then you should be able to do better.

As endless says it does vary on the driver more than the car but even for the same driver and car between insurers it can vary.  I am just renewing mine at the moment and on comparison sites I get between 400 and 1,500 for the same level of cover. Without a no claims  discount that 400 would be around 1000 which is significantly lower than your numbers.

It would be certainly worth shopping around, possibly naming another driver which can bring it down or using a broker to get a better deal. They might be able to use your history from SA to get a better deal.

Just thinking if you can half the insurance then that's nearly an extra 100 a month to save or put towards a higher model.

Also depending on the deal it can sometimes be cheaper to go for a new car like the golf r when they have silly leasing  deals or the finance contributions on new cars and lower interest rates make pcp cheaper for new rather than used.

Is the golf r 4wd? Having got lots of power I wouldn't go back to front wheel drive only.  Rear wheel drive is fun but not in the rain 4wd puts the power down every time  

Enigma2k4

I've been trying to drive one here in SA, but they all get sold before I can get to the dealer Seems like they are very popular!

Absolutely! That test was just a generic test I did so that I'd have an indication of the cars vs each other. Once I am closer to closing the deal on a particular vehicle then I will go and get actual quotes and speak to brokers etc. I was very surprised by those numbers as well, that was very high!

Absolutely! I am going to consider all options! There is no reason not too. And yes, the type R is 4wd.

Enigma2k4

Good morning everyone,

Finally, I am here and starting to get settled into the UK. From the car front, I have been researching between the various options (lease, HP, PCP, etc).

If I go through the dealership for these finance options, I presume that I wont get the best rates and I need to shop around a bit first? So,
1. Can I get pre-approved finance from a finance house? Or do I need to do that with the dealership where i find the car?
2. Which companies etc should I be looking at for this that any of you can recommend?

Thank you!

rousetafarian

Good morning!

ChuckMountain

Morning too

The answer depends on quite a lot of factors and you would need to narrow down your choice of what you want to a certain extent.

So do you want new\ex demo\used?  Are you wanting finance or a cash buyer etc.  Do you have a car to part exchange in etc.

If you want new then generally the cheapest way to buy a car is via a finance deal with manufacturers incentive.  In some cases that incentive is big and can be coupled with a low rate that can be competitive with loan providers.  Monthly it can work out cheaper than buying than a second hand car from the same dealer up to around 2-2.5 years old or so.  You get full warranty etc on a new car.

If you are buying on a PCP don't put to much deposit in and believe the sales person you will have some equity left at the end.  So either avoid a deposit or make sure that you save\factor the cost of the next car deposit into the monthly payment.

Even if you were a cash buyer to get the cheapest deal, take the finance out to get all the discounts and then pay back in the first month of the deal.

The important thing though is if you want say a particular car let's pick an Audi A3 for arguments sake then you need to shop around.  All the finance deals via Audi will be the same in terms of Interest rate and residual values however the actual price of the car will vary.  So using somebody like Carwow or Autoebid you could find that your local dealer is offering 8% off yet a dealer 50 miles is offering 15% off.  You can then haggle with your local dealer.  I got nearly 20% of my A6 last time and I could have done better but needed a car there and then.

If you are buying used then dealers interests rates are much higher than new and there are no manufacturer discounts.  So it's potentially best to shop around for finance on those as depending on your circumstances you may be able to get cheaper rates.

If you are not too bothered about what car you want then there can be some cracking deals on hiring and there is a thread about them.  At one point you could get a Golf R at around £200 a month which was a really good deal.

rousetafarian

These cheap Golf R’s mentioned above are probably going to flood the used market soon.

I’m paying a lot more for my new Golf R but the PCP rate is still only around 4-5%. Good shout mentioning CarWow as the dealers gave me a £6k discount plus 2 services

Enigma2k4

Thanks for the quick responses.

As I need to have some significant outlay soon in terms of deposits for renting, buying furniture etc, I think finance is the safest. Ideally if I can do it in a way where I have the option to pay it quickly, that would help alot!

Ooooh, where? I seem to have missed that thread. What might make sense for me is to rent something for the next month or two whilst I am shopping around.
Edit: NVM, I was being an idiot. I found it

Oh man! I have spent the last 30 mins playing around with CarWOW.... and WOW. That's such an awesome site!

Another aspect that's relevant...  have a 3 year contract for work. But part of that contract is that they can up and move me anywhere in Europe at very short notice. So PCP might not make sense, as I think giving a car back early could be a problem right?