Looking for a New Car

j14

Hi,

Just looking for advice or opinions.

My Mam is looking to buy a new car for 2008.

It has to be:
Diesel, Automatic, 2 litre or 2.5 litre with a maximum spending limit of €50,000.

So far she has looked at:

Volvo S40 SE Lux 2 litre €41,000
Volvo S60 Se 2.5 litre €54,000

BMW (new 1 Series Coupe) 2 litre €55,000

Audi (new model) A4 no prices yet.

Is there any car she has missed out on and should be looking at.
The car will be used for long distance driving Dublin to Kerry (Ballinaskellings) approx 13 hour return journey every two weeks.

She is a salesmans dream, she only wants new no second hand cars need apply.

Thanks,
Jay.

unkel

Some of the diesel cars in her price range are very frugal / emit low levels of CO2. They will benefit from the new VRT system and might be thousands of euro cheaper after it will be effective mid next year. Can she wait until then?

What does she prefer on those long journeys? Comfort and relaxation or a sporty involved drive? How long is she going to keep it and is depreciation a big issue?

unkel

Just checked and both a BMW 320d and a Mercedes-Benz 200CDI are within budget. Very hard to go wrong with either of them, depending on her preferences

Whatever she does, she should take the cars for a long spin before deciding which one to get

The Volvos will suffer enormous depreciation compared toany other car mentioned

bazz26

The general prognosis is that the new VRT changes are not being introduced until next July. I would wait until 2009 at that stage to buy a new car.

The new120d or 123d(outside OPs budget?) coupe is probably the best option of that bunch.

E92

unkel wrote: »

The Volvos will suffer enormous depreciation compared toany other car mentioned

the S60 yes(oldest Volvo design, large engines for the Irish market), but doesn't the S40 hold up OK on depreciation? Not BMW/Merc good, but not enormous surley? And if not why not? There are plenty of S40s on the road here.

E92

bazz26 wrote: »

The general prognosis is that the new VRT changes are not being introduced until next July. I would wait until 2009 at that stage to buy a new car.

The new120d or 123d(outside OPs budget?) coupe is probably the best option of that bunch.

If the changes go ahead the 123d will be in the 16% category, so it should be well within budget,the hatchback is 51k IIRC at the moment(no rpices for Coupé yet AFAIK), and I know the changes for the 520d(current RRP of 54k) which will also see it in the 16% band will be going down to 45k, so the 123d should definately go down. Considering the OP said the car will be doing a lot of long distance cruising, I don't know about the BMW, becuase it has run flat tyres, and the 1 series hatch is meant to have terrible ride quality, however the Coupé is meant to have solved the problem, but definately it needs a thorough test by the OP's mum to see if this problem has been ironed out.

smcgiff

I'm buying my first ever Diesel in January and it's going to be an Alfa 159 TI 2.4l JTDM. A top of the range with loads of extras costs just over €52k, but it's manual. If you want an auto, then you could get the 1.9 Lusso (luxury) Automatic for €44k and pile on top of generous standard equip to bring it up to €50k if desired.


http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=659&

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/Review.aspx?model=1468

For that money you could just about get 3 series 318d, but nothing left over for the required extras.

You could also get an A4, but there's a new version in the new year, but it's not possible to order yet.

You could get a SAAB 93 1.9 TDI Vector Sport for €50k.

You could also probably get a 180 Merc, but life's too short to go look up the details.

smcgiff

unkel wrote: »

Just checked and both a BMW 320d

The 320d ES (Basic McBasic) Automatic is €50,805, with Delivery charges it would be closer to €52k.

R.O.R

New A4 2.0Tdi Multitronic lists at €47,700 ex. works for the base model and €49,400 for the SE Model. No discount on these to begin with and you won't see an order until March.

I'd also have a look at the Passat 2.0Tdi DSG Highline. Well Specced, nice to drive with that engine / gearbox combo and should hold it's value well.

unkel

smcgiff wrote: »

The 320d ES (Basic McBasic) Automatic is €50,805, with Delivery charges it would be closer to €52k.

OP has already looked at a car for €54k and another for €55k. There's also a bit of money off the list price when you negotiate buying a new car

smcgiff

unkel wrote: »

OP has already looked at a car for €54k and another for €55k. There's also a bit of money off the list price when you negotiate buying a new car

Lookings all she'll be doing, if j14 gets his way!

R.O.R

unkel wrote: »

OP has already looked at a car for €54k and another for €55k. There's also a bit of money off the list price when you negotiate buying a new car

But no where near 10% on a new Beemer (or Merc, or Audi, or VW, or Volvo)

unkel

R.O.R wrote: »

But no where near 10% on a new Beemer (or Merc, or Audi, or VW, or Volvo)

A €50.8k car ex delivery can be had for €50k incl delivery, be it any of those makes...

I haven't tried it, but I'd say it's very realistic to talk a €54k Volvo S60 down to €50k or lower

But I'll be the first to say that using "net" prices to compare cars is not really helpful

R.O.R

unkel wrote: »

I haven't tried it, but I'd say it's very realistic to talk a €54k Volvo S60 down to €50k or lower

You would think they'd be almost giving them away at this stage, but there is still a max discount that Volvo will give. That won't bring a €54k down below €50k. Any dealer that did would be loosing money, and I don't know any of them who are willing to do that.

RobAMerc

BMW 123d Coupe
Dunno if its in budget or not but with a CO2 of only 128g/km and 200bhp (afair) it should be a cracker.

unkel

R.O.R wrote: »

there is still a max discount that Volvo will give

Of course

R.O.R wrote: »

That won't bring a €54k down below €50k. Any dealer that did would be loosing money, and I don't know any of them who are willing to do that.

A €54k Volvo S60 2.5l is a high margin higher end car that's not quite a premium brand. 8% discount is not that much. I got 10% off a low margin lower end car (Skoda Octavia 1.4)

And it goes up a lot higher than that. If I were in the market for a high end Citroen, I'd expect 25%-30% off or more

An interesting column is Jason Dawe's deal of the week in the UK. This week he's getting nearly 30% off a standard Opel Vectra. Not just for him, for anyone interested in buying one. Most margins are big and fat

mastermind2005

BMW 123d Coupe - thats some car

2.0 diesel twin turbo - just 200bhp and something like 60 or 70 mpg!

RobAMerc

unkel wrote: »

Of course



A €54k Volvo S60 2.5l is a high margin higher end car that's not quite a premium brand. 8% discount is not that much. I got 10% off a low margin lower end car (Skoda Octavia 1.4)

And it goes up a lot higher than that. If I were in the market for a high end Citroen, I'd expect 25%-30% off or more

An interesting column is Jason Dawe's deal of the week in the UK. This week he's getting nearly 30% off a standard Opel Vectra. Not just for him, for anyone interested in buying one. Most margins are big and fat

I would be very careful of reading UK articles on pricing and think you'll get anything near the same here. Manufacturers and dealers make alot more money per car in the UK than they do here - Its known as the "Golden Island" by the manufacturers or so I read. And the current Vectra is a run out model also which the S40 is not.

unkel wrote: »

And it goes up a lot higher than that. If I were in the market for a high end Citroen, I'd expect 25%-30% off or more

looking for 25-30% off is ridiculous no matter what you think of the car

unkel

RobAMerc wrote: »

I would be very careful of reading UK articles on pricing and think you'll get anything near the same here

Indeed! I was trying to make that point that what your man can get in the UK on an average car like a Vectra is totally impossible here

RobAMerc wrote: »

looking for 25-30% off is ridiculous

Totally depends on the car of course, but 25% off a €80k Citroen C6 would not be unrealistic. Never mind ridiculous. No point in trying that in a MB or BMW dealer though

CrowdedHouse

I'd say the 1 series is waaaay too small for regular Dublin/Kerry trips both for comfort and luggage space.
They're a ridiculous machine TBH

320d or A4 I say.