Another "What to buy" thread

Padre_Pio

Hi all,

Looking for advice here.
I own a BMW 525i msport, e60 body type. It's pre-08 so tax is 1080 a year, petrol costs (10L/100km) and insurance is quite high, considering my commute is cycling distance. I head from Dublin to Cork a few times a month, and it's beautiful to drive.

I absolutely love it, it runs perfectly, but I'm saving for a mortgage and every penny counts.

I'm thinking of the usual suspects, Golf, Leon, Astra, but I'm in the weird position that it'll cost me more to change the car than I'd spend keeping it on the road for a few more years.

RoscommonTom

the golf is a woman or hairdressers car, going to that from a bmw will drive you mad, have a look at a skoda superb,

farna_boy

Padre_Pio wrote: »

Hi all,

Looking for advice here.
I own a BMW 525i msport, e60 body type. It's pre-08 so tax is 1080 a year, petrol costs (10L/100km) and insurance is quite high, considering my commute is cycling distance. I head from Dublin to Cork a few times a month, and it's beautiful to drive.

I absolutely love it, it runs perfectly, but I'm saving for a mortgage and every penny counts.

I'm thinking of the usual suspects, Golf, Leon, Astra, but I'm in the weird position that it'll cost me more to change the car than I'd spend keeping it on the road for a few more years.

Do you have any requirements? Does it have to be a saloon car? Do you care if it is petrol or diesel? Are you looking for comfort or are you just looking to save money?

MarkN

RoscommonTom wrote: »

the golf is a woman or hairdressers car, going to that from a bmw will drive you mad, have a look at a skoda superb,

Good one.

Putting money to changing car if you’re saving for a mortgage seems odd. How much will you spend on fuel, tax and insurance over the next few years versus how much will you spend on same in a Golf plus the cost of changing?

L-M

MarkN wrote: »

Good one.

Putting money to changing car if you’re saving for a mortgage seems odd. How much will you spend on fuel, tax and insurance over the next few years versus how much will you spend on same in a Golf plus the cost of changing?

Well if he got a diesel Golf over 3 years he would save 2400 on tax alone. Then half the fuel bill.

So there would be a substantial saving. Also maintenance would be far less.

bazz26

L-M wrote: »

Well if he got a diesel Golf over 3 years he would save 2400 on tax alone. Then half the fuel bill.

So there would be a substantial saving. Also maintenance would be far less.

What about the initial purchase price and depreciation though? These need to be factored in also.

L-M

bazz26 wrote: »

What about the initial purchase price and depreciation though? These need to be factored in also.

To be fair if it’s going to be a 2011/2012 bracket Golf it’s not going to depreciate a whole pile.

There’s also the factor of actually wanting to drive a newer car that depreciation doesn’t play that big of a part.

bazz26

Oh I agree if the OP wants a newer car then fair enough but rarely will it be justified financially especially if your trying to get a mortgage too. If the only thing the current car is costing him is fuel and tax then I'd tend to keep it for a while until at least the mortgage is sorted.

Padre_Pio

farna_boy wrote: »

Do you have any requirements? Does it have to be a saloon car? Do you care if it is petrol or diesel? Are you looking for comfort or are you just looking to save money?

Very few requirements. Shied away from diesel because of my shirt commute. No kids, no serious distance travelled, but I've driven underpowered cars for years (1.0 corsa, 1.4 golf) so I'd like something that can overtake easily enough.

bazz26 wrote: »

Oh I agree if the OP wants a newer car then fair enough but rarely will it be justified financially especially if your trying to get a mortgage too. If the only thing the current car is costing him is fuel and tax then I'd tend to keep it for a while until at least the mortgage is sorted.

That's my conundrum. I'd be lucky to get 3k for my car, but it's costing me that each year in upkeep. I'm going to start cycling to work, so I will use it even less.

RoscommonTom wrote: »

the golf is a woman or hairdressers car, going to that from a bmw will drive you mad, have a look at a skoda superb,

Drove the new Superb last year for a bit. Lovely car, though I'd be going way down in years. Any particular engine to be on the lookout for?

L-M

You should still buy a diesel. If you’re not going to commute in it and just using it for long trips there’s definitely better value to be had in diesel at the minute.

bazz26

How much are you looking to spend? I'd say your E60 is worth closer to 2k than 3k to be honest. If your cycling and using it less is there the possibility of declaring it off the road in advance for a certain time every few months so that your not paying for a full year's tax?

Pekarirska

There's VV-tech in Naas that does LPG conversion and they're literary just off M7. The conversion cost is about €1000.
The consumption will probably go to 12L/100km and will have to fill up every time doing the Cork - Dublin route.
The good news is that they also sell LPG and they're one of the cheapest at 70c per litre. Closed on Sunday.

WacoKid

Padre_Pio wrote: »

Hi all,

Looking for advice here.
I own a BMW 525i msport, e60 body type. It's pre-08 so tax is 1080 a year, petrol costs (10L/100km) and insurance is quite high, considering my commute is cycling distance. I head from Dublin to Cork a few times a month, and it's beautiful to drive.

I absolutely love it, it runs perfectly, but I'm saving for a mortgage and every penny counts.

I'm thinking of the usual suspects, Golf, Leon, Astra, but I'm in the weird position that it'll cost me more to change the car than I'd spend keeping it on the road for a few more years.

Snap!

I have been browsing for a couple of years now at cars that would justify jumping out of my E60 525i into, taking into account driving dynamics, performance, cost of changing etc.

Basically I have determined I am not willing to give up a petrol engine, a ZF auto box, or move to front wheel drive. In summary the only car that meets what I would want is the G30 530i, but at 40k+ for a 2017 it's obviously not cheap.


My advice as a fellow owner would be to keep it. It is worth a lot more to you than €2k in your pocket, even taking into account running costs. Also, the 6 cylinder petrol engine in the 525i has bullet proof reliability, only ever needs a drop of oil.

farna_boy

WacoKid wrote: »

Snap!

I have been browsing for a couple of years now at cars that would justify jumping out of my E60 525i into, taking into account driving dynamics, performance, cost of changing etc.

Basically I have determined I am not willing to give up a petrol engine, a ZF auto box, or move to front wheel drive. In summary the only car that meets what I would want is the G30 530i, but at 40k+ for a 2017 it's obviously not cheap.


My advice as a fellow owner would be to keep it. It is worth a lot more to you than €2k in your pocket, even taking into account running costs. Also, the 6 cylinder petrol engine in the 525i has bullet proof reliability, only ever needs a drop of oil.

Just sold my E60 525i because I got the impression that the engine was on the way out so maybe not entirely bullet proof (or I was just unlucky).

I ended up just getting something cheap as a run around for dropping the kid to creche because I still have a TT for something fun.

The original alternatives I was looking at that would be cheap, reasonable power and have some comfort were a petrol A6 2.0T or an old Mercedes E200 (W211). Both were as comfortable as the 525i and still had reasonable power (A6 had 170bhp and E200 had 184bhp).

You could pick up an A6 for about €2k but the E200 would be a bit more expensive but the tax was slightly cheaper.

colm_mcm

Hyundai Stigmata?

commited

The only change that makes sense to save money is one where you have to spend very little to change, which will inevitably mean a downgrade! I'd suggest either bailing into something much less nice and comfortable to save a few quid here and there or keeping it and looking for the savings elsewhere - a nice 6 cylinder petrol is a tough act to follow.