Upgrading car good or bad idea?

Shocks.43 · 02-05-2021 2:46pm #1

Hi all , just looking for opinions and advice on the following. I have a 172 Audi with 181000 km on the clock . I drive approximately 1000 km a week with work . I normally change car every 2 years and buy a car that is about 2 years old . I am getting a decent trade in for the A4 now but it is still costing about 14k to trade up to a 19 Audi or 18k to go to a year old Tiguan . I have had several A4s and it's a great car for long commutes. My question is really as there is 7k still owed on the Audi to hold onto it or upgrade now for warranty and a v low mileage vehicle . With the job I am in now I reckon I will probably always have a car loan and thats ok . So is now the best time as with the mileage getting higher daily and with the car having being hassle free to move it on . I welcome all opinions , thanks

punisher5112 · 02-05-2021 2:48pm

Audi a6 would be better... The VW wouldn't be as fuel efficient imo.

Shocks.43 · 02-05-2021 3:13pm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Audi a6 would be better... The VW wouldn't be as fuel efficient imo.

Thanks punisher5112, Yeah I would imagine the Tiguan would be less fuel efficient plus I have always driven saloons so have no experience of them . I would reckon an Audi A6 would be too expensive to go up 2 years

punisher5112 · 02-05-2021 3:19pm

Could consider a superb but I understand wanting to stick with Audi, they're a nice motor and at your years should be super reliable.

I think it's a good idea changing more often due to the high mileage, oy other way I'd do it is buy much older run I to ground but that's the other side to it.

bazz26 · 02-05-2021 3:21pm

With that sort of mileage you will never win spending money on trading up to fairly new cars. Too much depreciation to suffer due to your mileage. You will be back in the same position in 2 years time again.

Shocks.43 · 02-05-2021 3:35pm

bazz26 wrote: »

With that sort of mileage you will never win spending money on trading up to fairly new cars. Too much depreciation to suffer due to your mileage. You will be back in the same position in 2 years time again.

I know what you are saying Bazz . But the depreciation has been fairly ok for the last number of years , not too severe buying a 2 year old at a decent price and moving it after 2 years . I could never touch new as the depreciation would be off the charts . I suppose when is a good time to change a car when you are doing high mileage .
Punisher I would be open to any suggestions but I think the Superb would depreciate more.( maybe I am wrong )
Thanks folks I appreciate the opinions/ suggestions

forestgirl · 02-05-2021 3:39pm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Audi a6 would be better... The VW wouldn't be as fuel efficient imo.

Do you have an suv?
Just wondering why you would say not fuel efficient

punisher5112 · 02-05-2021 3:50pm

forestgirl wrote: »

Do you have an suv?
Just wondering why you would say not fuel efficient

They aren't compared to the ops A4.

Casati · 03-05-2021 12:28am

Doing 50k+ p.a your avoiding the worst depreciation buying two year old and 14k isn’t killer but you should aim to buy as low a mileage car as possible so it doesn’t have starship miles when your selling it.

In another year your A4 might be worth 12k plus you run the risk of incurring expensive repairs and downtime without the car. If you want to change from A4’s I’d forget about a Tiguan and look as another poster said at Skoda Superbs which are great cars for doing big miles and hold used value well.

Shocks.43 · 03-05-2021 8:48am

Casati wrote: »

Doing 50k+ p.a your avoiding the worst depreciation buying two year old and 14k isn’t killer but you should aim to buy as low a mileage car as possible so it doesn’t have starship miles when your selling it.

In another year your A4 might be worth 12k plus you run the risk of incurring expensive repairs and downtime without the car. If you want to change from A4’s I’d forget about a Tiguan and look as another poster said at Skoda Superbs which are great cars for doing big miles and hold used value well.

Thanks Casati . That is really where its at if I hold onto it . I have been lucky enough to be trouble free and I am getting a decent trade in .The Tiguan only had 13k km on it and I took it for a drive thats why its in the picture the Audi has 50k km which is prob a bit much as the one I have now had 60k km on it when i bought it 2 years ago . So maybe back to looking for a v low mileage Audi or similar.

colm_mcm · 03-05-2021 9:07am

Do the maths on keeping a new A4 for 4 years.

Shocks.43 · 03-05-2021 9:29am

colm_mcm wrote: »

Do the maths on keeping a new A4 for 4 years.

I have looked at this Colm .Considering the trade in I am getting now an approx figure would be 6500 per year depreciation. ( I might be wrong). Repayments would be higher. Over the last 4 years trading a 15 reg car for the 17 Audi and if I traded this Audi at current value the cost to change has been 17 k for the 4 years . I might be wrong but I think my mileage is too high to consider new ( again i might be wrong)

Casati · 03-05-2021 1:35pm

Shocks.43 wrote: »

I have looked at this Colm .Considering the trade in I am getting now an approx figure would be 6500 per year depreciation. ( I might be wrong). Repayments would be higher. Over the last 4 years trading a 15 reg car for the 17 Audi and if I traded this Audi at current value the cost to change has been 17 k for the 4 years . I might be wrong but I think my mileage is too high to consider new ( again i might be wrong)

I think depreciation would higher as yours has 180km but if you bought new and kept 4 years you'd be trying to flog a car with 260km on it - not as easy a task.

Shocks.43 · 03-05-2021 2:28pm

Casati wrote: »

I think depreciation would higher as yours has 180km but if you bought new and kept 4 years you'd be trying to flog a car with 260km on it - not as easy a task.

Your right Casati . I am then left in a situation where the car has little or no equity in it and a v hard car to move on .. I appreciate all the feedback folks .

User1998 · 03-05-2021 2:31pm

Its easy to sell a high mileage car as long as its reflected in the price. I sold a 2013 Golf with 300k km’s in less than 6 hours and have sold plenty of cars with well over 200k km’s

Casati · 03-05-2021 2:54pm

User1998 wrote: »

Its easy to sell a high mileage car as long as its reflected in the price. I sold a 2013 Golf with 300k km’s in less than 6 hours and have sold plenty of cars with well over 200k km’s

Whats a 4 year old A4 with circa 260k worth vs your Golf?

Majority of buyers looking for a 171 A4 will walk if they see such mega mileage so your basically left to accept bids from a small pool.

Equally more of those buying an 8 year old Golf are more likely to expect it would have high mileage

User1998 · 03-05-2021 3:57pm

The Golf was three years ago btw it wasn’t recent. I’ve sold a good few high mileage diesel saloons with well over 200k km’s that were only 4/5 years old

From my experience the type of people who buy high mileage cars generally also have no problem buying from private sellers either.

Realistically it will probably be the cheapest of its kind for sale so that will open up the pool of buyers a bit. The idea of buying a newer car with high mileage and full service history actually appeals to a lot of people as they are getting themselves into a car which they otherwise could not afford. As I said as long as the price reflects the high mileage it will sell not a problem

Shocks.43 · 03-05-2021 7:13pm

User1998 wrote: »

The Golf was three years ago btw it wasn’t recent. I’ve sold a good few high mileage diesel saloons with well over 200k km’s that were only 4/5 years old

From my experience the type of people who buy high mileage cars generally also have no problem buying from private sellers either.

Realistically it will probably be the cheapest of its kind for sale so that will open up the pool of buyers a bit. The idea of buying a newer car with high mileage and full service history actually appeals to a lot of people as they are getting themselves into a car which they otherwise could not afford. As I said as long as the price reflects the high mileage it will sell not a problem

Thanks User1998 . Food for thought there .

lausp · 03-05-2021 11:21pm

I'm not a financial advisor but spending 14k to move up 2 years sounds like madness. I hope that includes the 7k outstanding?

If I was doing your mileage I would take the approach of driving the car into the ground. Get the oil changed at an independent garage every 12k km and keep driving it until it dies or reaches say 300k km. I'd also strongly consider something a bit cheaper like the Skoda superb suggested.

Moving up every 2 years is throwing money away with your driving, you are constantly trading in high mileage 4/5 year old cars.

Have you been changing because there have been issues with the cars, or just because the mileage was building up?

punisher5112 · 03-05-2021 11:27pm

lausp wrote: »

I'm not a financial advisor but spending 14k to move up 2 years sounds like madness. I hope that includes the 7k outstanding?

If I was doing your mileage I would take the approach of driving the car into the ground. Get the oil changed at an independent garage every 12k km and keep driving it until it dies or reaches say 300k km. I'd also strongly consider something a bit cheaper like the Skoda superb suggested.

Moving up every 2 years is throwing money away with your driving, you are constantly trading in high mileage 4/5 year old cars.

Have you been changing because there have been issues with the cars, or just because the mileage was building up?

Changing oil at 12k km is madness, I do it between 20-30k.....

You would change it like that if doing short journeys, but agree on the changing and spending such an amount.

Guy in work says to me the other day, ah I change the car every 2 years, buys new, but has zero interest in cars, I was gob smacked as I was like if you have no interest why spend what you are on new!??!??!

bazz26 · 04-05-2021 12:30am

OP, did you have a look at the VW Arteon? There might be a lower cost to change on it over another A4. The Arteon is a much nicer car than the A4 too imo.

punisher5112 · 04-05-2021 12:50am

bazz26 wrote: »

OP, did you have a look at the VW Arteon? There might be a lower cost to change on it over another A4. The Arteon is a much nicer car than the A4 too imo.

I love them to look at... Wouldn't mind a Passat cc myself at all. Really liking the style

Shocks.43 · 04-05-2021 9:10am

bazz26 wrote: »

OP, did you have a look at the VW Arteon? There might be a lower cost to change on it over another A4. The Arteon is a much nicer car than the A4 too imo.

No haven’t looked at the VW Aerton Bazz .Dont know what it is but just not gone on them. Just to say it is costing 14 k this time around to change . Previous to this it was 9000 last time to go up 2 years . Cars seem to have got very expensive due to lack of imports etc . To the previous poster I am changing due to high mileage . I am realistic of depreciation and over the last number of years with depreciation at approx 4500 per year I don't think it has been bad to drive a fresh decent car with a warranty. It just seems to be getting v expensive now . Thanks for all the reply's folks .

bazz26 · 04-05-2021 9:45am

Car prices have increased massively over the last coupe of years due to Brexit as well as increases in VRT here. However your 2017 A4 is not much different to a 2019 A4. They haven't changed much so it's not like it's an all new model to warranty that sort of cost to change increase imo. Also bear in mind that there will probably be a new A4 launched sometime in the next 12 months so you will be trading an old model with high mileage in 2 years time too, I think the cost to change will be even higher then.

Casati · 04-05-2021 10:58am

bazz26 wrote: »

Car prices have increased massively over the last coupe of years due to Brexit as well as increases in VRT here. However your 2017 A4 is not much different to a 2019 A4. They haven't changed much so it's not like it's an all new model to warranty that sort of cost to change increase imo. Also bear in mind that there will probably be a new A4 launched sometime in the next 12 months so you will be trading an old model with high mileage in 2 years time too, I think the cost to change will be even higher then.

Maybe the OP should increase his expectations on trade-in price, looking on carzone 191 A4's 150 bhp auto's are asking 32k, so 17k to change means that trade-in offered is just 15k - which in the current strong market seems on the low side if his is a similar spec

bazz26 · 04-05-2021 11:17am

I'd hope he/she has shopped around but looking on carzone at 2017 A4s with similar mileage to the OP's and dealers are asking 17k/17.5k so getting 15k trade-in offer might not be as too far off what to expect really. If it's he is getting those figures from an Audi dealer then they are probably giving it's trade value as I doubt an Audi dealer would retail a car with that high mileage on their forecourt.

Shocks.43 · 04-05-2021 7:29pm

bazz26 wrote: »

I'd hope he/she has shopped around but looking on carzone at 2017 A4s with similar mileage to the OP's and dealers are asking 17k/17.5k so getting 15k trade-in offer might not be as too far off what to expect really. If it's he is getting those figures from an Audi dealer then they are probably giving it's trade value as I doubt an Audi dealer would retail a car with that high mileage on their forecourt.

I am getting 17.5 k trade in lads .14k to change . Trade in figures were anything from 13 to 17.5k from an independent garage . Audi were offering 16.5k against a new car . I consider 17.5 a v good trade in but the cost to change is still high .

Buddy Bubs · 04-05-2021 7:36pm

Shocks.43 wrote: »

I am getting 17.5 k trade in lads .14k to change . Trade in figures were anything from 13 to 17.5k from an independent garage . Audi were offering 16.5k against a new car . I consider 17.5 a v good trade in but the cost to change is still high .

What's the car that costs 14k to change to? And what's the mileage? I think 2 years old to 4 years old might be your sweet spot if you can give back the 4 year old with less mileage than you're going in with this time.

bazz26 · 04-05-2021 8:01pm

Shocks.43 wrote: »

I am getting 17.5 k trade in lads .14k to change . Trade in figures were anything from 13 to 17.5k from an independent garage . Audi were offering 16.5k against a new car . I consider 17.5 a v good trade in but the cost to change is still high .

It depends on how keenly priced the car you are buying is. If it's overpriced then it's easier to give you a higher trade-in price for your own car. Cost to change price comparison is all that matters. Going by your figures the dealer is looking for 31.5k for 2019 A4. How much would you reckon you would have bought the 2019 in a straight deal? The difference is the discount that is being added to your trade-in value so deduct that figure from what they are giving you and it gives you a more realistic figure of what you are actually getting for your car from the dealer.

Shocks.43 · 04-05-2021 9:39pm

bazz26 wrote: »

It depends on how keenly priced the car you are buying is. If it's overpriced then it's easier to give you a higher trade-in price for your own car. Cost to change price comparison is all that matters. Going by your figures the dealer is looking for 31.5k for 2019 A4. How much would you reckon you would have bought the 2019 in a straight deal? The difference is the discount that is being added to your trade-in value so deduct that figure from what they are giving you and it gives you a more realistic figure of what you are actually getting for your car from the dealer.

I agree 100% Bazz . Dont know what the discount would be for cash . But I wouldn’t expect much more of a trade in to be honest . As i said I was offered a lot less elsewhere . Looking at 2019 A4s With half decent spec 31.5 k ( which is the price of the car ) is one of the lowest priced Audis from any garage online.
Realistically with prices as they are cost to change
Is getting more expensive , the audi i have now was under 25 k and 20 months old when i bought it . You are now in the 31k plus looking at a 2 year old car.

Casati · 05-05-2021 12:06am

Shocks.43 wrote: »

I agree 100% Bazz . Dont know what the discount would be for cash . But I wouldn’t expect much more of a trade in to be honest . As i said I was offered a lot less elsewhere . Looking at 2019 A4s With half decent spec 31.5 k ( which is the price of the car ) is one of the lowest priced Audis from any garage online.
Realistically with prices as they are cost to change
Is getting more expensive , the audi i have now was under 25 k and 20 months old when i bought it . You are now in the 31k plus looking at a 2 year old car.

What’s a typical day driving for you look like? Would a long range EV be feasible? You’d save a fortune on diesel with something like an ID4

Upgrading car good or bad idea?

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