Handing back company car in Jan... need a new car before July !!

jkehoe

Hi All,

Hoping you can help me here. I am changing job at the end of January and have to hand back my company car. I had planned to buy myself a nice 06/07 BMW 520D M Sport worth about 50 or 60k in January. The problem I have is that with the VRT changes a new 520DM Sport is going to drop in price by up to 10k in July so it makes sense to wait until July and get a new one..... Unfortunately I have to hand my current car back at the end of Jan so can’t wait until July :mad:

I see a few options:
Does it make any sense to buy a car like a 06 520D for 6 months and trade it in 1st July or will I end up getting screwed on the trade in because they are worth less ?? :mad:
I might see if I can get company to allow me to take over the lease on my current company car for 6 months?
Should I go ahead and buy a 07/06 520D M Sport anyway and assume it will have a higher value when I trade it in against a new 520 say in 2 years?

Any smart ideas/suggestions out there?

rebel.ranter

What about picking up a runabout for 5 months? Something in the 1k-5k bracket?

bazz26

Buy a cheap motor for 6 months. It will cost you very little if you pick up the right one.

zing

What about looking into a long term rental on an Astra/Focus/whatever from the likes of enterprise ? Assuming you get a car allowance instead of the co car the allowance may be enough to cover the rental (naturally depends on how much the allowance is) or at least would most likely cost you a lot less than what you'd loose on trading in an '08 car 5 or 6 months down the road.

An Astra/Focus/whatever might be a long way from a 520 M but it would only be for a few months so who cares. Leasing direct from a dealers might also be worth looking at.

DJ Hafez

Someone i was talking to a few weeks back is getting a 08 octavia/s40 on a 6 month lease (minimum he said) as he is moving in july. Said it was extremely reasonable but never said where it was from. Might be worth investigating though

Henry Ford III

Buy a MINI Cooper and resell it after 6 months? Solid residuals.

unkel

jkehoe wrote: »

I might see if I can get company to allow me to take over the lease on my current company car for 6 months?

Sounds like a plan! Alternatively, get a cheap runabout for 6 months as the others suggested

cubix

Can anyone tell me if you can set the total car lease payment off your tax if your self employed or how does it work, as I am trying to see if it would be cheaper to buy or lease.

Thanks

TheBazman

Like the others said if you cant extend the lease get a cheap runaround. I have an 06 520d M Sport and also have a decision to make. I had intended waiting until late 08 to change but I'm tempted to get something more powerful so obviously pre July is the way to go.

Interestingly I went into a main BMW dealer to get an idea of the value of mine if I were to trade in in Jan/Feb, and the excuses had already started as to why the would be giving me a crap trade in:

"Obvioulsy the gearbox in the 5 series has changed in the past year or so yours would be higher emissions and will be harder to sell...blah blah blah.."

Henry Ford III

The emissions on an 06 BMW (or any other car) are irrelevant. The "old" system of road tax applies.

TheBazman

Yep they are irrelevant if you are buying a second hand car but its just that someone who is in the market for an 06/07 car may stretch it to get a new one if there are savings to be made on that (VRT and annual tax). Anyway it's just interesting that the excuses are being lined up already

jkehoe

thanks Lads...

I will see if I can take over 5 months on the company car lease until July. Its leased from one of the BMW garages so I might be able to haggle something with them to let me lease it for a few months and I will buy the new 520 from them in July...

E92

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Buy a MINI Cooper and resell it after 6 months? Solid residuals.

That will be in the 16% VRT, compared to 25% now after July, so it will be quite a bit cheaper then though.

bazz26

jkehoe wrote: »

thanks Lads...

I will see if I can take over 5 months on the company car lease until July. Its leased from one of the BMW garages so I might be able to haggle something with them to let me lease it for a few months and I will buy the new 520 from them in July...

I reckon they will jump at this option. It's a win/win situation for them, they get lease payments from you for another 5 months and then sell you a new car.

jimmycrackcorm

bazz26 wrote: »

I reckon they will jump at this option. It's a win/win situation for them, they get lease payments from you for another 5 months and then sell you a new car.

If only life were that easy.