Wow. That was quite quick.

Our vxr finally gets delivered on Monday after ordering in July.

The car was in stock -but I think the paperwork took longer than the car would have taken to build

Here she is

Face book like. Well, love actually.

Those seats are lovely.

How many miles on the clock and how much petrol did they give you in the end?

8 miles on the clock and ten litres with delivery. Just done a couple of miles in it. But nervous as officially not our car. Remus exhaust is a nice addition as slightly throaty on acceleration

Looks very tidy, CD, nice one!

As Stepdaughter's Mini has finally died (again), I am interested in at least exploring the lease option for her. Chatting with MeanRedSpider on Saturday (over a very tasty coffee and walnut cake) there was mention of some leasing that includes insurance. All sounds a bit too good to be true for a 21-year-old, but can anyone point me to such a thing?

Here's the Fiat one, Jim

http://www.fiat500withinsurance.co.uk

I've not read the T&Cs

I'm pretty sure I've seen that Vauxhall are doing something similar.

PS - does coffee come in a teapot?

Nice car CD - interested to hear how it goes. Get mine on Saturday

A lot of car for the money. 7 more weeks wait for me. I've no idea what to do with my 20vt plus. Not in great condition, strong engine but needs clutch and cam belt. Decisions decisions!!

Thanks for the linkage, MRS, I'll follow it up tomorrow.

PS - Tea comes in a teapot, coffee-and-walnut cake comes on a plate! Wouldn't catch me drinking the wretched stuff when there's a a proper brew on offer!

the subtleties of language

BTW - the Fiat comes with one of those driver monitoring black boxes so I'm sure it's aimed at relatively new drivers.

And just *who* has access to the data from that box?

Looking at the deal, I don't think it'll work for Stepdaughter. The insurance is for one year out of the 3 and I don't think she'll get on with the black box after driving her own way for a couple of years.
I think she will have to revert to trying to find a cheap, reliable shed.

Jim, have a look at Marmalade.

My daughter passed her test last week and is now looking at getting a car. She's now at Uni and as the Course isn't a full 5 days, she's got herself a job and has money to throw at a car.

I've looked at the reliable shed route but a new car through Marmalade (with the Insurance) or the deal MRS has linked are now on the list.

Thanks bezzer. I looked at Marmalade yesterday, but I'm still not convinced that Stepdaughter will be able to spare £175 a month (minimum) consistently. When I ran the simulation, it only gave an insurance contribution, plus she commutes around 200 miles a week and has a boyfriend who lives 100 miles away, so her mileage might be a problem.

To be honest, it's always going to be a struggle on a low wage with high insurance and mileage. I'll keep looking for options...

It might be cheaper to move the boyfriend.

Although I'm still waiting to have a conversation about this with stepdaughter, it is definitely back on the table as a possibility.
Even if she does 10k miles per year, this will only add £13 per month onto the total.

What I'm not sure about is what happens at the end of the 4 years; is she obliged to pay the "balloon" payment of around 4k or can she simply hand the (painstakingly cared-for) car back and walk away?

Also, I presume she *must* abide by the service intervals; how much will it cost to have a brand new car ramped and stamped over 4 years? My guess is not a vast amount?

I'm still trying to work out the cheaper option of a £1k banger maintained on a shoestring or £200-ish per month plus maintenance for a shiny new Fiat 500.

If money weren't so tight, the PCP would be a no-brainer.

Given that he owns his own house in Newbury, considerably closer to us than where she currently lives, I'd be more inclined to move the Stepdaughter. Though I suppose that then makes the commute to Cambridge a bit pricey...!

I'm snot sure I would take a 4 year lease. At that point expect an mot and possible niggles unless maintenance is included

As I'm nearly two thirds of my way through a 3 year PCP, here are my thoughts.....

If she can stretch to a PCP deal, do it. I'd not bother with a Maintained one as it's highly unlikely she'll have to replace tyres, exhaust, shocks etc. But see what the difference is between a maintained and none maintained deal is. As for servicing, yes it has to be serviced at the Manufacturers intervals (It doesn't have to be done at the Main Stealers). With mine it's at 9k which just happens to be my annual mileage. The salesman has told me to bring it back just before it's 2nd Birthday and they'll swap it for a new one (They offered me a new one at 12 months but it was a 3 door and at the time I needed 5 doors).

If she decides to keep it for the duration of the contract (PCP, not lease), she has 3 options, hand it back and walk away, pay the balloon payment and keep it, or use the 'equity' (Current value minus the Guaranteed Future Value) in the car as a deposit for another one. Option 3 is what the majority of people do.

One thing to remember though, if you do intend to to use the equity for another car, the final valuation is dependant on the condition of the car. Ford knock £100 off the GFV per scuffed alloy, £50 per panel with a dent and if the interior is dirty they can knock off £200 for a valet! Very easy to lose £500+ equity). So she does need to take care of it.

Sorry for waffling....

That's really useful to know, bezzer - not waffle at all!

We are looking at PCP, not lease. I agree that maintained is probably needlessly expensive.

So, as long as the car is in good condition, she has no liability for the balloon payment if she decides not to keep it at the end of the 3 or 4 years?

I think 3 years would be better if affordable.

Yep, after 3 years just hand it back. And as you said, as long as it's not turned into a complete shed, she has nothing to pay.

The GFV is usually set at a generous level to encourage you to take another car. This does reduce by a fair bit if you go into a 4th year. However, if you have no intention of buying it, it's not an issue.

Got the Abarth today. Quite a nice and fun little car - pretty quick and nicely put together. Don't much like the instruments - not very ergonomic - but the rest of it seems good.

Any picture Mrs. Would be cool to see this. There was a very good deal pcp for a corsa. £500 down and 99 a month.

http://www.pentagon-vauxhall.co.uk/offers/new-car/vauxhall-corsa-sting-special-offer

Would need to arrange more miles though.

Yup. The app I use to upload pics to my account seems to have lost my account details so I need to sort that

Nice!

Thanks, Jim. It has an embarrassingly hopeless turning circle for a small car (someone suggested that this might be related to the positioning of the intercooler) so I now know why it comes with parking sensors

Well, as a former 20VT owner, I'm sure that simply adds to the nostalgic feeling!