Never understood people who try and justify their cars over more expensive ones.

No? Seems straighforward to me. It’s because people feel are jealous, so it makes them a little bit more wretched and insecure. So they become slightly defensive and feel the need to try and get a small victory. By convincing themselves (and sometimes anyone who’ll listen) that the person is wrong for spending such money.

However the more expensive you go, the fewer good reasons there are for spending, in my book. By all means race, but it’s hard to feel sympathetic towards someone sitting in Tesco car park in a £250k super car.

If I see a £250k supercar (hmm – a rare price point that one – lots under £200k, lots over £300k…) in a Tesco supermarket, I have an ogle and think “phhwwwoooar” then “well done” unless they do something blatantly stupid. Not once do I think “ooh silly man in his 599, he’s got hardly any bootspace AND he only has two cupholders”

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there Mol although it’ll invoke the wrath of STW.

May I be damned and say a Peugeot 407 2.7 HDi estate with the glass roof? Comfy, spacious, reliable (I drive a Pug without any issues), cheap to run, glass roof.
Auto Trader might help a bit.

I’d not buy a 407 at the moment purely because the successor (506? 508? can’t remember) is out early next year and the used 407 prices (particularly the newer ones) will get a bit of a shafting

The thing is though, a supercar is entirely the wrong thing for practical duties. It belongs on a race track does it not? I struggle to sympathise with people that use them for normal suburban driving.

When I see one, I tend to think ‘nice motor, shame it’s here though’.

Only Peugot I’d get excited about would be the 3008 hybrid, but doesn’t look like it’s out yet 🙂

Do some people not understand that James might require a certain quality of car within a given age range for one particular reason.

As he hasn’t said, I’m guessing he’s no longer taking a company car and his company stipulate that if you buy your own car it has to be x, y and z.

He’s given you his criteria (for what ever reasons). If you can’t offer suggestions within it don’t bother I say.

That’s correct dooosuk. Car has to have min. 4 seats and no soft tops. And no more than 3 years old.

Merc E55 AMG Estate? Family sized, quick, can get bikes in it.

In fairness mol, most people who can afford a supercar will never use them to do super driving.

Anyway, as to the car thing, let’s not have a pop at the OP. He can spend what he bloody well wants. So what if he has to compromise on his woodburner or washing machine. I suspect anyway that the value has been dictated by a monthly allowance.

OP, I’m picking up a just under 3 year old A4 170 Ps Estate on Thursday. The dealer had it on for nearly 15 grand and with a bit of negotiation and tyre kicking, they’ve knocked £2150 off it. Full warranty and 2 years servicing plus a complete respray off all stone chips, full service and 12 months MOT. I saw the bodywork sanction – a grand is what it added up to.

Anyway, I imagine you could get yourself a very tidy A6 Estate for your money…which has a bit more room than the A4. But you know me, I only want tge lifestyle 🙂 not the actual room.

Oops, looks like doosuk got in there before me while I was typing.

Was that an Audi dealer darcy or an independent?

Audi dealer james. I think I may have got cheaper going private or indie, but the dealer threw in those extras. They ask more upfront but they crumbled surprisingly quickly in the face of my procrastination (certainly no lightning bargaining from me 🙂 )

Similarly like dd we’ve knocked a lot off two recent purchases from main dealers (both a tiny bit above your budget) and got LOADS of extras thrown in too – it’s a hell of a buyers market.

We’ve also managed to buy from miles away and get free delivery/collection of car for p/x as well – very handy but only doable if you have a completely cast iron dealer used approved warranty.

Thanks that’s useful to know – some of the approved used prices at dealers look optimistic but I suspected there was some negotiation fat in them

Both deals I’ve got have been pretty close to private prices once the bargaining was done. Add in a years water tight warranty, full servicing and inspection, full preparation, a years tax, free delivery and everything done for you and it really makes sense on any car over about £15k.

Both also gave decent p/x prices above what we expected to get – we also had very little ad response for either.

There is. You are in a strong position really with all that cash, hence my original advice of popping into a string of main dealers.

Is there a time limit for this transaction?

Would like to have the car by early Jan at the absolute latest

I’ve still got an XC90 that I bought ‘ex demo’ in 2003 – it is a great car for our 2 adult/3 children/2 dog family.
Hugely comfortable, 30mpg average, quiet, safe, and has 7 decent seats if required – the fact that it has remained basically unchanged over the last 7 years speaks volumes about how right they got it first time round.
Although I’m not looking to change it there is still nothing out there that I can see that could fill our requirements as well.

When you say must be less than 3 years old, I’m guessing that is due to a company restriction. But how long can you keep it – do they have a ‘can’t be older than (say) 6 years’ policy?

If this is the case you want to keep an eye on depreciation, because if you are spending £20k, you will be losing a minimum of £10k every three years whatever car you buy.

tbh I worked for a company a fair few years ago like this, and my wifes’ car (which was in my name was new), whereas mine (which was in her name) was a lot older… This wasn’t done on purpose, just that I’d had a company car previously with a different firm, and she wanted a new car – so I took her’s.

No problem with getting the allowance, after I pointed out that other (central London) collegues took the allowance and didn’t actually own a car!

B r were you an MP?

B r – yes that’s it the car must remain less than 6 years old for the next 3 years in order for the car allowance to apply – so basically in 3 years time I will need to change it for something newer – I’m single so this will be the only car available to me – I was hoping that by buying something 2-3 years old the depreciation curve would have begun to flatten off

I think 2-3 years old is a good age to buy a car – depreciation has done it’s worst but still under warranty.

Bought the BM at just over 2 years old with 16k miles for just over half the list price – from a main dealer.

Sorry, I didn’t know anything about the replacement for the 407. Whatever it will be, it’s bound to meet your criteria.
Funnily enough, just a week ago I asked my local Pug rep when a replacement for the 407 was coming out, he didn’t know. Ireland is so great at times 😉
If you want to stay away from Audi, VW, Skoda, BWM, Mercedes I’d entertain the Pug. Or a Citroen. Softly sprung, comfy in town and on motorways (not sporty but smoooooth), I like them. I like the idea of a Volvo, but the insurance tends to put me off and since they stopped being boxy they lost this something I always liked in them.
Or, just maybe, a well-equipped Avensis estate diesel?

I was hoping that by buying something 2-3 years old the depreciation curve would have begun to flatten off

In that case buy at 35 months old, and sell at 71 months old – the later you leave it and the less you pay, the less the depreciation is…

Do check though when the big services are, and buy once done – such as Jags after 60k.

Honda FRV diesel. Seats 6, should seat 4 plus bikes/kit for trips away easily.