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b r,
6 years is the limit. The 3 series will be 4 years old later this year and so far it's been (almost) faultless. However the lease runs out then and the car becomes mine (for the final fee) and I loose the comprehensive maintenance cover. As much as I think the car is ace it's limited practicality and chance of expensive BMW repair and service bills (tyres are over £200 each) is suggesting I look for something more [s]boring[/s] practical
If the price was right then something around 3 years old may be an option and just put some money aside to cover repair bills I 'spose.
Fuel economy is sh*te though (28-30mpg)
it will be with 4 bikes on the roof 😉
I've just bought a new Roomster, more space inside than the Yeti and new C-Max, drives nicely and pulls pretty well - I have the 1.2TSI 105bhp. Cost me £12.5k with some extras and I like how it looks really - well compared to other van derived MPVs anyway. Also tried a Citroen C3 Picasso which I hated and looked at a Hyundai IX35 but am told they're poor to drive - look OK though.
Very happy with the Roomster.
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Our FRV is the 2.0ltr Petrol. 30mpg for the missus as her day to day car (town driving). The bikes on the roof prob made about 5mpg worse - I think it averages about 33mpg on long runs without bikes on roof.
2.2 diesel would have been preferred, but at £2k more to buy and the low mileage my wife does, it would have been at least 2 years before recooping the extra. It just hurts the purse a little at a time.
the sales lady told us we had the wrong bike as the brochure showed one in it.
That'd put me off buying a new Ford - the staff in our local dealer are universally, complete morons. When we were on the verge of buying a Fiesta ST a few years ago they tried to flog us a Zetec S instead by standing in front of us with the brochure and reciting from it, word for word. They also didn't know what isofix was (none of them did).
If its 6 years, then keep the BMW, although if its worth less than the final payment - don't.
Or buy a 4 year old Mondeo Estate - and sell it at 6 years.
The difference between paying for a new car (£20k) and one that is 4 years old (£10k) is (surprisingly) £10k (plus interest). This pays for an awful lot of repairs etc.
tbh I did this a few years ago when dropping off the company car list, but we had no age limit, so I spent a couple of grand on a 10 year 535i and also got new motorbike to commute on. Still got the Beemer.
Currently driving a 54 plate Honda Accord Tourer (Sport). Hasn't skipped a beat, and has covered near 100k miles.
On account of being a lanky ****, rear legroom is always an issue, and have to say that the CR-V as mentioned before is way up there on rear legroom.
If I had your cash then the Skoda Superb would be on my list - massive legroom in the back, huge boot, decent to drive (great in 4x4 option) and very well spec'd.
Much as I've always erred from "MPV's" they do make a certain amount of sense, especially in legroom sense.
Been looking for similar (tho a slightly lower budget and intention of keeping for its life).
Test drove a Yeti - solid but its not massive inside, the roomster is bigger. 5 month wait on new andn you would want the Elegance trim with a decent engine so looking at 20k +
Test drove a Touran - was really nice sport version so lots of grunt and an epic boot if you treat it as a 5 seater, current favourite though I have had a VW in various forms for years.
Going to tee up a test of an FRV and CRV as I really liked the drive of the 2.2 Civic we tested, the Civic was just too small though. The CRV errs to much into 4x4 territory for my liking really.