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Ford Focus - Merc SLK - Part ex owned to lease? Unbiased opinions sought - hoyak

Hi,

Would just like alternative, unbiased opinions.

I currently own a Ford Focus (I say own as is on an unsecured loan for which I pay £326 a month). This includes other CC and OD debt, previously was paying £225 a month. So, for the point of this say I am paying £200 a month for the car as new finance is significantly cheaper.

I think the car is worth somewhere in the region of 5-5.5k privately but could be less. Only going down in value (see my bias lol).

I am thinking of selling to fund a two year lease on an brand new SLK for 24 months.

I am 20 years old. My older colleagues and family reckon this is an extremely bad idea as after 24 months I will own nothing. However, my Focus will not be worth much I don't think as by then will be on close to 80k miles at least. Probably more.

What do people with an interest in motoring think?

Ford Focus - Merc SLK - Part ex owned to lease? Unbiased opinions sought - MikeTorque

Have you factored in the cost of insurance, servicing, VED, running costs including fuel & replacement tyres etc. for your expected mileage ?

What will be the monthly total cost of motoring for you and will you be able to pay for it over a 24 month period without putting yourself under too large a financial burden ?

Assess what financial exposure you would be faced with if you suddenly are unable to work and/or your income goes awol, what is your fall-back position ?

What happens after 24 months ?

Ford Focus - Merc SLK - Part ex owned to lease? Unbiased opinions sought - hoyak

Hi,

I would be limited to 10k miles a year so diesel is not cost effective? However, think I would be going from about about 34mpg to 50-55mpg. Do you think this would balance out or perhaps even be more cost effective when considering the higher price of diesel?

Tax is cheaper than on my current car although currently reg disabled. I do not anticipate this for much longer due to changes in policy. Insurance is £600 a year more but going from a 2.0 145bhp petrol to a 2.1 204bhp turbodisel. Unsure of the cost of a Mercedes service although I would only need to get it serviced once for the first time in that milage. I think?

If I lost my job/poor health I would be in the position of having to pay £606 from £326 now but anticipate having £5k in cash in the bank from sale of my current car plus other savings of about £1k and any other savings I build up by that point. Although 5k wouldn't last long if I was paying out £606.

So, basically I am thinking I will bank the cash from my car sale, continue paying my £326 which is an unsecured loan, and use the cash from my car sale to pay the lease. I would need to find an extra £2.5k over the 24 months. First years insurance is paid from current savings so would need to save an additional £1200-£1400 over the year to pay for 2nd years as wouldn't want any more monthly payments.

Therefore, my logic is that for an extra £145 a month on what I am currently paying, I can go from a 5 year old Ford Focus to a brand new £36k Mercedes sports car. However, after 2 years I will give the car back and own nothing.

My situation is I am 20 years old living at home.

Edited by hoyak on 17/01/2013 at 23:46

Ford Focus - Merc SLK - Part ex owned to lease? Unbiased opinions sought - Dabooka

You are quite simply mad. There are so many things wrong with your plan I don't know where to start.

You initially mentioned having a loan for your car and, I assume, to consolidate and overdraft and credit card debt. Already at the age of 20 your spending is out of control vs your earnings. You need to sort that out first, regardless of the car you're driving. You haven’t even moved out so you’re living in the cheapest place ever and you still accrued debt? And don’t reply with the “I’ve learned from the error of my ways” as that’ll not wash either.

Next is the issue of being accepted in the first place. Do you think a 20 year old with an outstanding loan would be accepted? I doubt it, unless you’re on mega-bucks (you’re not). You appear to have a sound, reliable motor stick with it. If anything you may have over-purchased for that.

Give it up as a bad idea, get your head out of clouds. It’ll not happen.

Ford Focus - Merc SLK - Part ex owned to lease? Unbiased opinions sought - mss1tw

I think it's a great idea - go for it!

Ford Focus - Merc SLK - Part ex owned to lease? Unbiased opinions sought - MikeTorque

At £606 per month it works out at £14544.00 for 24 monthly payments.

It sounds like you're interested in the Mercedes SLK 250 BlueEFFICIENCY, you'd be doing well to get 40 mpg on average with normal driving, put your foot down (which you will do) and expect similar fuel consumption to the Focus 2.0, so no fuels savings to be had.

This is a car very fast car, my main concern is whether you'll still be alive after 24 months, young people and powerful cars tend to be poor indicators of life expectancy.

An alternative way of looking at this is :

(1) Stick with the Focus and hopefully still be alive in 24 months.
(2) Have cash in the bank ready for meeting someone special to marry.
(3) Save enough money to put down a deposit on a house.
(4) Look forward to maybe having a family.

Edited by MikeTorque on 18/01/2013 at 22:14

Ford Focus - Merc SLK - Part ex owned to lease? Unbiased opinions sought - csgmart

It sounds like you're interested in the Mercedes SLK 250 BlueEFFICIENCY, you'd be doing well to get 40 mpg on average with normal driving, put your foot down (which you will do) and expect similar fuel consumption to the Focus 2.0, so no fuels savings to be had.

I have one of these now and regularly see over 50mpg on a 52 mile communte each day (40 miles motorway the remainder mainly fast-ish A roads).

Even if I give it some welly it never drops below mid 40's - this is one reason I bought this car. My previous 3 litre diesel Jaguar XF was brilliant but the quoted 44mpg was only ever achieved very occassionally - my average, when I handed the car back after 2 years, was 34mpg. So, a significant improvement in fuel ecomony was achieved by me.

I'm on a PCP and my repayments baed on 20k miles per year are [to me] a reasonable £519 per month. This is exactly the same as I was paying for the Jag and although it was by far the best car I've owned to date the depreciation was simply eyewatering. In my opinion a 3 year old 3 litre diesel Jaguar XF makes a cracking second hand buy. All that car for less than £20k.

Ford Focus - Merc SLK - Part ex owned to lease? Unbiased opinions sought - oldtoffee

These heavily subsidided (by the manufacturere) lease deals are popping up more frequently. We're looking at doing this and selling off the wife's Fiat 500 which has depreciated by about £7,500 over 3 years. Thats £200 a month depreciation. Take that depreciation off the attractive lease rate and thats the extra you're paying to drive a luxury sports coupe.

To the OP if you sell your Focus, pay off the loan. If that means you then can't afford to stump up the lease deposit and a few months payments then you can't afford it so you really shouldn't do it. Save up to be able to afford to do it or save up to one day leave home, start your own business and when you need the start up cash and you've blown a load on a car you'll have to borrow outsider money and share your business with people you wouldn't normally go for a pint with.

Ford Focus - Merc SLK - Part ex owned to lease? Unbiased opinions sought - the_bandit
You appear to be a typical example of the youth today who don't understand the value of money.

Much better you spend your time learning and improving your financial acumen.

Forget the SLK, you can't afford it just now.
Ford Focus - Merc SLK - Part ex owned to lease? Unbiased opinions sought - RT

It's a troll - no 20-year olds who already have County Court judgements and Overdraft debts can sensibly think about "upgrading" from a Focus to a SLK.