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Jun 20, 2005
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Very good and interesting Clive. A very good choice. Good explanation how you reached your decision. I suspect like us some years ago the 7 year 100k mls warranty was too good to miss.
One thing though puzzles me.
SWMBO 2015 C’eed is £30 VED. Next door has the same model but a year newer and more lean burn diesel, Zero VED . So how come yours is £130? Have I missed something or have the rules changed🤔🤔
 
Jun 16, 2020
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Well, like all plans you have to be ready for changes when you start to implement the plan. We decided that the Subaru had to go as its planned expenditure to the end of the year would be nearly £2000 for servicing,MoT, insurance, recovery, tyres (down to 4mm ) and clearing advisories on the lower suspension bushes cracking. I could live with them as they haven’t deteriorated any since last years MoT in November 2021, but they would affect a private sale. Then not costed are replacement of front and rear disc and pads, which have about 10000 miles left, and the possibility of the original exhaust requiring replacement or any other repairs that may arise. So £2000 was the lower bound between now and MoT/service in November.

So we made a list of potential replacements and trudged around the dealerships. Must say it was not as easy as selecting a tow car! MGs were liked by my wife but despite a 7 year /100000 mile warranty I wasn’t so convinced. Apart from the Prius ( no longer sold in UK) Toyota seem to lack a mid sized car. We looked at various VWs and did think that a Mk8 Golf might fit the bill, but they seemed to be overpriced for comparable equipment levels . Plus the dashboard was predominantly touch screen, even requiring touch slider for HVAC whereas other marques have moved away from that especially for HVAC controls. My wife liked the Vitara but I didn’t find the seats supportive, and it was designed to meed 2015 NCAP, which revised in 2019, so having had two Swedish cars written off around us with only a few bruises and aches, it does influence your views . The Mazda CX30 was a top quality interior but the Skyactiv X CI/lean burn 2 litre “donk” had no pull until the revs came up too high for relaxed driving. Not Mazdas best.

Being 6 ft 4 in many cars I could not get into without bending double and then brushing my head against the top door frame. So eventually our thoughts morphed towards a Hyundai Tucson, Ioniq, Prius, or Kia Ceed/Xceed. After a few more visits and much discussion we decided to go with a Kia XCeed 3 TDGI DCT. Whilst I could get into the Ceed relatively easily, the extra 44mm hip height on the Xceed made it even easier. The shock came when we discussed buying new. Cash is no longer king, the deals were awful and the delivery dates somewhat vague, and no autos available from new, although the dealer would take the Subaru there and then and transfer its value to our bank account. PCP over 3 years was over £29000!!

So we did what we have always done….buy pre owned. We found a car at Kia Worcester, 8 months old, 3966 miles which is Kia Approved with its 7 year warranty reinstated and up to the balance of 100000 miles. Comes with two year full UK/Europe RAC cover too, so I can cancel my existing recovery, plus the VED refund covers the £165 for the Kia with some left for a nice meal out. Got a good price on year two and three pre paid services (£319 in total) plus the Subaru PE offer was £700 better than the Swindon dealer offered on a new car. So instead of spending at least another £2000 between now and November on the Subaru, or £29000 over the next three years on a new Kia we are nearly £7000 in pocket by not buying new, with much reduced ownership costs. And driving back from Worcester and going with the flow it averaged 53mpg. Cannot be bad.



We may hang on to the Rio run about as its warranty runs to 2024. Which means we have ownership of the cars that came 1st and 3rd in this year’s JD Power survey from a brand that came 5th for customer support. And the Rio is cheap as chips to run, although currently reference to chips being cheap may be inappropriate.

So when 2029 comes we should have a much wider choice of going EV and possibly the second generation MG4 could be an attractive option, by which time MG will be well established ( in my conservative mind).

Sounds like a really good and well planned deal. Hope all goes well with the new car. With children and grand children we have 11 vehicles, 7 of these are from new on some sort of lease type scheme. 2nd hand we have 2 vans bought and professionally converted to campervans and 1 work van and my car. Mine being the only car purchased 2nd hand and full paid for.

I am much happier not having to budget for a large outgoing every month. I would need to come into big money to be persuaded into buying new. A couple of years old is good, or, in my case, now 9 years old because better the devil you know.

John
 
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Nov 11, 2009
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Very good and interesting Clive. A very good choice. Good explanation how you reached your decision. I suspect like us some years ago the 7 year 100k mls warranty was too good to miss.
One thing though puzzles me.
SWMBO 2015 C’eed is £30 VED. Next door has the same model but a year newer and more lean burn diesel, Zero VED . So how come yours is £130? Have I missed something or have the rules changed🤔🤔
Dusty the rules were changed a while back. If we had bought brand new the VED in year 1 was £230. It then drops to £165 for successive years. I looked at a Nissan 370Z as one does. The 2016 car was £615VED, the 2017 onwards with identical emissions was £165 pa. A lot cars now seem to morph towards £165 after the first years hit is paid.

.
 
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