[bh021]

Had my 325d Msport coupe for 2 months now, and although I love it, I'm starting to consider getting rid of it and trading down. I bought it due to having a weekly commute of 800 miles, so I wanted something nice, however I'm starting to wonder whether it's worth losing loads of money on a car which will have serious mileage on it when i come to sell. Bought it for 26k, (it's got all the spec on it) and I've put 5k on it in, I'll prob put 35-40k on it a year, and the finance is costing me £350 per month, the upside is that I get £900 per month extra to allow for the petrol and wear and tear, so do I trade it in while It's got a bit of equity or keep it, enjoy the drive, but lose loads of dosh ?

[AlanQS]

Financially, IMO, it is a no brainer. You get a substantial allowance so you, essentially, have a contribution towards the extra depreciation so you should lock some of that cash away until you come to sell it/trade it in to lessen the pain. It is also interesting to note that the additional depreciation because of high mileage isn't a huge sum - again, IMO. It is a diesel and people are more tolerant of high mileage in a diesel anyway.

I don't see how getting rid of it in two months makes any sense given that you will have exactly the same problem with whatever you change it for and you will lose thousands on the deal.

Will you always be doing 800 miles a week or is it temporary. By the size of the allowance, I assume your employer is sending you somewhere at their expense and if you continue for more than 22 months it becomes 100% taxable unless they are a large employer with an arrangement with HMRC.

[Em135eye]

Downgrading is very rarely much cheaper. Selling a car after 2 months will be hideous cost wise. Keep it.

[catdog1121]

Agree with the above, keep it for a year/year and a half at least. If your doing high milleage you will have the depreciation problem what ever car you get, the only way to realistically reduce this is to buy a cheaper car, aka

if you buy a £20k car and after 2 years it loses 50% of its value cause of the high milleage it will cost you £10k, if you buy a £10k car and it loses 50% of its value because of high milleage it will cost you £5k.

The above math isnt scientific and the amount it depreciate can vary from car to car. If you want to really save money buy a hyundai, 5yrs unlimited milleage warranty, you could buy one cheap and run it for 5yrs putting shed loads of milleage on it, ok it wont be worth anything at the end but it still works out the cheaper option.

If however you want a car you enjoy driving, the stick to the BMW and pay urs money.

[chris_s1]

I am in a similar position to you, and bought a similar car!

I also do high mileage and worry about the trade in value. But whenever I start to wonder whether its worth the money, all I have to do is think back to the 3 miserable years I spent doing 120k miles in a wretched Passat 1.9Tdi and then the doubts go away.

Spending a lot of time in a horrible car just because its cheap will literally drive you to depression, or at least it did to me.

[sheps]

Dude, keep it.
£350/month is bugger all if you're getting £900 allowance.
Save £100/month and buy what? Something French (Clio aside, jinjur)
Save £150/month and buy what? A 5 year old corsa?
Life is too short. £350 is fuck all to run that motor.
Stick with it and enjoy.

[Cafe.Racer]

I'm with sheps

You could have a think about what other car you'd want, then rent one for a couple days to see how you like using it for the drive and if you can live with it.

[bh021]

I think you guys are right, the reason I bought it was for the very reason of driving something nice, and the point made about whatever I buy I'll lose money, so may as well lose money on a nice car rather than a heap of shit. I do have the option of driving my wife's clio as she's just got a company car, but I'm not sure I could face the commute, I'll probably try it, and that should reinforce my decision to keep the beemer..cheers guys

[Swiller]

with a 900 allowance i would change to an older, but same spec, or better car.

an example of my car...

55 plate 330i bought for 12k in dec 2008, 27k on clock.
now with 72 on clock, i think i could still get 8k for it.
thats about 170 per month on depreciation. still running as new.

They lose most of their value in first 3 years it seems.

4-5 year old 330/335d would be where my money would be with that mileage

[BGM]

i'd just save a couple of hundred of that allowance a month and offset the purchase of a new car when i come to change..

enjoy the car now, and have a plan for when you come to swap