Quick Advice Needed!

[Mike76987]

Good afternoon,

I've been off the road (lived in cities) for a few years, considering buying in the next 6 weeks as I do miss driving and want to visit better gyms etc.

I have been looking at the following cars:

Porsche Cayenne (2019-20 range) - £48-52k
Porsche Macan - £38-45k
Mercedes GLE - £37-£40k.

With the recent commission announcement and overall market volatility, is it a very risky time to buy a car like the above (or any, for that matter) if it isn't absolutely necessary? If not, are there any general recommendations above? I will do a PCP, likely 2 or 3 years, I've been leaning towards the Cayenne, or if you have any other recommendations.

Thank you!

[samoht]

With PCP, if the car's worth less than the GFV/Balloon amount at the end of term you can just hand it back with no more to pay. Of course one may hope it'll be worth more and you have some money back at the end to put towards your next car, but in the current market I'd say the safest basis to work on would be to assume you'll get nothing back at the end, that way you won't have any unpleasant surprises.

I don't see the commission investigation materially affecting the market, still less causing a significant drop in used car values, so I don't think that would affect you once you've taken out a PCP.


It's not obvious why you want such a large, heavy, expensive car as a Cayenne just for presumably one person to drive a fairly short distance in an urban area, other than 'because you can' and 'because you want to' - which are of course perfectly good reasons But if it's just personal whim, without some more information about your car needs and wants, it's not that easy for anyone else to advise on alternatives.

For that use-case I'd favour the Macan of your three options simply because it's smaller and thus easier to park (and a bit cheaper to run). The Merc GLC, BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Lexus RX are equivalents worth considering.

On the face of it, almost any car would do you fine as you've not said you need to carry more than one person. If it was me I'd take the chance to enjoy a sports car, or alternatively if I wanted something easy to drive in traffic, a midsize EV.

[fflump]

If you are wedded to an SUV and don't have to carry a family and associated clobber with you then the Macan makes most sense, in Turbo form of course. You don't need a full size SUV like a Cayenne -for the money you'll get better performance and driving dynamics with a Macan.

However the one SUV I'd aim for if I did not have 3 teenagers to cart around is the Stelio QF.

[silentbrown]

Beware that PCP interest rates on used cars will be dire - around 12%

[Mike76987]

samoht said:

With PCP, if the car's worth less than the GFV/Balloon amount at the end of term you can just hand it back with no more to pay. Of course one may hope it'll be worth more and you have some money back at the end to put towards your next car, but in the current market I'd say the safest basis to work on would be to assume you'll get nothing back at the end, that way you won't have any unpleasant surprises.

I don't see the commission investigation materially affecting the market, still less causing a significant drop in used car values, so I don't think that would affect you once you've taken out a PCP.


It's not obvious why you want such a large, heavy, expensive car as a Cayenne just for presumably one person to drive a fairly short distance in an urban area, other than 'because you can' and 'because you want to' - which are of course perfectly good reasons But if it's just personal whim, without some more information about your car needs and wants, it's not that easy for anyone else to advise on alternatives.

For that use-case I'd favour the Macan of your three options simply because it's smaller and thus easier to park (and a bit cheaper to run). The Merc GLC, BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Lexus RX are equivalents worth considering.

On the face of it, almost any car would do you fine as you've not said you need to carry more than one person. If it was me I'd take the chance to enjoy a sports car, or alternatively if I wanted something easy to drive in traffic, a midsize EV.

Thank you for replying! You are right, I don't actually need an SUV as a single, mid 30's male, I wanted a Range Rover (always wanted one) just the insurance was far too high compared to the car value to justify, and the Cayenne seemed the most comparable but also buying a Porsche.

I did also consider an Aston Vantage (2019) as the PCP deals are pretty good, but I'm just not quite there yet with my life to put up the risk of payments for 2 years. I think there's a consensus about the Macan so I'll try to shop around for a good deal. I appreciate your help on this!

Hope you have a great weekend!

[Mike76987]

silentbrown said:

Beware that PCP interest rates on used cars will be dire - around 12%

Good shout, they've offered me a 10% deal but I've seen higher than even 12 lately, pretty crazy!

[Mike76987]

fflump said:

If you are wedded to an SUV and don't have to carry a family and associated clobber with you then the Macan makes most sense, in Turbo form of course. You don't need a full size SUV like a Cayenne -for the money you'll get better performance and driving dynamics with a Macan.

However the one SUV I'd aim for if I did not have 3 teenagers to cart around is the Stelio QF.

Thank you! The Macan seems the favoured choice, although I typically like black cars, the Crayon Macan with the Turbo kit on looks nice, just pretty rare to come by!

[Niguy]

How about an RS3 8Y?

[CG2020UK]

Mike76987 said:

Thank you for replying! You are right, I don't actually need an SUV as a single, mid 30's male, I wanted a Range Rover (always wanted one) just the insurance was far too high compared to the car value to justify, and the Cayenne seemed the most comparable but also buying a Porsche.

Controversial one this but it might be worth pointing out that there seems to be a viewpoint that a Porsche Macan might be viewed as more of the wife/girlfriend’s car choice similar to a Range Rover Evoque.

Maybe not the car associated with a single man in his 30s.

[Roger Irrelevant]

CG2020UK said:

Mike76987 said:

Thank you for replying! You are right, I don't actually need an SUV as a single, mid 30's male, I wanted a Range Rover (always wanted one) just the insurance was far too high compared to the car value to justify, and the Cayenne seemed the most comparable but also buying a Porsche.

Controversial one this but it might be worth pointing out that there seems to be a viewpoint that a Porsche Macan might be viewed as more of the wife/girlfriend’s car choice similar to a Range Rover Evoque.

Maybe not the car associated with a single man in his 30s.

I wouldn't say controversial so much as straightforward twaddle. I suppose you might get that viewpoint amongst repressed meatheads who weren't given enough love as a child, but not amongst normal, well-adjusted people.

[ZX10R NIN]

Considering your requirements & you wanting an SUV, I'd suggest looking at the RS Q3:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402226...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401275...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402136...

[fflump]

CG2020UK said:

Mike76987 said:

Thank you for replying! You are right, I don't actually need an SUV as a single, mid 30's male, I wanted a Range Rover (always wanted one) just the insurance was far too high compared to the car value to justify, and the Cayenne seemed the most comparable but also buying a Porsche.

Controversial one this but it might be worth pointing out that there seems to be a viewpoint that a Porsche Macan might be viewed as more of the wife/girlfriend’s car choice similar to a Range Rover Evoque.

Maybe not the car associated with a single man in his 30s.

It's hardly a pink Evoque convertible! I'd much rather have run a Macan than my Cayenne if size was not an issue. Image-wise I think they project understated quality.

(I'd still hanker after a Stelio QF though!)

[CG2020UK]

fflump said:

It's hardly a pink Evoque convertible! I'd much rather have run a Macan than my Cayenne if size was not an issue. Image-wise I think they project understated quality.

(I'd still hanker after a Stelio QF though!)

I’d have no problem buying a Macan (it’s certainly not my personal view!!!) but thought it was only fair to just point it out for someone coming back into the car world the stereotype exists.

In a perfect world stereotypes wouldn’t exist but unfortunately do.