Thinking about a 318ES for the wife...

[Ashok]

The wife needs a nice new safe car for shopping, school run etc. (max 6k miles per year).

Scotthall are promoting an offer as follows:

OTR Price £ 19,479.00
Deposit £ 3,637.61
24 months at £ 199 per month
First payment £ 324
Amount of credit £ 15,841.39
Optional final payment £ 13,156.10
Total payable £ 21,694.71
APR 7.6%

A couple of questions:

(1) Is the car itself a good 'un? I don't like the 1 series that much but this at £199 per month is tempting?

(2) Is this a good deal or can I do much better elsewhere?

[baz1985]

A late E46 318 would be a better bet imo- less depreciation

[dcb]

baz1985 said:

A late E46 318 would be a better bet imo- less depreciation

I agree - must she have a brand new car ?

You are paying for the credit on an asset that loses
value like a stone.

I had a quick look at the BMW AUC website and found this:

www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/national_search_result/0,5065,1260_159980106__,00.html?D=200#

Dozens of 316s & 318s at about 15K.

If she doesn't like the idea of a pre-owned car with delivery mileage,
why not chuck in 1,000 pounds for some new clothes and/or a holiday
somewhere nice.

You'd still be winning.

[Andrew D]

It's true, £199 a month is a LOT more than the depreciation on a used E46 would be.

The 1-Series is a nice car, and very well suited to short-range running around, but it really doesn't make sense when a 3-Series is cheaper!

[baz1985]

I might add...at some stealers 06/06 E46 318ci SE £16.5k. Excellent value imo

[douglasr]

My Dad picks up a a 4 year old 325i SE tomorrow from a BMW dealer - £12995 with an autochager thrown in. The car has sunroof, sports seats and tiptronic and was a cool £26.5K new.

As the others have said there are loads of late old model 318's around.

Finally, the APR is poor, my Dad got 6.1 on HP, so I would expect them to driop that a bit for a new car.