Markus,

I think you will find that the vast majority of owners on here are financing their Scooby purchases.

There are some good deals on at the moment with low interest rates (check out some of the threads in the General section).

Quite a few have gone for a type of deferred payment plan, where you leave a residual value on the car, which you have to pay off at the end of the finance period. Typical rates seem to be about 4.5% flat rate (9% APR), with a residual value of anything between £5k and £10k, depending on how much you want to reduce your monthly payments by, and how much you feel comfortable leaving to pay off at the end.

 

I sent my wife out onto the street to finance mine.

When that didn't work, I financed it through IM.

 

******
oops! Sorry for posting to the wrong section! slapped wrists on my behalf.
******

did most of you pay outright for the car or are you using fincance/loans to pay for the cars.

Feel free to tell me to eff off if you think this is a little too personal.

It's just that I'm looking into purchasing and apart from selling my soul I need to get a loan/finance.

[This message has been edited by Markus (edited 07-04-99).]

 

Personal Contract Plan (PCP) with the dealer (Bell & Colvill, Surrey). The residual is £9K after 3 years (45K miles) as I'm not sure that the dealer's estimate of £13K is going to be very accurate (new model due in 2000/2001 will probably force residuals down a bit to start with). Anyway, I'd like to have some equity to play with when the time comes to trade it in

 

David,
hmm, don't think my partner would be too pleased to be pimped out for a scooby

John,
Thanks. glad to hear that you're not all super-rich peeps that purchase outright.

 

Husband: How much did you make tonight ?
Wife: 121 pound and 5 pence
Husband (looking puzzled) Who gave you the 5pence?
Wife: But they all did!

Boom boom!!

Sorry, couldn't resist!

Craig :-)

(A Tommy Cooper joke if my memory serves me correctly)

 

I'd imagine some of the IT contractors on this BBS might have the resources to pay it off outright.
Certainly a long waiting list gives you a little bit of time to scrape extra pennies together. I for one was refused loans, finance, etc, etc, due to my inability to submit 3 years worth of accounts (I haven't been freelancing that long); so was forced to scrape together everything we had, trade-in my old car at a loss and empty all savings accounts to get the money together.
I got severely mauled by my wife for putting everything we owned (except the house) into a set of (admittedly nice) wheels.

Bear this in mind if you ever decide to opt for a career in freelance IT consulting, the increased income comes at a price.

 

ColmanC.

Have you seen the prices charged by dealers for 3 year old cars? And how much better is a 99MY. (Better seats, better dash, better wheels more power, blah, blah, blah) I think your 13k is safe even if a totally new model comes out in 2000/1

 

DavidLewis,
I aggree with you on the 3yr old prices. I was looking at used scoobies but I'd want at least a P/R reg and that's aprox 18 grand, so if you're going to fork out that much you may as well wait a little while to get more cash, obviously AFTER getting yourself on a waiting list , and purchase a brand new scooby.

now, where's my stocking and the directions to the nearest bank

 

David/Markus,

I realise I'm probably being overly cautious...but a not-too-outlandish set of events by 2002 could seriously reduce the value of 3yo Scoobies. The events I'm referring to are :

1) New model Impreza (or Impreza-replacement)
2) IM/Subaru UK wake up and provide proper dealer back-up for grey imports
3) Government makes it easier to import greys
4) Current economic mini-boom tails off and we head back into recession

Rather pessimistic, I know...but I'd rather *know* I'm going to have a minimum of 3K-4K equity in 3 years than hope I might have that. And if I do end up with 8k in equity then an STI might be on the cards

 

I just wish that IM/Subaru UK (plus other car manufacturers) would get a big kick up the **** from th government about their stupid price hiking antics. Which is the real reason about the thread, as I am fed up with getting screwed when buying a new car.

maybe things will be better after the four horsemen arrive on the 31st December

 

Cash, when the car finally arrives...

And before anyone says anything, yes I am in the IT industry, but I'm not a ontractor (see there are still some permies out here!).

 

I paid more than two million in used banknotes for my car (Yen!)

 

When you want a new scooby, but you just have a new car for 5 months, (another brand)

Go to the Travelstore and give your girlfriend a 3 weeks holiday for the summer on Crete !

Than tell her that you love her, and you are thinking of that's time for a marriage in the summer of year 2000 or 2001.

Tell her that you ask her to be your wife, when the time is wright !

Than 3 day's later you ask her: Darling, when we maybe get married in about two years, should we buy a new car this year ?

My girlfriend said: O when you think it's possible maybe we can do that !

You know how the story goes, my new car is coming in July'99.

we are saving now !, that's the best thing to do !


greatings , Theo

ps: when my girlfriend reads this, I'm dead !!!!

 

The only way I ever managed to buy my Scooby (and run it) was to not get involved with one of those G-things.

Problem sorted

Laters!
Dan

 

Theo,

You indeed have a trusting/gullible girlfriend. I got the third degree whenever I mentioned cars before we were married. A test drive in a Lotus Elise almost ended our engagement. I'm still not sure how I got the Scoob. I don't think it was the honeymoon in the Seychelles. I think I just refused to buy any other car and tried a female tactic....silence and sulking.

Apologies to the female readers of this bbs. I certainly don't recommend this tactic to any happily married blokes out there.

 

How did the wife accept a Scooby as a new car ?

1) The current one (Celica) has started to cost more money than it's worth, especially when she broke the driveshaft after trying to burn a Fiesta off at the lights (I had to hide a snigger when she, very sheepishly, told me)

2) The new Scooby can be purchased for £100 more per month that the 3yo Celica cost (Scooby is a PCP with £9K residual value after 3 years, 3yo Celica was an outright purchase over 3.5 years)

3) Watching the Top Gear/JD Power programme last night, after the top 10 had reached No. 2 and there was no sign of the Impreza she asked "So where's your Subaru, then". Knowing the result already from the BBS I just said "Wait and see". She was impressed that it's won 2 years in a row.

4) With a sprog on the way we need a 4 or 5 door car...the Impreza makes more sense than the Celica

5) She had a test drive ! Although she did prefer the 5-door I was able to convince her to go for the 4-door as it's cheaper !!!

 

ColmanC

I will take back everything I have said about depreciation since I have just read an article about IR35.

Since most owners (on the BBS) seem to be IT contractors, we are not going to be able to afford to run our cars after Apr 2000, resulting in a glut of 2nd hand cars at this time.

Me....I wont sell. But I'll have to send my kids down the mine!

(Before anyone asks, IR35 is an attempt to kerb the way IT contrators pay (or dont pay) tax, either that, or its a b***dy good April fools joke)