Next door to a relative is a chap that works in upmarket German Franchise. There is a bit of doom & gloom re job losses locally but prestige new cars are still pouring out the door.
That surprised me as I thought many Companies & Punters would put off a new car until matters settle down.
Turns out 85% are on 2/3 years Company Lease or PCP - renewal time means a new car.
It is cheaper per month, to take on another PCP than to buy the existing car on HP. So although things are pretty bad jobwise for many The Punters & Companies are on the hook and keep buying whether they really want to buy at this time.
|
|
I would imagine that's why they were brought in so people feel that they are 'locked' in to the loan price plan.
|
|
I think it's tax advantageous too - no capital asset - only liability expenditure.
Last edited by: Shiny Tailpipes on Sun 29 Mar 15 at 21:28
|
>> Turns out 85% are on 2/3 years Company Lease or PCP - renewal time means
>> a new car.
Companies lease because buying plays havoc withe the cash flow, and managing/deprciating/disposing the asset cost time and money.
I guess people personal lease for similar reasons.
|
|
Bikes are being pushed on PCP - you rarely see "sticker prices" any more only price per month ones.
|
>> Bikes are being pushed on PCP - you rarely see "sticker prices" any more only
>> price per month ones.
>>
Both the Spamettes were pushed hard by the sales weasels to 'buy' new cars on PCP when looking at trading up from their first cars in the last few weeks. Seems to be the default these days, and some of the PCP deals do seem to involve losing less money than buying outright and selling two/three years later - provided you only do a few thousand a year. Waaaayyyy off my radar as a bangernomics owner/driver.
|
>> Both the Spamettes were pushed hard by the sales weasels to 'buy' new cars on
>> PCP when looking at trading up from their first cars in the last few weeks.
>> Seems to be the default these days, and some of the PCP deals do seem
>> to involve losing less money than buying outright and selling two/three years later - provided
>> you only do a few thousand a year. Waaaayyyy off my radar as a bangernomics
>> owner/driver.
>>
More bonuses for the salesmen and the dealership, I'm told. These days all punters want to know is how much per month. Although it's a bit of a mystery to me, all my cars in the past few years have been 10+ years old.
|
snipquote!!
>> More bonuses for the salesmen and the dealership, I'm told. These days all punters want
>> to know is how much per month. Although it's a bit of a mystery to
>> me, all my cars in the past few years have been 10+ years old.
>>
I did point out to Spamette Minor she was paying more for her new(ish) car than I'd spent on buying cars in the last 12years/300,000 miles!
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 30 Mar 15 at 00:55
|
Same situ with my pal. He has just arrived home chuffed to bits after buying his daughters 2011 Golf GTD with 85k miles. She even put a full tank of diesel in it for him.
She now has a new one, latest Mk 7 GTD , bought for slightly more than the DTD price. Probably a better deal since DTD add on a surcharge if you do not take out finance. She didn't.
|
OTOH I know of two large companies, one a multi national, who buy their vehicles out right for their reps & managers. They run them for 3 & 4 years respectively, then dispose of through either personal contacts or auction. I bought one in a previous life!
Spending £150k on several cars is small fry compared to their weekly sales & POR.
|
|
We, as in the company I work for, and indeed on a personal level, buy our cars with cash. If we can afford it, and have it to spend, we spend it, if we can't we don't. So far so good, even if it's not fashionable.
|
|
Not an expert in this company car lark, but I think buying them might work better for smaller companies?
|
|
Triumph were being quoted in a bike magazine a few months ago saying that PCP was the way ahead for them and that the majority of their sales were through PCP. I'm in a perpetual state of humming and haing over a replacement bike, my last two Beemers have been ex-BMW bikes bought nearly new and much cheaper than the new price. Only way I consider it. ( The Street Triple was new and bought for cash,....but it's only half mine !)
|
As I said above sooty, the two companies I know who buy outright are not small. To the best of my knowledge, one of them changes their entire fleet, sales reps, managers, directors, every four years. If they buy 15+ cars from a multi franchise, say Sytner as a pure example, they should be able to secure decent discounts.
Personally, I always bought my vans outright. Ex demos where possible. Then paid tax when they were sold at more than they were written down at in the books. Only did that once though! I would sell to a friend at book price, which was normally considerably less than the true market value.
|
>> As I said above sooty, the two companies I know who buy outright are not
>> small. To the best of my knowledge, one of them changes their entire fleet, sales
>> reps, managers, directors, every four years. If they buy 15+ cars
I would say 15 cars per year is small, unless I've misunderstood.
|
>> I would say 15 cars per year is small, unless I've misunderstood.
The very very large fleets tend to buy. They can get the same discounts as the lease buyers, so the economies of running a leasing business apply
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 30 Mar 15 at 00:55
|
>> The very very large fleets tend to buy. They can get the same discounts as
>> the lease buyers, so the economies of running a leasing business apply
>>
Surprising statement Z considering you came from a very large fleet which was and is entirely leased.
As I understand it the large car based, ie no vans etc, fleets, run by large companies are leased on much the same basis as many other aspects of the company, outsource the effort at a set cost to specialist companies and concentrate on the core business
|
|
15 cars at one fell swoop. Near the month end. So the dealer can hit bonuses in a quiet trading month. I am sure the car buyer is attuned to the best time of the year to source replacements. Although I totally agree that 15 cars is not a lot. Presumably the large fleet buyers negotiate directly with the manufacturer, rather than through the franchised dealer. I stand to be corrected.
|
>> cars is not a lot. Presumably the large fleet buyers negotiate directly with the manufacturer,
>> rather than through the franchised dealer. I stand to be corrected.
Yes they do, in the same way that the hire fleets do it. It has the rather strange term - "Manufacturer Support".
|
Although I totally agree that 15
>> cars is not a lot. Presumably the large fleet buyers negotiate directly with the manufacturer,
>> rather than through the franchised dealer. I stand to be corrected.
>>
Some might, some just go through the bulk part of lease companies. The biggest ( 4 figures per year) I know of contract to a lease company.
|
I wonder how much a fleet buyer could get me a new 5 door GTI (230 PP) for with the options I would choose. I was half interested with DTD until I saw the financial surcharge for not taking out finance. Stuff that.
Impending old age has made me picky with these things...
|
I saw the financial surcharge for not taking out finance. Stuff that.
>> Impending old age has made me picky with these things...
>>
I think you can take the finance option, then in the cooling off period cancel it and pay it off if you've got the money, so I'm told.
|
>> I think you can take the finance option, then in the cooling off period cancel
>> it and pay it off if you've got the money, so I'm told.
>>
It's always very unclear if you'll lose the incentives.
If you leave until past 2 weeks and just settle, you definitely won't and the interest charge will be tiny. You may have to pay some of the set up and final payment fees though.
|
>> I wonder how much a fleet buyer could get me a new 5 door GTI
>> (230 PP) for with the options I would choose. I was half interested with DTD
>> until I saw the financial surcharge for not taking out finance. Stuff that.
>> Impending old age has made me picky with these things...
>>
Its not DTD forcing the finance, its the manufacturer. They just pass on the same finance terms that are available in the dealership, so if you bought off the street the finance dpendant incentive would be the same.
FIL took finance on his new Leon and being of the old school of thought that cash on the table would be better was also surprised to find a better deal was to be had if he took the finance product. He just paid the balance a couple of weeks after delivery as the dealer advised him to
|
I'm going back a few years but we had 120 cars on a 2yr change cycle through a leasing company but we got attention from manufacturers - one day I was at head office the Vauxhall rep there, and Peugeot brought a car to one of our regional sales meetings. We used to get cars loaned and passed around for a month at a time.
I've no idea if this sort of thing still goes on.
Re PCP's - was "forced" to take one at 0% and no fees on a new Honda Jazz recently to get an extra £500 off. I'm slightly baffled by the point of it, but am wondering if we'll be offered a deal to switch to new Jazz or HR-V when they appear.
|
German 'prestige' marques are flying out the door because they are being massively discounted to prices similar to 'non-prestige'.
Either through relatively cheap leases, or good old-fashioned discounts on sales.
Due to weak Continiental sales/Euro?
Except for the smallest cars in the range (A1, 1-series) a private buyer not getting 20+% off list isn't trying hard enough.
|
|
The first 10% or so ought to come from the exchange rate: £34,000 in euros last year would now be more like £30,000. Since most of the top layer of the retail price - dealer margin, VAT - will be calculated as percentages, that reduction ought to feed straight through.
|
Finance incentives / deposits serve 2 purposes. They sell people into a new car when they may have been looking at something a couple of years old. Its not unusual to find the deposit allowance and cheap rate finance can make a new motor look as attractive as a used one.
Secondly its a good way to preserve the list price by making it look like you are paying full price while giving stealth discounts - I imagine it goes some way to preserving the residuals a little
|
|
And importantly it also helps the manufacturer dictate (to a certain extent) when you'll be back for a new car. With a 2 or 3 year PCP repeat sales are high - very few people make the final payment. And if sales are going through a dry patch then existing customers with on PCPs can be contacted about special, 'VIP' offers to get them to change early. If you actually pay for your car then you, not the dealer/manufacturer is in control of when you buy the next one. And they don't like that ;)
|
Job Losses but car sales still bowling along!! - sooty123
