Mileage Dilemma!

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WILLK

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Hello - I have been reading the forum for the past year since I got my Phantom Black 2.0T Quattro S-Line Special Edition (phew!) and I have got a fairly simple dilemma that I would like to put out to the masses.

I have recently taken on a consulting position where my average yearly mileage is appprox 28k up from a mere 13k for the past 6 years. My car has now done 26k on a July '06 plate and whilst this is not too bad at the moment I dread to imagine what it will be worth in say 8-12 months time with say 54k on the clock.

I have been offered £16k part ex by a dealer but I just wanted to get your opinions on whether I should sell now and buy say another A3 in Diesel or (family planning thinking!) an A4 Avant in Diesel - with hopefully some reduction due to the new shape??

I am not particularly bothered by low mileage (I had a 350Z for 3 years prior to the A3!) but I now own the A3 and I am not sure whether financing a further £10k against a new or nearly new Diesel is the way forward?

Sorry for the long first post but seeing that some of you have the S3 with already high mileage I thought this may be the place to ask opinions!!

Thanks iin advance

WILLK
 
I do about 35K a year and always buy high mileage cars to start with, and then run them for a while. So far, I've not had any major repairs so it has been financially sound as far as decisions go. Why take the big hits on depreciation ?

Any yes, go for diesel.
 
It's a diificult call but I have always maintained that more than 12,000 per year and diesel is the route to go especially if claiming back mileage on your tax as this is more lucrative the better the MPG.
Your car has already shed the majority of its value but you are right in assuming it will have an adverse affect in 12months time having above avearge but not to a great degree, 54K is not that many.

If going for an A4 Avant really push for a very good discount keeping your eye on that PX value concentrating on CTC (cost to change) but be aware that the old model A4 is no bigger in passenger terms than a sportback so this may be worth considering plus if you opt for FWD the boot will be bigger.
I'd probably say hang fire a few months, track the costs involved and then change if it makes sense later this year, by then the A4 really will be the old model and your can is not likely to lose more than 200/250 per month as its a desireable spec.
 
audi upgrades
Do you NEED a nice Audi for your job? i mean could you not just turn up in a 04 Focus?

Coz if you don't need the LOOK of the car , i'd be tempted to get a cheapish car to put the miles on, and keep the A3 for yourself!

p
 
Spin140 said:
It's a diificult call but I have always maintained that more than 12,000 per year and diesel is the route to go especially if claiming back mileage on your tax as this is more lucrative the better the MPG.
Click to expand...


Not always the case, I am much better off having a petrol rather than a diesel.
1. The fuel cost more in a diesel.

2. I get a higher business mile rate in a petrol.
 
I cover around 35-38K a year and I am currently driving a petrol car that averages mid 20's to a tank so I might not be the best person to give advice...

Financially a diesel would be beneficial but it depends how long your going to keep it for as shelling out an additional £10K would take a fair few miles to recoup the money.

Also driving enjoyment may need to be considered if all of a sudden you are spending a lot more miles in you car.

Like Spin says I'd also advise waiting a few months to see how the travel is panning out and what sort of MPG your getting.

J.
 
phantom said:
Do you NEED a nice Audi for your job? i mean could you not just turn up in a 04 Focus?

Coz if you don't need the LOOK of the car , i'd be tempted to get a cheapish car to put the miles on, and keep the A3 for yourself!

p
Click to expand...

Then that comes back to driving enjoyment. I don't need an expensive car for my job and I cover a lot of miles. But in order to spend 2.5hours a day driving I want a nice car to do it in if that makes sense.

And yes I know I could get a nice car for a lot less if I went for one a few years old.
 
I would keep your car for another 10mths or so aiming to trade in just under 50,000 miles then trade in for a diesel either new or upto 10,000 miles
 
In more general terms, it's easy to pick holes in publications that state diesels only make sense for higher mileage drivers, simply because they usually use the difference in list price of the vehicle as the major part of their argument.
We all know, in real life, a buyer will probably get as good a deal on a diesel as anything else, so the fuel savings come into effect immediately.
 
marriedblonde said:
Then that comes back to driving enjoyment. I don't need an expensive car for my job
Click to expand...

Hear hear.
Christ, I only do 3.5 miles of a commute each way, then the car sits outside the office all day.
Any mileage I do is evening/weekend/holiday.
I could, if I wanted, make myself much better off by opting out of the company car scheme and buying myself a piece of crap.
However, I like having a nice car and I like the hassle free ownership of a company car.
 
bowfer said:
Hear hear.
Christ, I only do 3.5 miles of a commute each way, then the car sits outside the office all day.
Any mileage I do is evening/weekend/holiday.
I could, if I wanted, make myself much better off by opting out of the company car scheme and buying myself a piece of crap.
However, I like having a nice car and I like the hassle free ownership of a company car.
Click to expand...


If you only do 3.5 miles a day, can I ask why you went for the diesel and not it's petrol sibling? I assume with your low mileage that economy is not that important?
 
I agree with marriedblonde and bowfer about driving enjoyment , but if WILLK gets a WORK HORSE for work, he could still have his pride and joy for his own pleasure!

Just my opinion fellas , i wouldn't like the idea of putting 28k miles on my car for work or PX for something just too put miles on!

p
 
Wow - thanks for all the replys, I wasn't expecting anything near that many given the exciting topic!

In terms of downgrading, my wife would be happy with the idea but I am still enjoying the idea of a "fun" car that gives me an enjoyable drive everytime so agree with marriedblonde and bowfer on this one.

I was sort of hoping that you would say wait for a few months, it gives me a better idea of what is going on with mileage, the car etc and it is good to hear that you think that the high(er) mileage shouldn't affect value too much.

I would of course actually benefit directly from the mileage allowance if I had a Diesel but, as stated, this would be offset by the cost of buying a newer Diesel in the first instance.

Thanks again, as I found with the 350Z, forums like this and individual's knowledge is priceless!!
 
Moisty said:
If you only do 3.5 miles a day, can I ask why you went for the diesel and not it's petrol sibling? I assume with your low mileage that economy is not that important?
Click to expand...

Co2 is the most important thing to me, because the lower the Co2 level, the lower the tax I pay.
Diesels almost always have lower Co2 figures than their petrol counterparts.
For example, I'm better off going for a £28500 diesel BMW than I would be a £25000 petrol A3.
So I can get a better car for a given amount of tax.
 
phantom said:
I agree with marriedblonde and bowfer about driving enjoyment , but if WILLK gets a WORK HORSE for work, he could still have his pride and joy for his own pleasure!

Just my opinion fellas , i wouldn't like the idea of putting 28k miles on my car for work or PX for something just too put miles on!

p
Click to expand...

I have often thought of doing this but have never quite had the balls to go ahead with an older workhorse car as I am always afraid of the cost of mending problems and also as I run my own business I do not like the idea of breaking down and being late for meetings etc.

I suspect that as I haven't already done it by now I will only do it when I am middle aged and require a "weekend" car as well as the "little run around"!!:)
 
bowfer said:
Co2 is the most important thing to me, because the lower the Co2 level, the lower the tax I pay.
Click to expand...

Dont you mean:
"Co2 is the most important thing to me, because the lower the Co2 level, the lower I polute the environment"

:jester:
 
phantom said:
I agree with marriedblonde and bowfer about driving enjoyment , but if WILLK gets a WORK HORSE for work, he could still have his pride and joy for his own pleasure!

Just my opinion fellas , i wouldn't like the idea of putting 28k miles on my car for work or PX for something just too put miles on!
Click to expand...

I know what your saying but my way of looking at it is, I have a family and I am out of the house for approx 13 hours a day, so i go for days without getting to spend time with my son as he is bed when I leave and in bed when I get home.

So at weekends we do things as a family and make the most of the time together. If I was to get something fun for the weekends it would only have 2 seats and therefore wouldn't get used...

J.
 
WILLK said:
I have often thought of doing this but have never quite had the balls to go ahead with an older workhorse car as I am always afraid of the cost of mending problems and also as I run my own business I do not like the idea of breaking down and being late for meetings etc.
Click to expand...

Same with me, I'm a contractor so if I dont work I dont get paid. It only takes a few days without a car/work to start to negate the depreciation of a new car.

J.
 
bowfer said:
Co2 is the most important thing to me, because the lower the Co2 level, the lower the tax I pay.
Diesels almost always have lower Co2 figures than their petrol counterparts.
For example, I'm better off going for a £28500 diesel BMW than I would be a £25000 petrol A3.
So I can get a better car for a given amount of tax.
Click to expand...

So what made you decide not to go for the better car in the end?


A petrol A3 is a better bet than a sooty BMW No offence to the diesel owners, I mean if you do v. low mileage.
Alpina will sound like a truck compared to the A3. Mind you if you like soft suspension it will suit.

Oh well, I suppose all of us having differing views is what what makes the world go around!
 
WILLK said:
I have often thought of doing this but have never quite had the balls to go ahead with an older workhorse car as I am always afraid of the cost of mending problems and also as I run my own business I do not like the idea of breaking down and being late for meetings etc.
Click to expand...

A lot of my colleagues think I am mad, running a high mileage car with no warranty. But because depreciation is so heavy when you do a lot of miles, it's cheaper to pay for repairs (which came to about £120 in the first 40,000 miles I did) than take a hit on the car itself, just for the sake of having warranty cover. If it doesn't go wrong, you're quids in.
 
Moisty said:
So what made you decide not to go for the better car in the end?
A petrol A3 is a better bet than a sooty BMW No offence to the diesel owners, I mean if you do v. low mileage.
Alpina will sound like a truck compared to the A3. Mind you if you like soft suspension it will suit.
Click to expand...

Do me a favour.
Spend 5 minutes researching roadtests of the D3.
Try and find one that doesn't say it's absolutely superb.
In fact, Autocar went as far as saying (paraphrasing) "all the car you'll ever need"
Now try and find the same gushing roadtests for any A3 (S3 excluded).
 
bowfer said:
Co2 is the most important thing to me, because the lower the Co2 level, the lower the tax I pay.
Diesels almost always have lower Co2 figures than their petrol counterparts.
For example, I'm better off going for a £28500 diesel BMW than I would be a £25000 petrol A3.
So I can get a better car for a given amount of tax.
Click to expand...
hey - there are some on this forum who would pick you up on that! And say "I can get a more expensive car for a given amount of tax :)
 
Isoproturon said:
A lot of my colleagues think I am mad, running a high mileage car with no warranty. But because depreciation is so heavy when you do a lot of miles, it's cheaper to pay for repairs (which came to about £120 in the first 40,000 miles I did) than take a hit on the car itself, just for the sake of having warranty cover. If it doesn't go wrong, you're quids in.
Click to expand...

I do agree and I thought that I may keep hold of this one for a few more years but I just feel that I may be shooting myself in the foot with the 2.0T petrol.

I suspect that if I change in say 6-10 months as suggested then I will buy a 2nd hand A4 Avant Diesel Quattro (I don't think I could live without it now!) with reasonably low mileage and just keep on running it!
 
bowfer said:
Do me a favour.
Spend 5 minutes researching roadtests of the D3.
Try and find one that doesn't say it's absolutely superb.
In fact, Autocar went as far as saying (paraphrasing) "all the car you'll ever need"
Now try and find the same gushing roadtests for any A3 (S3 excluded).
Click to expand...

Oh, ok. Aplogies, didn't realise your reason for choosing a car was because a roadtest says you should.

That explains it.

Thanks for clearing that up.
 
marriedblonde said:
What? Soft suspension? Or do you mean suspension that isn't crashy... The D3's handle brilliantly.
Click to expand...


I suppose it depends what you want. The Alpina suspension is too soft for me but then I want a sports car not a limo.

The A3 S-line suspension is perfect for me and I do not find it crashy at all. In fact I describe it as safe and reassuring!
 
Moisty said:
Oh, ok. Aplogies, didn't realise your reason for choosing a car was because a roadtest says you should.
That explains it.
Thanks for clearing that up.
Click to expand...

Oh for the love....:keule:
I was already looking at a BMW 3 series, probably the M-sport.
Then I started reading D3 tests, all of which said "this thing is brilliant, you'd be a spaz to go for an M-sport".
I then went and looked at one, and drove one, and agreed with their findings.

Answer me this.
Would you buy a car that was widely slammed by the press as a bucket of *****?
 
Moisty said:
I suppose it depends what you want. The Alpina suspension is too soft for me but then I want a sports car not a limo.
Click to expand...

You think your A3 handles like a sports car?:think: :laugh:
 
bowfer said:
Oh for the love....:keule:
I was already looking at a BMW 3 series, probably the M-sport.
Then I started reading D3 tests, all of which said "this thing is brilliant, you'd be a spaz to go for an M-sport".
I then went and looked at one, and drove one, and agreed with their findings.

Answer me this.
Would you buy a car that was widely slammed by the press as a bucket of *****?
Click to expand...

Yes, I have a VXR VX220, fantastic car but lots of press say it is not great (lots say it is brilliant).
I wouldnt tell people I bought it because a roadtest said it was **** or a roadtest stated it was brilliant. I bought because it fitted my requirements better than any car I knew of.
You are buying the D3 becasue it fits your requirements. I am saying the A3 turbo fits my requirements much better than the D3 did. That is not opinion, that is fact. We obviously have different requirements and whether you or I are in the majority or minority does not really come in to it. I hope you enjoy your D3, it is a lovely car if that is what you seek.

It would probably be helpful if your were not so anti-Audi in your posts. You dont like your A3, you made a mistake, get over it and move on would be my suggestion.


Road testers do not know it all you know, take Clarkson!
 
bowfer said:
You think your A3 handles like a sports car?:think: :laugh:
Click to expand...

Now you ARE trying to wind me up. You will not succeed!

I have a lot of knowledge of driving sporty type cars and the A3 perfoms well (handling), certainly a lot better than my Alpinas, but of course they were not sports cars.

Good luck to the Alpina forum members when you fall out of love with your D3!
 
Moisty said:
Road testers do not know it all you know, take Clarkson!
Click to expand...

The man that says everyone should, at least once, own an Alfa?
Sounds spot on, to me.:respekt:
 
Moisty said:
I have a lot of knowledge of driving sporty type cars and the A3 perfoms well (handling), certainly a lot better than my Alpinas,
Click to expand...

:lmfao:
 
My thread so to summarise - some people require different things to others and therefore will make different decisions. This is true of all things where people are given choices including make and model of cars.

No-one is correct but suffice to say that no-one is wrong!

(Stands back to watch fireworks!)
 
audi upgrades
Moisty said:
Yes, I have a VXR VX220, fantastic car but lots of press say it is not great (lots say it is brilliant).
I wouldnt tell people I bought it because a roadtest said it was **** or a roadtest stated it was brilliant. I bought because it fitted my requirements better than any car I knew of.
You are buying the D3 becasue it fits your requirements. I am saying the A3 turbo fits my requirements much better than the D3 did. That is not opinion, that is fact. We obviously have different requirements and whether you or I are in the majority or minority does not really come in to it. I hope you enjoy your D3, it is a lovely car if that is what you seek.
Click to expand...

Actually what you said was is: "So what made you decide not to go for the better car in the end?"
 
bowfer said:
The man that says everyone should, at least once, own an Alfa?
Sounds spot on, to me.:respekt:
Click to expand...


And therefore based on that, everything he says must be true! :no:
 
marriedblonde said:
Actually what you said was is: "So what made you decide not to go for the better car in the end?"
Click to expand...


Sorry MB, I have missed your point there?
 
marriedblonde said:
Touché. You may wish to practice what you preach...
Click to expand...


I agree, but I am succesful at it! LOL



MB, I am just gobsmacked that someone comes to an A3 forum to just generally slag off the A3.
Why he is not on the Alpina forum is beyond me.

I have seen lots of other members ask the same question so I know I am not alone.


I am actually giving him a taste of his own medicine not the other way round! :jump:
 
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