Company Car or Private Purchase

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magnus911

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Hey, just wondering how many of you have an A3 courtesy of a Company Car Scheme, and how many of us purchased privately...

I though it would be interesting to see, especially how many private buyers bought brand new as opposed to second hand.

I bought mine second hand, as I thought it was excellent value. The OTR price for a new one though, at £31k is double what I paid for a three year old model and probably something I would only have if someone else were paying (i.e. company car schemes out there!)

I imagine the split will be around 50-50% but I'm sure I'll be proved otherwise.
 
Company car. If I were purchasing myself I'd never have the car I currently do, not because I couldn't afford it (as I'd get cash off the company instead anyway) but because 'er indoors would never let me spend that much on a car :)
 
Same as Vertigo.
Company car.
Would I buy one with my own money ?
No way.
I'd go for a used motor,and it probably wouldn't be a 'premium brand'.
Simple fact of the matter is,cars aren't that important to me.
I can be choosy when it's someone else's money I'm spending,but I'd choose something a damned sight cheaper to service if it were my own money.
Can't complain too much about the running costs,but servicing is ludicrously dear,IMO.
I can,and have,had cars (wife's) serviced at main dealers for £150,but that doesn't even get the bonnet opened at an Audi garage (or any premium brand,to be fair).
Nope,it would be something very mundane for me,with my own money !
I'm sure I'd still have fun in it though.
It's not what you drive,it's how you drive it !
 
Mine is a private purchase as have all the 21 cars I have had so far. The last 6 have been A3s. Before that was a Golf VR6, an Audi 90, three Audi 80s and four Golf GTi's and some British rubbish before that.

My car means a lot to me and I like to have what I want with all the options I want as well which is one of the main reasons I always but new. All the A3s have been purchased from the same salesman at the same dealers.

Generally I trade-in or sell privately after around 3 years and normally get between 50 and 55% of the original purchase price.
 
Ditto mine is a private purchase and I also always buy new so I can spec car how I want.
 
Ahh...interesting to hear what you have to say about the servicing Bowfer....I bought mine 3 years old, without about 45k on the clock and I haven't had to get it serviced yet, although the car reckons 3k or 211 days...
The funny thing is the garage I bought the car from (not Audi dealer) actually serviced it for me, but didn't reset the service indicator. I think i'll get it serviced by Audi anyway when the car says it needs it, as then I'll still have a FASH...

Not looking forward to the bill though...

Luckily I ain't married yet though!
 
The garage will need the proper Audi equipment (or a VAG-COM) to reset the service indicator. If they're on an Audi dealer it's quite likely they didn't have this kit and thus couldn't do anything about it.
 
Vertigo1 said:
The garage will need the proper Audi equipment (or a VAG-COM) to reset the service indicator.
Click to expand...

Bummer.
I remember the service indicator in my wife's 206 could be reset by pressing a combination of buttons on the dash.
Some kind soul revealed the 'secret combination' on the internet.
Came in dead handy,coz I was selling the car and didn't fancy paying for a service.
 
Mines a company car. We lease them from HSBC, which means that we can basically order whatever car we want, providing it is within our personal budget.

We have the option to opt out and get a car allowance - but as I have to pay a percentage of my income to my ex, it's better for me to have the company car as the tax is removed before her percentage is calculated.
 
Mine is a private cash purchase, as were my previous three cars. Why did I buy new? Well, partly just because we could, and so that we could get the exact spec we wanted. I probably wouldn't have paid full list price for the car, but with 10% off list, and leather seats arriving for free as well, I was quite happy. Future cars will probably be 'nearly-new' though, as we'll probably end up with bigger (and therefore more expensive) cars, so probably won't be able to afford the spec we want if we went for a new car.
 
alanjonesbath said:
Future cars will probably be 'nearly-new' though, as we'll probably end up with bigger (and therefore more expensive) cars, so probably won't be able to afford the spec we want if we went for a new car.
Click to expand...

Some of the 'nearly new' savings I've heard about on big cars are mental.
As I mentioned in another thread,a client just bought a 14 month 'old' 5 litre Merc coupe for something like £25K off list.
Someone else on here mentioned nearly new BMW 6 series for the same price as a new S3.
If you wanted to stick with Audi,I think A6 and (especially) A8 depreciation is just as shocking.
 
I bought mine brand new. My first brand new car. Love the Audi brand and love the look of the A3.

It was expensive as hell and probably will drop in value quicker than I can handle. But that's just the price you pay for the luxury - to enjoy a brand new car spec to your liking.

Costed an arm and a leg, same goes for having a girlfriend. :notme:

But the satisfaction factor (varies from one to another), to me, was worth the spending, money I will always make it back. Working hard during the day, and get 15 mins driving my four rings home, washing it and keeping it clean and tidy. The expereince is worth all the fanancial planning and stress... so far.
 
Private ( and new ) for me.

Although I'll lose a lot in depreciation I at least know it wont cost me anything in repairs for three years and as I don't do much mileage will probably keep it for 4/5 years then take the trade in value to allow me to move up the ladder a bit.

It's a sure fire way to lose money but I always like knowing the history of my cars ( ie that they haven't been wrapped around a lamp-post ).

It's also nice to be able to pick exact spec / colour etc..
 
Mines not here yet but is a company car - I'm downsizing from an Alhambra TDI to the A3 which was also a company car. Managed to convince the wife that it made more sense for her to drive around in a people carrier as she was the one doing the school run etc. Had to buy her a brand new VW Touran as part of the deal but I am sure it will be worth it when mine eventually turns up.......:)
 
Mine will be a private purchase - I'm in the process of opting out of the company car scheme at the moment. Hoping to have the order in within the next week.
 
My A3 is two year old and bought via the company car scheme. Allows me to get a car +20k, which if I was buying myself then I'd hunt down something cheaper.

I find the company car scheme low hassle - we both get insured for nowt, tyres, servicing etc covered & I do a fair whack of miles - 25-30k a year, so the company can take the depreciation.
 
Private purchase from new, don't get company car allowance as don't drive with work.

Am wondering though whether next time I'll buy a year old motor as not exactly had wonderful 'new car' experiences on the last 2 new cars.
 
Our was purchased by us privately but the Mrs has just got car allowance in her new job.
 
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