To chop or not to chop?

SmileyS3

SmileyS3

Registered User
Joined
Jul 5, 2015
Messages
202
Reaction score
127
Points
43
Just wondering if anyone can give me an idea of any big service costs that might be coming up?

Current car is: 2015 S3 Sportback Stronic, Sepang, Super Sports Seats, Comfort Pack and Privacy Glass. 36000 miles

Currently owe £21700 but Audi are saying I'm about £4K negative (wheels need refurb, little ding on door, tyres low etc)

I absolutely love the car and I'm not phased about keeping it all the way upto the end of my 4 year deal in July 19 but I would be wanting to extend the warranty for that extra year as it runs out this July.

I've had two offers off two dealers coming in with a Free White S3 Stronic Sportback with Privacy and SuperSports Seats (really not bothered about everything else and don't really like black edition)
Offers are £3500 deposit off me and 10k mile deal...£450 month

Currently paying £386 after I'd put £1k down in 2015...5k miles. Payed about 30 months so far. So if I extend the warranty (hopefully £500)...and excess mileage in July 2019, when I hand it back, of £1800 (working on roughly 30k miles at 0.06p) I'd have paid around...
48 x 386 + £1k down + £500 warranty extension + £1800 excess mileage charge / 48= £454.75

If I chop it in now...and chuck £3500 in...I'd have paid...30 x 386 + £1k down = £419 a month but I only put £1k in last time so to make it fair...add the extra £2500 into that mix and it comes to £503 a month

Sorry I've bored you so far. I'm getting to my main question....

So, are there any unforeseen big services that I've not accounted for? Haldex etc?

I'm on 36000 miles...next service is saying 8000 miles away yet...but I will probably (definitely) hit that before July 19. (I did a lot of miles in y1&2 as wife's car was old banger so she would use the S3 on nights so it got double mileage the first year or two...she has a better car now so she hardly drives the S3)

I'm not expecting you to tell me what's best to do as you all don't know my exact financial position etc.

I can afford £450 a month and I don't think I want any other car apart from an S3. I'm just thinking I can squeeze that last 17/18months out of the current car and then just pay the excess mileage then I could be better off?

Would they still charge me for low tread, chipped windscreen, ding in door and wheel refurb when I had it back at the end of the deal or is that all 'fair wear and tear'?

Thank you, in advance, for your helpful replies.
 
Last edited:
You could sell private/ voluntary termination as you have paid over half term and walk away and start a fresh
 
I sold my 14 reg stronic Sportback in December and got £18.5k cash and it had 70,000 on the clock. I reckon you’ll get £20k on a private sale all day long. Get it tidied up and looking fresh, maybe even stick some part worns on there too and you’ll get the money you want. Maybe even nearer to your settlement figure. Sell privately, don’t VT or pay your mileage!
 
As long as your tyres are still legal then VWFS won't charge you when you hand the car back.

There is a fair wear and tear guide you can download, this will help judge if Audi will charge for this damage, my guess is they will.

I agree with the comments about VT (I did it on my Golf that had negative equity) if you've pad more 50% of the agreement value (PCP) you can give the car back. Call VWFS they will be able to tell you when you'll reach that point. VT is perfectly legal and does not effect your credit rating, some people comment on here that VT may make it harder to get car finance in the future but ive done it twice now and never found that. In your position Id seriously consider VT allowing VWFS to suck up the negative equity, this may also removes any servicing expenses too depending on when you reach 50% of the value. You still need to make good any damage to the car as fair wear and tear rules still apply on VT.

It is worth checking if you can clear the finance selling privately though. Its whether you have the time or patience to do it. It annoys me that the dealers know the rules about VT and in some cases will help the customer save some money but they do not suggest it as an option because they make a cut on the amount finance taken out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Audi Bairn
Chris43 said:
As long as your tyres are still legal then VWFS won't charge you when you hand the car back.

There is a fair wear and tear guide you can download, this will help judge if Audi will charge for this damage, my guess is they will.

I agree with the comments about VT (I did it on my Golf that had negative equity) if you've pad more 50% of the agreement value (PCP) you can give the car back. Call VWFS they will be able to tell you when you'll reach that point. VT is perfectly legal and does not effect your credit rating, some people comment on here that VT may make it harder to get car finance in the future but ive done it twice now and never found that. In your position Id seriously consider VT allowing VWFS to suck up the negative equity, this may also removes any servicing expenses too depending on when you reach 50% of the value. You still need to make good any damage to the car as fair wear and tear rules still apply on VT.

It is worth checking if you can clear the finance selling privately though. Its whether you have the time or patience to do it. It annoys me that the dealers know the rules about VT and in some cases will help the customer save some money but they do not suggest it as an option because they make a cut on the amount finance taken out.
Click to expand...

^^This
Wife did VT with a previous TT, does not affect credit or future finance application one bit.
It was our dealership who suggested it, but thankfully we have a good one with excellent salesman.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KenL, Chris43 and Sandra
Thanks for the replies guys. So, VT...is it 50% of say...£35k car? Or 50% of the loan amount?
I've only paid about £12500 including my £1k down...so, I'm £5k off £17500...?

Think my GFV is £17600...and my payments are £386.80 with the added £1k...and it's 48month deal so....£37166? I'm not sure how this all works out lol
 
SmileyS3 said:
Thanks for the replies guys. So, VT...is it 50% of say...£35k car? Or 50% of the loan amount?
I've only paid about £12500 including my £1k down...so, I'm £5k off £17500...?

Think my GFV is £17600...and my payments are £386.80 with the added £1k...and it's 48month deal so....£37166? I'm not sure how this all works out lol
Click to expand...

Its of the total amount payable. This includes total cost of the car, interest and any fees. Have a look at your agreement, it's the biggest number...! I'm not sure how discounts are calculated in this, so I would just rig VWFS and ask what the total figure is, and how far you are from reaching the VT for the agreement.

From the rough numbers you've given I think you're right, you're about £5k short. So you either pay £5k then VT, or wait for another 13 odd payments.

You will always be in negative equity because you've underestimated the mileage by nearly 3-fold. So even if you get to the end of the term and hand it back to avoid the neg eq, you will be hit with excess mileage charge. I mean if you can avoid this by VT'ing then fine, but if I'm being impartial, that doesn't sound particularly fair from Audi's perspective...not that I think it's a particularly big win though, considering you would have still paid near enough £20k and handed them back a perfectly good used Audi they can make another load of profit on...!

Having said all that, £17k trade in is a bit of a slap in the face considering that would sell near enough £23k..

So VT might be the least expensive option, but as above, I would also look at private sale. £20k sounds very reasonable to me too.

Oh and don't bundle negative equity into another new deal...you'll just end up with similar debt (negative equity...) in the next car deal + this £4k debt...and so on...it can get messy very quickly!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Audi Bairn
DrEskimo said:
You will always be in negative equity because you've underestimated the mileage by nearly 3-fold. So even if you get to the end of the term and hand it back to avoid the neg eq, you will be hit with excess mileage charge.
Click to expand...
+1 for ^^^THIS^^^

Marky-s3 said:
You could sell private/ voluntary termination as you have paid over half term and walk away and start a fresh
Click to expand...


SmileyS3 said:
Thanks for the replies guys. So, VT...is it 50% of say...£35k car? Or 50% of the loan amount?
I've only paid about £12500 including my £1k down...so, I'm £5k off £17500...?

Think my GFV is £17600...and my payments are £386.80 with the added £1k...and it's 48month deal so....£37166? I'm not sure how this all works out lol
Click to expand...
Remember it's not half the term! On the finance agreement it will say how much you need to pay back (Total amount payable) it's 50% of that figure, that can be made up of your deposit and payments.

So for arguments sake it says £35,000 you can hand it back after £17,500 has been paid, which could be made up of your £5,000 deposit leaving £12,500 in payments. So as soon as you have made X amount of monthly payments equal to £12,500 you can hand it back.

Even with a VT they still check the car over, so you may find you get a bill for any repairs needed...and I'm sure they'd hit you with the 9p a mile extra as well!

PS: Not saying you have, but for everyone reading: If you tell your insurance you are doing 5,000 mile per year to keep the cost down, but you are doing a lot more, it can invalidate your insurance!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Audi Bairn and KenL
SmileyS3 said:
Thanks for the replies guys. So, VT...is it 50% of say...£35k car? Or 50% of the loan amount?
I've only paid about £12500 including my £1k down...so, I'm £5k off £17500...?

Think my GFV is £17600...and my payments are £386.80 with the added £1k...and it's 48month deal so....£37166? I'm not sure how this all works out lol
Click to expand...

Best thing to do is call VWFS for an accurate figure because you will save some interest charges by settling the agreement early. You can do VT at any point but a one off payment will be needed to reach the 50% mark.

If it helps, my 4 year PCP ran from April 14 to May 18 and I reached 50% when I'd made the July 17 payment. I had dink, the size of a match head on my passenger door, the paint was intact but there was a dint. BCA (British Car Auctions) working on behalf of VWFS quoted £40 to repair, I didn't pay in the end as I was way under the contracted mileage.

It's good advice above about factoring the cost of the excess miles as this in theory devalues the car even further. This adds more weight to the VT at 50% value proposal.

It's even better advice not to bundle the negative equity on your current car into your next PCP.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Audi Bairn
Thanks for all the replies again. Much appreciated.

With regards to the new deal, I had a call from Drive the Deal and they said their best offer with what I want(not taking into account my old car)...was:-

£1k in from me and £430 month....10k miles and 48months---£21640

So, £3500 in from me and £450 a month doesn't look that bad really. £25100...considering I'm way over the mileage?

It's basically the £3500 that I'm in depreciation?

So, like you guys say, if I can get more trade in for my car or sell it for more privately...then I'm gonna get that total cost down.
 
Last edited:
You want to pay £450 a month for an S3 ? :neutral::neutral:
I payed £330 for mine 2017 sportback and I only pay £387 for my RS3....
 
Rayner_1704 said:
You want to pay £450 a month for an S3 ? :neutral::neutral:
I payed £330 for mine 2017 sportback and I only pay £387 for my RS3....
Click to expand...

Unfortunately just comparing the monthly cost gives you no indication of the actual cost. The monthly is primarily determined by the upfront payment, but also the miles and the term length.

For example, I could get an R8 for £200 per month, but of course you would be daft to suggest it's cheaper than the S3 based solely on this information, as I would have to put a sizeable deposit, and possibly drive it fewer miles and spread the payments over a bigger term.

As such, if you want to compare costs based on a single monthly figure, you need to adjust it for the deposit, mileage and term. You can do this by just calculating the total cost (deposit + all monthly payments), then divide that by the number of years, and then divide that by the number of miles. I would then multiply it by 1,000 to give you a monthly cost per year, per 1,000 miles.

E.g.
S3 Saloon with 15% discount and £1,000 deposit on a 10k miles over 36month PCP = £451.52 per month.
RS3 Saloon with 5% discount and £6,000 deposit on a 5k miles over 48months PCP = £452.13 per month

You might conclude on just the monthly cost that the RS3 Saloon is a no brainer. Even if you went a step further and compared deposit, perhaps even with the extra £5k upfront, it seems like a good deal still..

However, the adjusted cost per 1,000 miles per year would be
S3 Saloon = £575.16
RS3 Saloon = £1,385.11

As you can see, adjusting for the deposit, term and mileage gives you a completely different picture.
A far more accurate reflection of what the comparative costs of the PCP deals are.
 
  • Like
Reactions: fivespice, jungle650, wab172uk and 2 others
DrEskimo said:
Unfortunately just comparing the monthly cost gives you no indication of the actual cost. The monthly is primarily determined by the upfront payment, but also the miles and the term length.

For example, I could get an R8 for £200 per month, but of course you would be daft to suggest it's cheaper than the S3 based solely on this information, as I would have to put a sizeable deposit, and possibly drive it fewer miles and spread the payments over a bigger term.

As such, if you want to compare costs based on a single monthly figure, you need to adjust it for the deposit, mileage and term. You can do this by just calculating the total cost (deposit + all monthly payments), then divide that by the number of years, and then divide that by the number of miles. I would then multiply it by 1,000 to give you a monthly cost per year, per 1,000 miles.

E.g.
S3 Saloon with 15% discount and £1,000 deposit on a 10k miles over 36month PCP = £451.52 per month.
RS3 Saloon with 5% discount and £6,000 deposit on a 5k miles over 48months PCP = £452.13 per month

You might conclude on just the monthly cost that the RS3 Saloon is a no brainer. Even if you went a step further and compared deposit, perhaps even with the extra £5k upfront, it seems like a good deal still..

However, the adjusted cost per 1,000 miles per year would be
S3 Saloon = £575.16
RS3 Saloon = £1,385.11

As you can see, adjusting for the deposit, term and mileage gives you a completely different picture.
A far more accurate reflection of what the comparative costs of the PCP deals are.
Click to expand...


Exactly what he said!
I always work out the mileage and the deposit and sometimes the extra fees...then divide it by total months to get the accurate figure.

Rayner_1704 said:
You want to pay £450 a month for an S3 ? :neutral::neutral:
I payed £330 for mine 2017 sportback and I only pay £387 for my RS3....
Click to expand...

How much did you put down? How many miles? Wher can I get the same deal?
 
SmileyS3 said:
Exactly what he said!
I always work out the mileage and the deposit and sometimes the extra fees...then divide it by total months to get the accurate figure.



How much did you put down? How many miles? Wher can I get the same deal?
Click to expand...
For the s3 ? £2400 10k miles
 
Btw, you will have Haldex, S-Tronic Oil and Spark Plug change to do if you keep it. Audi rip you off for these services too.
 
Dazs87 said:
I sold my 14 reg stronic Sportback in December and got £18.5k cash and it had 70,000 on the clock. I reckon you’ll get £20k on a private sale all day long. Get it tidied up and looking fresh, maybe even stick some part worns on there too and you’ll get the money you want. Maybe even nearer to your settlement figure. Sell privately, don’t VT or pay your mileage!
Click to expand...
Nice. Webuyanycar are lowballing me on my 35K 65 plate S3 at £19K, so that is a very good figure.
 
Rayner_1704 said:
You want to pay £450 a month for an S3 ? :neutral::neutral:
I payed £330 for mine 2017 sportback and I only pay £387 for my RS3....
Click to expand...
Monthly payments are spec dependant and down to personal finances and l would also have my face lift saloon over the PFL RS3 sportback because it will have aged even more when the new A3 arrives again a personal choice......
 
jassyo06 said:
Monthly payments are spec dependant and down to personal finances and l would also have my face lift saloon over the PFL RS3 sportback because it will have aged even more when the new A3 arrives again a personal choice......
Click to expand...
Each to there own that’s your opinion just like I gave mine. I was only saying £450 a month pay out for an S3 is a lot don’t understand why not save even just a couple of grand extra. I had a facelift s3 and it just had something missing so I swapped to the RS3. I not that bothered about aging looks myself I don’t tend to keep the cars too long.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

amped2
May be time to chop in the saloon for a cabriolet
Replies
7
Views
983
amped2
amped2
Pook
Change or not to change
Replies
69
Views
4K
stella85
S
Nick Moorhouse
To tune or not to tune...
Replies
6
Views
785
MikeParkin
MikeParkin
BrownChris1991
  • Start Poll
Facelift To buy or not to buy..
Replies
38
Views
6K
Tom.H
Tom.H
Radman
S3 or not to be?
Replies
17
Views
4K
steeve
steeve
Top
Back