Facelift Regretting purchasing my S3

Ian66 said:

Hi guys, well bitten the bullet ................... ordered a new M135i xdrive in misano blue, getting beginning of April. Been a long hard decision, didn't want to leave the brand but couldn't get anywhere with Audi dealerships in central Scotland - just far too expensive to change and great incentives with BMW. New A3 model appears to have very little changes from our previous S3 '67' model and didn't want to hold out any longer, probably would never have got a good deal anyway, hoping gearbox might have had a few changes in new model, but doesn't appear so, gutted!!!

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wab172uk said:

That's the way I prefer to buy too. Never had car debt for many years.

However I now have a PCP deal my X3 M40i. Traded in the S3, which paid the max deposit (got money back off the dealer) and my payments are just £133 a month, which I don't think it too bad really.

Had the intention of paying the whole lot off after taking delivery, but I was having a conversation with an independent finance bloke, who advised against paying it all off. Suggested leasing. His reasoning was big engined low mpg cars will become less desirable over the next few years, what with the climate change hysteria going on in the media. That and car manufacturers and our government pushing people to buy EV cars, could see the values of cars like the X3 M40i take a real hit in 3 years time.

Said with leasing, you just hand the car back and walk away. Buying out right, you may be left with a car you may struggle to sell. At least with PCP I can hand it back too. Though I'd still like to think it'd be worth a bit more than what I owe at the end.

Made me think about tying up all that cash in a car. I think if it was something more special with the intention of long term ownership, buying outright would be the better, and cheaper option overall.

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Ian66 said:

Tby we came out a s3 8 months ago moved into a Q5 that’s why we are moving back to a car

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X3man said:

I have looked at leasing a few times, but for me, the lack of flexibility with options is key, as adding any options not on the "spec" adds a lot.
The handing back at end does sound attractive, however:

a) NO option to get out of car until end of deal...not for me.
b) Have heard they can be very strict on condition and charge for all sorts...shouldn't be an issue if you look after, but hard to tell.

I still think cash is best, but on a decent used as opposed new, but I seem to get sucked into the PCP route every time, but also chuck in a decent deposit, meaning I can get out earlier if I want (as I did with Q5) or not.

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jassyo06 said:

I dont think it's just done to putting in a good deposit of which l agree with whole heartedly it's more like doing your research on specific cars taking your time and having experience in buying cars that matters,l could no doubt chop my S3 in now or within a few months from today with no negative eq at all and sell it privately make a few quid if you can call it that after putting £9k deposit in but l dont want to coz l picked the right car this time around and will hopefully do so again

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Snake Pliskin said:

same here ..... I had 65% retained value in my RS3 after 4 years which I thought was excellent

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OCDaveS4 said:

I always do my research and convinced myself that the FL S3 was the one for me, including test drives etc. But it was after many years with Imprezas and somehow the S3 didn’t quite gel with me.

Over 12 months I lost in value roughly what I’d paid in bank loan repayments (private sale of the Impreza funded the balance) so moving to the S4 was really like re-drawing the bank loan plus a weeny bit. (I’m deep into ManMaths territory now!).

It all very personal, but I love the S4 as a “luxury” driving experience - the soundtrack is a delight, the handling equals the S3, and the interior is a step up except for the poxy fixed screen.

That said, I think the S3 body shape has the edge over the S4.

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Snake Pliskin said:

I had 65% retained value in my RS3 after 4 years which I thought was excellent

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