marzman

...and with that, lets have a drool over some pics

My current loan is £310 a month, of which i think about £166 is dead money lost on depreciation. So £144 a month is actually 'buying' you something. When your loan ends, if your car is worth more than zero (which is where you would be after two years of PCP) then your better off. I think what we are actually debating here is almosy unquantifyable (sp) in that what some people view as value for money is different to other. For me, ownership of the car, even at the expense of higher payments and longer term is better than a shorter term, lower payments and driving a brand new car thats never going to be mine and will be getting swapped in x months time. I, personally, could only have a car on finance that I knew was going to be mine at the end. If I couldn't afford a car either to buy it outright, get a straight loan or finance where I owned the car at the end, then I wouldn't get it. Other people would be/are happy with the low repayments and thought of swapping their car every year or so. My mental image of these people (please don't anyone get offended by this ) is sales reps in shiny suits from River Island, who lives on a new build estate, and loves to show off to the neighbours that he can afford a new £40k every other year, when in fact they have a 120% Interest Only mortgage and the cars are on PCP. As Warren Buffet said; "When the tide goes out, you can see who's been swimming naked" Ouch But i like that I can assure you there are no shiny shirts here and i've not been in river island since i was about 18 Lets draw a line under it then that we've got different opinions. I dont place too much stock in actual ownership, and at the end of the day, to get this SLK i would be 'throwing away' £84 a month more than i am currently with my zed - which for a 10 year newer car, i think, is a good deal.

1) I cost my cornflakes every morning with lead filings and 99Ron fuel. 2) I cut the grass by pouring petrol over it and setting fire! 3) I chew on wild rabbits as a snack. 4) I blow my tyres up with my mouth. 5) I shave with a bowie knife. 6) I changed my oil and used my teeth to get the sup plug off! 7) I too changed my oil and drank the waste! 8) I eat my dinner with a pitch fork and machete. 9) My cat has been trained to be the local drug dealer 10) I drive a pick up truck. The manliest vehicle in the known universe 11) I am ians cats best customer 12) When servicing my car I don't use ramps, I hold my car up with my knees 13) I wear barbed wire instead of socks 14) I brush my teeth with a wire brush 15) I drink sand 16) I can do 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. That's twice as fast as my car. 17) I used hair straighteners to smash my teeth out when I got bored cleaning them. 18) when I cook tea I often cut my own finger off as a snack. 19) I ate Ian's cat because it gives short measures 20) I use sandpaper condoms. 21) I do my own electrical work - stripping wires with my teeth - and leave the supply on whilst doing it. 22) When I do push-ups my body stays still and the earth moves up and down 23) I pop into fine haberdasheries and say "Your hats are less than exceptional." 24) I got into a knife fight. The knife lost 25) I'm a lumber jack and I'm ok, I cut down trees and I wear high heels, suspenders and a bra - I wish I'd been a girlie, just like my dear papa...............is this the right thread ? 26) I aspire to turbo/supercharge everything I own, this includes the microwave 27) Even as a kid I could anhialate everyone at a game of conkers......USING MY LEFT NUT 28) When the Olympics found out G4S couldnt provide the security required they asked me if i could do it, but i was too busy drinking beer and nailing strippers.

My current loan is £310 a month, of which i think about £166 is dead money lost on depreciation. Not quite that calculation as that extra cash has to be saved up monthly over that 6-year period, so you wouldnt earn 7% on 28k until year 6, but having that cashflow for other investment was exactly my point as you say...

When was that wheel last removed? Have you got standard nuts?

This is only the case if you want to swap your car regularly and is also only relevant if you have the cash to purchase outright. Lets say you do this; a) Buy a £35k car and keep it six years. Car is now worth £13-£14k. Hire a car at £7k every two years = £21k spent. a) This person still owns a car with no monthly repayment and can access the £15k in the car if needed. This person has bugger all to show for their £21k apart from swanning around in a brand new car that they never owned. Option A and Option B above both result in a £21k spend though over the same period, and i wouldnt have had to have the remainder of my capital tied up in the car (which you're saying i can 'access') going with option B

Yep, im obviously aware that the £250 a month is dead money, in the same way that currently, £166 a month of my car payment is being lost in depreciation each month - on a 10 year old car!!!! This is not aimed at you liam, and im not taking this personally, but i do find it insulting to label anyone who would consider a PCP deal to be trying to buy something they cant afford, or saying they're overreaching etc. Until this last few months I was always of the same opinion, but having given it some thought i no longer feel the same. From a personal point of view i dont have £35k cash waiting in a bank account to be spent, and if i did it would NOT be being spent on a car as you quite rightly said. However that doesnt mean i'm poor and shouldnt consider a £35k car! For me its all about cash flow - lets say i've got £1200 a month of my income *spare* after all my bills have gone out. I could happily go out and get a £35k loan for a new car and afford to pay it, but then i'd have very poor cash flow for a long term. I would rather write off that £250 a month now (which i think with my previous post proved that i would lose more than that in depreciation over 2 years if i bought the car outright) and still have good cash flow to be used for other investment projects, which should eventually earn me more money. However - im raising these points and asking these questions to get some schooling anyway, as any financial advise is always useful. EDIT... i guess what im talking about could be called Opportunity Cost. Tying all my cash in a car to not lose too much money, vs keeping my money free to do other things with and hopefully grow.

Very similar design is a bit cheaper on driftworks http://www.driftworks.com/shop/super-wi ... -wing.html

Good post. So i've just worked out two values... The first - i've worked out how much i've lost in depreciation on cars over the last 7 years. I've only ever had non-new cars (newest was 4 years old, but the average age of my cars is about 7 years old). During this time, i've lost a totoal of £14000 in depreciation, or £2k per year. Comparing the price of the SLK on PCP, a £1500 deposit + 23x £250 = £7250, or £3625 a year - so i'd be losing 80% more than i have done in the past on depreciation. Not good - although i would be driving a brand spanking new car for the first time ever. However - looking on parkers at the previous gen SLK, price new vs 2yrs old for the cheapest model in the range (and therefore lowest depreciation) - they lose £11k over 2 years (not including any interest on finance i'd have to pay!) - which is a damn site more than the £7250 it would cost me to own via PCP. Okay this isnt a totally fair test seeing as the 2011 SLK is at the end of the model iteration, but it's as good a comparison as i've got. (source = http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/prices/us ... arplate=94) So based on the above... financially i'd be better off sticking with old cars as i've always done - obviously. However over a 2 year period, PCP works out cheaper than ownership, as far as i can see, and doesnt leave me with the overhead of trying to to pay a £35k loan.

Doesnt sound too bad

What do you think of it mate? How is it to drive, and hows the ride?

So i stopped in at my local Mercedes dealership on the way home, and the SLK had pride of place in the center of the showroom. I've got to say, i was pretty much blown away by the looks of it Sitting in it, it felt like a really nice place to be. Everything about it was just luxury. I came out with a stupid grin on my face I've scheduled a test drive for saturday lunch time in the 250d so i'll report back on how it goes. ...and i dont want any 'I told you so' comments afterwards... i've never diven a diesel before so I may be totally disappointed by it.

Spot on Have you heard the SLK? Does it sound like @*!#? But even if it does sound like @*!#, the noise inst a huge issue for me as i cant say i ever drive without having loud music on - so aural pleasure is not what im after (not oral, SMD before you start ) Yep that would have been an insult to me... Cars are probably my biggest passion in life, so the fact that i would like a diesel does not mean that i dont care about cars. I rarely drive my zed as a) i dont like getting it dirty and i hate paying for fuel. I drive my girlfriends fiesta most of the time, which is just stupid. If my zed got me 56mpg however, im sure i would drive it a lot more - and yes, i would sacrifice the lovely sounds of my nismo exhaust for that mpg. I dont think anyone here's driven the new SLK yet, so it could knock spots off the zed for all we know (im sure it wont however ) so to say it's stupid to consider it is a shortsighted comment. (not aimed at you Leeroy, or anyone, im just saying). Also the zed isnt a sports car and isnt really that quick, so im not anticipating it to be a huge step down in terms of performance - but i could be wrong.

You know, you actually did go through my mind when thinking about what i could get for my zed... but it would be more like £1500 However im thinking about keeping the zed too, although not sure. Ive just requested a test drive at my local Merc garage, so i'll see how that goes. My mrs is learning to drive at the moment, but i bought her a Fiesta last year to use when she passes. But im thinking now that i could sell that and give her the zed

You failed to spot the major fun factor killer - the SLK isnt petrol 6.5 0-60mph, with 500nm of torque. Im pretty sure that will give the zed a run for it's money in a straight line. That said, im not after it for it's 'sports car capabilities' at all. I just like the thought of a nice looking, reasonably dynamic car that will get me 56mpg...

10k a year, with a 2 year contract. ...thats 50% more than i drive my zed currently Pence per mile penalties, typically are only 6p per mile... so if you go over by 5k miles they'll charge you £300

Yup. 10k miles a year over 24 months. Forget to mention that the diesel model is 6.5 0-60 and has 500nm of torque SLK http://www.contracthireandleasing.com/p ... -benz/slk/ 370z http://www.contracthireandleasing.com/p ... ssan/370z/ You know what thinking about it, the price of the SLK is too good to be true surely?!?

So i've started seeing the new SLK on the road a lot recently, and i've got to say, it looks like a really handsome car. The previous 2 SLK's have been a bit too feminine for me but the new model looks a bit meaner and more fun. On PCP you can get the SLK250 Diesel model (56mpg!) for under £250 a month which is quite a bargain! Compare that to a 370z on PCP which is 25ish MPG at £450-500... thats almost twice the price

So... is there business opportunity to start exporting cars, or are people bound by local tax rules etc?

In texas where my dad lived for 10 years (now lives in upstate new york), the prices of cars like the zed were rock bottom. They were like $15k 4 years ago! I was well jealous! That said, they were ten a penny down there...

Best colour.

Just buy one of the bargain dremmel knock-offs that they sell. Aldi are selling one this week for £12! I bought a £20 dremmel knockoff from Wolworths about 6 years ago, and it's still going strong (and it came with a flexi adapter). Probably had maybe 20 hours solid use out of it during that time. For drop links and areas of rust however, you're better off with an angle grinder than a dremmel... you'll be there all day.

Nice

I love it!!

Not that well TBH, he will be lucky to see 10K Im not going to post links to any other cars but thats A LOT for that car IMO. Agreed, it's very nice but i was expecting to see £7k realistically. I'd have one though... but prefer my zed.