Test Drive Today.

[Ovv]

I headed down to Western Toyota in Edinburgh today to look at a SR180 and a D4D XTR so I could get a comparison between the two.

Only actually ended up driving one, a nice spec'd 59 XTR - full leather heated seats, keyless entry and start button. Was a great drive, and the dealer was more than happy to give us a nice extended drive on a mixture of A & B roads. Really enjoyed the car and was more than happy with the performance, was a 150 model, so slightly confused as I thought it was either 136 or 180 available.

The intention was then to test drive the SR180, however that's when the bombshell hit us. My current Audi has a balloon payment due and the intention was to trade it and use the equity between the trade in and the final payment, turns out that the trade in value is pretty much the same as the final balloon payment, leaving us with no extra cash to help bring down the final cost. Therefore, we decided there wasn't much point in doing the second drive.

Dealer said he would try and get some figures to us for the SR180 as it was cheaper than the XTR, however it looks like the monthly payments that we are used to for the Audi would double, which sadly isnt possible.

Feeling a bit stupid and gutted, and came home feeling rather deflated as me and the Mrs were really impressed with the drive.

Looks like its back to the drawing board, either selling the Audi privately or just making the Balloon payment and keeping the Audi.

Oh well, what's meant to be will be I guess.

Chris

[anchorman]

You would find the 150 cheaper to run but it sounds like its acedemic anyway.

Never mind -one day!

[Ovv]

Yeah, maybe next year once the wife's back to work full time after maternity leave.

Would have gone for the 150 anyways I think, lower mileage with more spec.

Had hoped that I would have had about 2k in equity, away to chuck it on Pistonheads and Autotrader.

[Hoovie]

The way used car prices have dropped in last 2 or 3 years, doubt if any PCP agreements will have a residual value bigger then the balloon payment :(

[Ovv]

The way used car prices have dropped in last 2 or 3 years, doubt if any PCP agreements will have a residual value bigger then the balloon payment :(

I know, it's pretty shocking. I certainly wouldn't go down that route again. It's a shame as I really had hoped to get into a Rav4 - was a much better drive than the CRV I drove last weekend.

Oh well, I should have put my lottery number on tonight just in case.

[Dabooka]

The way used car prices have dropped in last 2 or 3 years, doubt if any PCP agreements will have a residual value bigger then the balloon payment :(

Agree completely, but then again that's what they're designed to do too; keeps the owner tied in to a cycle of renewing the car or handing it back in. I'm led to believe that's why so many of these deals have low mileage limits (we looked at one for my wife which had 15k for three years!) and offer a "guaranteed future value" of the car, which sounds great to the punter but in fact really does very little; it jus gives the option to hand it back if the net worth is less than the final balloon, which of course you can do under HP agreements anyway (assuming it's a typical domestic deal).

The truth is PCPs aren't the best deals financially for those wanting to keep the car at the end of term. Even the infamous Mini, with it's ridiculously high redisual values, has come down to normal levels of depreication!

[Ovv]

Well, after sitting down and looking at the figures, its looking likely that the RAV4 is back on again, in the process of thrashing out a deal at the moment. By contributing a small deposit the monthly figures actual works out better than paying off the Audi, newer car with lower mileage with space we need makes more sense.

On a different note, has anyone every retro fitted the SR180 wheel arch extensions ?? I did a quick search on here and noted that last year someone had costed it and it was going to be £800+ for parts/spraying/fitted etc - I have someone who can do the spraying and possibly fit them so its just a matter of buying the parts.

Does anyone have the part numbers or a online link to where they can be bought ?

Chris.

[anchorman]

PM Kingo. He can get them for you. In the USA they do them body coloured. He might be able to do the same.