New Car Dilemma

[gaffer1986]

What's your opinion?

I've recently ordered a SEAT Leon SC 1.4 TSI FR tech pack in apollo blue, with SEAT sound and the LED interior lights for £5000 deposit and £250 per month for 36 months with a £7000 balloon payment. I've already placed a £500 deposit which I will lose if I pull out. This car will be a 14 plate.

I've found the same car with the tech pack in Monsoon Grey, which does without the SEAT sound and interior LED lights with 3900 miles on the clock registered Jun 2013 and will cost me £5000 deposit, 48 monthly payments of £285 but will be mine when the payments have finished and will be worth around £5000 (planning on doing 25,000 miles a year).

Now I know I would prefer the one I've ordered, but financially I'm much better off going for the second hand car, keeping it for four years and using it as a healthy deposit towards my next car.

What would you do, I'm almost 50/50. Does anyone have any experience of 8 speaker system vs SEAT sound? Have there been any common faults with the earlier 1.4 TSI engine that may have been ironed out by my 14 plate car.

Thanks.

 

[Fraczish]

If having a new car isnt a must, Get the dealer of the second hand car to cover the cost of the deposit you would lose, buy it, enjoy it, (get it now)and save a lot of deprecation... No brainer for me

 

[gaffer1986]

That's what I was thinking, just got my heart set on a good sound system.

 

[Fraczish]

Can't comment on the sound, but from what ive heard on here, the standard sound system is excellent...

 

[Lawto48]

That's what I was thinking, just got my heart set on a good sound system.

I have the Seat Sound and it's very good, but I must say that I think the normal Seat sound system is very good also. It's a lot of money to lose for the sake of a £200 ish sound system.

 

[madduffyx]

Hey Gaffer I've got the standard sound system and I personally think it's top notch. At no point have I thought I should of added the sound pack option

 

[Andy]

The second hand one screams buy, buy, buy to me.

 

[DeanC]

I would agree with the guys. I have the sound pack and I have tried a demo FR with the extra speaker but no seat sound and an SE with the standard setup. Yes of course each one is better in turn but they are all good.

 

[scrich7]

Have to admit that those figures seem quite high, thought you had mistakenly out an extra 0 on your deposit. I got a 1.8 with 18's, Seat Sound, Tech Pack, Winter Pack, Alcantara, Convenience Pack and Driver Assist Pack for a considerably smaller deposit and admittedly a higher monthly payment. Okay, my car is an ex demo, but should give you some food for thought perhaps?

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk

 

[marty_34]

If your doing 25k a year id consider the pcp and ask what guaranteed future value is after 36 mths. Buying 1 outright you may suffer more than usual with depreciation due to high mileage

Bit of a tricky 1, as on a car a few month old you will save on the list price so bit of swings n roundabouts etc

Seat sound system is very good, better than standard by a fair bit in my opinion

 

[gaffer1986]

If your doing 25k a year id consider the pcp and ask what guaranteed future value is after 36 mths. Buying 1 outright you may suffer more than usual with depreciation due to high mileage

Bit of a tricky 1, as on a car a few month old you will save on the list price so bit of swings n roundabouts etc

Seat sound system is very good, better than standard by a fair bit in my opinion

The future value is around £7000 - £8000, I know the second hand one makes more financial sense to me because I can get a good extended warranty for the last 1.5 years of ownership for around £600 that would cover everything.

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 4

 

[gaffer1986]

I have the Seat Sound and it's very good, but I must say that I think the normal Seat sound system is very good also. It's a lot of money to lose for the sake of a £200 ish sound system.

I know, I think I'm being a little silly, the second hand one is £4000 cheaper list than the new one, if everyone thinks the 8 speaker system is fairly good I will probably be insane if I keep my new one on order. I will have to sacrifice the £500 deposit unless I can manage to convince someone higher up it's worth there while giving it back to me.

Thanks for all your replies, helpful info about the sound system. Where is the extra speaker on the FR?

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 4

 

[andycupra]

nearly new car makes more sense generally.
if I was you id ask yourself the question of whether a brand new car is really needed? its an expensive way to go about things.

 

[gaffer1986]

It's not needed, it's just nice, I didn't suffer that much depreciation after the first year on my Ibiza but the Leon is definitely more prone to losing lots of money within 5000 miles. I've never owned a nearly new car before. Suppose it's probably similar to a new one, depends how well it's been looked after.

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Stegor]

25000 miles per year? Wouldn't a diesel make more sense?

 

[gaffer1986]

25000 miles per year? Wouldn't a diesel make more sense?

I do mostly town driving and finding modern petrol engines are nearly as eco as diesels round town. Also, I've had enough of dpf regens, there noisy, smelly and ruin the accelerator sensitivity. I've only had the dpf light come on twice in nearly four years but funny enough one of those times was yesterday at 21:15 just when I wanted to go home.

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk

 

[gaffer1986]

I think I may be an idiot, but I'm probably going to go for the brand new one as I really want a good sound system and I'm not sure if I would want to keep a car for 4 year and 100,000 miles, my 62,000 mile car is already looking worn.

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk

 

[Andy]

I think I may be an idiot, but I'm probably going to go for the brand new one

Your hardly an idiot, you asked for opinions, you got them and having taken all things into account, coupled with your own need/wants, you've made an formed choice, job done.

...or is it? sometimes you can over complicate things

 

[gaffer1986]

Your hardly an idiot, you asked for opinions, you got them and having taken all things into account, coupled with your own need/wants, you've made an formed choice, job done.

...or is it? sometimes you can over complicate things

True, another thing I'm concerned about is... why would someone get rid of a car after 3900 miles, is it that bad? I also teach people to drive for a living and the last clutch went at 44,000 miles and cost £1325. So if the new car does the same, I will need two in clutches during ownership instead of one and I think brakes and cam belt would probably need replacing on the fourth year also which are all costs I would avoid with the new one, also the new one has a full SEAT warranty for 75,000 miles which will cover the entire time I own the car. Hence why it's not that simple as I can't predict if the car will be problematic, the second hand car is a risk that could save me money but the new one is a sure thing.

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Andy]

True, another thing I'm concerned about is... why would someone get rid of a car after 3900 miles, is it that bad?

Tbh I'd probably be asking that one myself.

cam belt would probably need replacing on the fourth year also which are all costs I would avoid with the new one, also the new one has a full SEAT warranty for 75,000 miles which will cover the entire time I own the car.

If your doing 25k a year you'll be needing the cam belt done sooner than the fourth year, more so with the stress the engine would be under with all the stalls and jerking associated with the novice learner. I dont imagine the cam belt would be covered under warranty, more of a consumable, unless it goes prematurely of course.