What Car
One of the most agonising times in anyone’s life (apart from deaths and illnesses and all that old shite) is the bloody need to get a new car. Whether it’s the gamble on the purchase of a second-hand thing, getting a PCP on a new motor, or doing a business lease, nothing fills me with more dread. I’ve had all sorts of vehicles including a horrible Nissan that my wife bought in error as a dog-carrier, and palmed off to me, a massive Mitsubishi 4WD thing that required expensive repairs every few weeks and cost £800 a month in diesel, and an old Clio with a massive dent in the side and a clutch cable 2 inches shorter than it should have been.
My last two cars have been business leases. The diesel-powered Skoda Yeti 4x4 was a great car, and cost about £280 a month for 4 years. My mileage allowance was exceeded by about 2000 miles - costing me about £200 in excess fees. My current Kia Soul EV for £350 a month over 4 years has been a rocksteady vehicle in all respects, but my mileage estimates were woefully short of reality, and I’ve totted up about 21,000 excess miles so far, (and at 11p a mile, the debt to the lease company is building up quickly.)
The Kia lease ends at the end of June, so I’ve got to sort out a new vehicle in the next few weeks, and I’ll probably lease again, but maybe only for 3 years this time. I’ve researched, ruminated, and boiled it down to two finalists. One is a “shit off a stick” Chinese BYD model, and the other is a sensible but good-looking Kia again.
This is the Kia EV3 GT-Line model. The lease costs about £400 a month over 3 years for 20k miles a year with a £3k initial payment. It’s a front wheel drive 204 horse power car - same as my current one, but with a different body and some new tech I guess. Dependable, reliable and sensible.
Then…..there’s this mental bastard.
The BYD Seal Performance version is a 540 horse power, 4 wheel drive nutter - full of blingy Chinese tech, and a 0-60 time of 3.8 seconds. It’s more expensive than the Kia obviously at about £500 a month, but it appeals as there aren’t many on the road yet, and it has my initials in it.
I spend a huge amount of time in my car as part of my job so it needs to be a comfortable environment. Many people say I should get the cheapest car I can find and just put up with it, but to be honest I’m in the third act of my life, and just want to enjoy it a bit. If I was in my twenties, I’d probably just get an old banger and save for some distant retirement, but as I’m never going to retire, then why not have some fun?
It’s not a definite yet, and the tariff situation may very well affect prices in some way going forward, but as you can probably tell, I’ve sort of made my mind up. There’s going to be a small price rise in June anyway - I’ve absorbed the cost of huge mileages for rich estate agents for 20 years too long - so the extra £150 a month isn’t an issue unless something awful happens.
We’ll see.
