Apologies for another one of these, but I'm after your valuable input please?

The Lease on my Company car is due to expire very soon, and the replacement will be a Peuguot 207 *shudders* - so I'm looking to buy the Octy to keep as the family runabout.

Its a MY2007 PD140 Elegance Estate, built and registered in January 2007, on a '56' plate. Its currently done 77k, probably going to be ~82-83k when its due in a month or so.

The car is rather tatty (but they can't see that from their office in Newbury), its had the cambelt changed at 74k, so that's one nice big bill out of the way, but the DMF is starting to grumble, so that and a clutch change is looking like ~£1,100 in the next year or so. The rear springs/shocks are a little saggy, so I wouldn't be surprised if they need replacing at next service - they are still the original parts. It might also need 2 front tyres - it depends on whether I can get them changed soon, to be paid for by the company

Glasses and Parkers say £6k-10k, and the prices on Autotrader seem to agree, with the higher milage examples (like mine) sitting at £6,950 to £7,500.

I've been offered the car at £6,900, is that a good price given the work that needs doing? I was hoping for nearer £5,500 to £6,000...

Many thanks,

Sam

I have just bought an absolutely MINT 56 Plate L&K Hatchback 1.9 Diesel, done 58K from "Furness Rigby" (highly recommended, lovely bloke) Lovely tyres all round, good interior, no interior scratches.

This car was ex-lease, and the dealer bought it from a leasing company. He took my 54 Plate Ambient P/X for £3400 and gave him £4k balance.

Considering the few extra bits of kit, lower mileage e.t.c. I would say that the £6900 is no real bargain, you could pick one up elsewhere for that if you were shrewd.

I would try and haggle a bit; find one on eBay that is being sold "ex lease" that is comparable (there are a lot of them, when you offer to buy before the car is out of its leasing period)

If you can go back to them with a similar spec car that is the same in many ways, then you can argue the toss that you are going to buy that car instead, as it is the same and yours is a bit tatty.

That might force their hand.

Just for information, I have an MY06 06 plate 2.0 TDI 140 DSG Elegance going in p/ex for a new vRS next month

My car has just a few shy of 50,000 on the clock, sports suspension and pegasus wheels and maxidot, and secured £7,000 in p/ex

Thanks for the input - it seems that its not a great bargain, but is comparable to other cars, and at least I know the history. Insurance looks about £300, so not bad - I just need to find the purchase prise now

I'd be interested in comments from those of you who voted for the 'Hell No!' option - why did you say that? Was it just because its not a vRS, or was there a genuine reason for your vote?

Get a dealer to say the DMF needs fixing now so it's paid for by the lease company and then take them up on their offer...

You obviously like the car as you're considering buying it, and the price the lease company wants appears to be book price so if you're happy with the car and get the major bill paid for by someone else then it's worth it...

If the DMF doesn't get done, then offer them a grand less (especially if you can get a report from a dealer saying it needs to be done and a quote for how much it will be)

***UPDATE***

After lots of delays for various reasons, I've only just placed my order for a Fiesta *shudders again*, due for delivery at the end of November.

The Octavia did have a new DMF (at ~80k) in the end, and 2 new tyres (at ~90k). Its now on 95k, likely to be ~110k by end November. Do you still think that its worth buying it? Obviously the price will have a bearing on this, but I won't get another quote until nearer the time. I'm hoping that it'll be sub-£6k. The rear suspension wasn't done, but is now look/behaving better than before.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Sam

***UPDATE***

After lots of delays for various reasons, I've only just placed my order for a Fiesta *shudders again*, due for delivery at the end of November.

The Octavia did have a new DMF (at ~80k) in the end, and 2 new tyres (at ~90k). Its now on 95k, likely to be ~110k by end November. Do you still think that its worth buying it? Obviously the price will have a bearing on this, but I won't get another quote until nearer the time. I'm hoping that it'll be sub-£6k. The rear suspension wasn't done, but is now look/behaving better than before.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Sam

Its only ever going to start costing you money, so work out your budget for how much you want to spend and see if you can get a better deal elsewhere, if not buy your company car.

Personally I wouldnt be looking at spending over £5k on a car near 100K miles.