Justify a 13K bike

[JENKS]

Personally I save hard to buy my cars & bikes, always have done always will, if it's mine I can do what I want with it, if circumstances change then I know where the cash is, in the garage. Why pay high interest rates on a depreciating asset, it just doesn't make sense.

I read on here the other day about the night mare of a time people were having with Mercedes Benz finance schemes, at the end of the contract when there cars went back they were receiving huge repair bills for what i would class normal ware and tear, so that the cars are showroom ready. Who needs the hassle??????

Andrew

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Horses for courses.
If you can afford it and you're confident your circumstances won't change crack on.

I've just taken out my 1st PCP for a demonstator RT. The final payment is £6k.
No matter how hard I looked I couldn't find a 3 year old RT SE anywhere, for £6k.

So, I will be buying her at the end of the contract & then running her into the ground.

I'm lucky enough to have an investment that matures as the contract finishes that will allow me to buy her.
Had I then had to fund the balloon payment with a further loan it would have been a no no for me.

But there are no pockets in shrouds.

 

[JayC]

It didn`t need fixing. The most expensive bike I have ever bought is £2400 for my current GS.
I don`t include my T3 which cost more as I bought it as a hobby/investment, not to use regularly.

It did need fixing because I was thinking about motorcyclists, not just one motorcyclist.

 

[MarkShelley]

It did need fixing because I was thinking about motorcyclists, not just one motorcyclist.

Wrong. If you read my post it is clearly a personal statement ("for ME to buy"), not a general one.

 

[JayC]

Wrong. If you read my post it is clearly a personal statement ("for ME to buy"), not a general one.

Yes yes, I did read it and understood it BUT... I was thinking of every body and so it was fixed to my way of thinking, just like when anyone else 'fixes' a post. It really isn't so difficult to understand, unless you choose not to.

So, to reiterate , I advocate the buying of a new bike because without it there wouldn't be a used market.

 

[Geezer]

New GSA?

I had the same dilemma - see New GSA thread for shed loads of great advice. In the end I invested in a new GSA. 3 weeks and on due to work and weather its only done 200 miles. But it shuld be hassle free motoring for a several years and have a good residual. Next years models will be more expensive.

If you can truly afford it, then go for it. You are along time dead!

 

[Rushy]

I like the fact that if I lost my job tomorrow I wouldn't have to hand back either of the cars or the bike. Whats more more , if I chose to do so, I could sell these assets and turn them into cash.

A mate recently asked my advice about a newish 2nd hand £12k car he wanted to buy and was pxing his £2k car as the deposit. The 'new' car was going to cost him £360pcm over 3 years.

He doesn't use his car much and his annual mileage is only about 5k. The car he was pxing had only covered 30k miles and was worth £3k+ all day long. I pointed out that he could buy a very nice car for £6-£7k cash if he looked on autotrader, loads of sensible or not so sensible stuff for sale. He said BUT ian I just dont have £4-5k to spend on a car.....my reply was "and you never will have if you keep financing cars they way you do , but you will have it if you just keep the bloody car you have for another 8mths and SAVE for the next one"

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

I like the fact that if I lost my job tomorrow I wouldn't have to hand back either of the cars or the bike. Whats more more , if I chose to do so, I could sell these assets and turn them into cash.

A mate recently asked my advice about a newish 2nd hand £12k car he wanted to buy and was pxing his £2k car as the deposit. The 'new' car was going to cost him £360pcm over 3 years.

He doesn't use his car much and his annual mileage is only about 5k. The car he was pxing had only covered 30k miles and was worth £3k+ all day long. I pointed out that he could buy a very nice car for £6-£7k cash if he looked on autotrader, loads of sensible or not so sensible stuff for sale. He said BUT ian I just dont have £4-5k to spend on a car.....my reply was "and you never will have if you keep financing cars they way you do , but you will have it if you just keep the bloody car you have for another 8mths and SAVE for the next one"

+1......................unless you use finance for business (and can claim the allowances and interest, against tax) then it's just a costly & expensive way to buy a depreciating asset like a vehicle

A PCP is the most expensive of the lot, not only are you paying interest on the finance balance - you're also paying it on the future value of the balloon........................double whammy

 

[Blackal]

+1......................unless you use finance for business (and can claim the allowances and interest, against tax) then it's just a costly & expensive way to buy a depreciating asset like a vehicle

A PCP is the most expensive of the lot, not only are you paying interest on the finance balance - you're also paying it on the future value of the balloon........................double whammy

Apparently - you just need to "get your head around" the idea of PCP as an option...........

I think that most of the people who try to tell you it is sound logic - are merely repeating the self-justifying words that are rattling around their own heads.

Al

 

[jasperthehorse]

Freedom of choice?
Either monthly payments or spend savings, all about choice.
I like my things new with monthlys and my cash in the bank thanks.

 

[mossop]

That's why the country is in a fecking mess...................living for today

As long as your circumstances don't change through................

a) Illness

b) Unemployment

c) Divorce/Separation

d) Tax Bill

Then you might well be in negative equity, compared to the finance outstanding or if you paid outright then the amount you've lost would have bought you a good secondhand example

A good secondhand bike that you own outright and has cost a few thousand can be just as good, plus if your circumstances change you can still keep it, because you're not paying the burden of monthly repayments............... or if not, you can sell it easier to recoup your initial outlay

where are you going to buy the good second hand bikes from if no one buys new , wether it be cash or pcp . what ever happened to fun , too many doom and gloom merchants in the world , if he can afford it why should he not go for it , if i was to worry about what was going to happen in the future i would stop having sex , stop drinking , stop driving / riding , only eat organic vegetables , stop crossing the road . you can't blame anybody that owns a brand new gs for the credit crisis

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

you can't blame anybody that owns a brand new gs for the credit crisis

True enough...

BUT what about the 'Why worry, let's get it on the chuckie' culture

If the wheel falls off my life, when I become/sick/unemployed/redundant then I'll just declare myself Bankrupt/IVA and let someone other than me, pick up the tab for my wanton greed of credit buying - which in reality I couldn't have afforded, in the cold light of day

 

[mossop]

True enough...

BUT what about the 'Why worry, let's get it on the chuckie' culture

If the wheel falls off my life, when I become/sick/unemployed/redundant then I'll just declare myself Bankrupt/IVA and let someone other than me, pick up the tab for my wanton greed of credit buying - which in reality I couldn't have afforded, in the cold light of day

you need to read the op's original post , he tells you that the finance is very affordable to him , it's not a 25 yr mortgage he wants to sign up for but a 3 year contract with a guaranteed price from bmw at the end if he wants to walk away , like everything in this cotton glove culture it's all risk assessment , it's not that he can't afford the bike but more what the curtain twitchers of this island will think of him , if he wants the bike and can afford it why shouldn't he , credit isn't a filthy word everyday thousands of people still take out mortgages , they do it because they can afford it , if they can't they shouldn't , doesn't seem that hard to work out

 

[waterloo700]

There is another way to look at the buying process - see it from the dealers perspective.
There is not much to be made on the sale of new vehicles - profit margins for dealers are a couple of percent because the manufacturers have them by the balls.

So - to make a living the dealer has to sell finance; sell maintenance insurance; shift overhead on to servicing costs. A nice line in clothing and those oh so important accessories helps the bottom line as does any other "lifestyle" choices you can push (think Harley-Davidson). Trade-ins yes please - step this way sir so we can shave you twice.

This is why your new pride and joy must be serviced in accordance with........blah blah. All to make the bleeding you dry process as painless as possible.

The second-hand guys can avoid these costs sure - but they might also get more out of the ownership process by connecting with the things they own in a way the "renter" never can.

 

[Borderraider]

Save up too trade up

No commitment, no worries, the Bike is yours not the finance companies

 

[David Nimrod]

The second-hand guys can avoid these costs sure - but they might also get more out of the ownership process by connecting with the things they own in a way the "renter" never can.

Good point well made

 

[Gonzo]

Freedom of choice?
Either monthly payments or spend savings, all about choice.
I like my things new with monthlys and my cash in the bank thanks.

That, to me, is the point of this debate. Choice.

PCPs and finance allow those who want to to have something new every three years without sinking capital into a steeply depreciating new asset. New cars and bikes regularly are important to some and this is a means of funding that from income, however poor value for money the interest, balloon values and depreciation might seem to some. But a new vehicle on the drive is what matters.

Just like buying 2nd hand with cash and owning the asset is important to others. As long as you don't buy (and have to fix) a lemon, it probably works out cheaper than buying new but you do tie up capital and you do have the worry of faults and servicing. But ultimately you've saved cash for something else and you're not bothered about new. And you're not suffering as much depreciation.

Personally, I'm in the latter camp as I'd rather spend more on my house than on cars and bikes. A 50k extension works better for me than 50k worth of depreciating metal!

But I know plenty who think the opposite (my neighbour has £125k of newly purchased cars on the drive of a semi) and that's just fine. Hi money, his choice.

 

[waterloo700]

That, to me, is the point of this debate. Choice.

Ah yes - choice. So important - but consider this:

The classical economic theory (and remember I'm just a punter on the internet so don't believe a thing I'm saying) goes something like this

- we look at our (limited) resource i.e. cash and choose how to spend it in order to maximise our satisfaction. As the resource runs out, our choice as to what to spend it on (to maximise satisfaction remember) will alter. The last £10 in your pocket before payday will cause to to think very carefully about what is important to you.

So far so good but then we found a way to remove the limitation on that resource and substitute it with debt instead. We threw out the old notion of "what you can afford" and replaced it with "what debt can you service."

There are two problems with this.
1. We have a singular ability among the animals to create need where it didn't previously exist - its essentially infinite and therefore by definition can never be satisfied.
2. The system works fine until the music stops - changes in circumstances mean you can't service the debt any more. Then the world takes on a whole new, darker look indeed.

I think anyone who fully understands the choices they make is rare indeed.

 

[geordie156]

Save up too trade up

No commitment, no worries, the Bike is yours not the finance companies

+1 Got 1150 GSA, would love the 1200 but until I've got the money will stick with the 1150

 

[Felters]

The second-hand guys can avoid these costs sure - but they might also get more out of the ownership process by connecting with the things they own in a way the "renter" never can.

Never thought of this before - but it's true for me at least.

Bike is being MoT'd today.

It should pass but you never know - either way it is my bike not a finance company's. If it fails it will end up at a well known independent specialist in Putney to get fixed and back on the road. The thought of trading it and getting rid of MY bike just gives me a nose bleed.