Cupra 280 Depreciation

nf2029

Active Member
Aug 28, 2015
86
0
With the announcement of the new Cupra 300 I just wanted to vent some disappointment at the state of depreciation of my Cupra 280. I know car's depreciate but I have never owned one before which has depreciated so quickly!!

I think it is really out of line how Seat have continuously refreshed models almost every 3 months. I ordered a 280 in August just before 290 was announced. Always asked along the way whether I could cancel and get a 290 but was told it was too late by the time they were available to order on the system. People started getting 290's n December...

I love the car and having owned an 2009 S3 and a 2011 GTI this is the best out of all of them. I have the ST and having the extra space with performance is amazing. Prior to getting the Seat I had a 2014 Audi A6 2.0 TDI 190. It was a great car and felt so luxurious but it was just too slow for the size of the car. Enter the Cupra! My problem with the Cupra however is that it's fuel tank is tiny! I drive from London to Scotland at least twice a year and having to stop to refuel drives me mad. Any way after driving back from Scotland this week I thought I would look at A6's again. Long and short of it I found a stunner. 3.0 TDI quattro with 73 Litre fuel tank, same 0-60, 0-100 and top speed. No brainer!

I therefore called up Seat to get a settlement figure... £19k. Asked dealer how much they would pay for it with 16,500 miles on the clock. £18k. I put a £7k deposit down and it is on 0% finance. This is the first car I have ever owned which has had negative equity! I don't know what to do. Do I bail on it now or wait another 2 years for the agreement to end and then get out of it? Any thoughts would be welcomed.
 

cupra_ahhh

Active Member
Nov 4, 2008
1,203
11
Tonbridge, Kent
This is a tricky one. The longer you wait the more you'll have to put down and the more you'll lose on the car...and the more miles you put on it as well.

How much is the Audi you've seen? £19k to settle on the Leon is a lot of dough.
 

ukoldschool

Active Member
Apr 12, 2012
382
55
I would wait till the end of the agreement personally. I understand your frustration, but you are looking to change at the worst possible time (new model, in the first year of ownership when depreciation is at its highest). You would be in pretty much the same boat changing most cars in this scenario yes some may depreciate less than others, but all take a massive hit in the first year
 

MATTCR

FR
Mar 6, 2007
1,525
1
UK
I'm in the same boat with my FR. Arse completely fell out of it and I'm pissed.

Unless you are OK taking a loss just stick with it.
 

cupra_ahhh

Active Member
Nov 4, 2008
1,203
11
Tonbridge, Kent
Yeah I think stick with the car you have, and end of the agreement. At the moment, you have a car that you love other than the small fuel tank. By waiting, you'll put yourself in a better position and by that time, no doubt another Audi will be available.
 

nf2029

Active Member
Aug 28, 2015
86
0
Thanks for the help guys much appreciated. I will be sticking with what I have I think!
 

kazand

Is powered by Medtronics
Jun 6, 2010
4,138
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Brum
One of the main reasons I leased this time round. Fixed cost & no worry about depreciation.
 

Curtly

Active Member
Jun 5, 2015
893
19
Essex
One of the main reasons I leased this time round. Fixed cost & no worry about depreciation.

By that I guess you mean no worries about unanticipated Depreciation?
Leasing cost after all is just paying the depreciation of the car to the lender of the vehicle over a fixed term.
No one beats depreciation, The fixed cost is the only benefit.
 

nf2029

Active Member
Aug 28, 2015
86
0
The one thing I am pleased about is that I am glad I used CarWow and got the car for £31k and not £36k that it was at list!

I think I may go down the leasing route next!
 

ukoldschool

Active Member
Apr 12, 2012
382
55
Its as broad as its long..
At the end of your finance you will have a car worth something, at the end of a lease you have absolutely nothing and have to stump up another deposit to get into another lease.
As Curtly says you cant beat depreciation, you pay for it whichever way you finance a car
 

kazand

Is powered by Medtronics
Jun 6, 2010
4,138
73
Brum
By that I guess you mean no worries about unanticipated Depreciation?
Leasing cost after all is just paying the depreciation of the car to the lender of the vehicle over a fixed term.
No one beats depreciation, The fixed cost is the only benefit.

agreed, which is why I wouldn't do it every time. On this occasion the cost to change from a 280 on a pcp to a new 290 on lease was a real no brainer, especially as we tend to change cars every two or so years. The amount payable over 24 months 28k miles is only just over 20% of the list purchase price of the model we have which is the VAT you would lose on any brand new purchase, pcp, finance or cash. I knew a f/l version was due out anytime ( had car end of July) so knew depreciation would rise on older models.
I found a lease deal with no up front payment, so it's purely 24 payments. Leaves me with more money per month to spend on other things (or the wife to!) together with a brand new motor.
 

surrealjam

Active Member
Jan 8, 2015
328
53
The lease vs buy topic has been covered before. It just seem to me like there are some people who refuse to believe a lease can be cheaper... there are of course some crap lease deals which cost a lot - but if you are stupid enough to go for one of those then that's your fault.

You can easily lease a Cupra for £7k over 2 years, 20k miles. I refuse to believe you can buy a brand new Cupra with finance, drive it for 2 years and 20k miles and have spent less than £7k by the time you've traded it for your next car.

You could argue that the lease company will charge you if you scratch the paintwork... but if you buy a car you would have the same cost - be that to fix it yourself or it being valued less when you trade in. Car ownership is an expense not an investment.
 
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YerMaw

Active Member
Jul 4, 2016
110
0
Its as broad as its long..
At the end of your finance you will have a car worth something, at the end of a lease you have absolutely nothing and have to stump up another deposit to get into another lease.
As Curtly says you cant beat depreciation, you pay for it whichever way you finance a car

I presume it's on PCP so it could be that there's no equity in the car at the end of the finance term. In which case it would probably have been better to lease as it a 2 year lease costs less than the OPs initial £7k deposit.

OP, I was in a similar position with a BMW once. Can't remember the values but I needed to close a £1700 gap to get shot of the car. At the time i was paying around £350pm for that car but the £1700 gap obviously didn't close at a steady rate and could actually increase depending on depreciation. I figured if i'd kept it another year I would have made another £4110 in monthly payments and the gap would still probably have been about £500-£1000 as at the time i was only 18 months into a 48 month deal meaning my voluntary termination/projected break even point was 36 months into the agreement. So in my eyes it made sense to stump up the £1700 there and then and walk away rather than pay another £4000 - £6000 until I could just hand the thing back.

You could always haggle and extra £500 - £1000 off the Audi to help kid yourself on you're breaking even. PCP is the devil if you want out early.
 
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nf2029

Active Member
Aug 28, 2015
86
0
Just looked up to see what my balloon payment is. It is £11,655. I wonder what it will be worth in 2018. It is such a lot of car for the money! At the current rate of depreciation though I doubt it would be worth £11,655 in November 2018! Feeling really shafted...
 

matthab

Active Member
Jun 16, 2010
841
29
West Midlands
Just looked up to see what my balloon payment is. It is £11,655. I wonder what it will be worth in 2018. It is such a lot of car for the money! At the current rate of depreciation though I doubt it would be worth £11,655 in November 2018! Feeling really shafted...

Just remeber how car depreciation works, loses **** loads at the start and then curves off.

car_depreciation.jpeg
 

Xabu-ST280

Active Member
Nov 1, 2015
19
0
Not sure it applies in this case but many years ago when I had a car in negative equity and I wanted to change I used the halves and thirds rule otherwise know as voluntary termination on a finance agreement. Simply handed the car back to the finance company after paying 50% of the finance and walked away. They even collected it,

.thecarexpert.co.uk/car-finance-voluntary-termination-pcp-hp/ Stick www in front.

It was simple as I recall but please do your own research as it was a long time ago and I've forgotten the detail.
 

toplad

Active Member
Jan 25, 2015
93
0
!My problem with the Cupra however is that it's fuel tank is tiny! I drive from London to Scotland at least twice a year and having to stop to refuel drives me mad. Any way after driving back from Scotland this week I thought I would look at A6's again. Long and short of it I found a stunner. 3.0 TDI quattro with 73 Litre fuel tank, same 0-60, 0-100 and top speed. No brainer!

just keep if you've only got 16k on the clock... get yourself a remap and enjoy new car feel again...
sounds like you like to change your car.. a lease would of been the best option!

think of the money you've just saved over £37k... if you really want a new car for a 2nd lease car to go alongside the cupra.. total will be under 37k.

Plus... its winter you cant fully enjoy your car, ok awd will give you more traction but its been mild, in the summer the cupra will be a get b road tool!
 
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jc74

Active Member
Dec 7, 2015
38
1
Just looked up to see what my balloon payment is. It is £11,655. I wonder what it will be worth in 2018. It is such a lot of car for the money! At the current rate of depreciation though I doubt it would be worth £11,655 in November 2018! Feeling really shafted...

If you really want to change and get the Audi A6 and you can afford it, then just go and do it! Yes you could wait until your finance is over but then you have to wait a year without it... Life is too short! Also, your Cupra will only be worth less in a year or two, you'd have made further finance payments when those could have been spent on the new car instead... The new car isn't going to get cheaper (unless you buy a 2 year old used one in 2 years time)

But then again I might not be the best person to take advice from...I lost almost 8k in depreciation on a 3yr old F-Type over the period of a few months. Traded in and lost out due to changing circumstances but I enjoyed every day I had it and don't regret having bought and lost. Will buy again when time is right...
 

Redline

Active Member
Nov 3, 2016
169
30
Leasing is never a smart financial decision.
It's like renting an apartment, you don't own anything but you have to pay a fee every month. When you move out you give back the keys and you are done.

I wanted an RS4 but that costs twice as much in initial cost and about 4 times more in owning costs.
Not worth it. The prices on RS / M / AMG cars have gone through the roof , especially in owning costs.

Just make sure you get a good deal when you buy a car and deprecation shouldn't be a big deal, unless you sell it 10 years down the road ;)