Which EV would you get?

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ivegotabike

Well-Known Member
I wrote this on 13 Oct

"I wrote this on Sunday 11th. The delivery date for the Toyota Urban Cruiser that I ordered on 3 August as an "in stock" vehicle is now looking a bit more certain. It was originally 15 Sep, then 22 Sep, then 7 Oct and now 16 Oct. The difference is that I have now spoken to someone at the dealership. They have the car and it just needs to be registered, then it is good to go. Today I discovered that the car has not arrived at the dealership. The person who told me it had was wrong. It is now due to arrive at the dealership on 29 October. I didn't ask if that is 29 October 2026, but I am starting to think that presuming that could turn out to be a mistake. Total shambles by Toyota's logistics team it seems."

Today I have been told that car is now at the local dealership and that I can have it any day from Monday 26 October. The very understanding person dealing with me is happy for me to call in at the dealership tomorrow, to see the car with my own eyes, before fixing the date (again!) to arrange the collection of my current car etc. I will call in on my way back from my group ride.

It has arrived. It is on the drive right now charging up.

I like the look of the thing and will have a go in it a bit later.
 

ivegotabike

Well-Known Member
The deal on offer when I ordered the Toyota Urban Cruiser in early August (1+35, 10k, £293.44 = £10,563.84) seems to have done whatever it was that Toyota wanted it to do.

The current offer, from the same leaseco, is now £393.30 = £14,158.80. That is a whopping 34% more expensive than the special offer price was.

As I set the upper limit on my searches well below that price, I would not even see it if I was researching today.

As I wrote in an earlier post, leasing can be a good way to fund the use of a brand new car. But you do have to i) not be set on any particular car / colour / spec ii) research offers thoroughly iii) decide and commit quickly.

It does not work for everyone. In this instance, I had never seen an Urban Cruiser, let alone test driven one, before I placed the order. I appreciate that will seem a very unusual way to proceed to some people.
 

geocycle

Squire
Ive just discovered a downside to PCP. We bought our EV in Feb from a local dealership using PCP partly because of nervousness about the EV market and how we would get on with it. In the end it’s great and next time I’ll use cash, that’s another story. But one of the conditions of the PCP is annual services which we expected and we had anticipated just taking it back to the dealership down the road. Unfortunately they have now closed the local branch and moved their operation to Barrow in Furness more than an hour away. I called the finance company to see if it is ok to use a local garage instead and they said no! They would charge me when I returned the vehicle in three years time. They didn’t give a figure but online searches suggested about £1000. So I now face a lovely day out in Barrow in February for the next three years. Beware.
 

Mike_P

Legendary Member
Location
Harrogate
Ive just discovered a downside to PCP. We bought our EV in Feb from a local dealership using PCP partly because of nervousness about the EV market and how we would get on with it. In the end it’s great and next time I’ll use cash, that’s another story. But one of the conditions of the PCP is annual services which we expected and we had anticipated just taking it back to the dealership down the road. Unfortunately they have now closed the local branch and moved their operation to Barrow in Furness more than an hour away. I called the finance company to see if it is ok to use a local garage instead and they said no! They would charge me when I returned the vehicle in three years time. They didn’t give a figure but online searches suggested about £1000. So I now face a lovely day out in Barrow in February for the next three years. Beware.

Day in Barrow:sad: Maybe catch the train to somewhere nicer on the coast
 

ivegotabike

Well-Known Member
Ive just discovered a downside to PCP. We bought our EV in Feb from a local dealership using PCP partly because of nervousness about the EV market and how we would get on with it. In the end it’s great and next time I’ll use cash, that’s another story. But one of the conditions of the PCP is annual services which we expected and we had anticipated just taking it back to the dealership down the road. Unfortunately they have now closed the local branch and moved their operation to Barrow in Furness more than an hour away. I called the finance company to see if it is ok to use a local garage instead and they said no! They would charge me when I returned the vehicle in three years time. They didn’t give a figure but online searches suggested about £1000. So I now face a lovely day out in Barrow in February for the next three years. Beware.

Dealer networks do change. You might (or might not) find that another opens, closer to you than Barrow, for future services 🤞 .

Main dealer servicing is often a condition of car finance deals that have a GFV element. You can see it from the finance provider's perspective: a car with a main dealer service history changes hands for more than one that doesn't have it.

Whether it is worth more is another question! But plenty of people will pay more.
 

ivegotabike

Well-Known Member
My Tesla lease has just gone down by £29% when I extended it to 36 months. Known glich in the leaseco's software which happens very occasionally, but they honour it, so fair play to them.

I have read a bit about this - is it Lex?
 
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