Buying a new car - advice wanted

[eek]

The new engine factory opens this year, I guess the new engines will be available at the end of the year, when the 2015 revision comes out.

You need to do your research better. There are new engines with the mild facelift are out now.

edit although they could be the old engines with lower co2 emissions. Hard to find the truth...

[Old Greg]

I am.

Then I'm sure your missus can think of a use for the balance between a new and a year old car.

[Platypus]

The Garmin software - it's not actually clear what Garmin iphone software they are talking about, what reviews I've found of Garmin for iphone have said it's not good, and similarly reviews of Garmin traffic info say it's not as good as TomTom HD. So unless someone can tell me otherwise, I guess the Garmin is out.

I recently started using Navigon from Garmin on my iPhone and it's very very good.

I've been a long time Tom Tom user but the maps are getting more and more out of date. I did a map update last year and found that still some roads that have been open for 5 years are shown as fields.

Sorry can't comment on the traffic aspect as I've never used it on either device. A taxi driver I know swears by (not at) Tom Tom traffic.

[IR35 Avoider]

You need to do your research better. There are new engines with the mild facelift are out now.

edit although they could be the old engines with lower co2 emissions. Hard to find the truth...

I've been obsessing over this for more than a year, I'd definitely know if the new engines were in. The improvement in fuel economy in the 2014 models that started being delivered a couple of months ago is due to a new gearbox, which does sound superb. It is a nine-speed automatic (has a torque converter) newly developed by a German company. It has had very good reviews, apparently the gear changes are completely imperceptible, it's very efficient, and it is non-sequential, i.e. can skip several gears when necessary.

They originally announced that 2014 model would have adaptive cruise control, my trigger for giving up on the Evoque was that now they are saying that the marketing department has decided this option will not be offered in the UK, only to foreign buyers. While this is a show-stopper for me, the company liason guy on the forums did post a photo during the discussion that implied that they may have taken this decision because the adaptive cruise control version of the grill is quite ugly, and to be fair, it is. Don't know why, other cars with adaptive cruise control don't have this issue.

Edit: apart from the new gearbox, the fuel economy on the 2014 automatics will also have been helped by the engines now having stop/start, which previously only the manuals had.

[IR35 Avoider]

I recently started using Navigon from Garmin on my iPhone and it's very very good.

I've been a long time Tom Tom user but the maps are getting more and more out of date. I did a map update last year and found that still some roads that have been open for 5 years are shown as fields.

Sorry can't comment on the traffic aspect as I've never used it on either device. A taxi driver I know swears by (not at) Tom Tom traffic.

Thanks, 24 posts in you are the first person to actually answer any of the questions I asked.

[Wanderer]

I recently started using Navigon from Garmin on my iPhone and it's very very good. I've been a long time Tom Tom user but the maps are getting more and more out of date. I did a map update last year and found that still some roads that have been open for 5 years are shown as fields.

Check out the app called "Waze" for your smartphone. Rather than calculating how long it should take to drive a route in theory, it looks at what route other people have taken from A to B and determines which is the quickest. It showed me some great short cuts on routes I'd driven lots of times.

The Waze traffic reporting is great too. If people see a hazard, traffic jam or speed trap then they report it and it shows up in real time on everyone's maps. Nothing is perfect but I've found it's traffic reporting and routing very good.

Maps are updated when people find errors too so they are fairly up to date though sometimes you come across roads that are missing.

Oh, and Waze is free too so what's not to like?

[CoolCat]

How to Buy & Sell - Buying New | Honest John

drivethedeal.com is worth getting a price from

good luck

[darmstadt]

WHS - You're potty spending £30K on a brand new one

A few years ago I bought a brand new AMG and after 4 years it had paid for itself through tax stuff. My Alpina, which I bought new also, has now done 5 years and has paid for itself so when I trade it in, in a couple of weeks I'll actually make little bit of profit on it....

[CoolCat]

tax stuff? please explain?

[darmstadt]

tax stuff? please explain?

Taxed differently in Germany for business use, for a start I get all the VAT back then depreciation plus all VAT on service, repairs, petrol, etc. and a load of other stuff (which I don't understand which is why I have an accountant) so basically it works out pretty good for me as long as I don't go over the maximum amount allowed for personal use then whatever you claim back, goes down.