Hi -

First time poster. :-)

I've been driving 5series BMW for ... nigh on 15 years now (528i, 530TD, and now am on the second 525td), and really feel that it's time for a change. It's a company car (I know, poor poor pitiful me...), and really the only thing that counts is the leasing cost. I'm in Germany and the company uses Alphabet Leasing, which is, of course, a subsidiary of BMW Bank.

I scoped out the Audi A6 Avant, the E series touring, and decided that I really wanted - and I mean reallllly wanted - the Jaguar XF. Now, I will admit, as a long-time TopGear fan, that even though James May did the test, it did pique my interest...

I went to the local dealer near Frankfurt and was just floored by the vehicle. I've got a two hours with the car on 27 June, will then get an offer and will file it via proper channels. So far, so good.


My fear is now that the leasing company - heartless accountants that they are - will doom my chances.

I figure it this way: I can renew my 525TD with no problems for, say, 800 Euro/month, which my company pays above and beyond my salary (I pay taxes on that). This is a pure financial leasing - no down payment - and I carry the operational leasing, which is taken pre-taxes and includes all operational costs.

I can manage to add 15% to that figure, but that's gonna be the limit.

Hence my worry: given the way that leasing is calculated ((new price - depreciation - resale value)/time), is this going to put the XF out of what I can persuade my boss to sign off on?

Anyone have any experience with what sort of depreciation factors leasing companies have typically used with the XF?

If approved, it would be the XF Luxury Premium, 3.0 diesel (not S), with Barley soft grain and that's basically it.

Are there any additional bits and pieces that are must-have?


JohnF

 

Well, I had the test drive today. Drove largely windy roads that went up and up and up and then down and down and down. Didn't break more than 120km/h the entire time, but even my wife - who thinks anything more than a Toyota is overdoing it - said that the car commanded the road.

Serious car. I can live with one. :-)

Me want.


Downside: for the Premium Luxury package, with the Technology package, the offer from the dealer calculates out to a depreciated value after 3 years of no more than 35.4% (based on list price-36*leasing rate, straight financial leasing with no payment, which is how the company I work for leases cars).

Which is depressingly low. They're basically saying that a three-year old XF Premium Luxury with the 3.0 l diesel, 60k km, is not worth more than €21'844. List price is €61'740 with the Luxury Premium, cooled seats, metallic paint, WE Technology Packet and the parking help.

Well, I'll have to see what the leasing company that we use says. But if the dealer has the prices like this, it looks like I'm SOL here.

Sigh. It'd have been a seriously nice car to have for the next three years.


As a comparison, the BMW 5 series usually has a residual value of over 50%. Which means that the monthly leasing prices, for the same cost, would be ... around €300/m less than the Jag.

Damn.

Jaguar certainly isn't doing itself any favors here. There were a number of "slightly" used XF models at the dealer, which were "owned" in Feb 2009 for tax purposes. There the prices were extremely attractive. I think that Jaguar here is taking into account the extremely strong decline in sales, which makes any car buyer king at this point, but means that their depreciation is far too high. BMW is working with an artificial depreciation, since I know that you can buy ex-leasing cars for around 40% of list price, with BMW Bank then eating the difference between book value and actual sales price.

Like I said, Jaguar isn't doing itself any favors here. It might be the proper "mark to market" (don't get me started on that one...) bookkeeping practice, but unlike BMW, they apparently don't want to sell cars.

Depressing turn of events...

JohnF