Wilko

So prety standard car depreciation. 20-30% year 1, followed by 10-20% year 2, then 10% year on year. I'm stunned 2 year old cars are commanding 23k for a base 5 door dog when you can buy a new one for 26-27. i'd say values are holding up fairly well compared to most cars.

The Wifes has don 14,000 miles, and is at 6mm all round on the original bridgestones. Ran winters for around 3000miles on separate rims. The car will be returned at 20,000 miles with 4-5mm on the original tyres.

Inspection is due at 2 years old, unless it was done at 1 year old. when I had the oil change done on the wife's, they reset both intervals (muppets) so it's now asking for the inspection at 3 years old, but its due at 2. inspection is only about 50£ more than the oil change service.

So chuck your tyres away at 3mm. Or don't drive beyond their limits in the wet. Anyone who spins their car with 3mm tread on the rear and 5mm on the front (in the wet) has no one to blame other than themselves and their lack of talent. Anyone driving an R at or near its limits on a public road wet or dry is certifiable.

I've seen this utter horse crap posted many times, and recommended by tyre fitters. as long as the tyres are over 3mm tread, they will perform to the same. In the dry grip will be the same. Even under 3mm as the grip starts to degrade, the difference in grip (in the dry) is negligible. if you're driving on the road to the point that the car is losing grip at either end, then the electronics will take care of it. if you turn the electronics off, then the R is very predictable and forgiving. i rotate the tyres on the wife's at every seasonal tyre change, to get the best life from the tyres, and then replace 4 at once. my 911 (and the previous 1) had different sizes front and rear, and I never found any odd handling characteristics, with rears at 2mm and fronts at 8, or vice verse. Rears last 8k, fronts 30k+ so impossible to have similar tread depth front/rear for any length of time. my track car runs the more worn pair on the back and the better pair on the front. Mostly because the front munches them quicker, and ao48s are not cheap so done to get best possible life. Again I've never noticed it make any difference from a grip perspective.

Cars in the UK spec for spec are the same price as all of europe and North America (pre tax) and in a lot of cases cheaper. remember US prices are +tax.

I just bought the 2 year service pack for mine with the car being 11 months old. £287 for oil change service and inspection service at 2 years old. It won't be due its second oil change until after it goes back (2 year lease) first oil change will come in aroun 12,000 miles (14 months) and the inspection will be due at 2 years

Wife gets about 220-240 miles from a fill to light on. Range at full says about 280 miles, but it'll never get it. Who cares. I get 200 miles from 55l in mine.

You should check a brand new tyre, as a lot of new tyres are 8mm on the inside and centre and only 6mm on the outside. The new pzeros on the back of my other car were.

James you've said yourself it's about total cost of ownership. I paid cash for my car (72k) and leased the wife's R. i could have bought the R for cash, but the lease deal was quite frankly bonkers. Whether you finance an appreciating asset or a depreciating asset makes no difference. It's just about cost of ownership. I own my house, and I'm sure I could borrow at around 1-2% against it to finance a car, but my money in the bank makes 1% before I pay 45% tax on it, so it works out better for me to put it in a car. my last 911 lost me 14k in 3 years and the current one will lose me about 15k. The residual 55k would net me £1500 over the 3 years in post tax interest. So let's say 16.5 & over 36 months. And yes the value of the residual has reduced in real terms by about 0.5 percent in the last 3 years. To lease/finance it would be 1k a month. It's cost me around £460 a month to finance a 1 year old (when I bought it) carrera S using my own cash. There are rarely any lease deals or pcp that wil come close to using your own cash as value for money. An R for £250 a month is an exception!

Factor in the £2400 deposit though and its £250 a month, which is still pretty good. Even with 10K miles a year its going to be under £300.

Standard mk5/6 gti alloys. They fit fine. On the door sticker (Tyre pressure), the winters listed are 17" 17 x 7.5 et51

I've found running winters on my last 3 cars and the wife's last 2 to be cost neutral. her last mk6 GTI did just under 40k in our hands and never had a summer tyre replaced. Got sold with the ones it came with 4 1/2 years earlier. spent 320 on some winters (+180 on rims) that on their 4th winter are less than half worn. i'll not have to buy a single tyre for the r in the 2 years (20k) that we'll have it. if her next car isn't a golf (unlikely as she's on her 4th), the winters have some value on eBay Ive found a similar pattern on my last 3 cars, and have spent less on winters (after selling them on ) than I would have spent buying summers for the 30-40k miles that I've kept each car. added benefit is passing RR sports (on summers) over the peaks in Derbyshire, when they're stuck in the snow and the priceless look you get ploughing on in a 911 on winters. Never ever got stuck anywhere in my bmw's or Porsches. i travel to Germany at least once every winter in mine, so winters really aren't a choice for me.

Well here's mine (well the wife's) 17" mk 6gti with nokian winters

I'm just going to do a major after 14 months and 14k miles (when it says oil change is due) then hand it back with no service due.