Exclusive brand names once only for drivers with more than £60,000 burning a hole in their pockets are now leaving the forecourt in higher bargain versions priced at just £30,000, well into BMW territory.
For example, a Porsche Boxster can be yours for just over £31,000, a bargain when you consider it still has exclusive residual values. Lex Vehicle Leasing, which operates a fleet of more than 120,000 vehicles, pegged the Porsche at 60% of its new value after three years and 60,000 miles, the typical benchmark replacement cycle.
As a percentage of list price, it beats all the other vehicles on the leasing firm's books, although for many fleets looking at wholelife pence-per-mile costs, the list would look drastically different.
In the Lex Vehicle Leasing list, a typical 2.7-litre Boxster will be worth about £19,000 at the end of a contract in three years.
Other models in the list include the BMW Z4 and X3, Mercedes-Benz CLK, Mazda RX-8 and Audi A4 cabriolet.
A Lex Vehicle Leasing spokesman said: 'When you look at the list, there is clearly a trend. All the cars have a sporty image, look good, have the right badge, are in high demand and, in most cases, aren't in mass production. All the cars are chosen by higher-level user-choosers, who are less concerned with tax bills, but are more interested in driving a car with the right badge on the bonnet or one that makes the right statement in the company car park.'
The Porsche Cayenne has taken the march of the super brand one step further, offering drivers off-roading and rocketship performance for under £35,000.
| Used car value league | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Value | 2004 pos | 2003 pos | 2002 pos | ||||||
| Porsche Boxster: | 60% | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| BMW Z4: | 55% | 2 | n/a | n/a | ||||||
| BMW X3: | 53% | 3 | n/a | n/a | ||||||
| Mercedes-Benz CLK: | 52% | 4 | 2 | 4 | ||||||
| VW Beetle Cabriolet: | 49% | 5 | 6 | n/a | ||||||
| Lexus SC430 | 49% | 6 | 9 | n/a | Honda S2000 | 48% | 7 | n/a | 2 | |
| Mazda RX-8 | 48% | 8 | n/a | n/a | ||||||
| Audi A4 Cabriolet | 48% | 9 | n/a | n/a | ||||||
| Mercedes-Benz SLK: | 47% | 10 | 3 | 3 | ||||||
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