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As the clock strikes January 1 the word ‘deal’ gets emphasised within car dealerships that suddenly have year-old brand new stock to clear. Time for a bargain, then.
We’ve scoured the A-to-Z of cost-cut performance cars for the new year, from Abarth 124 Spider to Volkswagen Golf GTI, sniffing out the best deals across the country.
Affordability wise, and it all begins with one of our favourite hot hatches, the Ford Fiesta ST. It retails from $27,490 plus on-road costs, yet with production having ended and a new model imminent, several dealers are selling remaining STs for $24,990 driveaway.
Its Focus ST big brother is also clearing from $39,490 driveaway – or $500 above its recommended retail price (RRP). By comparison a Volkswagen Golf GTI is also on-sale, but for $42,990 driveaway – or exactly $1500 worth of on-roads above its RRP.
By contrast the Hyundai i30 SR manual – RRP: $25,950 plus on-roads – shows up for a hefty $29,730 driveaway without any deal advertised…
Back to proper hot hatches, and the Peugeot 308 GTi 270’s previous $49,990 plus on-roads pricetag was cut to $45,990 plus on-roads recently, so consider its $50,534 driveaway pricetag essentially throwing $500 to on-roads. It earns its place here because three years’ servicing is thrown in for free with 2017-plate models.
Viewed another way, though, and it isn’t much of a stretch to a BMW M140i advertised from $64,900 driveaway. In a similar vein to the 308 GTi 270, the German hot hatch recently has its RRP culled by $5000 to $59,900 plus on-roads, so consider it a case of free on-roads.
By contrast Audi advertises its S3 Sportback quattro from a hefty $71,787 driveaway, although it will include a five-year warranty and five-year or 75,000km servicing for 2017-plate models. There aren’t any advertised deals for the Mercedes-Benz A250 Sport, either, which almost matches the M140i at $60,498 driveaway, despite being much slower.
Prefer a roadster to a hot hatch? Abarth has continued its $43,500 driveaway launch pricing on 124 Spider, up from its $41,990 plus on-roads RRP. By contrast Mazda isn’t doing deals on its MX-5 near-twin, the base 1.5-litre model of which lists at $37,251 driveaway.
It gets even better for the likeable MY17 Jaguar XF 25t R-Sport large sedan, with the 2.0-litre turbo rear-drive sedan having its RRP of $89,515 plus on-road costs reduced to $79,200 driveaway. There is a catch, though: you’ll need to finance it at 6.99% over four years at $1457.21 per month, plus a $24,230 final payment to own the car and a 40,000km limit. But even then the total amount is $94,176.26 driveaway – or essentially $4661 for on-roads.
Note that a slower BMW 520i starts from $92,900 plus on-roads, without advertised deals, and the Commodore-sized Jaguar looks especially like good value.
It’s also a similar story for the brilliant Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrofoglio. Several dealers around the country have its RRP of $143,900 plus on-road costs listed as a driveaway deal. Former Alfa owners will get a further $1000 discount and all buyers can finance the super sports sedan with a 1.9% per-annum finance rate.
