Drive a Ferrari for free!

The Azzure California is the first example of a car that was financed by a member throughout its life with the club. As such it provides a pure example of the economics of the Vehicle Owners Programme without any assumptions needing to be made to fill in the gaps. It provides a compelling story - here's what the owner of the car got for his investment:

COSTS:
Depreciation: £23,000 (Purchase price: £165,000, Sale price: £142,000)
Servicing: £1,350
Total: £24,350

INCOME
Club Mileage: 14,800 @ mileage tariff of £2/mile = £29,600

Own usage:
1200 miles: 2 weeks (at Christmas/New Year) and 3 other weekends

NET RETURN
£5250, giving an effective return on £165,000 of 3.2% over 9 months = 4.3% annualised. (If the investment had been undertaken in a VAT-rated business, the ROI would rise to just over 5% - not shown here)

This member purchased the car specifically for the é25 scheme, so it is not appropriate to consider the other costs that would have been saved by him, but if he already owned the car and gave it to us he would also have saved on the following estimated costs:
Insurance, £2500, Road Tax: £350, Parking permit/Garaging, £5400
Adding in an additional £3000 saving based on a combination of the above figures, would increase to a 6% return (7% for VAT-rated businesses)

Obviously depending on individual circumstances, this return can be viewed in several ways - if you already own a car (that you don't use very often) or if you have the cash in the bank earning 0.5%, then this is almost a no-brainer.

In summary, owner members of top-end cars can look forward to an economic return of between 4 and 7%, and about £12,000 worth of motoring in a premium supercar which you might otherwise have had to wait 2 years to get.

We have 2 Mercedes SLS (Gullwing) in the pipeline and one is available for a VOP member (September arrival). I expect the economics to be quite similar to the example above. Let me know if its of interest.