This would save me...

There really isn't, it's just one of those odd anomalies. Of course another approach would be to go for a significantly cheaper car, ( Dacia level cheap ) and put up with its restrictions on size, comfort etc. A top spec Duster for example would save me £320 a month. It'd be too small really, but roof boxes have been invented. I'd have try one on a long run before considering that though.

Or, I could just forget all about the costs, recognise that I'm 61 and that I can have a really nice car for a few more years at my employer's expense before I'm into Honda Jazz territory !

I'd have to stick a Post It note on the dash with £4800 written in bold letters on it. I'm sure that would help it to be more comfortable!

Maybe it would, but we tend to just buy them outright. Same applies though in that it might be worth hee haw after three years.

The cost to the company isn't really the main issue, my boss wanted me to have an X5 at one point or even take on his old ( two years old ) Porsche Cayenne and was certainly happy to fund a well specced E350 if I'd wanted one. It was me who chose the smaller engine for all the reasons discussed in this thread.

I'm probably just being mean spirited, it's kind of genetic. I should just be grateful that for now anyway, I can afford it. Just never been one to deliberately overspend. Looking after pennies so that the pounds take care of themselves has always been my natural inclination.

Been there, several times, and no doubt will be again. Which is sort of why I'm not complacent about how today is I suppose, even if today looks ok.

It is, and it's an option. Every time I've looked at though, the mileage is the killer. I do between 35-40,000 a year, all weathers, long runs, early starts, late finishes, UK, Ireland and Europe. There could be marginal cost benefits, but on such high mileage, depreciation would be the spectre.

As it is, I know what it's going to cost, it's a fixed amount, and the potential downside of, for example, a dead or damaged car on a wet November night in Dusseldorf, that I've got to sort out off my own back, is enough to make me feel that a car I'm not financially responsible for is still the answer.

Yes, I can see your point. I've decided recently to spend more on something that is hopefully not going to let me down and cause unplanned expenditure, after all.

Factoring that comment into the equation, I think I'd probably go for a lesser BIK LEC than the Merc, as I said earlier. And the Navara, the Navara. Hmm. Maybe even I could be persuaded given your circs.