Oh yeah, i forgot about that part. I’d be washing that dealers hair properly – either the advice was, as mentioned, deliberately false, or he doesn’t actually know how the scheme works, or he has a “crooked” way to deliver his promise.
Neither of these options is great.
For fun i had a look at used 3008s, the cheapest i’ve found (in the spec you want) after a admittedly short autotrader search was £38.000. Of course not three years old yet (it only got facelifted.. this year? Or end of last year), but even the old model goes up to £35.000.
It’s probably the absolute worst time to buy a car currently, in terms of prices. Having the option on a cheap (ish) lease for a high end car is probably the best outcome you could ask for – use it up, and then, after 3 years when the market has (hopefully) calmed, have another look.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.