So last November you said

Bought as an ex demo, roomier alternative to my previous Kia Venga. Venga no longer sold,

Something wrong there.

Went to our local Kia Emporium on Wednesday and whilst waiting for the salesman to arrive for our appointment had a walk around the showroom. Sat in the centre was a brand new, unregistered Venga.

A couple were looking at it, the lady had mobilty issues but walked away when the sales lady told them there was no spare fitted and none available. I was surprised at that since when we looked at the Venga in 2015 it had a standard spacesaver. So after they had left the showroom went to the open hatch, lifted the boot floor, then lifted the plastic tray and voila, a spacesaver and toolkit. Looks like the sales persons lack of knowledge cost them a potential sale.

If you want a new Venga there is one in Barnsley.

Edited by SLO76 on 19/07/2019 at 23:28

Why should I be not optimistic about depreciation on the car. I actually don't care about that part of the equation. If and when I want to (or get fed up with) I'll swap it and take the hit.

Fact is all cars depreciate. But on a cheaper car the hit is far less painful than it would be on an expensive car that supposedly depreciates less.

So if the MG is worth 30% of its original £12,500 after 3 years its lost £8,750. Buy wisely (pre-reg or huge discount) and that can easily fall to probably £6,000 in 3 years.

Buy a £40,000 BMW that according to the mags hold its value really well after 3 years retaining 50% and you will loose £20,000 Get a discount and that will be reduced but in truth how many buyers of BMW's etc actually demean themselves by asking for a discount. I did but I am tight.

So does the hit the MG is potentially going to take that bad?

As a known example take our Note. Retail was £16,000 and we sold it for £7,300 at exactly 3 years old, depreciation £8,700. But being tight I negotiated a discount with our local dealer and paid £12,000. So our loss was only £4,700 on a car that the Note forum said was unreliable crap and would loose a fortune. IMHO £4,700 over 3 years on a car that cost us nothing to run (other than a puncture repair), price included 3 services, never broke down and the only warranty fix was front anti roll bar bushes was a result.

I care about depreciation, its the single biggest cost of car ownership but I simply ensure that I minimise that by buying wisely. I suppose I could reduce it by driving older cars but I stopped doing that in the 80's an have no intention of doing it again. I can afford new and will buy new.

Fact is all cars depreciate.

No they don't.

If the current sellers of 1985 to 1992 Pug 205 GTi's get anywhere near the sums they are asking (up to about £15K or more) some of them will have fetched more than when new - tho that doesn't allow for intervening devaluation. That has all happened in the last two or three years. I wonder how many of them get driven much ....

Fact is all cars depreciate.

No they don't.

I am referring to ordinary, mundane, transport that is new or nearly new, the sort that we all buy, the sort that the OP was talking about.

Classics are a different matter, that may hold their value, or even become worth more in time but they can be a money pit along the way. And don't forget that the classic market can be very volatile. This years £1,000,000 car can easill be next years £250,000 bargain.

Money depreciates too. In 1980 I bought a Holden Kingswood (I am in Australia) for $2900. I kept it till 2005 and sold it for the same $2900 however that money then did not buy what it did 25 years previously. That was a mundane car but it did not become a money pit. It didn't have any major mechanical malfunctions and just needed consumables such as brake pads and clutches. Cheap motoring.