On a recent visit to local garage the owner showed me a troublesome Mondeo V6 (circa 1996 reg. I guess).- talk about tight fit under the bonnet!! The thing's stuffed with bits and pieces. (sorry to all V6 lovers)
That morning he'd received a plea for help over a 'simple job'. (supposed) ,a tight accelerator cable. The upshot of detailed investigation was a failure of the traction control unit (incorporated within the cable travel). Replacement cost he'd discovered - in the region of £400 - £500.
This particular customer had spent a small fortune on several repairs to the more sophisticated bits on said motor. She now finds herself in a dilemma - No one wants to buy the car and trade- in offers are only achieving around £800 !!!!. This is not very high mileage and has been looked after well.
I 've heard similar stories recently on certain motors of this range, the last being a top Honda Civic sports speed machine which lost about £12k in 2 yrs and the only people who entertained the trade in was a Jag dealership , the deal being - in return for a purchase of a new X type !!
Any more stratospheric depreciation stories ??. or parts stories !
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You mentioned 'more sophisticated bits', so there's your answer. Everything's coming with loads of expensive hardware, and people seem to think that with FSH the car will last forever. But everything wears out.
Car makers aren't in the business of making cars, they're in the business of making money. Like any manufacturer, they sell the lowest quality product they can get away with, for the highest possible price. People are happy to drive around in comfort, with powerful engines, air conditioned, air bagged, automatic transmissions, electric this and that, stability control etc, but it all has to be paid for. She has just found out how much this costs, and also the reason that 2nd hand cars are worth buttons.
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Very true Dave N, will the car industry stay like this? How long are cars meant to last, and for how long will it be economical to fix new motors bristling with technology? People clearly have too much money if this 'disposable' car idea is acceptable.
Virtually anything mass market with a 6 cylinder (petrol) engine has chronic depreciation now. Top Omegas are the best for this - absolute bargains. Even BMW residuals are not what they were, E34s are buttons cheap now. I fancy a 535i Sport for my next luxobarge!
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Isnt the answer for the shrewd 2nd hand buyer to pick up one of these and purchase a three year warranty (@£700) from usedcarwarranty as it now includes wear and tear items now???
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Just had a look at the web site and its seems very comprehensive.
Seems HJ recommends them. Anybody got any first hand experience of Warranty Direct?
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Yup.
Exactly what one of my options is, eleven months from now, when my (then) three year old, much cherished, enormously capable (despite what everyone tries to tell me to the contrary), utterly reliable, driven from new, Vectra GSi road rocket, sorry, boring estate (not), reaches the end of it's lease: Buy it, and say "bye bye" to company cars.
Having seen the list price fall significantly since I chose it as a company car, but suffered the gall of still paying tax on the original £25,200, I pray that it has suffered the most chronic depreciation known to mankind! ;-)
/Steve
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Steve, that Vectra GSi should definately be in the contenders for depreciation prize. You have got everything right: unpopular car, hefty company car tax, hard image to live with, (perceived) fuel guzzler.
Hopefully it will continue to remain as phat and reliable when you own it!
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