The country seems to be awash with used cars. I see perfectly good 'old' cars (i.e. about 8+ years old) that sell for buttons. Still more or less rust free and probably reliable enough.
I think a world recession will take hold in the coming 12 months and we'll see people happy to stick with basic older cars.
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You are very correct with your observation, but...........and this is a big But, people aspire to bigger and better things nowadays, the eight year old car is not going to impress Mr & Mrs jones next door is it? Even if people can't afford it they still want the latest, best looking, most wanted etc, but then comes along the other but............ but this ones bigger, what if we do go into a World recession, what then for your nice shiny New car that's worth tuppence?
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As GDP growth in Quarter 1 was only 0.3%, I expect we'll be in recession .. err now -ve growth.
I recall 1981 and 1990-2... this one is going to be very painful as mortgages are not available, house prices are likely to fall 35% and lots of people are overgeared.
I expect a Citroen C6 for £10k when the repossessions start in earnest January 2009.
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I see perfectly good 'old' cars
True but when things go wrong one might need to pay a fortune to get it repaired.
If the labour cost comes down, more people will buy and keep older cars.
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>> I see perfectly good 'old' cars True but when things go wrong one might need to pay a fortune to get it repaired.
Just scrap it then.
So long as you stay away from modern fancy diesels with DMF and turbos you should be OK, the older 'family' petrol cars are not too bad on repairs. Older Jap stuff always seems reliable. A 6-8 year old Avensis will get you to work and back.
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It's quite amusing to watch people falling over themselves to spend 5 figure sums on achingly crap 4 cylinder diesel yawnboxes whilst meanwhile the values of proper cars with proper engines is in freefall.
You can get a 2003 E55 AMG now for £18k. Or a diesel Vauxhall Zafira.
Great. A diesel Zafira. Fantastzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*thump*
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It's quite amusing to watch people falling over themselves to spend 5 figure sums on achingly crap 4 cylinder diesel yawnboxes whilst meanwhile the values of proper cars with proper engines is in freefall. You can get a 2003 E55 AMG now for £18k. Or a diesel Vauxhall Zafira.
Yup. And there's a reason for that. Out in the real world the Zafira is a fairly economical way of getting three kids to school, doing the shopping, getting hubby to work and going on the annual holiday. And in five years time its still going to be worth something. And if it goes wrong they can afford to fix it without defaulting on the mortgage.
Its not my cup of tea (too much like driving a van) but I see why people buy them. The AMG would be great for the weekend, but the number of people who now can/want to afford to own one for daily use is small and getting smaller so next year your £18k car is an £8k car.
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So buy it next year for £8k - even better!
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What are they like to drive we can assume you have one.
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Low used car prices does seem to be a UK thing - I mentioned before that colleagues from Scandinavia and Germany where looking at cars here a few mths ago and were astonished at how cheap they were.
There was a thread here a couple of days ago from someone looking for a car for his parents who are in France, saying how expensive used cars are in France.
I'm absolutely convinced it's to do with the age marker we have on car registrations - I think if that was done away with then new car sales would all but collapse here and that would force up used car prices.
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It's quite amusing to watch people falling over themselves to spend 5 figure sums on achingly crap 4 cylinder diesel yawnboxes whilst meanwhile the values of proper cars with proper engines is in freefall.
Hmmm...
A four cylinder diesel yawnbox is something that most of us with kids and/or big annual mileages have to go through. You buy one with your head, not your heart, and you certainly don't fall over yourself to buy one. It's a tool. Nothing more, nothing less.
The (beautiful) AMG you mention might be available for the same money, but it wouldn't take long for it to fall behind when you have to run the thing. high teens mpg at £1.25 / litre would make a good start. The first out of warranty fault, and a major service would add a couple of grand to the discrepancy, and then we could go from there.
And the Zafira, for the simple job of carting the kids about and doing the shopping, would actually be more suitable. You're never going to enjoy yourself in a family car with the family on board, so why put up with the costs of a performance car when doing so? A to B, plenty of space, cheap to run, and safe. That's what it's about.
As soon as my circumstances change, I'm buying an E39 M5. Just because we have to go through these things, doesn't mean we've given up! Good things come to those who wait.
Cheers
DP
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