In the current financial climate I'm considering downsizing my car. I have a 1.4 Renault Clio Expression (56) and I'd like something less powerful and cheaper to run. No doubt others will have the same idea...
What would be the best way to go about this? Sell the car myself and get something cheaper, or can you trade in for an older cheaper car and get money back? I have no idea - complete innocent looking for advice!
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Don't do anything. The costs of car-changing will outweigh any savings for many years.
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I second that. You might save a small amount on fuel, not a lot on insurance and ten of pounds per year on the road tax. Cost to change will be much more - if you had an AA or RAC inspection that would wipe out most savings straight away.
If you've owned the car from new, the depreciation will run into thousands over the time you've had it too.
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^^^^ wot they said. If you had a Laguna V6 or something mega thirsty it might be worth doing, but dont change just for an extra few MPG!!
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I'd like something less powerful .......
You might regret having less power ~ more difficult overtaking, less pull up hills etc. I can't imagine a 1.4 Clio has that much anyway.
Edited by L'escargot on 25/10/2008 at 08:28
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Im a downsizing advocate BUT you appear to have already downsized about as much makes economic sense - I downsized from a thirsty but small van and from a Subaru Forester to a Charade and Picanto respectively. Now ive saved about £200 ( mainly fuel ) a month by doing this but the original vehicles werent cheap to run so it was easy to make a saving.
Unless you do huge mileage, I cant see that you will gain anything significant.
Only reasons to change are if you fancy something different and/or if your car has become rather unreliable and thuis costing alot in repairs.
If you want to change your car anyway, thats different and in that case, I would suggest you post the ideals you want for your replacement.
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"can you trade in for an older cheaper car and get money back?"
OP, the above stood out to me, (yes you can, but at a big loss) as well as it being only two years old.
Perhaps more about what you are trying to achieve? Getting out of finance perhaps? or needing to reclaim capital? Only you know the bigger picture, so it`s difficult to advise on it.
regards
Edited by oilrag on 25/10/2008 at 11:54
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As mentioned, not worth downsizing. Learn how to drive more economically?
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We are probably going to downsize, as both are cars are 13 years old. Our downsizing isn't so much about the sizes of the cars as we will probably replace the 2 cars with just one. This is probably going to be a major factor driving secondhand car prices down - people offloading their second car, weekend fun car etc.
Since our two cars are old and worth very little, we're keeping them in anticipation of second hand car prices dropping steeply in the next few months, making replacement much cheaper.
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Thanks for the advice folks, will have a rethink! I love the car so much anyway that I think I will just keep it.
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