The Golf 2.0 TDI estate is 19 months and 30,000 miles old - still going as well as ever. Absolutely no need to change .....but -
I've heard from several sources quite high up in the accountancy and business world that there's every likelihood that the pound will drop below the euro in the coming months. Some even think tha a euro could be worth £1.50 though that seems extreme.
Also HJ is of the view that car prices will rise sharply this year, largely I think for the same reasons.
So it's worth a thought at least. My needs are the same as last time, and the front-runners are another Golf estate or an Octavia estate, probably the vRS diesel as this is the only Octavia to have the new CR engine. The Golf is still the Mark V but does have the CR engine, albeit only in the 140 bhp version (the Octavia vRS has 170 bhp).
If anyone says 'Mondeo TDCI' - yes, good car but bigger than I need.
There seem to be some good deals around which will compensate for the negative equity still in the Golf. If I leave it for another 6 to 9 months, as I was intending to, the negative equity will be less but will the price of a new car have risen too far?
Someone tell me I'm a idiot.
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Honestly Avant I think you should keep it. It is just the sort of car I would buy. Still in the prime of life and with many years and miles of life in it and where someone else has taken the big depreciation hit. Unless of course you just fancy a change which is perfectly reasonable of course.....
Alfa 159.....?
;-)
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 23/03/2009 at 19:46
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Would you not be better buying a car made in the UK by british workers and thus help the pound rather than doing the dirty on the country and buying something made in another ?
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Like a Toyota, Nissan, or a Taxi?
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Avant, you're an idiot. 19 months old indeed.
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I simply can't imagine changing a car I liked after 19 months. I'm convinced that my 2-year old Mondeo is a better car today than the day it arrived.
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Avant is similar to me, I don't think calling anyone an idiot helps anyone - once my car is paid for I like to be thinking what to go for next.
Remember all you who buy second hand cars need people like me and Avant.
It's one reason I was in the Insight today - but that's now crossed off the 'what next' list.
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Not an idiot but... Like so many threads on buying a new car - it all depends. I think just on financial grounds alone - don't do it. You have taken the biggest deprectiation hit, you know the car and its just about broken in, most other things of simialr size/spec will only give you what you have already got - and the grass really is just on the other side - but its still grass.
However if you need something smaller, sportier or more economical, then changing cars now wouldn't be too bad an idea. I'm not convonced that the economic downturn will be for as long or as low as some people are saying. Euro to equall the pound - probably, but not much the other way.
If money is everything then save a bit longer and change car when you need to.
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Avant, you're an idiot. 19 months old indeed.
Agreed. Classic example of the Aesop fable about the dog with the bone. Swings in new prices looks like one of the daftest reasons for changing a well-liked car. Why start another round of instant depreciation?
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Avant: ...Someone tell me I'm a idiot.
Always read the question :)
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Fair comment, FocusDriver! No offence taken and I did indeed ask for it.
I'll change only if I can get an equivalent new car for the same monthly payments as for this one. If that seems unlikely, we managed it for my daughter's Yaris (TR replacing a T3, and £20 less per month). If I can't, then for all the good reasons given above there's no point in changing.
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Buy a new car now and do your bit towards getting the economy moving.
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If you can find hat you fancy for equivalent or lower monthly payments then go for it! This scenario might be possible if the dealers are desperate to deal.
But beyond that, Forex is so volatile at the moment and what makes your contacts so sure that the UK currency is going to decline so calamitously?! It has already slipped by around 30% against the Euro, and there are some that think that it is the Eurozone which is now heading for a fall. Plenty of skeletons in their banks cupboards yet to be revealed... I wouldn't base my decision on Forex movements alone at present!
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Some even think tha a euro could be worth £1.50 though that seems extreme. >>
Are you sure that your accountant friends meant the other way around - one £ worth 1.50 Euro?
I agree with NickDM : " and there are some that think that it is the Eurozone which is now heading for a fall. "
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Octavia MK IIs particularly the estate let in quite a bit of road noise - my vRS petrol did and it was the only downer on a very decent car. It is a common observation on other forums. Have to say I prefer the smart lines of the MK5 Golf estate - better proportioned than the Octavia especially the rear and if it was a quieter drive and I didn't need the small amount of extra space, I'd choose it over the Octavia.
Like Nickdm I too have heard that the Eurozone is due a serious correction being behind the UK in the queue by a few months. Perhaps as the sales of new cars continues to diminish and lending frees up a little the opportunity to get a good deal will remain or slightly improve. Couple that with the alleged shortage of good 1 to 2 year old used cars (like yours) and your timing could be quite good - certainly better than mine when buying SWMBO's Fiat 500 and the Legacy on the company in April and June 08 respectively. Doh!
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"car prices will rise sharply"
Or possibly fall, since there are fields and docksides full of new, unsold ones...
We all know the temptation to change, but it's a want, not a need. However much the market changes, it won't outrun depreciation!
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There are arguments in favour of ?1 = £1.50 and £1 = ?1.50. Personally I favour the latter - if there is even a Euro in existence in 18 months' time. The Germans will get sick of bailing out the Spaniards and the Irish (who will get sick of being in a depression because the Germans won't deflate).
Nobody knows. If you buy now, you are fixing your exposure to future forex movements; so no downside for you, and no potential of upside.
If anybody KNEW what the exchange rate would be in 18 months' time, then the exchange rate would already be at that level...
But at 19 months; crumbs, Avant, you are an idiot. ;)
And anybody who has cash who is buying a car on finance in the current climate is potty.
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SQ
Someone tell me I'm a idiot.
No, you're not an idiot Avant. This is but a classic case of Man-Maths and a febble attempt to justify a new toy!
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 24/03/2009 at 13:41
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If you can wait until September, that is when the Golf VI estate version is supposed to be launched.
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