Has the car market crashed! ?

In message , Avanti writes

I'd have thought the question was more appropriate in uk.rec.cars.misc as its not exactly maintenance related.

The new car market is quite bouyant at the moment, but for sure used cars sales are slow at the moment. However, car sales are cyclic and there are times of the year that are better for selling than others.

There is usually a flood of used cars around just after the registration change, at which time there is a good choice of used cars around for sale.

Having said that, the mortgage rate has also gone up over the last year or so, so yes, affordability is also a factor. I know we're paying £100/mth more than we were last year.

Guilty as charged, perhaps though it was posted here to gain tips on if I maintianed the car correctly to tempt prospective buyers.

Your best guide is your local free ads paper and see what other similar models are selling for (or not selling for if they're constantly being readvertised!). It depends a lot on your area and in Nottingham the prices we buy & sell cars for tend to be lower than in Parker's - at least for the type of cars I buy!

Darren

The message from "Avanti" contains these words:

Just keep it till it dies. Running cars into the ground is the cheapest way to motor.

In message , Avanti writes

The question certainly failed to give that impression then.

I would but for 2 reasons, it's a VW so expect it to die after about 250K miles (some way off) and also , I now have a MK5 Golf which I intend to keep until a lottery win or I meet a rich woman who will buy me a MK6 when they are out .....

Ok ok Paul, I made an error in where I poseted, the damage is done now, I'm sorry and there is no point crying over spilt milk. naturally folk can skip over topics of little or no relevance , but your telling of has been heeded and I will be more carefull of which NG I am posting to in future. Hope we can still be friends xx

I've found the price guides can be off sometimes. I don't think the market has 'crashed' though: I'd seen a Polo for sale locally that seemed a bit pricey (£1000 for an M-plate Polo 1050cc Coupe), but it was in _very_ nice condition, and it sold. The last time I actually sold a car was about 4 years ago: a 1996 Mini. We sold it via auto trader, and made sure we priced it realistically, but only got 1 response. Fortunately that person liked it and made a sensible offer. We will probably be buying again soon, and having had a look around, prices right at the bottom are very low: old Polos that look OK with some work can be as low as £50-100. There does seem to be a gap from £1500 to £3000 though, or is that just me?

I'd disagree - so would you if you'd just seen the same skydiving video as I have - the car looked really quite undriveable afterwards!

Artie

The message from "Arturo Ui" contains these words:

Yeah, but it's "unique", innit. And thus valuable. Or so you're believe from eBay.

I'm chuffed, I've just picked up a pair of new original rear shocks for the Audi for under £30 including postage. They're over £50 each from GSF.

Recently I was trying to negotiate a car price with a dealer using the Parkers price - he complained that Parkers always underprice the cars in their guide. Needless to say I bought the same car (actually 6 months newer) for £2000 less than his forecourt price via ebay - within £300 of the Parkers price.

For the right car, maybe. If you're selling a low mileage non turbo-diesel MK2 Golf then get back to me! Otherwise is your price really realistic? (Lookup the word 'market' in the dictionary)

Absolutely - out friendly local building society now robs us of an additional £100-odd this year, too!

Artie

My parents sold two cars at the same time. One was slow, the other sold almost instantly. The quick one was an Astra, which was about =A31500 IIRC. The slow one was a KA with hardly any miles on for =A34500 IIRC. We thought it was because the KA was a lot of money, but the Astra was pretty cheap. I don't know how much of an effect the type of car makes. People these days tend to have huge debts, so I would expect fewer people to have the money for cars which aren't cheap, ie. =A32000+. They will probably want a new car so that they can get a good finance deal, I don't know if this is the case though.

That can depend. If you're lucky enough to work it so you sell and buy without too much expenditure on the old car, and not too much upgrade on the replacement, you could just change the car every year (I'm talking bangers here).

Buy a new car though, and yes, it could take years of repairs on a banger just to see off the first year depreciation.

Yes, and?

Dealers don't use Parkers, they use the Black Cap books, which is what the trade uses. However, they are only price *guides*, and not a bible.

You also forget that the dealer car will have come with a warranty, be serviced, and prepped, and being a normal every day *business* are there to make a profit.

I mean, every item we buy has a percentage of profit in it (otherwise there wouldn't be a shop there!), how much do *you* think is acceptable profit? Or do you just object to the money earned by the dealer anyway? In which case *why* did you go in there in the first place?

You also don't state the relative mileages, service history or condition.

Yes. Only Glasses guide is one that gives real market prices but you'll not find it to buy.

Markets flooded. People up to the hilt on credit cards are having to start paying it back.

In news:0Txoe.223100$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk, Avanti decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

I've never known a price guide be even remotely close.

Secondhand stuff all depends on how desperate people are at the time, my Golf Cabriolet is worth around £1500ish because it's a very clean, virtually fully history one with the right spec in the right colour [1]. However, there are plenty of people out there with Golf Cabrios of the same year and mileage asking £3000 for them. Mine being advertised for £1500 has devalued theirs in their eyes, whereas I can say to prospective buyers "You're getting a bargain here, look through this copy of the Auto Trader, there are Golfs nowhere near as nice as this for £3000".

The next buyer will either advertise mine for £3000+, or when they eventually sell it, they'll just try and get what they paid back.

If they decide to try and sell for £3k or £1500, it'll affect the market locally to the car, Golf Cabs will hold their value or depreciate...

So much depends on 'desirability' - TDi R-reg VW Vento 60K very tidy, recently went for half what a similar spec Golf would be. Great car, technically identical to the Golf, handles better, but not a 'Golf'. It's even more noticeable with Skoda, which come with identical mechanicals but better engine performance and trim levels, and sell for less.

I guess at around £4000 people are not as keen to buy privately, whereas you don't get many garages selling cars in the £1500 price range. Someone selling a £4000 car might more usually be looking at a part exchange deal anyway.

Condition and paintwork exactly the same (and colour) ours is '02' and not '51', ours has 25k miles (same as dealer car) and both have a full main-dealer service history. Ours also has the glass roof panel. Dealer was asking £4995, we paid £3000. I'll live without the warranty.....

The difference of £2000? I'd rather keep it to myself, not give it to a dealer, thanks! I'm sure you understand - that £2000 can get us a new conservatory or I could use it towards a better car for myself or even towards a new set of sails for the boat.....

Artie