Saxo VTR induction kit?

No I didn't.

There were two on Ebay last week. You know you want to :->

The message from "Pete M" contains these words:

I'm glad someone buys 'em or there wouldn't be a ready supply of second hand ones for me.

Good job we're all different though, things'd get hideously boring otherwise.

I certainly can't imagine there being another one of me, and if there was, he'd probably be the sort of bloke I'd *really* want to clout.

But a new pre-registered car with six grand knocked off the list price gets you the best of both worlds!

Until you come to sell it, and find it's depreciated by about the same amount as your discount, and worth less. Buying an old car avoids the horrendous depreciation of new ones, and might even get you a profit if you flog it right!

Cheers,

Hah, loose being the operative word given it's

a) a Citroen and b) related in some way to the AX. (Which used bacofoil for bodywork if emory serves)

I speak being a BX owner, and having had many Cits in the past. My TR 7 is more solidly built, and it's a convertible...

Cheers,

I don't follow you. A six grand discount avoids the horrendous depreciation - but you have a new car.

In message , Rooney writes

Avoids *some* of the horrendous depreciation. If it's easily available pre-registered with a big chunk off the list price it's probably still got further to fall before the curve gets less steep.

If you bought, say, an Alfa 166 3.2 for 24K, 30K list, you'd still lose

Nope. You still get the horrendous depreciation, it just starts from a lower point.

clive

Starting at a lower point is what makes it less horrendous, of course. There are numerous reports in the car mags of people actually getting what they paid after 12 months, having got a huge discount originally. The feller who buys off you in 12 months time has no idea what you paid for it.

The message from Rooney contains these words:

Six grand is more than three times what I've spent on buying cars in thirty years of motoring.

Steve Walker ( snipped-for-privacy@otolith.demon.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I worked the numbers the other day for a post in another place, and it can actually make the depreciation on a "car with massive depreciation" less than one with "solid residuals"

For example :-

So - You've got £11k to spend on a plush diesel small hatch. For £11,300 you can have a Fabia 1.9TDi Elegance. List is £11,900 For £10,600 you can have a C3 1.4HDi 16v Exclusive. List is £12,745

You've got a nice bargain - big healthy discount...

But what will they be worth in two years time? An 02/52 C3 1.4HDi Exclusive is listed as £6350 on Parkers as "Private/Good" to sell. An 02/52 Fabia 1.9TDi Elegance is listed as £6865.

Bear in mind that new price difference - the Skoda's lost you £4,435. But the Cit has lost you £4,250.

What happens is that the depreciation guides show the used price vs *list*

- forgetting the big cashbacks and discounts and other incentives that Cit give. On that basis, the C3's lost £6,395 but the Skoda's "only" lost £5,035.

That's true, but the Citroens are a rather special case, because there are always enormous discounts on them. But you can get some less usual bargains pre-registered through Virgin and the like, and pre-registered imports, that are way below dealer new prices. I'm just looking at an article that mentions £4200 off a Focus (old style) a couiple of months ago, for example, £6000 off a Vectra 1.9 CDTi Design

That's good going - but somewhat unusual, I reckon.

The message from Rooney contains these words:

I'm a bottom-feeder.

Ha ha! Living on our detritus (-:

Rooney ( snipped-for-privacy@aol.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Hence the easiest to demonstrate - plus the original demo was figured for a discussion centred around "why anybody would buy a Citroen over a Skoda". I'm sure it's valid elsewhere, too.

Pre-reg - no spec choice, less than full warranty, possibly "old reg". Imports - possible warranty or spec issues, resale value hit.

Personally, I would have no problem looking at a pre-reg instead of a bran' spanker, but we're comparing apples with apples here.

Discontinued model.

The Vectra's about as desirable as a bucket of cold dog vomit.

Which model of Astra? The discontinued one?

Possibly, but not necessarily. You may only lose a few weeks of your warranty, or none at all if you reach the mileage limit (60K or 90K or whatever) before the 3 years.

Both discontinued, yes - but that doesn't have any bearing on the relative depreciation of a new (pre-reg) against a used one. You can still sell at 12 months for the same price that someone who paid full whack will be selling his, if you see what I mean. Same applies to lack of choice of spec.