What experience have people had of buying nearly new cars whilst the current scheme of discounts have been in play....? I've noticed that some of the second hand prices for cars less than 12 months old are equivalent to the new car less VAT...

I guess the real question is whether I have bargaining power buying nearly new based on the Skoda offers - my last car has been written off so I'm a cash buyer and I need something sooner rather than later so can't wait for delivery of a new vehicle...

Thanks

Graham

I noticed my dealer had their demonstrator up for sale - 09 plate, 3,000 miles and it was up for £15K when I'd just paid £13K for the same car brand new.

Obviously that £15K is relative to a new list price of nearly £17K but unless they're prepared to be significantly haggled down there's no point buying nearly new from the dealer when discounts on new cars make them cheaper.

Even with 12 month old cars having done 20K miles, I'd rather pay £1K more and have a brand new car. It just doesn't make sense.

I noticed my dealer had their demonstrator up for sale - 09 plate, 3,000 miles and it was up for £15K when I'd just paid £13K for the same car brand new.

Obviously that £15K is relative to a new list price of nearly £17K but unless they're prepared to be significantly haggled down there's no point buying nearly new from the dealer when discounts on new cars make them cheaper.

Even with 12 month old cars having done 20K miles, I'd rather pay £1K more and have a brand new car. It just doesn't make sense.

Agreed.

New cars are cheap and so will they be later when sold as used cars. Saved 2000 Pounds initially will mean 2000 Pounds worth less as a used car. But this will only affect people who will sell their now new car a few years later.

New cars are cheap and so will they be later when sold as used cars. Saved 2000 Pounds initially will mean 2000 Pounds worth less as a used car. But this will only affect people who will sell their now new car a few years later.

Not sure how this will work to be fair. In a couple of years time, will your new car be worth £2000 less than it would have been had the scrappage scheme not been brought in - or not?

If it is, then so will the person that bought their new car without the scrappage discount, and that is some hefty depreciation. The knockon effect will go down the scale as older cars lose extra depreciation to keep in line, driving the cost of used cars down.

Or, will the £2000 discount be ignored, as there are a lot of sales of non qualifying vehicles and fleet purchases, resulting in the saving being of benefit to the initial buyer only. At the end of the day, after the discount scheme has ceased, if you buy a second hand car and compare it to it's new list price, it will be against the pre discounted price. There will be no way of telling if the previous owner got the £2000 off or not, and this could affect the second hand price level.

Not sure the government has thought it through, or whether any industry experts can really answer.

It should only affect used values now.

Predicted used values go off the list price. The list price is the same, just Skoda are currently running an offer where you get 15% off that list price. This affects used prices because the traditional predicted value of that used car is way off due to the special offers available currently on new cars. Once that offer is gone, used cars will be at their predicted value and not a heavily discounted one.

New cars are cheap and so will they be later when sold as used cars. Saved 2000 Pounds initially will mean 2000 Pounds worth less as a used car. But this will only affect people who will sell their now new car a few years later.

I don't think that's quite true - for simplicity say 2 people buy the same car, do the same mileage and try to sell it after 3 years. If person A haggled a £2000 discount when they bought theirs, but person B didn't haggle at all and just bought at list price because they don't like haggling, then that doesn't mean person A's car will be worth less at all.

Hi Graham,

I've recently had the same issue. Either buy a 11 month old car which is dearer than a new one or wait for the new one. Fortunately I am in the position where I can wait as I have a spare works van I can use whilst the car is delivered.

It is a silly situation at the moment - not helped by the fact that on the second hand cars I saw no-one was prepared to budge on the price.

A friend is looking for a new van at the moment and went to a DVLA auction to look at a Cat C Vito - the auction price was more than book price for excellent condition of the same age and mileage.

Yet we cannot seem to shift our Jeep at the moment which makes it all the more frustrating!

TC

I was looking at nearly new cars, anywhere from 2 years old or less. Particularly the 09 plates, it not only did they seem to be around the same price as a new one but you don't get the good deals on buying second hand (e.g. no 2 years 0% option) which, depending on your situation, makes it easier to buy new.

I read nothing that is a complete counterpart of what I wrote.

Don't nail me on the 2000 , its just to show that there will be an impact. Mostly on the prices of the type of cars that were sold with discount. In Germany these are small cars. Skoda sold a huge amount of Fabias. The prices for used Fabias are and will be down for years I expect.

We have this discount effect already with the imported EU-cars. Cars which were meant for other countrys that you live in (but from the same manufacturer). Although the same car on the paper there is a price impact. Sometimes options are missing.

Edited 18 November, 200916 yr by digidoctor

Got ~£2000 off list price for my car as a pre-reg.Catch was that included the Sports suspension and 17" wheels that I did not really want.