Well tbh i am a firm believer in running a car into the ground anyway if it is solid and reliable. As I have said elsewhere I am so glad I hung on to my car rather than got a new Vrs when I was tempted, especially given the issues reported here. I remember good old Quentin Willson on Top Gear saying buying new is a mugs game. It is either well off people trying to be flash or people enticed by good finance deals. I very much doubt if I would buy new again. I was having a look at GT 86 Toyotas on auto trader ( which my dealer said would be strictly limited in supply)which have lost £6k in a year. To me £6k is an awful lot of money.

It's called inflation and currency fluctuations. 

 

The EUR:GBP in 2007 (source:http://www.x-rates.com/average/?from=GBP&to=EUR&year=2007) was EUR1.507 to the £1. Now it is EUR1.2 to £1. That has meant a EUR30,000 car has gone from £19,907 to £25,000 without any other changes. This is why £20k cars are now much higher. 

 

I'm surprised there are so many people surprised at this (Pistonheads seems the worst for this!). In real terms are in fact cheaper than they were 10 years ago (apples for apples - you get more now than you did in kit). The real problem is that wages haven't been keeping up with these increases in raw material or currency increases.

 

Dacia may cheap now but their prices will increase over time. It is the way businesses work. 

It's called inflation and currency fluctuations.

 

Exactly.

 

I posted this some months ago in the Rapid section when people were talking about list prices going up over time which is probably relevant here

 

Agreed. A lot of people say they don't "get" the Rapid. That's probably because they don't realise (yet) how close it is space/size/cost (adjusted for inflation*) wise to the original Octavia and the fact the Mk3 Octavia is now much a much more premium product. 

 

*According to the Parkers website, an X reg mk1 Octavia Hatch 1.6 Classic (slightly over 100hp) had a P11D value of £10807. Adjusted for inflation that comes in at £14273 I see that as analogous (apart from 'Classic' being base trim level to the SE's mid-level) to my 1.2 TSI SE at slightly over 100hp list price of £15,200k. That is admittedly above inflation, but if you take in to account the £1k Skoda contribution, it puts it pretty much bang on the nose a direct equivalent.

I'd like to take the opportunity to encourage as many of you to buy new as possible.

 

I then have more choice on what to spend my £15K on when I'm looking for my next half price 1 year old motor with two years warranty!

It's a fair point, if NOBODY bought new then we'd be in a bit of a pickle for car availability.

 

Anyway, technically I didn't buy mine new, either

Don't get me wrong, I've bought new before (1998 Ford Ka3 for my university commute) and the feeling of picking up a car with only a few miles on it with the completely unmolested interior and bodywork is pretty special.

 

Unfortunately the depreciation is a big price to pay. If you can afford it then great I'd go for it every time but I'm in a situation where I have two young kids and a chunky mortgage. The £10K+ I'd lose compared with buying nearly new really cannot be justified.

 

As has been said above, it's a free world and we're all able to make our decisions on what suits our own personal circumstances the best.

 

If you lot didn't buy new it would be much harder for me to buy nearly new!

 

If you lot didn't buy new it would be much harder for me to buy nearly new!

 

Yep. I do have to say there's no WAY I would have paid list price for mine, pre-reg + a very generous trade-in on a 52 plate almost-poverty spec Fabia meant I got something in the region of 30% off (minus a couple of toys on the car because of a spec change).

 

But that's just me. If I were earning more cash, or had I been lucky enough to buy my house *before* the house price boom of the 2000's instead of right at the height of it, my disposable income levels would be very different and therefore my opinion of what's reasonable probably would be too.

Anyone buying new should always haggle anyway.

I know I do.

Cuts into the depreciation nicely.

 

Don't forget all the ex-company bought cars were bought on a discount and also had the value written down in the company's accounts to save tax.

So £25k cars (list price) after a year probably stand them in under £20k anyway.

If they are worth £17k or so the real cost is very little, particularly if the vehicle earns an income.

I know the earning potential of our company vehicles far outweighs the actual cost of them.

 

 

I'm surprised there are so many people surprised at this (Pistonheads seems the worst for this!). In real terms are in fact cheaper than they were 10 years ago (apples for apples - you get more now than you did in kit). The real problem is that wages haven't been keeping up with these increases in raw material or currency increases.

 

 

 

Nathanio its not surprise, its disappointment. Disappointment that seven years down the line you're not in the position you once were. Its perhaps just as well we're now in a position to downsize 

I haggled without intending to

 

Went in just to have a test drive determined not to make a snap decision on the day, so when I kept saying no to the deal they were offering me (without motive) they kept upping what they would offer as a trade-in ... I left, arranged finance at a better rate, then rang them Monday morning to make sure the part-ex valuation of £1,500 for an 11 year old Fabia with well over 100k on the clock was still valid 

It's called inflation and currency fluctuations. 

 

The EUR:GBP in 2007 (source:http://www.x-rates.com/average/?from=GBP&to=EUR&year=2007) was EUR1.507 to the £1. Now it is EUR1.2 to £1. That has meant a EUR30,000 car has gone from £19,907 to £25,000 without any other changes. This is why £20k cars are now much higher. 

 

 

Since my wages have not gone up for 3yr A £20k car now looks more expensive to me than it did 3yr ago even if inflation says it's cheaper.

 

I'm really suprised cars are selling as well as they do. I can only guess many people are just not thinking past the monthly figure.

Which is probably why when you ask for a price on a car they say £120 per month not £15k. not telling you it's at 15% APR for 10yr or with a 75% balloon after 3yr with car depreciated by 75%.

There's a car lot just by the stadium in Warrington town centre that don't have any prices at all listed on the cars, the closest you can get to an idea is to go on the website where it only gives the "from £xxx/week" price.

 

Cowboys. Why anybody would buy a car off them I don't know.

Talking of the Koreans (mentioned a while back) I got the gen through today on the new Proceed GT. It is the 200 bhp 1.6 job. it is priced from £19-£21K which, with the latter figure will get you into a Focus ST with a little haggling, so that is not cheap. The car looks good, interior looks brittle and plasticky and the mags are saying it is respecable if not exciting when it comes to performance (7.3 to 60 and 143 mph but I would want to see what its ingear acceleration and flexibility is like). I will have to try the thing.

 

I don't feel the Koreans are offering exceptional value for money really,

10th Birthday tomorrow of my local Kia Dealership & i got an invite.

That is the dealership from where 'aspman' linked the ex Demo Proceed GT's ad.

Sometimes they post some crazy Asking Prices, but oddly, customers often pay the asking price..

So i will give it a good sniff around.

 

I will poke and prod various things, and maybe even check out some cars.

Look at a Kia Soul and remind myself the Nissan Juke is not the fugliest car on sale today.

 

george

Yeah but George the Dual Clutch is not available on the GT. You would have to get the 1.6 atmo with 133bhp.

I am not buying one. God forbid.

My Picanto has only done 700 miles since the last MOT., Waiting for some snow to get out and have fun in it

If i sold it now,

it would have cost me all of £800 to own and run a year since 2006 when i got it new.

 

Some Kia's can be almost free motoring, 

but then lots of cars under £10,000 new are like that if you keep them long enough.

 

george

 

The Saxo i thought i was going to scrap this year has gone and passed another MOT,

it has had 4 different family drivers over the past 13 years, and it cost under 8 grand back then,

(automatics were stupidly more expensive than manuals not so many years back.)

needed about £800 in total spent on it over its 46,000 miles.

George I had a 106 (basically a Saxo) and it was the most reliable car I have ever had. Absolutely nothing went wrong on it in 80k. Don't scrap a good car, it's more economical to keep it going and run it into the ground: I am a big fan of James Ruppert's bangernomics!

. If I got another runaround I would be tempted by the Dacia Sandero: had good write ups, lot of car for money and it even has Renault's new 90bhp 900cc three cylinder which is said to be a good engine.

Picsnto is a good little car but don't you miss the power of the VRS?

Edited 25 January, 201412 yr by Matt Bodycombe

1.1 16v & 68 bhp with traction can out drag many a car within 30-40 mph limits.

& if you can corner in the wet and cold on back roads like an Original Mini but with discs all round,

it beats many a fat lump with Electronic Steering, ESP/EDL etc trying to put it in the ditch , and then the wide tyres that can barely stay on the road.

 

Horses for Courses.

Silver you can buy my O3 TDI VRS Estate in November but you'll Need more than 15 k Looks like there will be a very strong market for Year Old VRS's as People don't want to wait 26 Or 28 Weeks for their new motor :-).

Thanks all for the many and varied thoughts and suggestions in reply to my original.

After long and careful perusal of the comments etc I undertook a reality check of myself whether or not I really needed all the bells and whistles of a fully loaded Yeti and the answer is no, of course I don't.

I can do without the 4 x 4 facility,the panorama glass roof and most of the other expensive add ons.

I can do without the taxes that a new car generates.

So I have come to the conclusion that a basic second hand used 1200 TSI engined Yeti will do for me.

Oh well.....it was a nice dream whilst it lasted.

Thanks for all your inputs.

Regards,

Smithy