Vrs Market Valuations

[NotSoSimple]

I am in the process of selling my VRS and of course you look around to see what it available and price accordingly.

 

There are approximately 4 petrol VRS estates in the UK for sale on the Skoda website - most of them are under 1 year old. Mine is only 18months old or so and yet there are very few similar examples on the second hand market.

 

So when i got a 'free' valuation from WhatCar to give me an indication i chuckled at how low the valuation was (£14000). If this is accurate the VRS must be up there with the fastest depreciating cars out there! However, on reflection if there are little or no cars on the open market - surely the valuations cannot be accurate as there are simply not enough trades happening?

 

Anyone got ideas or do i sell my immaculate car with loads of extras for an absolute pound land price?

 

Feeling :(

 

 

[sniperpenguin]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but you are selling a new car after 18mths and therefore are taking the hit of depreciation.

 

You will be slightly above the price for the used market, and anyone buying new will likely want to spec their own (unless you happen to own their exact spec) plus you will not be offering a finance package (beyond the buyer getting a loan)

 

The car loses the VAT once is goes off the forecourt, and the majority of the depreciation is in the first 18-24mths. :(

 

Why are you selling?

[BA Baracus]

Sadly a large petrol engined car is not what the majority of drivers want and therefore is priced accordingly. I personally think that the diesel vrs, no matter your mileage, is the better financial bet.

[kfckfc]

If you are a AA member (not incl. Skoda Assistance) you get free access to Glass car guide which adjusts for mileage, options, etc. thus may give you a quote more reflective of your vehicle spec. If you don't have access then PM me and I will check for you after work.

[themanwithnoaim]

Sadly a large petrol engined car is not what the majority of drivers want and therefore is priced accordingly. I personally think that the diesel vrs, no matter your mileage, is the better financial bet.

 Maybe not ! we'll just have to see the (greenies affected) VED rises before we can comment any further.

[SnailUK]

How many miles has the car done?

[kfckfc]

I have recently bought my used Octavia and I have been looking at the market. I noticed the petrol VRS estates (63 plate and less than 25K miles) were at least £18K thus if your one is a reasonable colour I will be surprised if you can't sell it for close to that figure. However if you are talking about P/X then £14K is about right. 

 

If you were selling your car for £15.5K three weeks ago I would have bought it in a flash, this is what I paid for my Octavia (63 plate and 7K miles).

[NotSoSimple]

Im selling the car as i have a company car coming and i can't afford to run both - :(. She has done 31000 miles and is in excellent condition.

 

I would link to the auto trader ad but i fear this post would be pulled so a quick search of auto trader will find it as it is one of only two private VRS for sale in the UK!!!!!!

 

The car is white with black alloys (pics with roof bars) so should be a safe colour bet.

Edited 8 June, 2015 by NotSoSimple

[harrysprout]

Why I'm keeping mine after the PCP. People might want the diesel, not saying it's a bad car, I test drove it and nearly went for the oil burner. Sorry, but the petrol is the better car in every respect, apart from fuel bills and tax. 

[Mikebham]

Do you still have all the original parts for the car too?

 

Also, I see your advert says heated seats, I presume that means its got the winter pack / heated windscreen too?

Edited 8 June, 2015 by Mikebham

[pipsyp]

Im selling the car as i have a company car coming and i can't afford to run both - :(. She has done 31000 miles and is in excellent condition.

I would link to the auto trader ad but i fear this post would be pulled so a quick search of auto trader will find it as it is one of only two private VRS for sale in the UK!!!!!!

The car is white with black alloys (pics with roof bars) so should be a safe colour bet.

Mate I share your pain. I run a 2.0 Elegance estate with a car allowance at the moment but due to a change in living and working circumstances my annual mileage had nigh on trebbled....so where my 10k/annum PCP did the job it no longer does. At approaching 16 months in have just cracked 25k miles.

I can confirm the O3 is a v bad depreciator. My car perhaps 2 months or so ago was CAP valued around 13k with the mileage it had on at the time and I reckon currently its dropping in value about £500-750 every month or two without fail.

I am putting reams of miles on a car that I am now in neg equity for up to the tune of about 4.5k. I am therefore taking one big time, selling my wifes car, giving her the Octavia and taking a company car. Id love shot of the Octavia and the other car Im selling is a fair smidge older but is perfectly decent and owned outright....but I absolutely am not going to pay someone that amount of money (or take it on another finance deal) just to walk away from it so will be holding on to it until such time we can walk away (or thereabouts) or just keep it to the end of term. Thankfully if my wife now does 3-4k miles a year if be surprised so othet than the bonus of her running herself and my kids around in a newer (and hopefully) more reliable family car, I shouldnt be faced with excess mileage and that last free service I have should now be some months away rather than weeks....now all I have to do is shift her car. If you can somehow repurpose the car Id suggest this is probably the least painful option if financed assuming you can afford/justify the payment.

Upside (though its a struggle to call being saddled with a £300/month payment I neither want or need) is that as soon as the wifes car is gone i'll hopefully be ordering a carbon grey Mk7 GTD 5 door manual so whilst im going to be brassic for a couple of years potentially every cloud has a silver lining :-S

Edited 8 June, 2015 by pipsyp

[neiln]

Just for kicks I asked Skoda for a part ex quote on my tsi vrs a couple of months ago.  At the time, 10 month old hatch, 7k miles, just sunset glass over standard.   £15500.   It has not held its value.  Thankfully I always intended, and still intend, to keep it many years.

[cortina63]

My 16 month tdi vrs estate has been valued for px at 1700, it dropped 300 quid last month, more than my pcp payment,and its on 0% pcp, luckily im not in neg equity, its replacement tdi vrs hatch is going to be on pch,as i believe they will not get any better in twoyears time as there will be a lot of ex pch cars coming onto the market too, so for me il be paying less than current and have my deposit for next in an isa

[Mr Grump]

Try Autotrader, that has an online valuation and was pretty close to what I experienced as trade in offers.

You have to create an account, but its free.

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-valuation

[SC03OTT]

This all sounds pretty normal for a mass produced car. Not sure where all the surprise is coming from.

[pipsyp]

This all sounds pretty normal for a mass produced car. Not sure where all the surprise is coming from.

Not really....just as a comparison my £20k 62 plate Mk2 Blackline was traded after 12 months for not far short of 17k...I came out of that car with about 1800 quid in my back pocket. That car now although a Mk2, a year older and undoubtedly with more miles now is not worth an awful lot less trade comparatively than my Mk3 Elegance, or a vRS I'd wager.

The 0% deal seems great on the surface but the fact remains really that Skods are now charging over-the-odds list prices for their cars; also their v early popularity (particularly with lease firms...Im thinking they saw them as a more practical, cheaper alternative to a Golf as most of us have done) has done significant damage to used values....so much choice and people in the market for a used Skoda will of course only pay so much for one.

Dont get me wrong any new car will be inflicted with significant early life depreciation but the Mk3 Octavia seems to be taking it to a whole other level at the moment. I reckon in a years time if its worth £7-8k trade it'd be doing well (significantly less than the estimated 10.3k after 3.5 years). That aint good at all.

[cortina63]

I also think the above post is right, my fl mk2 vrs was worth more when I traded it in for my mk3, than im getting now,and i dont think it will get any better

[NotSoSimple]

Do you still have all the original parts for the car too?

 

Also, I see your advert says heated seats, I presume that means its got the winter pack / heated windscreen too?

Yes, I have all the original parts (springs and wheels - though these have the winter tyres on)

 

No winter pack, it was possible to have the heated seats without the heated screen - i think this has changed now...

[NotSoSimple]

Thanks for the comments - it certainly seems that the 0% deal and a high list price has hurt the depreciation of the cars. My VRs was on the 0% deal and I'm not in neg equity (but it is close dependant on the sale price!)

 

I think the main thing is that i look at the car in the driveway and it looks gorgeous and is in perfect condition inside and out and then think to myself it must be worth more than £14500 - you can barely buy a new Peugeot for that! . 

 

Certainly the second owner of a nearly new octavia gets a cracking deal as the depreciation must slow down after 20 months or so..

[pipsyp]

Thanks for the comments - it certainly seems that the 0% deal and a high list price has hurt the depreciation of the cars. My VRs was on the 0% deal and I'm not in neg equity (but it is close dependant on the sale price!)

I think the main thing is that i look at the car in the driveway and it looks gorgeous and is in perfect condition inside and out and then think to myself it must be worth more than £14500 - you can barely buy a new Peugeot for that! .

Certainly the second owner of a nearly new octavia gets a cracking deal as the depreciation must slow down after 20 months or so..

I put next to nothing down on deposit...also aside from 0% and good trade in on my car got no discount on new one. Kind of glad i didnt put a big deposit in as it'd be money burnt.

I agree though...its sad such a good car is proving such a tragic ownership proposition financially....particularly with all the other overpriced dross you can also buy for similar if not more money.

I guess anyone buying used around 1 year old at the moment will end up doing quite well for themselves though, some apparent bargains out there.

[Mr Grump]

Looking around the forums, There seems to be a few people selling year old cars for whatever reason, so yes its a buyers market atm.

I feel you pain, due to circumstances I need to change my 15 month old vRS to an auto and petrol.

I bought it cash and got a nice discount, on what was then a hard to get hold of car.

As with any new car, you lose 20% in vat as soon as its off the forecourt, and obviously the dealer needs to make their mark up on trade ins, so knock off ~3k for that.

not including the vat, I lost £2800 on my 6k miles, 15 month old vRS.

In fact I bet they make more on a year old trade in than selling new.

 

This is the same scenario with most makes, you often get a better deal on a new car than a 1 yr old example if you negotiate a little, especially with manufacturer enticements etc.

For example, I looked at a BMW 320i auto M-Sport new, with manufacturer enticements and some negotiating, I got the price down 5K. This was on the latest not yet out facelifted model.

Their were plenty of year old/exdem pre facelift models for more than the figure I was quoted !

 

I don't think the vRS is overpriced new, for what it is spec, room and performance wise.

I do agree it appears to be a larger hit on trade in than one might expect, but that's the price of trading a year old car.

You either take the hit or keep the car. In my case I had to change, but as I researched values first, it didn't come as a big shock.

 

In the end I ordered a TSi DSG vRS, because I am happy with my car, the BMW was a stretch financially despite the great deal I had on the table, and nothing else ticked my boxes.

So I have added to the issue of too many year old low mileage examples about, sorry !

 

Seriously though, I think it appears worse because you are trading early, if you kept the car 3/4 years it might not seem so bad.

[pipsyp]

Sure I expect the depreciation to soften around the 2 year mark but I anticipate it will still be worth less at that point trade than VWFS quote its GFV at going by how strongly its depreciated so far.

Its in part my mistake I bought the wrong variant (long story but chose the Elegance more as a head over heart thing)....I should have held on for the vRS....had I bought one Id have probably been a little less bothered about the depreciation on the basis id be that bit happier with it and more inclined to keep it longer term (Id imagine).

I do think the old system of offering large (VAT) RRP discounts and paying low interest on a loan worked better than the current list price/0% finance method though....certainly the equity position would be alot better (though still neg) though id be paying a few more £/month for the car...no great shakes for a better equity position IMHO.

Edited 9 June, 2015 by pipsyp

[cortina63]

The beauty of the vat free was the fact everyone saved, and not neccarily get tied to pcp for a percieved saving,

[NotSoSimple]

Looking around the forums, There seems to be a few people selling year old cars for whatever reason, so yes its a buyers market atm.

I feel you pain, due to circumstances I need to change my 15 month old vRS to an auto and petrol.

I bought it cash and got a nice discount, on what was then a hard to get hold of car.

As with any new car, you lose 20% in vat as soon as its off the forecourt, and obviously the dealer needs to make their mark up on trade ins, so knock off ~3k for that.

not including the vat, I lost £2800 on my 6k miles, 15 month old vRS.

In fact I bet they make more on a year old trade in than selling new.

 

 

 

It might be a buyers market - but looking at Petrol VRS - there just aren't any Mk3's for sale in the UK.

 

From memory the Skoda website had 5 (and they are all roughly less than 1 year old) and auto trader has 2...

 

I can understand that octavia generally are two a penny second hand (thus pushing the used values down), but the type of person looking for a VRS specifically doesn't have much choice (for petrol)

[Mr Grump]

I agree, I looked at getting a year old petrol DSG, and not many on AT, a dealer looked on the Skoda system for ex management cars for me and only found one !

I assume most dealers of any make get the diesel of any demo car as they know its easier to sell on, and most people who wanted a petrol ordered from new and are keeping hold of it.

In theory, as you imply, it should strengthen values, I guess dealers don't want to risk it knowing most people will buy a diesel for perceived better running costs.

The diesel was only £300 more to buy when they came out, but is commanding a much greater difference trade in.