It's not much fun any more

[SFTWend]

For some forty years I've bought and sold nearly all my cars privately. The exceptions have been for something more expensive, where I've bought from a specialist. I've enjoyed the hunt, meeting the owners, the haggle, and driving away knowing I've got a good deal. I've tended to mostly change cars every year or two and by selling privately often lost very little in depreciation.

I think those days have gone. Very few cars for sale privately now and many of those listed are either in poor condition or asking dealer prices. Last couple of purchases have been from franchised dealers as I took the view that, if I'm paying retail money, only a manufacturer approved warranty is worth having. Hopefully I'll still be able to sell privately.

Last week I went to test drive a four year old car and came away having signed up to a two year lease on a new one, which likely works out cheaper than buying the used one. I've never bought new, or financed, in my life because of the heavy initial depreciation. Our next family car will probably be an EV, which I'll lease because of the depreciation and the rapidly improving developments in battery technology.

I wonder what will happen to the used car market and whether the private sale is dead, especially with the emergence of CarWow, Motorway etc?

[SFTWend]

SWoll said:

What rapidly improving developments in battery technology?

Lease prices on EV's are through the roof in most cases because of that heavy initial depreciation you mention and the fact that most are going to company car/salary sacrifice drivers who make substantial tax savings. You aren't avoiding it by leasing one, you're paying it all + an additional margin for the lease company?

As an example the Model 3 RWD will cost £25k to lease for 3 years/30k miles today. Based on current values that car will be worth £20-22k at the end of the lease, so £5-7k is going to the lease company on top of the actual depreciation.

Plenty of good deals are raised on the leasing thread.

If EVs are the future I'd expect significant progress to be made in terms of range, for example, over the next few years.

[SFTWend]

SWoll said:

You can expect that, but at the moment any big jump in battery tech is looking a long way off and will be very expensive when it does eventually arrive. I'm also hopeful that rather than the endless focus on more range, any new tech delivers lighter and more efficient EV's that charge much faster than the current generation. That would truly benefit all owners.

Any examples of these good deals you can share?

I did not intend, or want, this thread to be about EV developments.

I've referred you to the "best lease deals" thread where you will find as many examples as you like, including latest posts regarding a Tesla.

[SFTWend]

Snubs said:

I wonder how much the proliferation of online auctions has affected buying privately? It seems to me that prior to moving online car auctions were a bit more specialist in as much as they were only held occasionally and bidding wasn't as easy as just tapping on your phone screen. Now you can just sit at home, register through the app and watch the continuous sales on thing like The Market cycle through. I'd be interested to know how much of the performance car private sales market has now shifted to online auctions.

Great point. I suspect many bidders would never have considered buying at a traditional auction and maybe not from a private seller via the classifieds.