The Best ///M/Barge/General Rant/Look at this/O/T (Vol XVII)
Discussion
Mr Sandman said:
7ss said:
Happy New Year Threadista!
Today also marks 21 years since this was first registered. What a new year the first owner must have had. This years automotive resolution will be to get her back on the road.
Jesus min! I can't believe you've still got it! What's the repair bill to get it running again?Today also marks 21 years since this was first registered. What a new year the first owner must have had. This years automotive resolution will be to get her back on the road.
Hope you're well ol' bean.
Simon
Good to see it's still in one piece though, I actually looked on the MOT history website at the end of last year and was concerned it had been handed over to the scrapper!
The geek in me found this interesting.
If you can't be bothered to read, it can be summarised as "Good news! Used cars continue to fall in price, and there are lots of bargains to be had". Long may it continue...
http://blogs.deloitte.co.uk/mondaybriefing/
Deloitte Monday Briefing: Always a good time to buy a second-hand car
If you can't be bothered to read, it can be summarised as "Good news! Used cars continue to fall in price, and there are lots of bargains to be had". Long may it continue...
http://blogs.deloitte.co.uk/mondaybriefing/
Deloitte Monday Briefing: Always a good time to buy a second-hand car
- We are taking a break from the turmoil in equity markets to consider a more parochial question – used car prices.
- I have been pondering replacing our current, eight-year-old Honda for something more recent. The search started with the aim of tracking down a functional, bulletproof motor. But having discovered how cheap second hand cars are I have been tempted by more exotic, Jeremy Clarkson-friendly alternatives.
- My feeling that used cars are cheap is not an illusion of ageing, like believing policemen are getting younger. The official data show that since 2000 the price of second hand cars has fallen by 35%. Over the same period new car prices have risen 58%.
- Taking into account the rise in personal disposable incomes, the fall in prices is even more pronounced. Relative to rising incomes used car prices have fallen by roughly 70% in the last 16 years.
- In economics used cars are examples of an inferior good, one for which, as incomes rise, demand declines as consumers switch to more expensive and desirable substitutes (in this case new cars). By contrast demand for normal goods rises with increases in income. Inferior goods are not necessarily functionally inferior. Some buyers, for instance, insist that earlier models of a particular vehicle are superior to later ones. But progress is progress - new cars generally score better on economy, safety, fashion and features. Many of us like owning a new car simply because they are new, independent of any functional improvements.
- Rising incomes make once sought after goods less desirable. The growth of charity shops in the last two decades testifies to the weakening demand for all sorts of second hand goods, from clothes to books to furniture.
- In the case of cars, favourable financing conditions have led to a boom in new car purchases and increased the downward pressure on the value of second-hand vehicles. New car sales have risen three times faster than retail sales in the last three years. Roughly one in ten households bought a new car last year with sales reaching a record 2.6 million.
- Rock bottom interest rates and a plentiful supply of credit have meant that three-quarters of new car sales are on some form of credit. Personal contract purchases (PCPs) have become particularly popular. Car buyers pay an initial deposit and then a fixed monthly payment for a typical duration of three years.
- After the end of the period buyers can either make a final payment to take ownership of the car or, as is often the case, use any residual value in the car to pay the deposit for a PCP on a new vehicle. In 2015, PCPs financed almost two-thirds of UK car purchases.
- New financing methods have turned what was once a major capital purchase into a series of monthly payments and brought a new car within the reach of more consumers.
- This sort of growth has created a rising supply of used cars. Choosier, more confident consumers with ready access to cheap financing are less inclined to buy second hand these days. Rising supply and weaker demand spells lower used car prices.
- For a consumer who views a car solely as a functional purchase to get from A to B this is great news. Other people's growing aversion to second hand cars creates bargains. Assuming incomes keep rising used car prices seem likely to keep on falling.
L100NYY said:
So the same E34 has been owned by three Threadists?
No, I bought it from a BMW fanatic in Sheffield, then spent about £13k in 9 months trying to fix it/keep it running before I sold it to Charlie (7ss) as it had finally broken my resolve with repair bills. A massive court/CSA bill also didn't help.I blame Simon, he bloody talked me in to buying it in the first place!
Though it was interesting to compare my S38B38 against another (Simons 'Vet's Forearm' purple E34), his wanted to chase the redline where as mine seemed a bit fruiter lowdown. They don't make 'em like they used to!
Some pics when I owned it with a couple of its brothers and cousin
Crook said:
Week of the 24hr (I think) VLN race, baking hot (like 35c hot), the mad blokes with the Atom and their home made aero kit and the yellow Diablo? Great few days that was, I managed 2 rather scary laps with a VLN driver in his tuned GT3, had the shakes for hours afterwards!!jeremyc said:
D_T_W said:
Rubs hands.Fires up Caption Competition Generator.
ScotsBloke said:
But it dis nae have the wee red writing on the tyres.
D_T_W said:
Crook said:
Week of the 24hr (I think) VLN race, baking hot (like 35c hot), the mad blokes with the Atom and their home made aero kit and the yellow Diablo? Great few days that was, I managed 2 rather scary laps with a VLN driver in his tuned GT3, had the shakes for hours afterwards!!I was there with a couple of guys with trailered E30 M3s and I went out with Texan guy John with his 2.7 (I think) 6 speed carbon fibre body paneled mental E30 M3.Quite an introduction to the 'Ring.
There was also the Icelandic guy with his S50(?) engined E30 with a super charger or some such thing.
Output Flange said:
olly22n said:
Zoom in on the picture and you can see the sports exhaust button.Sadly the silver GT3 story didn't end well.
braddo said:
I think the penny has dropped.
If so do you still have the GT3?
Raptor? What's it like?
Mr Sandman said:
.. the Raptor ...
GP?If so do you still have the GT3?
Raptor? What's it like?
GT3 was sold before I moved out to the UAE, alas. Its new owner then promptly stuffed it into a tree and didn't wake up. RIP.
The Raptor is fun in a Tonka toy sort of way. Goes over/through anything, but there's no hiding what it is - a three tonne truck. Its 420bhp is somewhat compromised as a result therefore, but it's still capable of a reasonable turn of speed. Obviously it doesn't 'handle' as such, but in the wet, can be coaxed into doing things no truck should be capable of. In short, its great fun in the right environment but it needs another 200bhp to overcome its heft.
As it's my only car, I'm pining for something a bit more sportslicht, which should hopefully be resolved by the addition of a bike to the fleet this year too.
D_T_W said:
Has it not turned you into a crying broken shell yet? It bloody did when I owned it!!
Good to see it's still in one piece though, I actually looked on the MOT history website at the end of last year and was concerned it had been handed over to the scrapper!
It was fine for the 5 years I ran it. The last guy did spend a fortune on it though It's been in storage for a couple years now, along with all my other projects. Hoping to move to a place with my own garage this year after which I'll be getting her back on the road. Good to see it's still in one piece though, I actually looked on the MOT history website at the end of last year and was concerned it had been handed over to the scrapper!
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