Many New Luxury Cars on the Road - How?
Discussion
C0ffin D0dger said:
I know this is is Pistonheads and cars are everything but anyway...
An observation on my part whilst driving around is seeing many more new high end cars on the road especially the luxury SUV type of things (Landrover Discos, Range Rovers, Evoques, Audi Q5/7, BMW X3/X5 etc.). Now I'd love a brand new Disco for dragging my caravan around but there's no way I could justify the cost of one, even on a lease you'd be looking at well over £500 a month + finding 9 months upfront payment and that's for the entry level version. I'm not exactly poor either as our household income is supposedly within the top 5% of the UK. I suppose I live in a fairly affluent part of the UK so maybe there may be more nice cars around.
So how do people "afford" these vehicles? Is having a new prestigious car a priority for them above all else and will actually compromise in other areas of life to afford it? Are they all leased / on PCP? Company cars, though last time I looked that doesn't exactly come cheap either? Am I missing something?
Very simple ;An observation on my part whilst driving around is seeing many more new high end cars on the road especially the luxury SUV type of things (Landrover Discos, Range Rovers, Evoques, Audi Q5/7, BMW X3/X5 etc.). Now I'd love a brand new Disco for dragging my caravan around but there's no way I could justify the cost of one, even on a lease you'd be looking at well over £500 a month + finding 9 months upfront payment and that's for the entry level version. I'm not exactly poor either as our household income is supposedly within the top 5% of the UK. I suppose I live in a fairly affluent part of the UK so maybe there may be more nice cars around.
So how do people "afford" these vehicles? Is having a new prestigious car a priority for them above all else and will actually compromise in other areas of life to afford it? Are they all leased / on PCP? Company cars, though last time I looked that doesn't exactly come cheap either? Am I missing something?
90% of new cars are sold on finance
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/car-fi...
Now think-about it everyone wants a SUV now so instead of an Audi a4/a 6 saloon so they buy a Q5 or instead of a BMW 320d/520d they buy a x3.
Uk household savings rate lowest ever about 3% atm
https://www.ft.com/content/159d7f46-15f2-11e7-b0c1...
https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/news/fe...
Warnings over the growth in car finance
https://www.ft.com/content/8b6607de-6304-11e7-91a7...
OP you asked how people afford it , obviously by monthly PCP payments and there must be a correlation between all the new cars on monthly finance and Brits barely having any savings/inadequate pensions contributions.
Edited by jonny70 on Thursday 19th July 15:30
This seems to be such a British thing. Go anywhere else on the continent, and you'll see many more older cars, and many more run of the mill cars. Especially in Southern Europe, people seem much less inclined to pose around in their leased whip. Also, it seems that this trend affects the lower classes of society more, ironically. I live near a relatively posh street where houses cost in the millions, and there isn't a single modern "premium" car there. But go near the rougher parts of town, and they start popping up.
Salamura said:
This seems to be such a British thing. Go anywhere else on the continent, and you'll see many more older cars, and many more run of the mill cars. Especially in Southern Europe, people seem much less inclined to pose around in their leased whip. Also, it seems that this trend affects the lower classes of society more, ironically. I live near a relatively posh street where houses cost in the millions, and there isn't a single modern "premium" car there. But go near the rougher parts of town, and they start popping up.
I reckon a lot of it is to do with dated plates here - made even worse by twice yearly changes so it ages cars twice as fast.Also Brits have an aversion to mileage. Colleague in Holland got a "new" car - had 160000kms on it. Cost 2x what it would have done in the UK. He changes when they get towards 400,000kms.
crankedup said:
When people start swanking and bragging about thier latest car I always ask if they are interested in yachting and have they tried out the latest ‘sunseeker’ yet?
One day somebody will take me up on it.
Sunseeker, ha! Ask if they have a Wally. If they don’t think you are being rude, they are likely to be of fairly reasonable means...One day somebody will take me up on it.
Salamura said:
This seems to be such a British thing. Go anywhere else on the continent, and you'll see many more older cars, and many more run of the mill cars. Especially in Southern Europe, people seem much less inclined to pose around in their leased whip. Also, it seems that this trend affects the lower classes of society more, ironically. I live near a relatively posh street where houses cost in the millions, and there isn't a single modern "premium" car there. But go near the rougher parts of town, and they start popping up.
Indeed, it really is a British thing. I love the continentals attitude to cars that makes them their owners servants and not their owners masters. In the Picos region of Spain locals park in the streets with handbrakes off so they can shunt each others cars about to create a space and many French people who clearly aren't on the breadline and own land and substantial property cheerfully make do with a 15 year old battered Renault or Peugeot. The Croatians don't give a toss either - the only relatively smart cars you'll find there are in the Taxi ranks outside the airport and the marinas along the coast.
Not giving a s
t is incredibly liberating.C0ffin D0dger said:
I know this is is Pistonheads and cars are everything but anyway...
An observation on my part whilst driving around is seeing many more new high end cars on the road especially the luxury SUV type of things (Landrover Discos, Range Rovers, Evoques, Audi Q5/7, BMW X3/X5 etc.). Now I'd love a brand new Disco for dragging my caravan around but there's no way I could justify the cost of one, even on a lease you'd be looking at well over £500 a month + finding 9 months upfront payment and that's for the entry level version. I'm not exactly poor either as our household income is supposedly within the top 5% of the UK. I suppose I live in a fairly affluent part of the UK so maybe there may be more nice cars around.
So how do people "afford" these vehicles? Is having a new prestigious car a priority for them above all else and will actually compromise in other areas of life to afford it? Are they all leased / on PCP? Company cars, though last time I looked that doesn't exactly come cheap either? Am I missing something?
Out of interest, what is the top 5% of the UK?An observation on my part whilst driving around is seeing many more new high end cars on the road especially the luxury SUV type of things (Landrover Discos, Range Rovers, Evoques, Audi Q5/7, BMW X3/X5 etc.). Now I'd love a brand new Disco for dragging my caravan around but there's no way I could justify the cost of one, even on a lease you'd be looking at well over £500 a month + finding 9 months upfront payment and that's for the entry level version. I'm not exactly poor either as our household income is supposedly within the top 5% of the UK. I suppose I live in a fairly affluent part of the UK so maybe there may be more nice cars around.
So how do people "afford" these vehicles? Is having a new prestigious car a priority for them above all else and will actually compromise in other areas of life to afford it? Are they all leased / on PCP? Company cars, though last time I looked that doesn't exactly come cheap either? Am I missing something?
G
Jaguar steve said:
Indeed, it really is a British thing. I love the continentals attitude to cars that makes them their owners servants and not their owners masters.
In the Picos region of Spain locals park in the streets with handbrakes off so they can shunt each others cars about to create a space and many French people who clearly aren't on the breadline and own land and substantial property cheerfully make do with a 15 year old battered Renault or Peugeot. The Croatians don't give a toss either - the only relatively smart cars you'll find there are in the Taxi ranks outside the airport and the marinas along the coast.
Not giving a st is incredibly liberating.
Don't some of these people have something a bit special to use at the weekend and simply tool around in a banger most of the time? Though the something special is likely to be old too.In the Picos region of Spain locals park in the streets with handbrakes off so they can shunt each others cars about to create a space and many French people who clearly aren't on the breadline and own land and substantial property cheerfully make do with a 15 year old battered Renault or Peugeot. The Croatians don't give a toss either - the only relatively smart cars you'll find there are in the Taxi ranks outside the airport and the marinas along the coast.
Not giving a s
t is incredibly liberating.Sheepshanks said:
I reckon a lot of it is to do with dated plates here - made even worse by twice yearly changes so it ages cars twice as fast.
Also Brits have an aversion to mileage. Colleague in Holland got a "new" car - had 160000kms on it. Cost 2x what it would have done in the UK. He changes when they get towards 400,000kms.
In NL second hand cars hold their values much better than they do here, a 5 year old car here will be well over 4x as much there.Also Brits have an aversion to mileage. Colleague in Holland got a "new" car - had 160000kms on it. Cost 2x what it would have done in the UK. He changes when they get towards 400,000kms.
The taxes they pay on new cars is also completely insane hence the proliferation of Tesla's as they cost the same as a Mondeo.
cptsideways said:
Double our very low interest rates and then do the maths. This country will soon be in the dooh dah-
Our last interest rate movement was a doubling from next to nothing to bugger all. A further doubling to still bugger all won’t make much difference to your average consumer.untakenname said:
In NL second hand cars hold their values much better than they do here, a 5 year old car here will be well over 4x as much there.
The taxes they pay on new cars is also completely insane hence the proliferation of Tesla's as they cost the same as a Mondeo.
Same here in Portugal. A 5.0. Ford Mustang is 94000 euros new! Anything with an engine larger than 2.0 is taxed to the hilt. The taxes they pay on new cars is also completely insane hence the proliferation of Tesla's as they cost the same as a Mondeo.
Of course, you do still see new cars albeit nothing like in the UK but with there not being nearly as large a difference between new vs used, I asked why and discovered you can buy new cars here over 120 months! 10 years to pay off a car at 4.5% on average, no deposit. Insane.
Used cars here hold their value extremely well.
cptsideways said:
Double our very low interest rates and then do the maths. This country will soon be in the dooh dah-
The vast majority of car finance agreements are fixed rate so won't in itself be a problem until renewal time and the new car costs much more per month.Of course, if you mean that interest rate rises mean that housing costs rise and therefore people have less disposable income to afford their existing agreements then you might have a point.
Except that interest rates generally rise as a mechanism to control consumer spending. You could argue that the amount of luxury cars on the road is a sign that spending needs to be controlled. Changes wil tend to happen gradually however unless anything dramatic happens in the economy.
I'm no fan of Brexit, but the widely suggested increase in the cost of imports as a result, and increased fears of job security for many may well help to temper consumer demand without the need for an increase in interest rates.
But I'm car salesman not an economist.
Toltec said:
Jaguar steve said:
Indeed, it really is a British thing. I love the continentals attitude to cars that makes them their owners servants and not their owners masters.
In the Picos region of Spain locals park in the streets with handbrakes off so they can shunt each others cars about to create a space and many French people who clearly aren't on the breadline and own land and substantial property cheerfully make do with a 15 year old battered Renault or Peugeot. The Croatians don't give a toss either - the only relatively smart cars you'll find there are in the Taxi ranks outside the airport and the marinas along the coast.
Not giving a st is incredibly liberating.
Don't some of these people have something a bit special to use at the weekend and simply tool around in a banger most of the time? Though the something special is likely to be old too.In the Picos region of Spain locals park in the streets with handbrakes off so they can shunt each others cars about to create a space and many French people who clearly aren't on the breadline and own land and substantial property cheerfully make do with a 15 year old battered Renault or Peugeot. The Croatians don't give a toss either - the only relatively smart cars you'll find there are in the Taxi ranks outside the airport and the marinas along the coast.
Not giving a s
t is incredibly liberating.Quite the opposite in similar UK towns. Rows and rows of almost new cars all shiny and clean and their owners spending the whole day anxious and stressing about leaving them in case they get back and find somebody's dinked the door or scuffed the bumper.
said:
Stroll round almost any reasonably prosperous provincial European town or village and the streets are rammed full of very ordinary scruffy cars with broken door mirrors and an impressive collection of dings and scrapes on the bumpers and bodywork. When you do spot something a bit more prestigious chances are in Spain at least it'll have been keyed down to the metal along the sides.
Quite the opposite in similar UK towns. Rows and rows of almost new cars all shiny and clean and their owners spending the whole day anxious and stressing about leaving them in case they get back and find somebody's dinked the door or scuffed the bumper.
Agreed, I noticed when on holiday in Mallorca there were very few luxury type cars. When you consider how much property costs there...Quite the opposite in similar UK towns. Rows and rows of almost new cars all shiny and clean and their owners spending the whole day anxious and stressing about leaving them in case they get back and find somebody's dinked the door or scuffed the bumper.
SidewaysSi said:
I love cars and don't want to drive a worn out stter. Nothing wrong with that.
Means I can't park it in some areas of continental Europe as people will damage it.
Nope, nothing wrong with that at all. I like cars too.tter. Nothing wrong with that. Means I can't park it in some areas of continental Europe as people will damage it.
I like freedom from worry and financial constraints and peace of mind far more than I like any car though and even given a seven figure Lottery win I doubt I'd change my mind.
troika said:
crankedup said:
When people start swanking and bragging about thier latest car I always ask if they are interested in yachting and have they tried out the latest ‘sunseeker’ yet?
One day somebody will take me up on it.
Sunseeker, ha! Ask if they have a Wally. If they don’t think you are being rude, they are likely to be of fairly reasonable means...One day somebody will take me up on it.
I know this having googled for the website and seen the gorgeous images
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