Depreciation-free motoring. Am I missing something?
Discussion
If this has been covered before apologies but couldn't find anything using search function.
After years of suffering ball breaking depreciation what's wrong with buying cheap at auction, running car for 12 months then selling on privately for what you bought it for?
Even taking risk, unexpected repairs, scheduled maintenance into account it's still got to be cheaper than sitting doing sod all while the value of the car you paid top money for drops like a stone every month.
Unless I'm missing something I think this is the future for me when I come to change my current car.
After years of suffering ball breaking depreciation what's wrong with buying cheap at auction, running car for 12 months then selling on privately for what you bought it for?
Even taking risk, unexpected repairs, scheduled maintenance into account it's still got to be cheaper than sitting doing sod all while the value of the car you paid top money for drops like a stone every month.
Unless I'm missing something I think this is the future for me when I come to change my current car.
Cars do seem to stop depreciating at a point. Some higher than others. Just depends on how special/sought after they are.
Crappy run of the mill stuff like a Corsa will always be able to be sold for £500-£1k as long as its in good condition. Obviously you could buy one cheaper but it will be a heap and still be sold as a heap. Not worth buying to do up as you'll never make the money back. Buy one for 1k, keep it clean and look after it and it will be able to be sold for 1k... as long as you havent put mega miles on it etc.
Crappy run of the mill stuff like a Corsa will always be able to be sold for £500-£1k as long as its in good condition. Obviously you could buy one cheaper but it will be a heap and still be sold as a heap. Not worth buying to do up as you'll never make the money back. Buy one for 1k, keep it clean and look after it and it will be able to be sold for 1k... as long as you havent put mega miles on it etc.
kambites said:
Why twelve months? You'll probably do better on average to buy a car for 1k and keep it until it keels over completely.
Was thinking any longer than 12 months and you might struggle to get your money back. I Like the idea of the 1k bargain but was more thinking about £3-5K where a car has lost most of the initial depreciation already and is still relatively new.
Idontdrinkrsmoke said:
kambites said:
Why twelve months? You'll probably do better on average to buy a car for 1k and keep it until it keels over completely.
Was thinking any longer than 12 months and you might struggle to get your money back. I Like the idea of the 1k bargain but was more thinking about £3-5K where a car has lost most of the initial depreciation already and is still relatively new.
Sssshhh! Don't give away the secret!
People are scared of the unknown, and think that a second hand car with unknown history is bound to break down, and then they'll be at the mercy of garages who will blind them with big words and pull their pants down. If they own a car for too many years, they might even have to (shock!) put it through an MOT!
This ensures a nice steady supply of ready-depreciated motors for the rest of us
People are scared of the unknown, and think that a second hand car with unknown history is bound to break down, and then they'll be at the mercy of garages who will blind them with big words and pull their pants down. If they own a car for too many years, they might even have to (shock!) put it through an MOT!
This ensures a nice steady supply of ready-depreciated motors for the rest of us
As depreciation is the biggest cost of most peoples motoring , surprisingly little is said about it .
I would love a new car , but just can`t justify the massive cost of lost capital , or monthly outgoing purely on depreciation . The debate between old and new is well documented on this forum , so I wil avoid that , but I run my own cars to minimise captial loss .
I have owned a C36 Mercedes for 7 years , and the market value for the car is similar to what I paid for it , with a projection to increase over the next 10 years if well looked after . I bought a 300 SL Mercedes too , which is pretty much depreciation proof . It`s not only Mercs of course , but bought carefully , there are many older cars which would provide the same capital protection .
In winter , between October and March , I buy a £1000 car from the classifieds ; this year it happens to be a VW Passat V5 . If you put in a little homework , you can buy a car which has been serviced and Mot`d , and sometimes taxed if your lucky for such a small amount . With a bit of elbow grease and advertising the car in the right place , you won`t loose your money . Fuel may be a little more , but in the overall scheme of things running a car which does 25 mpg for six months doesn`t cost much more than one which returns 35-40 .
I would love a new car , but just can`t justify the massive cost of lost capital , or monthly outgoing purely on depreciation . The debate between old and new is well documented on this forum , so I wil avoid that , but I run my own cars to minimise captial loss .
I have owned a C36 Mercedes for 7 years , and the market value for the car is similar to what I paid for it , with a projection to increase over the next 10 years if well looked after . I bought a 300 SL Mercedes too , which is pretty much depreciation proof . It`s not only Mercs of course , but bought carefully , there are many older cars which would provide the same capital protection .
In winter , between October and March , I buy a £1000 car from the classifieds ; this year it happens to be a VW Passat V5 . If you put in a little homework , you can buy a car which has been serviced and Mot`d , and sometimes taxed if your lucky for such a small amount . With a bit of elbow grease and advertising the car in the right place , you won`t loose your money . Fuel may be a little more , but in the overall scheme of things running a car which does 25 mpg for six months doesn`t cost much more than one which returns 35-40 .
kambites said:
You'd probably struggle to get your money back after a day, even if you bought it at auction. Buying a car and keeping it for a year then buying another and keeping that for a year, doesn't give any less depreciation than buying one car and keeping it for two years; it just adds the expense of an extra purchase and sale.
This. The only thing you avoid at auction is the mark up of a dealer, but with significant risk as you can't test drive it.I found that £1k sheds were a bit too sheddy (Admittedly I didn't look for long) so went to £2k and got a pristine 80k Mazda 6 estate that's cost bugger all over the last year and a bit. It has a 2l petrol engine with cam chain and I can't see why it won't last 5 years at least.
I did this a few years ago, thanks to having a BCA near by. I used to buy mid size family cars less than 3 years old so they were still in warrenty, Astra/Mondeo/Vectra etc.
I would buy the car and tax and run it for 6 months and then 2 - 3 weeks before the tax expired sell the car and go again. On most occasions I got £200-£300 more than I paid, worst I did was a £500 loss IIRC.
Buying older stuff at auction is a bit more risky. Good buys are Motability cars, often low mileage, well serviced but sometimes with minor scuffs which a Smart repair guy would sort for £60-£100.
I would buy the car and tax and run it for 6 months and then 2 - 3 weeks before the tax expired sell the car and go again. On most occasions I got £200-£300 more than I paid, worst I did was a £500 loss IIRC.
Buying older stuff at auction is a bit more risky. Good buys are Motability cars, often low mileage, well serviced but sometimes with minor scuffs which a Smart repair guy would sort for £60-£100.
OR, buy even older once you have done your research, run it for as long as it remains interesting, and DIY the maintenance. It's quite possible to make a small profit if you choose something that is unpopular when you buy it and more popular when you sell it - convertibles, for instance.
I can't understand the mentality of buying something brand new that halves in value in three years. However it's good that people do this, to maintain a regular supply of cheap second-hand metal for the likes of me to enjoy ...
Oli.
I can't understand the mentality of buying something brand new that halves in value in three years. However it's good that people do this, to maintain a regular supply of cheap second-hand metal for the likes of me to enjoy ...
Oli.
Idontdrinkrsmoke said:
If this has been covered before apologies but couldn't find anything using search function.
After years of suffering ball breaking depreciation what's wrong with buying cheap at auction, running car for 12 months then selling on privately for what you bought it for?
Even taking risk, unexpected repairs, scheduled maintenance into account it's still got to be cheaper than sitting doing sod all while the value of the car you paid top money for drops like a stone every month.
Unless I'm missing something I think this is the future for me when I come to change my current car.
Yes if only this was so easy to do. After years of suffering ball breaking depreciation what's wrong with buying cheap at auction, running car for 12 months then selling on privately for what you bought it for?
Even taking risk, unexpected repairs, scheduled maintenance into account it's still got to be cheaper than sitting doing sod all while the value of the car you paid top money for drops like a stone every month.
Unless I'm missing something I think this is the future for me when I come to change my current car.
Bill said:
I found that £1k sheds were a bit too sheddy (Admittedly I didn't look for long) so went to £2k and got a pristine 80k Mazda 6 estate that's cost bugger all over the last year and a bit. It has a 2l petrol engine with cam chain and I can't see why it won't last 5 years at least.
Agree with this. There are a lot of tatty <£1k cars out there, and some very dodgy sharky people in the Autotrader classifieds. Upping the budget seems to help a bit.Where is the best place to look for cheap sheds? In the murky world of sub £2k cars in London, Autotrader (and gumtree and ebay) are full of dodgy home traders, all peddling rough cars which they presumably picked up at auction and hope to turn £500 profit on. Where are all the genuine well looked after cars, owned by the stereotypical "little old lady"? Do these people not bother with selling privately any more?
Idontdrinkrsmoke said:
kambites said:
Why twelve months? You'll probably do better on average to buy a car for 1k and keep it until it keels over completely.
Was thinking any longer than 12 months and you might struggle to get your money back. I Like the idea of the 1k bargain but was more thinking about £3-5K where a car has lost most of the initial depreciation already and is still relatively new.
As a rule new mass market and premium car lose a lot of money very quickly. The older they get the less they will lose as quickly.
But some more niche vehicles will retain their value far better.
Also at auction you really don't have a choice and it is pot luck to how good the vehicle will be or not.
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