Impossible-to-sell cars in high-inflation, pricey fuel UK?

[RoVoFob]

Which cars do you think are likely to be impossible to sell in the context of rapidly rising fuel costs, high inflation and a general household spending squeeze?

My guesses are the following (barring extremely desirable performance cars and high-end models where high tax and fuel consumption won’t put many of those buyers off), but what would you steer clear of?

• Cars that cost £600+ to tax
• Cars with sub-25mpg fuel economy
• Expensive luxury/performance cars that aren’t super-desirable
• Thirsty SUVs that aren’t super-desirable
• Potentially non-ULEZ 2000s petrols and 2010s diesels

What else am I missing?

[normalbloke]

Nothing new then?

[Slow]

RoVoFob said:

My guesses are the following (barring extremely desirable performance cars and high-end models where high tax and fuel consumption won’t put many of those buyers off), but what would you steer clear of?

I dont think anything is hard to sell just now. Used cars are massively up and trying to find anything sub £2k that isnt garbage is very hard.

Take a 2006 Range Rover 3.6 diesel, £600 tax, 25 mpg average, high repair costs, non ULEZ etc etc. Up in value for the same car compared to 2 years ago.

[RoVoFob]

Slow said:

I dont think anything is hard to sell just now. Used cars are massively up and trying to find anything sub £2k that isnt garbage is very hard.

Take a 2006 Range Rover 3.6 diesel, £600 tax, 25 mpg average, high repair costs, non ULEZ etc etc. Up in value for the same car compared to 2 years ago.

When you say up in value, are you saying the advertised price is higher or sale prices have increased?

There are loads of cars advertised at ludicrous prices, but many of the ones I’m watching are hanging around for quite a long time…

I imagine inflation is starting to bite some people now in a way they haven’t felt over the last few months, so I wonder if things are starting to turn.

[fatboy b]

RoVoFob said:

Which cars do you think are likely to be impossible to sell in the context of rapidly rising fuel costs, high inflation and a general household spending squeeze?

My guesses are the following (barring extremely desirable performance cars and high-end models where high tax and fuel consumption won’t put many of those buyers off), but what would you steer clear of?

• Cars that cost £600+ to tax
• Cars with sub-25mpg fuel economy
• Expensive luxury/performance cars that aren’t super-desirable
• Thirsty SUVs that aren’t super-desirable
• Potentially non-ULEZ 2000s petrols and 2010s diesels

What else am I missing?

Get a job with The Sun or The Daily Mail with those headlines

[RoVoFob]

fatboy b said:

Get a job with The Sun or The Daily Mail with those headlines

Have you seen Mail Online headlines? They’d only hire me if the headline were at least 500 words long

[Monkeylegend]

Anything will sell at the right price which will take into consideration the points you have mentioned.

[RoVoFob]

Monkeylegend said:

Anything will sell at the right price which will take into consideration the points you have mentioned.

True. I suppose the question is which ones will have to be at a low price to sell…

[Mr E]

3/5 ain’t bad.

[ChrisH72]

I've never been able to bring myself to buy anything in the top tax bracket. Just psychological I guess. MPG bothers me less as I don't do many miles. What puts me off most is the prospect of ruinous maintenance costs so I'd avoid old prestige or performance cars personally. For those with good DIY skills that might not be an issue.

But I'd say there's always a buyer for any car at the right price.

[RoVoFob]

ChrisH72 said:

I've never been able to bring myself to buy anything in the top tax bracket. Just psychological I guess. MPG bothers me less as I don't do many miles. What puts me off most is the prospect of ruinous maintenance costs so I'd avoid old prestige or performance cars personally. For those with good DIY skills that might not be an issue.

But I'd say there's always a buyer for any car at the right price.

That was always my approach until my A6 popped up. It was good enough condition-wise to cancel out the additional £260 over Band K road tax in normal maintenance savings…

It’s always hard to tell which prestige/performance cars are moneypits. Who knows whether buyers stay away from Lexuses and Range Rovers equally over the fear of premium unreliability…

[Brett748]

I’m involved in the C63 community and cars sell just fine and they are £600 tax, <20mpg etc.

People just get giddy about running costs but the reality is most people move less now than they used to so for most it’s less important.

I used to do 20k pa (13 of which was commuting) now I’ve done <3k since December when I returned the 63 to daily driving and haven’t moved the thing for a week because of WFH and I like walking in nice weather.

Again, it is the age old thing of people ignoring the biggest cost of motoring usually. Depreciation.

[Slow]

RoVoFob said:

Slow said:

I dont think anything is hard to sell just now. Used cars are massively up and trying to find anything sub £2k that isnt garbage is very hard.

Take a 2006 Range Rover 3.6 diesel, £600 tax, 25 mpg average, high repair costs, non ULEZ etc etc. Up in value for the same car compared to 2 years ago.

When you say up in value, are you saying the advertised price is higher or sale prices have increased?

There are loads of cars advertised at ludicrous prices, but many of the ones I’m watching are hanging around for quite a long time…

I imagine inflation is starting to bite some people now in a way they haven’t felt over the last few months, so I wonder if things are starting to turn.

I have seen and sold cars higher than before. My example was based on my purchase, bought a 06 range rover just before covid (im a serial buyer, had like 7 now) for under £3k and sold for £5k 2 months ago.

Bought my 2013 range rover for 20k in november, stuck it on at 24k incase someone is daft enough to pay current prices and I will buy another back when prices return to normal.

Lots of money to be made for people that dont *need* a car right now and purchesed pre covid/early covid.

[RoVoFob]

Brett748 said:

I’m involved in the C63 community and cars sell just fine and they are £600 tax, <20mpg etc.

People just get giddy about running costs but the reality is most people move less now than they used to so for most it’s less important.

I used to do 20k pa (13 of which was commuting) now I’ve done <3k since December when I returned the 63 to daily driving and haven’t moved the thing for a week because of WFH and I like walking in nice weather.

Again, it is the age old thing of people ignoring the biggest cost of motoring usually. Depreciation.

I suppose everything I looking at is 10+ years old, so I don’t have to worry too much about depreciation, but you’re right for newer stuff.

With things like the C63, as you say, there is a community that wants that specific car - it’s seen as being special. As for a Hyundai Coupe 2.7 V6 at £615 to tax, or other non-standout pricey-to-tax stuff, I’d imagine most people would rather choose something more exciting or cheaper to tax…

[QJumper]

RoVoFob said:

It’s always hard to tell which prestige/performance cars are moneypits. Who knows whether buyers stay away from Lexuses and Range Rovers equally over the fear of premium unreliability…

Any used car can be a money pit depending on poor past maintenance or simple bad luck. Prestige car wise, then Lexus seem to have a good reputation for reliability, so can be cheap to maintain, barring misfortune. Not sure the same could be said for Range Rovers. That said, when prestige cars do go wrong then it can be expensive to fix.

I would imagine there's a healthy market for used prestige cars, as at around 10 years old you can get what once was a £50-£60k+ luxury car for under 10 grand. Additionally, if only one or two previous owners, it often means they had enough money to maintain them well, usually with a full main dealer service history. The difficulties can come after several owners, where the last owner didn't pay that much, and then couldn't afford proper maintenance when problems arose.

[Brett748]

RoVoFob said:

I suppose everything I looking at is 10+ years old, so I don’t have to worry too much about depreciation, but you’re right for newer stuff.

With things like the C63, as you say, there is a community that wants that specific car - it’s seen as being special. As for a Hyundai Coupe 2.7 V6 at £615 to tax, or other non-standout pricey-to-tax stuff, I’d imagine most people would rather choose something more exciting or cheaper to tax…

I totally get it with cars like a Hyundai Coupe where you would spend a third of the cars value per annum on tax, it could be a difficult choice to justify.

Then again, a lot of these thirstier more expensive cars to tax have had easier lives and done less miles than their diesel counterparts which have been thrashed by Joe Bloggs and typically have much better spec than the lesser models so you can get a nicer car with a modest purchase price for the penalty of paying the tax.

[Fusion777]

Slow said:

I have seen and sold cars higher than before. My example was based on my purchase, bought a 06 range rover just before covid (im a serial buyer, had like 7 now) for under £3k and sold for £5k 2 months ago.

Bought my 2013 range rover for 20k in november, stuck it on at 24k incase someone is daft enough to pay current prices and I will buy another back when prices return to normal.

Lots of money to be made for people that dont *need* a car right now and purchesed pre covid/early covid.

So people are readily admitting (even as a seller) that current prices are way over the odds, and that they’ll return to normal.

Does make me wonder who’s buying used at the moment. Of course there will always be people that need a car plus those with money to burn, but would have thought most people now would be prepared to sit and wait (a few on here have mentioned deferring purchases).

[Honeywell]

I have a 2016 L322 TDV8 with 166,000 miles on it. It's gone up in value according to my routine Autotrader searches.

I think if it went bang now I'd keep it as a doner car fir a slightly newer L322 TDV8. 4 newish tyres is £600, its recently had £300 of oil and filter change, its git the proper mats and decent dog guard so there's £1000 in ancillary bits. You only need a xenon light unit to go on the newer car and having the spare in the shed pays off.

Like many the WFH thing means commuting mileage of 13,000 miles is now 3,000 miles AND we get paid fuel expenses when the car has to make site visits from time to time. The tax is annoying but I'm spending far less on fuel and serving than pre-Covid in the thing so it's life with me has been extended by the pandemic. The 3.6 litre cars also have no DPF to worry about and I find Landrover parts cheap and labour at specialists affordable. The NS front suspension failed with a leak recently and a brand new air spring was £330 fitted - they used to be £1000 at Main Dealers.

Plus the insurance on a car worth barely £3000 is £203 fully comp.

Older cars can make sense and I am less bothered by out of date satnav etc as the iPhone is handling all that. Plus of course the thing still looks and drives like a Rangerover and I don't have to give a damn when the kids spill Ribena in it and the muddy dogs are full the boot.

The newer models don't actually do anything different for me or on/off road.

[fflump]

RoVoFob said:

I suppose everything I looking at is 10+ years old, so I don’t have to worry too much about depreciation, but you’re right for newer stuff.

With things like the C63, as you say, there is a community that wants that specific car - it’s seen as being special. As for a Hyundai Coupe 2.7 V6 at £615 to tax, or other non-standout pricey-to-tax stuff, I’d imagine most people would rather choose something more exciting or cheaper to tax…

Like a pre-2006 Hyundai Coupe 2.7 V6...

[SWoll]

Fusion777 said:

Does make me wonder who’s buying used at the moment.

Anyone who needs a car and has no choice around price + anyone with a car to sell that has also increased in price? Possible we are seeing more lateral and downgrade buying at the moment than would be usual but the trickle down effect will 100% keep the used market bouyant, especially at the cheaper end.

The first thing to go in difficult times for many will be the car obviously. Relatively quick and easy to realise some cash and reduce outgoings by downgrading to a slightly older, more efficient option. Cheaper tax, insurance, fuel etc.