The misunderstanding of the cost of modern cars
Discussion
cheadle hulme said:
Saw an 05 Hyundai Sonata go through auction today at £2550. It had 31k and was immaculate with all options.
OK, its a s
t car, bought by people who don't care about cars.
People like my uncle perhaps, who is about to pay £17k on a Focus to do 5k per year.
The Focus does 45mpg compared to the Hyundai 32mpg though.
£2550! Nearly pulled the trigger myself.
Previous generation Hyundais and Kias (ie between them being a complete joke and being what they are now) are stupendous value for money.OK, its a s
t car, bought by people who don't care about cars.People like my uncle perhaps, who is about to pay £17k on a Focus to do 5k per year.
The Focus does 45mpg compared to the Hyundai 32mpg though.
£2550! Nearly pulled the trigger myself.
Gaspode said:
To my mind, there is no sensible economic argument for buying a new car. Why not let someone else pay for the depreciation and get all the new car niggles ironed out for you?
Depends on the car - I bought a brand new Picanto last year for £5500 -why would I want to buy a 3 year old one for £3500-£4000 ?stick100 said:
not that long ago a family four door saloon would cost you 13,000 now you need 20,000 +
if you brought a vw golf by the time you add a few bits on you've done over 23,000
I bought a new Golf last March, from a VW dealer - 1.4 Twist, 5dr, metallic paint. Cost £13K. It's got everything vital, including a iPod connection.if you brought a vw golf by the time you add a few bits on you've done over 23,000
As someone mentioned earlier, you can pay over £40K for a Golf. VW must laugh their heads off everytime someone buys one.
RenesisEvo said:
It's called inflation.
I'm sure that is a factor, but I get the impression they're rising quicker than that. I think some of it comes down to our expectations - wind up windows and rattly trim were acceptable in a basic hatchback 10 years ago, but now questions are being asked if your entry level car doesn't come with AC and Bluetooth.Chris71 said:
I'm sure that is a factor, but I get the impression they're rising quicker than that. I think some of it comes down to our expectations - wind up windows and rattly trim were acceptable in a basic hatchback 10 years ago, but now questions are being asked if your entry level car doesn't come with AC and Bluetooth.
My dad bought a brand new Kia Rio for £6900 - fair bit cheaper than a new Corsa (and bigger) but very, very basic.
Deva Link said:
I bought a new Golf last March, from a VW dealer - 1.4 Twist, 5dr, metallic paint. Cost £13K. It's got everything vital, including a iPod connection.
As someone mentioned earlier, you can pay over £40K for a Golf. VW must laugh their heads off everytime someone buys one.
Was that a run out model to get rid of the old 1.4 before a replacement engine was introduced?As someone mentioned earlier, you can pay over £40K for a Golf. VW must laugh their heads off everytime someone buys one.
The popularity of finance deals has almost certainly enabled prices to rise.
A lot of people don't understand the implications of getting credit and just look at the monthly payment to judge 'affordability', hence they'll borrow a lot of money to buy something overpriced so long as initial payments look low. A bit like houses really.
A lot of people don't understand the implications of getting credit and just look at the monthly payment to judge 'affordability', hence they'll borrow a lot of money to buy something overpriced so long as initial payments look low. A bit like houses really.
My last new Company car was a Subura Impreza Turbo with a list price of just under £24k in 1996. That was our bench mark price based on the price of the Ford Granada Ghia 2 litre. This was 16 years ago.
In real terms new cars are cheaper today than they ever have been. I guess some of you young pups don't know how lucky you are.
Insurance, now that's a different matter.
In real terms new cars are cheaper today than they ever have been. I guess some of you young pups don't know how lucky you are.
Insurance, now that's a different matter.
Lucas Ayde said:
The popularity of finance deals has almost certainly enabled prices to rise.
A lot of people don't understand the implications of getting credit and just look at the monthly payment to judge 'affordability', hence they'll borrow a lot of money to buy something overpriced so long as initial payments look low. A bit like houses really.
A lot of people don't understand the implications of getting credit and just look at the monthly payment to judge 'affordability', hence they'll borrow a lot of money to buy something overpriced so long as initial payments look low. A bit like houses really.
- the explosion of PCP has no doubt aided thisToaster Pilot said:
Depends on the car - I bought a brand new Picanto last year for £5500 -why would I want to buy a 3 year old one for £3500-£4000 ?
True, I can't think of a reason why someone should want to buy a 3 year old Picanto for 3.5k, but my point is more why would one want to buy a new Picanto for 5.5k when one could buy say a used VW Polo instead?Swoxy said:
Was that a run out model to get rid of the old 1.4 before a replacement engine was introduced?
Yes. But is shows what they can do, even with a decent equip level, nice alloys etc. I still can't quite believe it, to be honest.I did humm and harr about the 1.4TSi Match, but £6K more was too much. And reading about the issues with that engine makes me even more glad I didn't get it!
I don't think prices have risen, if anything I'd say they're continuing to fall faster than ever.
As far as I can see, you can buy a new car now as cheaply in real terms as you ever could (and the cheapest new car now is better than the cheapest new car in the past has ever been), and if you compare the prices of any cars of the same size from the past and now with the same performance and spec list, they will be cheaper in real terms now.
Like for like, I don't think car prices have ever gone up since the motorcar was invented (except maybe during the wars).
As far as I can see, you can buy a new car now as cheaply in real terms as you ever could (and the cheapest new car now is better than the cheapest new car in the past has ever been), and if you compare the prices of any cars of the same size from the past and now with the same performance and spec list, they will be cheaper in real terms now.
Like for like, I don't think car prices have ever gone up since the motorcar was invented (except maybe during the wars).
Edited by kambites on Sunday 12th February 13:13
Gaspode said:
True, I can't think of a reason why someone should want to buy a 3 year old Picanto for 3.5k, but my point is more why would one want to buy a new Picanto for 5.5k when one could buy say a used VW Polo instead?
A used VW Polo for the same price would be pretty much out of warranty, so when the legendary VW reliability strikes yet again it'd be me footing the bill, for a start....Chris71 said:
I'm sure that is a factor, but I get the impression they're rising quicker than that. I think some of it comes down to our expectations - wind up windows and rattly trim were acceptable in a basic hatchback 10 years ago, but now questions are being asked if your entry level car doesn't come with AC and Bluetooth.
+1 agreed with that. Even the most basic Mondeo has cruise control now. Even I struggle to account for inflation these days, which certainly would make modern cars seem very expensive. A Mars bar for 60p seems steep to me because I recall well when a Mars bar was 25p, but inflation means that's how much it costs now. So imagine how much you have to shift your expectation of what a car will cost.Gaspode said:
To my mind, there is no sensible economic argument for buying a new car. Why not let someone else pay for the depreciation and get all the new car niggles ironed out for you?
I agree, however if no-one bought a brand new car, eventually they'd be no used cars to buy either. For some people, peace of mind and hassle-free is what they want. A new car gives at least 3 years of warranty, no MoTs, and for a lot of people, the smug satisfaction of having the latest letters on their number plate. Clearly you pay a lot for that, but evidently people are willing to pay it. Also, if we all did the sensible thing all the time, life would be pretty dull, no? I bought my current car at 21 months old. At that time it's value had dropped by over £10k. It's now past it's fourth birthday, and I reckon it's lost maybe £2k in that time. The depreciation is like a cliff to start with.DoctorX said:
The list price of an Escort LX TD in 1995 (17 years ago!) was the best part of 15K. Prices gone up less than you think. Not that I paid that, thank god. Worst car I've ever owned.
They'd gone up a lot to get to that point though. I vividly remember the Mk2 Escort coming out in the mid 70's and the horror at the pricing as even ordinary models approached £2K.iva cosworth said:
I paid £9K for my Fiesta 4 years ago.
The equivalent model now is about £13K
At some point, you will probably regret that. The equivalent model now is about £13K
I do agree that cars have become very expensive. Golf diesel with a few toys is nudging 20k now, which I think is a lot of money for a golf.
Short of a seriously big windfall or a lottery win, I can't see myself every buying a new car.
Monkeylegend said:
Prof Prolapse said:
Out of interest, does anybody know how similar the trend mimics house prices?
In real terms cars have gone down and houses up.I paid £65k for a house in 1997 that is now worth £220k, and £24k for a car that now costs £28k ish. Do the maths
As much as i love cars and will keep spending my hard earned on them,they must be the biggest waste of money known to man.The fact that you can invest £40k on a car and a year or so later it only be worth around half that is just criminal IMO.
A lex said:
Compared to a lot of places in the world, new cars in the UK are very, very cheap. 2nd hand cars in the UK are almost unbelievably cheap.
For most things motoring the UK has got it very, very easy. Thats including fuel costs, tax, insurance and consumables pricing.
Take a look at prices in places like NL, BE and Denmark if you want an eye-opener.
Our used car prices are probably the lowest in the world. So even with low new car pricing out cost of ownership is comparable, or worse, than other places. In many countries, even the US, cars that we would send to the scrapheap will sell for a couple of £K.For most things motoring the UK has got it very, very easy. Thats including fuel costs, tax, insurance and consumables pricing.
Take a look at prices in places like NL, BE and Denmark if you want an eye-opener.
I've told this before but a colleague of mine in Holland was thrilled to get a old Volvo S80 with "only" 160Km (100K miles) for €11K. Same car here is about £4K.
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