Are the wheels about to fall of car finance?

Are the wheels about to fall of car finance?

Author
Discussion

VGTICE

1,003 posts

87 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Ares said:
Fiddly-Dee said:
daemon said:
You cant artificially control the prices though at auction?
Is that strictly true though? Manufacturers can send tame dealers into auction, with a pot-load of "marketing" cash, to artificially bid up the price of sold cars, thereby keeping up the perceived residual values and, by extension, the second-hand prices of their cars.
Do you really think that happens? Seems devoid of commerciality to me.
To answer all three in one go. They might be outbidding others at publicly open auctions but the real way to control the supply/demand/prices of used stock is through closed auctions which stop average traders from acquiring stock and gives those inside access to valuable stock at low prices that then can be priced accordingly, in line with what the brand needs to keep the new car market alive. Rinse and repeat.

Justin Case

2,195 posts

134 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Too much gloom and doom I think. Rises in bank rates are often more aimed at giving a signal to the markets than greatly affecting the actual rates that borrowers pay (or savers get). Increasing the bank rate to 1% even would not make a lot of difference to someone paying 5% on a PCP. Also, do you think that people who have had a new Audi on a PCP will suddenly move to a secondhand Kia Picanto? My view is that they will stretch themselves a a bit more to keep the sort of car that they are used to. Similarly the newish cars sold with a manufacturer backed guarantee and finance should continue to sell well, they tend to be more economical and have low VED, which makes them attractive even if you have to borrow to buy them..

What I think more likely is that there will be a collapse at the bottom end of the market, where cars are more expensive to run and credit is less easy to obtain. In fact I will be surprised if any cars like the Vectra or Mk 3 Mondeo will be on the road in three years time, as they wil be undesirable, worthless and not worth repairing when they go wrong. No, we will all be driving around in Golfs, Fiestas and the like and still maintaining our standard of living otherwise smile

NickCQ

5,392 posts

96 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Ares said:
Fiddly-Dee said:
daemon said:
You cant artificially control the prices though at auction?

Edited by daemon on Tuesday 27th June 16:28
Is that strictly true though? Manufacturers can send tame dealers into auction, with a pot-load of "marketing" cash, to artificially bid up the price of sold cars, thereby keeping up the perceived residual values and, by extension, the second-hand prices of their cars.
Do you really think that happens? Seems devoid of commerciality to me.
I thought it happened the other way around - manufacturers drip the stock back into the market relatively slowly to keep prices up. This is manifesting itself in the way that daemon describes, i.e. there is never enough quality stock to go around. The housebuilders like to pull the same trick with their land banks - it makes no commercial sense for them to develop everything at once, so they hold back some schemes to create a bit of scarcity value.

However, to be able to sit on unsold stock you need a healthy balance sheet. So you get a 'perfect storm' in the used market where increasing supply intersects with dropping demand, with the usual result.

I just can't see 2008 happening again though, - the car finance market is just too small to crash the economy and the banking system appears to be more effectively regulated in liquidity and solvency these days. Famous last words.

Sa Calobra

37,113 posts

211 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Agree the car finance market won't crash the economy. It'll take a few coincidental circumstances that put pressure on household income, for instance a spike in interest levels, oil prices, etc etc.

Fiddly-Dee

23 posts

119 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Ares said:
Fiddly-Dee said:
daemon said:
You cant artificially control the prices though at auction?

Edited by daemon on Tuesday 27th June 16:28
Is that strictly true though? Manufacturers can send tame dealers into auction, with a pot-load of "marketing" cash, to artificially bid up the price of sold cars, thereby keeping up the perceived residual values and, by extension, the second-hand prices of their cars.
Do you really think that happens? Seems devoid of commerciality to me.
It certainly used to, during the relative infancy of manufacturer-approved used car schemes and before the advent of ever-more efficient/opaque retail finance packages; efficient in the sense of driving used stock back into the official dealer chain under the control of the manufacturers, opaque in the spirit of the majority of the posts in this thread...I have no reason to think that it does not continue, in some fashion.

Most contributors to this thread would accept that both new and used car markets in the UK are heavily manipulated, the arguments stem around the mechanisms by which this manipulation is effected.

In spite of all of this, the UK continues to enjoy some of the cheapest new and (especially) used cars in the World.

Ares

11,000 posts

120 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Justin Case said:
Too much gloom and doom I think. Rises in bank rates are often more aimed at giving a signal to the markets than greatly affecting the actual rates that borrowers pay (or savers get). Increasing the bank rate to 1% even would not make a lot of difference to someone paying 5% on a PCP. Also, do you think that people who have had a new Audi on a PCP will suddenly move to a secondhand Kia Picanto? My view is that they will stretch themselves a a bit more to keep the sort of car that they are used to. Similarly the newish cars sold with a manufacturer backed guarantee and finance should continue to sell well, they tend to be more economical and have low VED, which makes them attractive even if you have to borrow to buy them..

What I think more likely is that there will be a collapse at the bottom end of the market, where cars are more expensive to run and credit is less easy to obtain. In fact I will be surprised if any cars like the Vectra or Mk 3 Mondeo will be on the road in three years time, as they wil be undesirable, worthless and not worth repairing when they go wrong. No, we will all be driving around in Golfs, Fiestas and the like and still maintaining our standard of living otherwise smile
Yes. But it could affect the 2-3% deals!

Sa Calobra

37,113 posts

211 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
On the news from the BOE, consumer debt has ramped up over the last year. A sign people are struggling to pay their monthly outgoings and using a credit card to temporarily supliment bills?

Ares

11,000 posts

120 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Sa Calobra said:
On the news from the BOE, consumer debt has ramped up over the last year. A sign people are struggling to pay their monthly outgoings and using a credit card to temporarily supliment bills?
...or people taking advantage of dirt cheap credit.

jeremyh1

1,350 posts

127 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Sa Calobra said:
On the news from the BOE, consumer debt has ramped up over the last year. A sign people are struggling to pay their monthly outgoings and using a credit card to temporarily supliment bills?
Exactly The worry is not your average member on here who enjoys owning a car and will borrow with what they can afford to enjoy the car they want .

The huge number of people that are borrowing to pay the rent and mortgage dont come on here

Sa Calobra

37,113 posts

211 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
True your hobbies and interests only really exist when you have surplus/disposable income.

Ares

11,000 posts

120 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
[redacted]

liner33

10,690 posts

202 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
VGTICE said:
When the market collapses the deals on used car market will be amazing, scrap metal kind of deals - after all they've produced and sold so many cars over the recent years when the sauce runs out and the low end isn't willing to buy overpriced used tat they'll either have to sell them on cheaply, export them, or scrap them. Or store them on huge disused airports waiting for market to pick up, which might take a while reducing the value of held stock even further.
You keep using the term "collapses" , I dont believe it will collapse it will evolve into something that looks different to how it is now like how the mortgage industry has changed sinced the 80's

If new deals become less attractive people will simply keep their cars longer, used values will increase and finance deals will be more weighted for used stuff ie like the market is in other European countries

Of course should the car market slow down significantly there will no doubt be a government sponsored diesel scrappage scheme to support sales

CivBrum

125 posts

83 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
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Sa Calobra

37,113 posts

211 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Good point I totally forgot about that.

Ares

11,000 posts

120 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
CivBrum said:
Interest rates aren't that cheap for everyone, remember. I have a decent salary and a decent credit score, yet the interest rate on my personal loan is 6.9%. Some had quoted me as high as 14% even though their advertised rates were 3%. I think a lot of people in the sub-prime end of the market will be taking out auto loans with high interest rates (though admittedly, it is easier to get the lower rates on a new car than it is when taking out an unsecured loan for a used car - I am sure I would have got 0-3% if I PCP'd a brand new car).
Which is where I don't the the low rates are funding the wrong kind of growth to a massive degree.

My current car is at 1.9% through BMW FS. The incoming one is business lease so not relevant, but the deal is better ;-)

katz

147 posts

92 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Ares said:
I genuinely don't think it is the same thing.

Taking the opportunity of cheaper finance to get a better car is fine, and I am quite sure happens. I don't believe people are consciously using cheap finance to pay monthly living costs.
I think many many more folks than you think are indeed using cheap credit to pay monthly living costs.

Blakewater

4,308 posts

157 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
katz said:
Ares said:
I genuinely don't think it is the same thing.

Taking the opportunity of cheaper finance to get a better car is fine, and I am quite sure happens. I don't believe people are consciously using cheap finance to pay monthly living costs.
I think many many more folks than you think are indeed using cheap credit to pay monthly living costs.
A lot of people get themselves into a downward spiral with catalogue debt and companies like Brighthouse where everything they have is paid on a monthly basis, not just the bigger things like cars. A lot of people are just disorganised with money.

55palfers

5,905 posts

164 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
CivBrum said:
Interest rates aren't that cheap for everyone, remember. I have a decent salary and a decent credit score, yet the interest rate on my personal loan is 6.9%. Some had quoted me as high as 14% even though their advertised rates were 3%. I think a lot of people in the sub-prime end of the market will be taking out auto loans with high interest rates (though admittedly, it is easier to get the lower rates on a new car than it is when taking out an unsecured loan for a used car - I am sure I would have got 0-3% if I PCP'd a brand new car).
6.9%!

Phew!

I get about .75% on cash deposits.

No wonder my arse feels sore most of the time these days


CivBrum

125 posts

83 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
55palfers said:
CivBrum said:
Interest rates aren't that cheap for everyone, remember. I have a decent salary and a decent credit score, yet the interest rate on my personal loan is 6.9%. Some had quoted me as high as 14% even though their advertised rates were 3%. I think a lot of people in the sub-prime end of the market will be taking out auto loans with high interest rates (though admittedly, it is easier to get the lower rates on a new car than it is when taking out an unsecured loan for a used car - I am sure I would have got 0-3% if I PCP'd a brand new car).
6.9%!

Phew!

I get about .75% on cash deposits.

No wonder my arse feels sore most of the time these days
I told dealers that I would take their finance if they could better the rate. Told me (without looking at my personal info) they rarely do better than 10%...

Sheepshanks

32,718 posts

119 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017
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