Will Coronavirus hit used car prices?

[ChocolateFrog]

Welshbeef said:

Car sales for the month of May official on news now down 89%

Or nearly 400% growth since April

Business is booming.

[Deep Thought]

Welshbeef said:

Car sales for the month of May official on news now down 89%

Turning that around, i think the fact that there was still 10% of normal volumes sold given we were in full lockdown is fairly impressive.

To me it shows some dealers arent just going to sit on their hands and wait and hope things return to the (old) normal - they're proactively selling in whatever way they can.

Junes figures will be interesting. I'm sure the "it'll drop off a cliff" nay sayers will be nowhere to be seen at that point.

Edited by Deep Thought on Thursday 4th June 11:41

[av185]

Welshbeef said:

Car sales for the month of May official on news now down 89%

Better than anticipated then.

Virtually impossible to buy during lockdown.

Pent up demand showing through atm.

[Anonymous-poster]

There has to be pent up demand as it was very very difficult to buy a new car in April and May and possibly 100 of thousands of PCP/leases were coming to an end.

[PorkInsider]

JQ said:

They don't seem to be selling any mainstream cars. Why are they not doing so, if there's a market for it?

I think they just don't have any interest in being a mainstream platform. They'll only let you list what they think is worthy, and with a sensible reserve, so clearly trying to keep it niche. They'll get a reputation for good quality, 'interesting' lots, which will help them grow and, as it is, they can take fees up to £6k per sale.

If they went mainstream they'd end up competing with EBay, et al, and gain the reputation that would go with that, as well as needing huge volumes going through.

[MattS5]

the-photographer said:

Salmonofdoubt said:

I'm still not convinced it's that simple. Otherwise you could buy a car use it for a week and return it for free, especially if you buy online from the nearest place to your house, then returns would be easy.

For physical deliveries i.e. old normal, VW had

No quibble exchange

30 day/1,000 mile 'no quibble' exchange policy.
If for any reason, you want to change the car - maybe you have second thoughts, or it doesn't fit in your garage you may be able to exchange it for another of the same price (or higher, with you paying the difference), as long as the vehicle is returned in the same condition as when it was collected and the retailer you bought your car from has an available vehicle in their stock.

Albeit VW didnt offer a refund, rather the opportunity to either have a different car (like they'd have one of the same model/spec/price etc) or you'd have to pay the difference for a more expensive model.

The propsotion would work better if they offered a no quibble refund.

[SpeckledJim]

MattS5 said:

the-photographer said:

Salmonofdoubt said:

I'm still not convinced it's that simple. Otherwise you could buy a car use it for a week and return it for free, especially if you buy online from the nearest place to your house, then returns would be easy.

For physical deliveries i.e. old normal, VW had

No quibble exchange

30 day/1,000 mile 'no quibble' exchange policy.
If for any reason, you want to change the car - maybe you have second thoughts, or it doesn't fit in your garage you may be able to exchange it for another of the same price (or higher, with you paying the difference), as long as the vehicle is returned in the same condition as when it was collected and the retailer you bought your car from has an available vehicle in their stock.

Albeit VW didnt offer a refund, rather the opportunity to either have a different car (like they'd have one of the same model/spec/price etc) or you'd have to pay the difference for a more expensive model.

The propsotion would work better if they offered a no quibble refund.

It'd work extremely well for anyone fancying a free month swanning around in someone else's car.

[jamoor]

MattS5 said:

the-photographer said:

Salmonofdoubt said:

I'm still not convinced it's that simple. Otherwise you could buy a car use it for a week and return it for free, especially if you buy online from the nearest place to your house, then returns would be easy.

For physical deliveries i.e. old normal, VW had

No quibble exchange

30 day/1,000 mile 'no quibble' exchange policy.
If for any reason, you want to change the car - maybe you have second thoughts, or it doesn't fit in your garage you may be able to exchange it for another of the same price (or higher, with you paying the difference), as long as the vehicle is returned in the same condition as when it was collected and the retailer you bought your car from has an available vehicle in their stock.

Albeit VW didnt offer a refund, rather the opportunity to either have a different car (like they'd have one of the same model/spec/price etc) or you'd have to pay the difference for a more expensive model.

The propsotion would work better if they offered a no quibble refund.

Indeed, and they wouldn't negotate on the price of the car you want to replace it with.

[PorkInsider]

Deep Thought said:

Junes figures will be interesting. I'm sure the "it'll drop off a cliff" nay sayers will be nowhere to be seen at that point.

Do you not think it will be far too early to tell where things are heading, regardless of June's numbers?

As was being discussed, the mass redundancies won't be seen until the bulk of the support starts being withdrawn. In the meantime we all know plenty of people dim enough to sit back and enjoy the band playing while the ship they're on slowly sinks.

I'd love for there to be a buoyant and thriving motor industry for the foreseeable future - especially before we're all consigned to wky electric dross - but I just cannot see it.

[Inky81]

Deep Thought said:

Junes figures will be interesting. I'm sure the "it'll drop off a cliff" nay sayers will be nowhere to be seen at that point.

Edited by Deep Thought on Thursday 4th June 11:41

I expect June to be fairly high on new registrations for a couple of reasons.

1. These cars will have often been ordered pre-covid, but factory and showroom closures have delayed delivery until now.
2. With March -May virtually nil, you're potentially getting 4 months worth of deliveries in one calendar month.

Whether the long term sees a return to normal levels is another question, I don't think any of the forum experts we have here have the right answer. Furthermore the short/medium/long term impact on used car values is still unclear.

[Elroy Blue]

Relative of mine works at a Honda dealer. He sold ten new cars in the first two days of opening. Says it's been manic

[nickfrog]

Inky81 said:

I don't think any of the forum experts we have here have the right answer.

I agree. Being adamant about what the future holds and calling it "truth" and "facts" makes their posturing look silly, at best.
We can all guess of course but no one can be certain of much.

[Anonymous-poster]

nickfrog said:

Inky81 said:

I don't think any of the forum experts we have here have the right answer.

I agree. Being adamant about what the future holds and calling it "truth" and "facts" makes their posturing look silly, at best.
We can all guess of course but no one can be certain of much.

Surely on a forum discussion would be very limited if no one had an opinion?

[Deep Thought]

PorkInsider said:

Do you not think it will be far too early to tell where things are heading, regardless of June's numbers?

As was being discussed, the mass redundancies won't be seen until the bulk of the support starts being withdrawn. In the meantime we all know plenty of people dim enough to sit back and enjoy the band playing while the ship they're on slowly sinks.

I'd love for there to be a buoyant and thriving motor industry for the foreseeable future - especially before we're all consigned to wky electric dross - but I just cannot see it.

Agreed.

I think there will be a flurry of activity for a month or two - pent up demand, relaxation of lockdown, etc - but after that will be key.

After that, who knows?

[Inky81]

Anonymous-poster said:

nickfrog said:

Inky81 said:

I don't think any of the forum experts we have here have the right answer.

I agree. Being adamant about what the future holds and calling it "truth" and "facts" makes their posturing look silly, at best.
We can all guess of course but no one can be certain of much.

Surely on a forum discussion would be very limited if no one had an opinion?

I agree, but it can get a bit monotonous when the same people repeat the same opinions and don't give others the chance to offer up an alternative viewpoint before descending into name-calling.

[Deep Thought]

Inky81 said:

Deep Thought said:

Junes figures will be interesting. I'm sure the "it'll drop off a cliff" nay sayers will be nowhere to be seen at that point.

Edited by Deep Thought on Thursday 4th June 11:41

I expect June to be fairly high on new registrations for a couple of reasons.

1. These cars will have often been ordered pre-covid, but factory and showroom closures have delayed delivery until now.
2. With March -May virtually nil, you're potentially getting 4 months worth of deliveries in one calendar month.

Whether the long term sees a return to normal levels is another question, I don't think any of the forum experts we have here have the right answer. Furthermore the short/medium/long term impact on used car values is still unclear.

+1

totally agree.

[Throttlebody]

Welshbeef said:

Car sales for the month of May official on news now down 89%

Obviously another distorted month, but interestingly the biggest seller was the Tesla Model 3. People embracing Tesla’s mode of selling. Cutting out some of the nause of that traditional dealer and salesmen interface.

[Inky81]

Throttlebody said:

Welshbeef said:

Car sales for the month of May official on news now down 89%

Obviously another distorted month, but interestingly the biggest seller was the Tesla Model 3. People embracing Tesla’s mode of selling. Cutting out some of the nause of that traditional dealer and salesmen interface.

That'll be about the 0% BIK and 100% Writing Down Allowance. I doubt many of those are 'private' purchases. Also, Tesla are a nightmare to deal with. No doubt they'll improve, but they're not set up for the volumes just yet.

[gizlaroc]

Elroy Blue said:

Relative of mine works at a Honda dealer. He sold ten new cars in the first two days of opening. Says it's been manic

For Honda that is manic.

I went to look at a Boxster last week, the guy worked for a Honda dealer for a couple of years after he was retired. Used to work for BMW in London. He said it was a weird experience, nearly every sale was someone coming in for a cup of tea and a chat and replacing their 3 year old Honda with a different colour one with full warranty again. No selling at all, no having to explain the benefits of the marque vs the competition as the customers simply wasn't considering anything else.

He said the sales figures were really low, but they used to very rarely discount and as such profits were actually pretty impressive.

His targets for the quarter were less than monthly targets for BMW.

[Camelot1971]

Welshbeef said:

Argleton said:

danp said:

Welshbeef said:

So far Furlough has cost £17billion.

Where did you see that? I’ve read that it’s costing circa £14 billion a month.

e.g. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/05/12/me...

Welshbeef in bullst 'facts' shocker...!

Shame you didn’t wait for my reply instead lob abuse over.

In these times of racism, online trolling and mental Health illness it’s shameful the casual remarks are allowed to be posted.

You made a rod for your own back by being a proven liar here. Yes, it was some time ago, but expect to be called out on what you post if people don't believe you. Or should should no one ever receive challenge or criticism because "snowflake"?