Will Coronavirus hit used car prices?

[Pommy]

V8RX7 said:

Pommy said:

Those who have been so opposed to PCP and only buy cash are looking a bit fked now - they have an asset dropping like a stone that they cant get out of and costing them massively more than a loss limiting PCP/finance arrangement.

As everything I own is bought, not on any finance.

Remind me how I'm in trouble as I haven't got any bills to pay ?

Wouldn’t you rather have cash available rather than tied up in a car? Maybe, maybe not but there will come a point this ends and you’re left with an asset that has cost you a lot more than if you simply financed its cost for a limited period with certain total outlay.

My point is more pointed at some of the recent PCP threads where there were vehement ‘PCP arrangements are bad’ points made are clearly affected by a substantial downturn in car values as ultimately your losses are limited whereas owning something outright is a much bigger financial impact.

I’m not generally pro or anti PCP nor am I pro or anti Cash, depends on the persons circumstances, but for me, I’d rather keep as much money in the bank to have freedom to deal with the uncertainty ahead than £’000’s locked up without the flexibility.

[TurboHatchback]

Pommy said:

V8RX7 said:

Pommy said:

Those who have been so opposed to PCP and only buy cash are looking a bit fked now - they have an asset dropping like a stone that they cant get out of and costing them massively more than a loss limiting PCP/finance arrangement.

As everything I own is bought, not on any finance.

Remind me how I'm in trouble as I haven't got any bills to pay ?

Wouldn’t you rather have cash available rather than tied up in a car? Maybe, maybe not but there will come a point this ends and you’re left with an asset that has cost you a lot more than if you simply financed its cost for a limited period with certain total outlay.

My point is more pointed at some of the recent PCP threads where there were vehement ‘PCP arrangements are bad’ points made are clearly affected by a substantial downturn in car values as ultimately your losses are limited whereas owning something outright is a much bigger financial impact.

I’m not generally pro or anti PCP nor am I pro or anti Cash, depends on the persons circumstances, but for me, I’d rather keep as much money in the bank to have freedom to deal with the uncertainty ahead than £’000’s locked up without the flexibility.

Depends where you are in the market surely. If I had just dropped a huge wad buying a new car outright and that was most of the money I had then that would be bad. If like me you own a 15yr old car outright then that's a better place to be because it can't really depreciate any more and there are no outgoings to maintain.

[KTF]

I dont need to buy another car at the moment but if the prices tank then I will be interested in buying a newer car. I have a few on a watch list so will see what happens in 3 weeks time assuming this is lifted.

Mine is only worth a couple of grand at the moment so have less to lose if the value of that tanks as well.

To do anything now tough (even if I could) would be madness imo.

[Justin Case]

On the very limited experience of people I know, they take out PCPS to avoid the risk of being hit in the wallet by a large bill, and this tends to be cheaper than 'buy new sell at three ' They tend to rinse and repeat so there could be a steady flow of three year old cars into the system, but that will depend in turn on the flow of new cars which at present seems unlikely. At the end of the day it all depends on the balance of supply and demand, both are uncertain so I fear that any predictions are merely speculation at this stage.&

[Fezzaman]

WBAC have stopped doing valuations in the current market.... I know we all had a chuckle at the bids WBAC were making for various cars, but if they were a sort of 'lender of last resort' they've shut up shop too.

I am willing to risk a hypothetical tenner to buy a V8 Vantage. I'll come collect (taking the quite significant health and personal safety risk of encountering the kind of folk that refuse to comply with guidance, or perhaps law enforcement questioning my movements), pay cash and use lots of hand sanitiser etc etc before taking it off your hands.

Does anyone need to sell?

While I jest and it's an extreme example, in 3 weeks time (or who knows how long), if WBAC are still shut, noone else is around to free up your cash or get you out of your finance agreement (regardless of whether it was unaffordable from the outset, or is going to be unsustainable going forward as your business etc needs to free up cash flow/pay 20% of the wages to top up the 80% govt contribution etc) - the bid on that car is going to be a lot less. Same goes for dealers who have stock sat on their forecourts - it will be interesting to see how Sytner go about their 'buy cars online' model. And then we assume that there's a petrol station open to fill it up and get home.

All we can do is hope this isn't a prolonged state of affairs and we can go back to 'normal' life and business and enjoying our cars.

[GT3Manthey]

11:32:16 {IT} ITALY'S PETROL STATIONS WILL START TO CLOSE, MOTORWAY PUMPS TO CLOSE FROM WEDNESDAY - OPERATORS
11:32:24 That's a lock down!

[aaron_2000]

Shuvi McTupya said:

mike74 said:

I can assure you the vast majority won't despite whatever ever the debt junkie ten bob millionaires claim.

I actually do have the value of my car sitting in my bank account.

Unfortunately that is nothing to brag about

Scrap price has fallen so much that I'd get £20 to scrap mine

[OscarIndia]

Fezzaman said:

WBAC have stopped doing valuations in the current market.... I know we all had a chuckle at the bids WBAC were making for various cars, but if they were a sort of 'lender of last resort' they've shut up shop too.

I am willing to risk a hypothetical tenner to buy a V8 Vantage. I'll come collect (taking the quite significant health and personal safety risk of encountering the kind of folk that refuse to comply with guidance, or perhaps law enforcement questioning my movements), pay cash and use lots of hand sanitiser etc etc before taking it off your hands.

Does anyone need to sell?

While I jest and it's an extreme example, in 3 weeks time (or who knows how long), if WBAC are still shut, noone else is around to free up your cash or get you out of your finance agreement (regardless of whether it was unaffordable from the outset, or is going to be unsustainable going forward as your business etc needs to free up cash flow/pay 20% of the wages to top up the 80% govt contribution etc) - the bid on that car is going to be a lot less. Same goes for dealers who have stock sat on their forecourts - it will be interesting to see how Sytner go about their 'buy cars online' model. And then we assume that there's a petrol station open to fill it up and get home.

All we can do is hope this isn't a prolonged state of affairs and we can go back to 'normal' life and business and enjoying our cars.

I do have a very nice V8 Vantage for sale, Ex Pistonheaders car, but not on the cheap!

[braddo]

It would be interesting to hear from car finance companies what their contingency plans are for the next month or two.

For contracts that are coming to end now or soon, I wonder if they will just try to agree with their customers to keep the contract rolling for say 1-3 months longer.

That keeps the customer in a car, keeps some cash coming into the finance company's door and postpones all the complication of changing vehicles in terms of both values and logistics.

[Masiv]

braddo said:

It would be interesting to hear from car finance companies what their contingency plans are for the next month or two.

For contracts that are coming to end now or soon, I wonder if they will just try to agree with their customers to keep the contract rolling for say 1-3 months longer.

That keeps the customer in a car, keeps some cash coming into the finance company's door and postpones all the complication of changing vehicles in terms of both values and logistics.

On a similar note, Motability is allowing people to cancel ordered cars, even if they are ready to collect from the dealer. A lot of people don't want to take the health risk of collecting the car and so will just extend their current lease until we return to some sense of normality. The other reason is that they will not be able to go anywhere, so they will let their lease expire and have the money in their pocket instead.

This will lead to extra cars, some already registered being dumped on dealers.

[Auto810graphy]

Re the Motability cars, the dealer does not own them or need to sell them so Motability as the owner will handle the disposal as the price they sell for will be more than they paid.

[Touring442]

Fezzaman said:

it will be interesting to see how Sytner go about their 'buy cars online' model.

They've dumped 2000 cars at auction, no reserve. Their overheads are incredible.

[So]

Touring442 said:

Fezzaman said:

it will be interesting to see how Sytner go about their 'buy cars online' model.

They've dumped 2000 cars at auction, no reserve. Their overheads are incredible.

Is this vanilla stock or premium too?

[C70R]

braddo said:

It would be interesting to hear from car finance companies what their contingency plans are for the next month or two.

For contracts that are coming to end now or soon, I wonder if they will just try to agree with their customers to keep the contract rolling for say 1-3 months longer.

That keeps the customer in a car, keeps some cash coming into the finance company's door and postpones all the complication of changing vehicles in terms of both values and logistics.

An interesting thought, and one that I hadn't considered.

Our lease is due back in late May. We have an alternative (my track car), but getting into a proper replacement London runaround would be very tricky with current restrictions.

[Fezzaman]

OscarIndia said:

I do have a very nice V8 Vantage for sale, Ex Pistonheaders car, but not on the cheap!

'Cheap' is a relative term . Surely there is a car that would tempt you out of your V8 that suddenly becomes attainable in all this?

[SpeckledJim]

Auto810graphy said:

Re the Motability cars, the dealer does not own them or need to sell them so Motability as the owner will handle the disposal as the price they sell for will be more than they paid.

And every buyer Motability finds is a buyer denied to the rest of the market.

[Masiv]

Auto810graphy said:

Re the Motability cars, the dealer does not own them or need to sell them so Motability as the owner will handle the disposal as the price they sell for will be more than they paid.

Not saying that you are wrong, but IIRC the car doesn't pass to Motability till it is accepted by the client by way of inputting a PIN that they have received. I know of cases where a car has been rejected or the person has changed their mind and that the dealer was stuck with the car.

After owning some sporty cars over the years, I'm currently in a Motability vehicle, Rav4, as I'm awaiting surgery due to spinal injuries from playing rugby. After waiting for 18 months, the NHS decided to pay for my surgery at a private hospital, and that was scheduled for 2 weeks time. Obviously that won't be going ahead now which sucks donkey dicks.

I'm due for a new car, but have just extended my lease for 6 months.

If the right car at a bargain price became available, I'd seriously consider buying rather than leasing.

[Johnnybee]

jjr1 said:

Touring442 said:

Sytners all closing as from today.

I believe they have also sent 2000 cars to auction with no reserve.

Prices of cars are definitely going to go up. It is obvious.

I drove past the Sheffield showroom earlier & the used cars have gone from the forecourt. I’m a key worker before anyone asks why I was out

[jjr1]

Johnnybee said:

jjr1 said:

Touring442 said:

Sytners all closing as from today.

I believe they have also sent 2000 cars to auction with no reserve.

Prices of cars are definitely going to go up. It is obvious.

I drove past the Sheffield showroom earlier & the used cars have gone from the forecourt. I’m a key worker before anyone asks why I was out

That showroom is something else. Much like there Cheltenham one.

It leaves the my local Nottingham one looking like a poor relation.

[av185]

Johnnybee said:

I’m a key worker before anyone asks why I was out

Timpsons have shut though.