Will Coronavirus hit used car prices?

[cedrichn]

My small experience, trying to sell my CT200h since just before COVID in North West London area (72k, 2 previous owner, FSH - only half main dealer). One of the cheapest for the mileage.

WBAC valuation
- in Feb : £7 100
- during lockdown : £6 100
- after lockdown : £7 100
- today : £7 500

On sale on the classic ads places. Only silly offers and time wasters, Facebook being the worst in quantity / bullst story / lowest price offers (is it their "job" ? Do they each think they are the only one trying ?) Only one guy came to see the car, without even test driving it...
I think I am just in the worst price tag : too expensive for people who need to buy but not invest, too cheap for people who are not impacted by Covid. And the area must not help either in term of "buyers" and competition... Might give it a go at WBAC....

[Throttlebody]

Joey Deacon said:

jamoor said:

One of my friends works in plant, he says prices at auctions are going crazy due to the bounce back loans

Essentially companies have received an injection of £50k to go and can go on a spending spree, hence crazy prices at auction as all traders with 50k are buying up stock. In additon vans, commercials will be along the same lines.

Does that explain why prices are up?

I would expect that all the money the government are injecting into the economy must be having an effect on asset prices. There is little point leaving money in the bank so your options are essentially to buy assets or invest in the stock market.

With the recently announced £100 billion extra the government have just created I can't see this ending any time soon.

Sunak will now be looking to boost the economy probably via infrastructure, capital allowances, skills training, maybe some VAT, not by paying more wages and propping up weak businesses. The extended opportunity to buy ‘stuff’ with Govt £ is being withdrawn. The pent up demand will fade.

[Stay in Bed Instead]

Stay in Bed Instead said:

Stay in Bed Instead said:

I tagged a Range Rover I liked the look of just before lockdown, £64,990. It's still for sale and the dealer has just increased the price by £500.

Hmmmm.

They have just increased the price of this to £66,190.

It is some sort of reverse psychology trying to get someone to buy it before the price increases beyond their affordability?

Now £66,890.

[Algarve]

Stay in Bed Instead said:

Stay in Bed Instead said:

Stay in Bed Instead said:

I tagged a Range Rover I liked the look of just before lockdown, £64,990. It's still for sale and the dealer has just increased the price by £500.

Hmmmm.

They have just increased the price of this to £66,190.

It is some sort of reverse psychology trying to get someone to buy it before the price increases beyond their affordability?

Now £66,890.

I wonder if these places are increasing prices to give someone a bargain discount they're delighted with.

[b80]

Throttlebody said:

Joey Deacon said:

jamoor said:

One of my friends works in plant, he says prices at auctions are going crazy due to the bounce back loans

Essentially companies have received an injection of £50k to go and can go on a spending spree, hence crazy prices at auction as all traders with 50k are buying up stock. In additon vans, commercials will be along the same lines.

Does that explain why prices are up?

I would expect that all the money the government are injecting into the economy must be having an effect on asset prices. There is little point leaving money in the bank so your options are essentially to buy assets or invest in the stock market.

With the recently announced £100 billion extra the government have just created I can't see this ending any time soon.

Sunak will now be looking to boost the economy probably via infrastructure, capital allowances, skills training, maybe some VAT, not by paying more wages and propping up weak businesses. The extended opportunity to buy ‘stuff’ with Govt £ is being withdrawn. The pent up demand will fade.

Indeed, the economic pain is yet to come. I imagine they'll be a lot less demand come the autumn, unfortunately.

[menousername]

Is it to give the illusion of a strong market?

If they thought it was too cheap based on interest they might move it up once, but if they had genuine interest it would have sold already.

Out of the almost 200 i was tracking across 4 or 5 models only 6 appear to have shifted. 2x Jag 2 x BMW 2x VW. Each of those being the strongest examples based on combination of spec / mileage / price. Nothing else moving including one car where dealer put price up 4%

WBAC on mine has come back to pre-lock down value but has not grown since, which is not consistent with the idea of strong trade-in prices due to high demand

Agree with above - used prices too strong for what you are getting. Cannot be bothered changing my car is fine will just keep it.

[av185]

All high end car dealers are desperate for stock which is pushing up used prices to all time highs.

Ferrari and Porsche official dealers particularly desperate.

Romans International had a record weekend.

[Algarve]

Who would have thought someone had a record week after several months of not really being able to sell something.

Lets see them report sales of a random week later in the year.

[TurboHatchback]

Algarve said:

Stay in Bed Instead said:

Stay in Bed Instead said:

Stay in Bed Instead said:

I tagged a Range Rover I liked the look of just before lockdown, £64,990. It's still for sale and the dealer has just increased the price by £500.

Hmmmm.

They have just increased the price of this to £66,190.

It is some sort of reverse psychology trying to get someone to buy it before the price increases beyond their affordability?

Now £66,890.

I wonder if these places are increasing prices to give someone a bargain discount they're delighted with.

I've seen similar things before. A question for the car dealers among us, do you sit there manually changing prices based on your interpretation of the market or would this be done by software tracking for sale/CAP prices etc?

[av185]

Algarve said:

Who would have thought someone had a record week after several months of not really being able to sell something.

Lets see them report sales of a random week later in the year.

In any normal year sales would be slower during autumn winter anyway.

[Algarve]

av185 said:

In any normal year sales would be slower during autumn winter anyway.

Sure, but I suspect we won't see anyone in October or November boasting about sales being up against the same week in 2019.

[CRA1G]

TurboHatchback said:

I've seen similar things before. A question for the car dealers among us, do you sit there manually changing prices based on your interpretation of the market or would this be done by software tracking for sale/CAP prices etc?

Autotrader have the software to track prices in real time up to £50K so if a dealer wants to sell his stock all at "good price" that can change up or down daily if he wishes.

[b80]

Algarve said:

Who would have thought someone had a record week after several months of not really being able to sell something.

Lets see them report sales of a random week later in the year.

Exactly. Not sure why people are almost celebrating or surprised by these recent 'records'.

It's going to look extremely grim I suspect in a few months and will continue for a long time afterwards.

[ChocolateFrog]

Jasandjules said:

Mexman said:

354 pages of trying to answer the original question.
I have now found the definitive answer......



No.
End thread

I suspect it is more likely "Not yet". But we will see.

Exactly, can people not see past the end of the week.

[BevR]

cedrichn said:

My small experience, trying to sell my CT200h since just before COVID in North West London area (72k, 2 previous owner, FSH - only half main dealer). One of the cheapest for the mileage.

WBAC valuation
- in Feb : £7 100
- during lockdown : £6 100
- after lockdown : £7 100
- today : £7 500

On sale on the classic ads places. Only silly offers and time wasters, Facebook being the worst in quantity / bullst story / lowest price offers (is it their "job" ? Do they each think they are the only one trying ?) Only one guy came to see the car, without even test driving it...
I think I am just in the worst price tag : too expensive for people who need to buy but not invest, too cheap for people who are not impacted by Covid. And the area must not help either in term of "buyers" and competition... Might give it a go at WBAC....

On a similar note I have kept an eye on WBAC prices for my S2000.

June 8th: £6,725
June 21st: £8,500

That is quite a jump for less than two weeks!

However nearly all of the cars on my auto trader watch list sold in the first week of showrooms being open (mx5's, Mustangs, Boxsters, f types and an Exige), very few new cars have since come up and the few that have are all a lot more expensive, mainly as they are delivery miles (MX5 RF GT).

Edited by BevR on Monday 22 June 15:24

[Deep Thought]

b80 said:

Algarve said:

Who would have thought someone had a record week after several months of not really being able to sell something.

Lets see them report sales of a random week later in the year.

Exactly. Not sure why people are almost celebrating or surprised by these recent 'records'.

It's going to look extremely grim I suspect in a few months and will continue for a long time afterwards.

I guess the "celebration" for a dealer is that they could have been returning to no sales and sitting on devaluing stock, and that hasnt been the case.

From the observational perspective, its interesting to see so much high end stock still being sold - i certainly dont begrudge them that.

And good from a PR perspective for that dealer - we cant really fault the dealer for that.

Even the most optimistic of us know theres a very rocky road ahead but good dealers are currently getting sales now that will help bolster them through the tough times to come.

From a personal perspective, i'd like to have seen prices drop to make cars maybe previously a little out of my reach affordable (a £20K M2 would have been very very nice), but i'm pleased for the dealers - and their employees that demand is currently there.

Edited by Deep Thought on Monday 22 June 15:40

Edited by Deep Thought on Monday 22 June 15:41

[b80]

Deep Thought said:

b80 said:

Algarve said:

Who would have thought someone had a record week after several months of not really being able to sell something.

Lets see them report sales of a random week later in the year.

Exactly. Not sure why people are almost celebrating or surprised by these recent 'records'.

It's going to look extremely grim I suspect in a few months and will continue for a long time afterwards.

I guess the "celebration" for a dealer is that they could have been returning to no sales and sitting on devaluing stock, and that hasnt been the case.

From the observational perspective, its interesting to see so much high end stock still being sold.

And good from a PR perspective for that dealer - we cant really fault the dealer for that.

Even the most optimistic of us know theres a very rocky road ahead but good dealers are currently getting sales now that will help bolster them through the tough times to come.

On a personal note i'd like to have seen prices drop to make cars maybe previously a little out of my reach affordable, but i'm pleased for the dealers - and their employees that demand is currently there.

Edited by Deep Thought on Monday 22 June 15:39

Yes agree with that, I hope most of the people buying expensive cars are well equiped for a potential meltdown and aren't just being short-sighted.

I'm the same, keeping a keen on the market to see if newer M, RS cars move into 20-30k bracket.

[Deep Thought]

b80 said:

Yes agree with that, I hope most of the people buying expensive cars are well equiped for a potential meltdown and aren't just being short-sighted.

I'm the same, keeping a keen on the market to see if newer M, RS cars move into 20-30k bracket.

I think my hope of a £20K M2 has went up in smoke.

[b80]

Deep Thought said:

b80 said:

Yes agree with that, I hope most of the people buying expensive cars are well equiped for a potential meltdown and aren't just being short-sighted.

I'm the same, keeping a keen on the market to see if newer M, RS cars move into 20-30k bracket.

I think my hope of a £20K M2 has went up in smoke.

could still happen. not sure what happened with M3's, RS's and similar in 2008, but recall seeing a graph where overall car prices plummeted drastically for a couple of years.

[Jim on the hill]

RS5s seem rediculously cheap at the moment. A lot of car for £22,000 imo