Will Coronavirus hit used car prices?

[Deep Thought]

Anonymous-poster said:

There was 2pictures earlier in the thread of thousands of “new” cars in holding compounds?

I'm confused - you previously said you thought these were used (and others said they were used) - now you're saying they're new?

[Deep Thought]

Anonymous-poster said:

Deep Thought said:

growlerowl said:

Deep Thought said:

Where has he - or anyone - said we're near the end of this?

Even in that post he said - how long it will last is anyones guess.

If i was in sales i'd definitely be doing as Mexman is saying they are doing - make hay while the sun shines and bolster the business for the road ahead.

There's plenty of crowing going on but just because the government happened to pour vast sums of money into the furlough scheme, doesn't make anyone on the 'prices won't fall' side any kind of sage like genius.

I think it speaks volumes that you see it as "crowing".

Nor is anyone saying they're a sage like genius for predicting prices may fall at some point - except ThroBo of course.

Is crowing the opposite of sneering?

You would need to ask Growlerowl as hes the one seeing crowing.

[Anonymous-poster]

Deep Thought said:

I'm confused - you previously said you thought these were used (and others said they were used) - now you're saying they're new?

The quotation marks are there for a reason!

[spikeyhead]

Anonymous-poster said:

There was 2pictures earlier in the thread of thousands of “new” cars in holding compounds?

T'was always thus, but the pictures only get rolled out when someone thinks that the world is about to end.

[Deep Thought]

WilliamWaiver said:

Seems like the used car market is buoyant for the time being. Pent up demand and low supply means basic economics is kicking in so much so some prices of the lumpy stuff have actually gone up.
I've been bid £30k more than 6 months ago on one of my 1 year old supercars presumably because there is no/very limited new car production and low used car stock and in comparison to list price a nearly new car is a massive saving still.
Seems like a lot of the governments grant money to businesses is finding its way into supercar purchases rather than what it was designed for from what I am hearing repeatedly which is disgraceful

And therein lies a side effect of "free money" to small businesses who perhaps didnt need it and BBLs with no checks again on need.

It will be interesting to see what action the government take through HMRC - i suspect very little, publicly at least, though i'd say there will be some in the hot seat down the line in front of an HMRC investigation.

[Deep Thought]

Anonymous-poster said:

Deep Thought said:

I'm confused - you previously said you thought these were used (and others said they were used) - now you're saying they're new?

The quotation marks are there for a reason!

I always took it they were new cars TBH. It makes more sense - parked there until ready for distribution, no great surprise during lockdown. Used cars - i cant see why they would be there. No doubt an "expert" will tell us why.

[Deep Thought]

spikeyhead said:

Anonymous-poster said:

There was 2pictures earlier in the thread of thousands of “new” cars in holding compounds?

T'was always thus, but the pictures only get rolled out when someone thinks that the world is about to end.

[jimPH]

Vroomer said:

Interesting statistic:

At around 10.00am today their were 531k cars listed on Autotrader.

At around 2.30pm today there were 532k cars listed on Autotrader.

So that's an increase of 1,000 cars in just over 4 hours at a time when people aren't meant't to be making inessential journeys.

What do you make of that?

Today there are 461,333 cars

[HTP99]

Deep Thought said:

Anonymous-poster said:

Deep Thought said:

I'm confused - you previously said you thought these were used (and others said they were used) - now you're saying they're new?

The quotation marks are there for a reason!

I always took it they were new cars TBH. It makes more sense - parked there until ready for distribution, no great surprise during lockdown. Used cars - i cant see why they would be there. No doubt an "expert" will tell us why.

I know, I know...... manufacturers keep back lease/PCP returns for a year or 2 to keep used car values high, some are even crushed, I've read it here a few times!

[Auto810graphy]

Deep Thought said:

I'm confused - you previously said you thought these were used (and others said they were used) - now you're saying they're new?

I was looking at a list or ex management / rental Mercedes last week, in excess of 4000 cars but it always is, they are just in transition from return to sale so end up at Thurleigh in the interim.

Likewise there are going to be compounds full of cars that have arrived that are going to rental companies etc but won’t be needed until September plate change.

[Auto810graphy]

HTP99 said:

I know, I know...... manufacturers keep back lease/PCP returns for a year or 2 to keep used car values high, some are even crushed, I've read it here a few times!

Ergh?

[HTP99]

Auto810graphy said:

HTP99 said:

I know, I know...... manufacturers keep back lease/PCP returns for a year or 2 to keep used car values high, some are even crushed, I've read it here a few times!

Ergh?

A theory that is often bandied about on here, which is utter bks.

[Deep Thought]

Auto810graphy said:

Deep Thought said:

I'm confused - you previously said you thought these were used (and others said they were used) - now you're saying they're new?

I was looking at a list or ex management / rental Mercedes last week, in excess of 4000 cars but it always is, they are just in transition from return to sale so end up at Thurleigh in the interim.

Likewise there are going to be compounds full of cars that have arrived that are going to rental companies etc but won’t be needed until September plate change.

You make a good point. When i bought my year old Passat back in 2017 the dealer just operated from a big spreadsheet - listing spec level, colour, body type, engine, miles, price. You just picked the combo you wanted and they had it delivered in a few days. No doubt ex hire or ex lease cars but presumably sitting somewhere in bulk and then distributed around the UK when sold.

[Auto810graphy]

HTP99 said:

A theory that is often bandied about on here, which is utter bks.

[growlerowl]

Just thought I'd mention a car came up on AT that mentioned 'selling due to redundancy', so out of interest I put redundancy in the keyword box: 22 private seller hits. If that search means anything then the pain isn't being felt yet. It's when that gets into the tens or hundreds of thousands I guess we might see used prices fall generally.

[Mexman]

growlerowl said:

Just thought I'd mention a car came up on AT that mentioned 'selling due to redundancy', so out of interest I put redundancy in the keyword box: 22 private seller hits. If that search means anything then the pain isn't being felt yet. It's when that gets into the tens or hundreds of thousands I guess we might see used prices fall generally.

I dont think many people will be putting, "selling due to redundancy " in their adverts.
That to me is like saying, "I'm skint, selling my car, come and pull my pants down".
Not a very clever sales technique.

[Deep Thought]

Mexman said:

growlerowl said:

Just thought I'd mention a car came up on AT that mentioned 'selling due to redundancy', so out of interest I put redundancy in the keyword box: 22 private seller hits. If that search means anything then the pain isn't being felt yet. It's when that gets into the tens or hundreds of thousands I guess we might see used prices fall generally.

I dont think many people will be putting, "selling due to redundancy " in their adverts.
That to me is like saying, "I'm skint, selling my car, come and pull my pants down".
Not a very clever sales technique.

Agreed. And any scaling of that assumes as soon as someone gets made redundant they "must" sell their car.

Although it'll be a handy new reason for sale for the traders masquerading as private sellers. Will make a change from "only selling so quickly because my wife doesnt like it" or similar.

Edited by Deep Thought on Sunday 5th July 12:22

[av185]

growlerowl said:

Just thought I'd mention a car came up on AT that mentioned 'selling due to redundancy', so out of interest I put redundancy in the keyword box: 22 private seller hits. If that search means anything then the pain isn't being felt yet. It's when that gets into the tens or hundreds of thousands I guess we might see used prices fall generally.

Its probably just another well used cliche like 'forced Covid sale' to make a potential purchaser think its a bargain.

[Algarve]

growlerowl said:

Just thought I'd mention a car came up on AT that mentioned 'selling due to redundancy', so out of interest I put redundancy in the keyword box: 22 private seller hits. If that search means anything then the pain isn't being felt yet. It's when that gets into the tens or hundreds of thousands I guess we might see used prices fall generally.

A lot of people won't be made redundant yet, there isn't really any need to while the taxpayer will pick up the tab. But we're going to see more of this - https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/p...

They're all being made redundant the day before the business owner needs to start putting his hand in his own pocket.

[Court_S]

av185 said:

Court_S said:

Otispunkmeyer said:

Earthdweller said:

av185 said:

Airline cuts and job losses were expected in what is the hardest hit sector by the pandemic.

As I said :

That’s just one very visible high profile sector

But, my local paper is full of businesses shedding staff, places closing down others not reopening

The high St looks like a wasteland.

My wife’s business had 40% of staff in some sectors on furlough, many are back some aren’t

The business carried on throughout running about 90% and I’m pretty sure consolidation will be taking place before 2021 in both real estate and staffing

I’m pretty sure corporate boardrooms across the UK will be looking long and hard at what’s been learnt and where they need to be in the future

Hopefully I’m wrong but the autumn could see a jobs bloodbath

Got some mates who work for JCB in uttoxeter. One at the main site and one at power systems a bit closer to the M1.

I say work. Worked. They're both being let go with around 40% of the total workforce. I found that crazy! I thought JCB were a bit of a success story. I didn't expect them to be doing something like that after a couple of months, considering construction is one of those sectors that seem to be able to weather storms others can't.

Construction isn’t weathering it all that well. Lots of the big contractors (eg Wates) are shedding staff, lots of architect practices don’t expect to survive. I’m a PQS and some of our competitors are shedding staff already (G&T, RLB). Travis Perkins have shed a bunch of staff and are closing outlets.

We’ve had pay cuts and were on a reduced working week. We’ve had some of the pay cut back and have returned to a full working week. Our fee income has taken a real battering (predicted to be down about £6m). We’re seeing a few projects being mothballed as clients start to get nervous.

The industry is hoping that the announcement of school and hospital will tide them over for a bit but there’ll be a whole lot of firms nit on government frameworks so won’t be eligible for anything.

Construction is probably second only to airlines in terms of bearing the brunt of cutbacks when economies contract which is what we are seeing now with JCB so no surprises there.

Yup, lots of our clients reacted really quickly putting stuff on hold particularly the retail and leisure sector who are a big part of the business in the office I work from. In the credit crunch the retail stuff was a massive lifeline when the big private commercial stuff stuttered.

There’s a big ripple effect; main contractors, subbies, building merchants, plant hire companies etc.