Will Coronavirus hit used car prices?

[Deep Thought]

Throttlebody said:

Deep Thought said:

Uh huh.

Pertinent bit highlighted - again.

The difference between pre and during lockdown prices is minimal. That is the key point being made.

No, the key point is, generally, what they offer you isn’t what you get when you present the car. They play games with values to try and hook you in.

You're just doing as i said you would - ignoring the point because it doesnt fit with your narrative.

Had they been offering half what they were two months ago you'd have been all over that as clear evidence you are right, but because it doesnt you're ignoring it, in fact you're evading the point.

[Throttlebody]

Deep Thought said:

Throttlebody said:

Deep Thought said:

Uh huh.

Pertinent bit highlighted - again.

The difference between pre and during lockdown prices is minimal. That is the key point being made.

No, the key point is, generally, what they offer you isn’t what you get when you present the car. They play games with values to try and hook you in.

You're just doing as i said you would - ignoring the point because it doesnt fit with your narrative.

Had they been offering half what they were two months ago you'd have been all over that as clear evidence you are right, but because it doesnt you're ignoring it, in fact you're evading the point.

Nope, my narrative is correct. No point In trying to read the true market by analysing WBAC offered prices over a set time period. They’re bottom feeders playing pricing games.

[Throttlebody]

Jules Sunley said:

I think WBAC is taking into account at present that there may not be many buyers clamouring to visit dealers so they may sit on stock for longer.

I always do a WBAC quote out of interest when I'm selling a car and maybe February I did a quote on my X5 which came back at 11k. I too more recently got the lockdown message of 'we are not quoting at present' and then last week had a mail to say they are quoting again and to 'click for an updated valuation' which came back at 9k so a lot less.

I agreed a sale on the car on Monday (via Autotrader) for 13.5k which is what I wanted having listed at 13,990 so I'd say dealers like WBAC are offering quite a bit less than they were pre-lockdown but the private sale market seems fine.

I pitched my car based on others on AT knowing it is a great spec' and condition and I have a comprehensive ring binder of history so once someone came to see it they should want it and it was indeed the first viewer to buy. I've had 5 or 6 enquiries in total now since the weekend (I have left the ad up with a note that a deposit has been paid, just covering my bases until I get the balance on collection this Saturday) so the used market seems alive and well for a popular car.

Good work. Just shows at what level WBAC is operating.

[Jules Sunley]

Throttlebody said:

Good work. Just shows at what level WBAC is operating.

Thanks. Just had an email from them upping by £500 so definite game playing but still way off the mark

[rovermorris999]

A rather hysterical headline but some interesting stuff on this topic here
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/05/28/ca...

And in other news, Nissan are shutting their Barcelona plant so Sunderland looks safe, at least for the time being.

[Deep Thought]

rovermorris999 said:

A rather hysterical headline but some interesting stuff on this topic here
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/05/28/ca...

And in other news, Nissan are shutting their Barcelona plant so Sunderland looks safe, at least for the time being.

Behind a paywall.

[stevemcs]

Throttlebody said:

Nope, my narrative is correct. No point In trying to read the true market by analysing WBAC offered prices over a set time period. They’re bottom feeders playing pricing games.

Not everybody wants strangers coming around their house, selling privately can attract weirdos and people who want to return the car after a week because its broken. WBAC offers a service, it buys a car fuss free, yes they knock you down but its no different to a buyer visiting a dealer and knocking down the car they are buying because of a stone chip or used tyre.

They are a level playing field, they are run by an auction house, if anyone knows what prices a car should be its them. Yes the prices are low but they are a good benchmark for the current situation.

[growlerowl]

Deep Thought said:

Behind a paywall.

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[rovermorris999]

Deep Thought said:

rovermorris999 said:

A rather hysterical headline but some interesting stuff on this topic here
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/05/28/ca...

And in other news, Nissan are shutting their Barcelona plant so Sunderland looks safe, at least for the time being.

Behind a paywall.

Ah, sorry, some stories are, some not. The headline is 'Car finance bubble reaches coronavirus bursting point'.

[jjr1]

growlerowl said:

Deep Thought said:

Behind a paywall.

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Cheers.

[Deep Thought]

growlerowl said:

Deep Thought said:

Behind a paywall.

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Thanks!

[Deep Thought]

stevemcs said:

Not everybody wants strangers coming around their house, selling privately can attract weirdos and people who want to return the car after a week because its broken. WBAC offers a service, it buys a car fuss free, yes they knock you down but its no different to a buyer visiting a dealer and knocking down the car they are buying because of a stone chip or used tyre.

They are a level playing field, they are run by an auction house, if anyone knows what prices a car should be its them. Yes the prices are low but they are a good benchmark for the current situation.

Particularly any pre-COVID and current values people have from them.

[ettore]

Throttlebody said:

Deep Thought said:

Throttlebody said:

Deep Thought said:

Uh huh.

Pertinent bit highlighted - again.

The difference between pre and during lockdown prices is minimal. That is the key point being made.

No, the key point is, generally, what they offer you isn’t what you get when you present the car. They play games with values to try and hook you in.

You're just doing as i said you would - ignoring the point because it doesnt fit with your narrative.

Had they been offering half what they were two months ago you'd have been all over that as clear evidence you are right, but because it doesnt you're ignoring it, in fact you're evading the point.

Nope, my narrative is correct. No point In trying to read the true market by analysing WBAC offered prices over a set time period. They’re bottom feeders playing pricing games.

They’re not. I’ve sold two cars to them and they were as good as gold. Both prices higher than p/ex offers and only had one, very minor, adjustment on one which was perfectly fair. Really easy and straightforward too.

[BevR]

rovermorris999 said:

A rather hysterical headline but some interesting stuff on this topic here
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/05/28/ca...

And in other news, Nissan are shutting their Barcelona plant so Sunderland looks safe, at least for the time being.

Comments on the article dont really tally with what posters here have given, I wonder if the telegraph commentator has been watching the auctions or is just making assumptions?

telegraph comment said:

The car firm sells the car to its' finance subsidiary. The car finance subsidiaries borrow money in the public debt markets. Those subsidiaries are the entity the car "renter" contracts with for the car "rental".

Everything is fine unless the renter is unable to pay or the car residual plummets.

You only have to go to a car auction to realise how 3 year old car values are plunging.

[nickfrog]

Deep Thought said:

Sa Calobra said:

Throttlebody said:

BigFatWombat said:

I’ve got a 2011 X5 50i, valuations from WBAC prior to lockdown were c.£11k. I applied for an updated value about 10 days ago, received a ‘we can’t value it at the moment but will get back to you’ reply. On Saturday I received an email inviting me to apply for a value so I did, £9145, which is about what I expected given what some posters on PH have said their experiences have been.

But I’ve literally just (10 minutes ago) had an email to say the value has gone up so reapply. I did, and the value today is £10895! A near 20% increase in value in 4 days! I don’t know what it says about the market except that values are clearly all over the place at the moment.

No, they just want you to bring it in so they can chip away at it and then offer you £9k.

Agree. And also make you feel like they Are giving you 1800 when in reality 11k is piss poor

Both missing the point somewhat - We all know WBAC offer low values and then chip you back.

Its the relative value - pre COVID19 and right now thats whats interesting and might give us an indicator as to where the market is at.

Indeed. Whatever you think of them, I find that easy to understand. If anything, the gap seems small compared to what I would have expected over the period f it had been without C19. £500 or so perhaps.

[Throttlebody]

rovermorris999 said:

A rather hysterical headline but some interesting stuff on this topic here
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/05/28/ca...

Valid article. Finance houses will be crapping themselves over RVs and VTs. Much of that is still to play out. The PCP game has always been operating on the edge, in particular wrt sub prime selling.

[MDMA .]

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/used-car-p...

[Deep Thought]

Throttlebody said:

Finance houses will be crapping themselves over RVs and VTs. Much of that is still to play out.

Yup. The risk lies with the finance companies, hence why they're currently bending over backwards to offer payment holidays to minimise the risk that they'll get the car handed back via a VT or at the end of term or them having to try to repossess it.

It will be interesting to see how they continue to manage that.

Throttlebody said:

The PCP game has always been operating on the edge, in particular wrt sub prime selling.

You keep referencing "sub prime lending" in the same sentence as PCP like its the norm. Where is your evidence of that in the UK market?

[Deep Thought]

MDMA . said:

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/used-car-p...

Yeah probably seems reasonable enough, and spread over the course of a year.

For perspective, on a typical £10K used car, its going to be approx £700 cheaper to buy.

[Butter Face]

MDMA . said:

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/used-car-p...

Gosh, 7%! How will dealers survive eh!