RE: Alpine A110 | PH Used Buying Guide
Discussion
leglessAlex said:
I was thinking about the green one, but it might go before I've got the money and I'm not so sure of my purchase that I'd put down a deposit to secure it. I was hoping the blue one they had would hang around but sadly not.
I'm literally just up the A34 from them though, so if the green one goes I'll just wait until they get another in stock.
" not so sure of my purchase that I"d put down a deposit " what arent you sure about , purely the colour ?I'm literally just up the A34 from them though, so if the green one goes I'll just wait until they get another in stock.
PH said:
Strong residuals make the A110 a great used buy
To me, strong residuals have made it a good new buy. I don't understand this idea that just because something's expensive, it's a good buy ??? Seems like the 'greater fool' theory of investment in car form.Nobody knows what the future values will be from this point onwards; in five years' time we'll be able to look back and answer whether buying a used Alpine now was a good financial decision or not.
It's not even like, say, a BMW 3 series, where you've got decades of track record of the brand and model to be able to make an informed guess about future values relative to its competition.
PH said:
the A110's mid-mounted transverse Renault-Nissan direct injection turbo four - a 1.8 just like its predecessor
The 'definitive' original A110 ran a 1.6L Renault engine; there's the odd reference to later competition cars being bored out to 1.8L, but that's not really representative of how the car was sold or how it won rallies.PH said:
most of the serious problems with any new car tend to happen in the early years
?? Porsche 986/996 bore-scoring only became apparent quite a few years down the line, I don't think it was a known issue back in 2000-01 (four years from launch). Same with boot floor cracking on the E46 or rod bearings on the E90, AFAIK ? Only example I can think of to the contrary would be the RX-8, whose engine issues did start to surface in the USA within 2-3 years of launch I think.I'd suggest that problems that surface early (within the launch cars' three year warranty) are generally either (a) overblown in significance and/or (b) taken care of by the manufacturer under warranty or via recalls, and thus don't generally have much to do with the longer term outlook on the model as a used car.
None of this is to criticise the A110, just some stuff in the article that has me scratching my head.
reddiesel said:
" not so sure of my purchase that I"d put down a deposit " what arent you sure about , purely the colour ?
Colour and which exact model to go for, whether I buy a new one arriving in a few weeks/months, order one, get an ex-demo, a nearly new or an early car with five figure mileage already on it. breezer42 said:
I would argue that strong residuals make it a great new buy, but a bad used buy!
Not really. Most semi-normal cars will still have the initial depreciation in year one or two, but cars like this then level out and don’t drop any further. Lotus Exige is another one. £80k+ for a new one from dealer stock. £65k for a 2 year old one but it just doesn’t seem to really drop any more from that point.
Paul_M3 said:
breezer42 said:
I would argue that strong residuals make it a great new buy, but a bad used buy!
Not really. Most semi-normal cars will still have the initial depreciation in year one or two, but cars like this then level out and don’t drop any further. Lotus Exige is another one. £80k+ for a new one from dealer stock. £65k for a 2 year old one but it just doesn’t seem to really drop any more from that point.
New for £80k as you say
2019 for £65k as you say
2017 car for £56k
2014 car for £42k
I absolutely agree that performance cars, unlike normal ones, tend to have a value 'floor' that they descend to and then stay there, but it's normally about ten years to reach the floor, which is under half the new price. The only exceptions I can think of are things like Caterhams and Morgans, and very very limited production cars. I don't see the evidence of the Exige reaching a floor after as little as two years or as high as £65k.
It's difficult to judge what's really reaching its floor at present, as the rising tide of the current market is lifting all boats, and only when the tide goes out will we see who's swimming naked.
PH said:
Compare its 1.98m girth to the Audi TT's 1.83m and you could see why the Alpine needed watching in tight environments until you got used to it."
You are comparing the width of the A110 with mirrors extended (Alpine website says 1.798m with mirrors folded) to the width of the TT excluding mirrors.samoht said:
The evidence in the classifieds doesn't really seem to support that argument; the S3 Exige appears to follow a conventional relationship of older cars being lower valued:
New for £80k as you say
2019 for £65k as you say
2017 car for £56k
2014 car for £42k
I absolutely agree that performance cars, unlike normal ones, tend to have a value 'floor' that they descend to and then stay there, but it's normally about ten years to reach the floor, which is under half the new price. The only exceptions I can think of are things like Caterhams and Morgans, and very very limited production cars. I don't see the evidence of the Exige reaching a floor after as little as two years or as high as £65k.
It's difficult to judge what's really reaching its floor at present, as the rising tide of the current market is lifting all boats, and only when the tide goes out will we see who's swimming naked.
You’re not necessarily comparing similar cars though. A 410 sport is about £65k at two years old. (Maybe a touch more now) That’s a very different car to the 2017 350 sport you’ve listed which would obviously be cheaper. And the 2014 car is an early one with the old gear linkage etc which is considered less appealing hence the lower price. New for £80k as you say
2019 for £65k as you say
2017 car for £56k
2014 car for £42k
I absolutely agree that performance cars, unlike normal ones, tend to have a value 'floor' that they descend to and then stay there, but it's normally about ten years to reach the floor, which is under half the new price. The only exceptions I can think of are things like Caterhams and Morgans, and very very limited production cars. I don't see the evidence of the Exige reaching a floor after as little as two years or as high as £65k.
It's difficult to judge what's really reaching its floor at present, as the rising tide of the current market is lifting all boats, and only when the tide goes out will we see who's swimming naked.
Lexington59 said:
Overpriced turbo 4 cyl auto only? No thanks.
Also can apparently catch on fire...
(See top gear...)
Because it never happens to a Porsche... https://www.motorward.com/2014/02/porsche-releases...Also can apparently catch on fire...
(See top gear...)
Edited by Lexington59 on Sunday 5th September 16:57
"Porsche is looking into the problem to determine the exact cause of it. Early reports suggested that in all cases the fire started after the engine suffered a catastrophic oil leak and the oil warning light went off on the dashboard."
biggles330d said:
Lexington59 said:
Overpriced turbo 4 cyl auto only? No thanks.
Also can apparently catch on fire...
(See top gear...)
Because it never happens to a Porsche... https://www.motorward.com/2014/02/porsche-releases...Also can apparently catch on fire...
(See top gear...)
Edited by Lexington59 on Sunday 5th September 16:57
"Porsche is looking into the problem to determine the exact cause of it. Early reports suggested that in all cases the fire started after the engine suffered a catastrophic oil leak and the oil warning light went off on the dashboard."
Alpine have not had any issues with customer cars I don't believe.
Lex (or is it Timo) gets a bit repetitive with his cut and paste posts unfortunately.
TheOrangePeril said:
"Strong residuals make the A110 a great used buy."
This makes very little sense. Strong depreciation makes a great used buy, strong residuals make buying used more expensive.
I'd agree with this. With the minuscule depreciation it was a very easy decision to place a new order for me rather than a used one. I wasn't in a hurry to get it so new was definitely the way to go. This makes very little sense. Strong depreciation makes a great used buy, strong residuals make buying used more expensive.
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