Secondhand car price crash? (Vol. 2)
Discussion
the-photographer said:
Its January 2025, what are market conditions like?
Anyone in the trade want to comment?
I buy through the large auctions, or friends and family, as a former mechanic and member of the trade. I have been doing it for 35 years. Anyone in the trade want to comment?
This year purchases I have completed are a low insurance group new driver car (Polo1.2, Fiesta 1.25) etc budget £5k and another one budget £6k and also a reasonable "posh" old diesel estate car, budget 7k for long term ownership.
The learner cars in decent condition below 50,000 miles at around 11 plate to 65 plate are selling for around 30% over the CAP Clean price into the trade. All of them.
The Estates (A6/E-Class/V70s) are selling for up to 50% !! over the Cap Clean guide. I am talking nice well specced cars from 2004 to 2015, low number of owners full service records, hpi clear and and below 70,000 miles with no damage or faults.
I have never seen anything like it in these market sectors.
My opinion is that there is a massive shortage of affordable good second hand older stock. I also think quite a few people really like the pre-emissions "simple" cars of 10-20 years ago that seem to last forever if looked after.
Edited by BuyaDuster on Monday 12th January 09:38
the-photographer said:
Its January 2026, what are market conditions like?
I'm not in the trade but have been looking at used prices on a few different cars with a possible view to making a change this year. My observation would be the prices of petrol cars seem to be holding up extremely well - something 2 or 3 years old with less than 30k miles on the clock appears to be if anything commanding stronger money than a similar car would have fetched a couple of years ago. I've not really looked at used diesels as my current mileage profile isn't really suited to one of those.
The value for money seems to be more in secondhand EV's. You can find things like nice Polestar 2's or iPace Jaguars at mid-20's and if something like that suits your mileage profile - and you can charge at home - they potentially look like a good value buy.
BuyaDuster said:
I buy through the large auctions, or friends and family, as a former mechanic and member of the trade. I have been doing it for 35 years.
This year purchases I have completed are a low insurance group new driver car (Polo1.2, Fiesta 1.25) etc budget £5k and another one budget £6k and also a reasonable "posh" old diesel estate car, budget 7k for long term ownership.
The learner cars in decent condition below 50,000 miles at around 11 plate to 65 plate are selling for around 30% over the CAP Clean price into the trade. All of them.
The Estates (A6/E-Class/V70s) are selling for up to 50% !! over the Cap Clean guide. I am talking nice well specced cars from 2004 to 2015, low number of owners full service records, hpi clear and and below 70,000 miles with no damage or faults.
I have never seen anything like it in these market sectors.
My opinion is that there is a massive shortage of affordable good second hand older stock. I also think quite a few people really like the pre-emissions "simple" cars of 10-20 years ago that seem to last forever if looked after.
Thanks, I'm in the market for a 2015-2020 low mileage hatch, looks like I will have a pay a premium for low mileage, low owners etcThis year purchases I have completed are a low insurance group new driver car (Polo1.2, Fiesta 1.25) etc budget £5k and another one budget £6k and also a reasonable "posh" old diesel estate car, budget 7k for long term ownership.
The learner cars in decent condition below 50,000 miles at around 11 plate to 65 plate are selling for around 30% over the CAP Clean price into the trade. All of them.
The Estates (A6/E-Class/V70s) are selling for up to 50% !! over the Cap Clean guide. I am talking nice well specced cars from 2004 to 2015, low number of owners full service records, hpi clear and and below 70,000 miles with no damage or faults.
I have never seen anything like it in these market sectors.
My opinion is that there is a massive shortage of affordable good second hand older stock. I also think quite a few people really like the pre-emissions "simple" cars of 10-20 years ago that seem to last forever if looked after.
Edited by BuyaDuster on Monday 12th January 09:38
JNW1 said:
I'm not in the trade but have been looking at used prices on a few different cars with a possible view to making a change this year.
My observation would be the prices of petrol cars seem to be holding up extremely well - something 2 or 3 years old with less than 30k miles on the clock appears to be if anything commanding stronger money than a similar car would have fetched a couple of years ago. I've not really looked at used diesels as my current mileage profile isn't really suited to one of those.
The value for money seems to be more in secondhand EV's. You can find things like nice Polestar 2's or iPace Jaguars at mid-20's and if something like that suits your mileage profile - and you can charge at home - they potentially look like a good value buy.
+1My observation would be the prices of petrol cars seem to be holding up extremely well - something 2 or 3 years old with less than 30k miles on the clock appears to be if anything commanding stronger money than a similar car would have fetched a couple of years ago. I've not really looked at used diesels as my current mileage profile isn't really suited to one of those.
The value for money seems to be more in secondhand EV's. You can find things like nice Polestar 2's or iPace Jaguars at mid-20's and if something like that suits your mileage profile - and you can charge at home - they potentially look like a good value buy.
I'm finding that also with stuff back the years a little - 2020 M2 Comp, M3, M4, C63, etc. All holding their money incredibly well.
And agreed RE: Polestars and iPace. Bargains to be had there - even with Approved Used Jaguar iPace.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512108...
On the subject of second hand electric cars, the Small Drive Unit (4wd) non performance Models Ss seem to be very good value. They seem to be cogging along at up to 400,000 miles without too many issues (unlike the large drive unit models).
I purchased this 2018 90D 6 months ago to take salty winter miles off the 911. I am 12,000 miles in now.
It still has over 250 miles of range on 100%, free road tax, 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and all the rest of it. The screen is getting drippy but I bought a spare one from a breakers for £100 ready to swap over this summer when I am bored.
It came with a battery test (94%), I paid £6,800 for it delivered and had to change the wiper motor (£140 and an easy15 minutes work.)
I also had the wheel arches painted as they had been scratched (£300) and fitted an Ebay back seat as it had been a Ranger car (owner by Tesla from new), so this had been removed.
Very nice indeed IMHO.
I purchased this 2018 90D 6 months ago to take salty winter miles off the 911. I am 12,000 miles in now.
It still has over 250 miles of range on 100%, free road tax, 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and all the rest of it. The screen is getting drippy but I bought a spare one from a breakers for £100 ready to swap over this summer when I am bored.
It came with a battery test (94%), I paid £6,800 for it delivered and had to change the wiper motor (£140 and an easy15 minutes work.)
I also had the wheel arches painted as they had been scratched (£300) and fitted an Ebay back seat as it had been a Ranger car (owner by Tesla from new), so this had been removed.
Very nice indeed IMHO.
alone wolf said:
Skoda Octavia
1.4 TSI Elegance DSG Euro 4 5dr
Automatic.
47,822 miles
2009 (59 reg)
£4,995
5 grand for a 17 year old octavia seems mental
A dealer has to make money, with all the risks of cars being returned under the CRA.1.4 TSI Elegance DSG Euro 4 5dr
Automatic.
47,822 miles
2009 (59 reg)
£4,995
5 grand for a 17 year old octavia seems mental
If that car has no real faults, the dealer will struggle to buy many cars like that for under £3k.
Is £5k for such a car really 'mental'? It's probably a bit of an outlier being so low mileage, but it's among the cars most likely to run for the next 3 years with no grief and low costs. In terms of cost per year over its likely remaining life, it might work out quite cheap.
Most cars much less than £5k from a trader tend to be very high miles or quite sordid when looked at closely.
RacingStripes said:
Probably less than a 50% chance of those being honest miles though...
Maybe so.3000 miles a year is perhaps too low.
It suggests long periods idle or few decent runs.
If it was an estate with 90k miles on it, it would still carry a high price in good nick. I don't really follow saloon prices TBH.
OutInTheShed said:
RacingStripes said:
Probably less than a 50% chance of those being honest miles though...
Maybe so.3000 miles a year is perhaps too low.
It suggests long periods idle or few decent runs.
If it was an estate with 90k miles on it, it would still carry a high price in good nick. I don't really follow saloon prices TBH.
Edited by Sheepshanks on Tuesday 13th January 23:00
BuyaDuster said:
On the subject of second hand electric cars, the Small Drive Unit (4wd) non performance Models Ss seem to be very good value. They seem to be cogging along at up to 400,000 miles without too many issues (unlike the large drive unit models).
I purchased this 2018 90D 6 months ago to take salty winter miles off the 911. I am 12,000 miles in now.
It still has over 250 miles of range on 100%, free road tax, 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and all the rest of it. The screen is getting drippy but I bought a spare one from a breakers for £100 ready to swap over this summer when I am bored.
It came with a battery test (94%), I paid £6,800 for it delivered and had to change the wiper motor (£140 and an easy15 minutes work.)
I also had the wheel arches painted as they had been scratched (£300) and fitted an Ebay back seat as it had been a Ranger car (owner by Tesla from new), so this had been removed.
Very nice indeed IMHO.
Good value, but VED has not been £0 since 1st April 2025. It may have been when it was bought but all EVs registered after 01/04/17 are the same as all other cars, £195 p.a. And going up in April. My car renewed in March 2025 for £0 (as did many others early I purchased this 2018 90D 6 months ago to take salty winter miles off the 911. I am 12,000 miles in now.
It still has over 250 miles of range on 100%, free road tax, 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and all the rest of it. The screen is getting drippy but I bought a spare one from a breakers for £100 ready to swap over this summer when I am bored.
It came with a battery test (94%), I paid £6,800 for it delivered and had to change the wiper motor (£140 and an easy15 minutes work.)
I also had the wheel arches painted as they had been scratched (£300) and fitted an Ebay back seat as it had been a Ranger car (owner by Tesla from new), so this had been removed.
Very nice indeed IMHO.
), but that was the last month.Early days but the traditional January feeding frenzy at the trade end seems in full swing. Some very strong prices being paid which must eventually feed through to retail if it continues.
I've seen 6 year old Nissan LEAFs going £1k+ over book this week.
A big uplift in prices in January is not unusual or unexpected but it depends on how long it lasts.
I've seen 6 year old Nissan LEAFs going £1k+ over book this week.
A big uplift in prices in January is not unusual or unexpected but it depends on how long it lasts.
AmitG said:
Chris_91 said:
Don't forget this is also due to a lot of dealers downgrading their packages (less cars advertised) or have left altogether.
Out of interest where are the dealers going to advertise, if not AT?He explains how some of the prices have gone astronomical. There also making it so people can put cars on hold for 7 days and then they are being forced to hold a car. It seems like Autotrader are now trying to dictate everything about a sale. Charge the dealer a fee just for listing a car and a cut of the sale if it’s done all online.
He’s done a few videos about Autotrader, including one with some top executives who have clearly had too much PR training and sound like politicians squirming in their seats.
It appears to have had a bit of backlash for Autotrader.
https://youtu.be/1eGqPS2XKus?si=h4C4PKJGTdeyjy3R
Just checked my car out. Purchased new for £18k in Feb 22. 6 cars with the same spec, colour and mileage for sale between £12k and £14k. I guarantee mine will be in better condition than all of them so if it was near the top end that's £1k depreciation per year on a new car. But even a more realistic £1500 per year for a private sale or trade bid is still really good.
Wonder if this is a new normal or a blip.
Wonder if this is a new normal or a blip.
confused_buyer said:
Early days but the traditional January feeding frenzy at the trade end seems in full swing. Some very strong prices being paid which must eventually feed through to retail if it continues.
I've seen 6 year old Nissan LEAFs going £1k+ over book this week.
A big uplift in prices in January is not unusual or unexpected but it depends on how long it lasts.
It’s a weird time. About 6-8 months back I started looking at replacing my 2016 BMW M135i which I bought new. Full service history, never broken down (touch wood), cost me brakes, a battery, tyres and an alternator (changed as a precaution as the bearings were grumbling).I've seen 6 year old Nissan LEAFs going £1k+ over book this week.
A big uplift in prices in January is not unusual or unexpected but it depends on how long it lasts.
I looked at the following cars, A45S, Alfa Romeo Gulia Quad, Aston Martin Vantage, cayman 718, BMW M2 Comp, TTRS. Budget of 45k which I would pay in cash. Don’t do finance / lease / pcp etc.
Was offered £9k for mine or there abouts. Ultimately after spending 3 months looking I asked myself one evening in the pub with the Mrs (who is a car nut and wants me to buy the Alfa) what am I getting by taking £35k out of savings to buy a car (currently making 5.5% on an isa).
The conclusion, my current car has 330bhp, is fun, has been mega reliable, cheap to own really over the 95k miles. Now has next to zero depreciation according to WBAC, in fact it went up in value last month according to them. Why not spend the money maintaining the car I own, it’s never going to cost as much as buying another car. So that’s what I have decided to do.
The roads are crap, I can’t use the performance I already have due to congestion, speed cameras, potholes etc etc.
So in the end. I will run it until it becomes uneconomical to do so.
I shall hand my PH card in. It seems a depressing state of affairs the world we live in today when it comes to motoring, cars and enjoyment of a car.
ChocolateFrog said:
Just checked my car out. Purchased new for £18k in Feb 22. 6 cars with the same spec, colour and mileage for sale between £12k and £14k. I guarantee mine will be in better condition than all of them so if it was near the top end that's £1k depreciation per year on a new car. But even a more realistic £1500 per year for a private sale or trade bid is still really good.
Wonder if this is a new normal or a blip.
That's OK if you can sell it privately, but what's the WBAC value? That's the price dealers will be wanting pay for it.Wonder if this is a new normal or a blip.
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