Secondhand car price crash? (Vol. 2)
Discussion
Bit of trade observation, it was noticeable this past week how a lot of the dealership car parks and over flow compounds that where stacked full of part ex change cars and PCPs are now cleared or certainly far less congested; I can actually find a parking space!
Can only assume BCA and Manheim have ploughed through the mass churn of cars from March plate change and prices may start to stiffen up as supply gets reduced.
I wonder if anyone’s WBAC price quotes have gone up since March?
Can only assume BCA and Manheim have ploughed through the mass churn of cars from March plate change and prices may start to stiffen up as supply gets reduced.
I wonder if anyone’s WBAC price quotes have gone up since March?
ACCYSTAN said:
Bit of trade observation, it was noticeable this past week how a lot of the dealership car parks and over flow compounds that where stacked full of part ex change cars and PCPs are now cleared or certainly far less congested; I can actually find a parking space!
Can only assume BCA and Manheim have ploughed through the mass churn of cars from March plate change and prices may start to stiffen up as supply gets reduced.
I wonder if anyone’s WBAC price quotes have gone up since March?
Mine went up a tiny bit.Can only assume BCA and Manheim have ploughed through the mass churn of cars from March plate change and prices may start to stiffen up as supply gets reduced.
I wonder if anyone’s WBAC price quotes have gone up since March?
Deep Thought said:
nickfrog said:
r3g said:
You need someone with £15-20k in cash - there's your problem. Everyone needs finance these days. It's hard enough trying to shift stuff privately in the mid 4 figure range never mind 5 figures. Unless you get incredibly lucky you'll end up chasing the market down and will eventually be at the price of the original offers from dealers when you first listed it.
I must be really lucky then, I always sell privately £10k-£35k. Plenty of people either with cash or getting their finance at lower rates than in the trade while preferring to pay less than retail. A performance or rare car or weekend toy thats clearly been well maintained may well attract a private buyer at that price point with cash.
Whereas the customer for a eurobox Golf 1.6 TDI or similar and needing a trade in is likely just to default to a car dealer
.On top of that is the issue of getting them to actually come and view it, even after you've said you'll entertain their low-ball offer to get them on the hook. From my experience even with very well described ads and good pics, it was approximately a 5-10% hit rate of them actual turning up after making arrangements to come view it that same day or the following day/weekend. They just didn't turn up and that was the last you heard from them. It's not a fun experience and incredibly draining when 95% of people are messers and time-wasters.
r3g said:
I agree it does depend on the vehicle to some extent. The problem with the second line is that the number of people nationwide who are looking for your specific car, model and spec, AND also have £££££ in disposable cash availability can be counted on one hand, which usually translates into you wasting £70 on ads every month (Ebay classified + AutoTrander) for several months and chasing the market down unless you list it for a give-away price, which nobody does in reality as they all believe it's worth a grand less than what the highest priced dealer ads are .
On top of that is the issue of getting them to actually come and view it, even after you've said you'll entertain their low-ball offer to get them on the hook. From my experience even with very well described ads and good pics, it was approximately a 5-10% hit rate of them actual turning up after making arrangements to come view it that same day or the following day/weekend. They just didn't turn up and that was the last you heard from them. It's not a fun experience and incredibly draining when 95% of people are messers and time-wasters.
Oh i agree. .On top of that is the issue of getting them to actually come and view it, even after you've said you'll entertain their low-ball offer to get them on the hook. From my experience even with very well described ads and good pics, it was approximately a 5-10% hit rate of them actual turning up after making arrangements to come view it that same day or the following day/weekend. They just didn't turn up and that was the last you heard from them. It's not a fun experience and incredibly draining when 95% of people are messers and time-wasters.
In fact i put pretty much that in a post a little but further down
Deep Thought said:
I think a lot of private sellers dont want to be bothered trying to sell to the general public. People expecting something for nothing who then get butt hurt when you wont accept their offer of half your asking price "for cash mate" (as opposed to....?). Roll that in with the amount of scammers, thieves, trade buyers trying to buy your car for a song and stories of people being threatened with court action months down the line when a private sale car is "not as described".
I think the cars, being sold by an enthusiast and being bought by an enthusiast will sell even if you do have to wait. The more mainstream and further down the money you go, the more nutters with lowball offers you get. But then you just have to sift through them.A mate of mine has me advertising a XC60 for him on FB. Down the money at £3995. Not a bad car. A guy pinged me about it yesterday.
"is the car still for sale"
"yes".
"i will give you £2,000 today for it".
AlexNJ89 said:
I must be one of the lucky ones as I've never had any issues selling cars privately.
I don't get triggered if a time waster phones me up. I just get them off the phone and move on with my day.
Likewise i am quite happy to sift through the dolts if it means me getting an extra few £K.I don't get triggered if a time waster phones me up. I just get them off the phone and move on with my day.
Most people these days arent though.
"I'll give you {half the asking price} today, cash mate".
"Sorry no".
Simples.
ACCYSTAN said:
Bit of trade observation, it was noticeable this past week how a lot of the dealership car parks and over flow compounds that where stacked full of part ex change cars and PCPs are now cleared or certainly far less congested; I can actually find a parking space!
Can only assume BCA and Manheim have ploughed through the mass churn of cars from March plate change and prices may start to stiffen up as supply gets reduced.
I wonder if anyone’s WBAC price quotes have gone up since March?
Noticed exactly this at Citroen/DS. Earlier this year I visited 2 different dealers and literally could not get a parking space, every bay was full and cars were double parked everywhere. Yet more recently I took my DS9 in for service and was able to park no problem, I even had a choice of spaces Can only assume BCA and Manheim have ploughed through the mass churn of cars from March plate change and prices may start to stiffen up as supply gets reduced.
I wonder if anyone’s WBAC price quotes have gone up since March?
The nice lady said that loads of PXs had been cleared and also the sales team went all-out to hit Q1 targets so now they have space.
My WBAC valuation has stayed roughly constant over the past few months bearing in mind that I put a few more miles on the car. So I guess that in "real terms" it has gone up slightly since they are offering basically the same money for a car which is slightly older and with more miles.
Deep Thought said:
AlexNJ89 said:
I must be one of the lucky ones as I've never had any issues selling cars privately.
I don't get triggered if a time waster phones me up. I just get them off the phone and move on with my day.
Likewise i am quite happy to sift through the dolts if it means me getting an extra few £K.I don't get triggered if a time waster phones me up. I just get them off the phone and move on with my day.
Most people these days arent though.
"I'll give you {half the asking price} today, cash mate".
"Sorry no".
Simples.
Deep Thought said:
I think the cars, being sold by an enthusiast and being bought by an enthusiast will sell even if you do have to wait. The more mainstream and further down the money you go, the more nutters with lowball offers you get. But then you just have to sift through them.
A mate of mine has me advertising a XC60 for him on FB. Down the money at £3995. Not a bad car. A guy pinged me about it yesterday.
"is the car still for sale"
"yes".
"i will give you £2,000 today for it".
This clearly didn't happen A mate of mine has me advertising a XC60 for him on FB. Down the money at £3995. Not a bad car. A guy pinged me about it yesterday.
"is the car still for sale"
"yes".
"i will give you £2,000 today for it".
. Nobody on FB writes "I will give you £2,000 today for it". It will just be "2000" and nothing else, or maybe some mention of an Xbox or PlayStation. 
Edited by r3g on Monday 22 April 04:16
My UK house is in the kind of place that historically always had new higher end cars; tradies and small business owners done good, footballers kinda place. Image is important.
A few years back, having a 4 year old X5 would have been shameful. Etc etc.
There are plenty of new Urus, G wagon, Bentayga etc still knocking about with 23/24 MY plates on. But the GLE/X5/Q7/Cayenne of the same vintage seem non existent. I was thinking about this this morning and I dont recall ever seeing a facelift x5/6 in this area once.
I've never ever seen a new model E class Merc anywhere.
Clearly this upper middle sector has taken a battering from COL and inflation and interest rates. On top of lower production during covid.
Stands to reason, if this is true, that used cars are retaining decent value right now.
A few years back, having a 4 year old X5 would have been shameful. Etc etc.
There are plenty of new Urus, G wagon, Bentayga etc still knocking about with 23/24 MY plates on. But the GLE/X5/Q7/Cayenne of the same vintage seem non existent. I was thinking about this this morning and I dont recall ever seeing a facelift x5/6 in this area once.
I've never ever seen a new model E class Merc anywhere.
Clearly this upper middle sector has taken a battering from COL and inflation and interest rates. On top of lower production during covid.
Stands to reason, if this is true, that used cars are retaining decent value right now.
r3g said:
Yeah in theory this is fine, but I reckon for the majority of people they don't have time on their side as they need the money to fund something else they want and may have already left a deposit on it to secure it. Things like insurance running out or it getting close to needing a service and MOT are also often reasons why you 'need gone' by a certain date.
Absolutely. I've said already the vast majority of people wont be bothered with selling via a private sale for various reasons.RayDonovan said:
Judging from what I've seen on the road recently, Mercedes only appear to sell the A Class.
Couldn't tell you the last time I saw a brand new C, E or their random range of 4x4s
I genuinely thought they'd stopped making the C and E class as haven't seen a new one for years. I've seen loads of the 4x4 since the cheap lease deals started.Couldn't tell you the last time I saw a brand new C, E or their random range of 4x4s
The new E Class is only just starting to land in the country. There very few in stock, all of our orders we've taken are factory orders.
Both are more fleet cars historically in all honesty, and most fleet orders are now EV due to the company tax rules. You're much better off financially with an EV theae days
Both are more fleet cars historically in all honesty, and most fleet orders are now EV due to the company tax rules. You're much better off financially with an EV theae days
Aletank said:
The £40k Luxury Car Tax RFL is currently putting me off changing my car.
I have a 66 plate BMW 520d M-Sport with £35 a year RFL, I could of been enticed into a 22 Plate Mercedes C200 AMG Line estate for £25k but the £590 per year RFL for the next 4 years is a total put off.
A colleague just picked up a 2 year old Audi A5 and is stuck with the luxury tax for the next 3 years. Absolute piss take really, since when is a £40k car 'luxury'? I have a 66 plate BMW 520d M-Sport with £35 a year RFL, I could of been enticed into a 22 Plate Mercedes C200 AMG Line estate for £25k but the £590 per year RFL for the next 4 years is a total put off.
Must be a nightmare for used sales as I'm sure it would put people off - although its nothing compared to annual depreciation, it's still a bitter pill to swallow
nickfrog said:
RayDonovan said:
A colleague just picked up a 2 year old Audi A5 and is stuck with the luxury tax for the next 3 years. Absolute piss take really, since when is a £40k car 'luxury'?
Don't worry, it's not called the luxury tax.Why didn't he check what the tax was?
Saweep said:
nickfrog said:
RayDonovan said:
A colleague just picked up a 2 year old Audi A5 and is stuck with the luxury tax for the next 3 years. Absolute piss take really, since when is a £40k car 'luxury'?
Don't worry, it's not called the luxury tax.Why didn't he check what the tax was?
Never thought of it with my wifes 2020 Z4 back in Feb last year. Bit of a shock for her (and me!) when she went to tax it. Particularly irksome as it does very little miles.
nickfrog said:
RayDonovan said:
A colleague just picked up a 2 year old Audi A5 and is stuck with the luxury tax for the next 3 years. Absolute piss take really, since when is a £40k car 'luxury'?
Don't worry, it's not called the luxury tax.Why didn't he check what the tax was?
Saweep said:
My UK house is in the kind of place that historically always had new higher end cars; tradies and small business owners done good, footballers kinda place. Image is important.
A few years back, having a 4 year old X5 would have been shameful. Etc etc.
There are plenty of new Urus, G wagon, Bentayga etc still knocking about with 23/24 MY plates on. But the GLE/X5/Q7/Cayenne of the same vintage seem non existent. I was thinking about this this morning and I dont recall ever seeing a facelift x5/6 in this area once.
I've never ever seen a new model E class Merc anywhere.
Clearly this upper middle sector has taken a battering from COL and inflation and interest rates. On top of lower production during covid.
Stands to reason, if this is true, that used cars are retaining decent value right now.
Sounds like all the poundland millionares feeling the interest rates. A few years back, having a 4 year old X5 would have been shameful. Etc etc.
There are plenty of new Urus, G wagon, Bentayga etc still knocking about with 23/24 MY plates on. But the GLE/X5/Q7/Cayenne of the same vintage seem non existent. I was thinking about this this morning and I dont recall ever seeing a facelift x5/6 in this area once.
I've never ever seen a new model E class Merc anywhere.
Clearly this upper middle sector has taken a battering from COL and inflation and interest rates. On top of lower production during covid.
Stands to reason, if this is true, that used cars are retaining decent value right now.
The ones with actual money won't really notice if the weekly shop has gone from £200 to £300.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff