The price of used cars amazes me !
Discussion
I started driving aged 18, that was thirty years ago.
My first car was a barely MOT'd Ford Escort and I paid £350 for it.
It sometimes started, was covered in rust and was, at 15 years old when I got it very much on its last legs, it took daily maintenance to keep it going.
Fast forward to 2014 and you can still buy a car, with MOT and in better shape for £350!
It's quite remarkable really. What are others experiences?
My first car was a barely MOT'd Ford Escort and I paid £350 for it.
It sometimes started, was covered in rust and was, at 15 years old when I got it very much on its last legs, it took daily maintenance to keep it going.
Fast forward to 2014 and you can still buy a car, with MOT and in better shape for £350!
It's quite remarkable really. What are others experiences?
I think our expectations have moved on some what and I have to confess of being guilty of that.
3 years ago I bought a perfectly usable and quite tidy Saab 9-5 for a mere £500. Sold it this year (stupidly) and according to Askmid etc, it's still on the go. With a little TLC no reason it won't see another 100K without any big bills.
What amazes me more is the price that any 2nd hand VAG or BMW diesel seems to command.
3 years ago I bought a perfectly usable and quite tidy Saab 9-5 for a mere £500. Sold it this year (stupidly) and according to Askmid etc, it's still on the go. With a little TLC no reason it won't see another 100K without any big bills.
What amazes me more is the price that any 2nd hand VAG or BMW diesel seems to command.
Fattyfat said:
I think our expectations have moved on some what and I have to confess of being guilty of that.
3 years ago I bought a perfectly usable and quite tidy Saab 9-5 for a mere £500. Sold it this year (stupidly) and according to Askmid etc, it's still on the go. With a little TLC no reason it won't see another 100K without any big bills.
What amazes me more is the price that any 2nd hand VAG or BMW diesel seems to command.
That's because they have more torques than a Ferrari bruv innit and if you input their mpg figures into a spread sheet you will discover that they will do a gazillion miles from just one tank. 3 years ago I bought a perfectly usable and quite tidy Saab 9-5 for a mere £500. Sold it this year (stupidly) and according to Askmid etc, it's still on the go. With a little TLC no reason it won't see another 100K without any big bills.
What amazes me more is the price that any 2nd hand VAG or BMW diesel seems to command.
Oh, they are also the fastest cars on the road easily outclassing anything with a weedy petrol engine due to the aforementioned torques and cost nothing...yes nothing to run and they make pretty flowers grow.
If you don't know that I'm not sure what you are doing on a site where speed used to matter. ..
If you think ebay is expensive, just look at some of the comedy asking prices in the PH classifieds!
The world is full of used cars, and broadly speaking they lose half their value every 3 years through depreciation even if they are in good condition,
New £40,000
3 years £20,000
6 years £10,000
9 years £5,000
12 years £2,500
The world is full of used cars, and broadly speaking they lose half their value every 3 years through depreciation even if they are in good condition,
New £40,000
3 years £20,000
6 years £10,000
9 years £5,000
12 years £2,500
Qwert1e said:
If you think ebay is expensive, just look at some of the comedy asking prices in the PH classifieds!
The world is full of used cars, and broadly speaking they lose half their value every 3 years through depreciation even if they are in good condition,
New £40,000
3 years £20,000
6 years £10,000
9 years £5,000
12 years £2,500
Obviously this doesnt apply to all cars, and prices do tend to bottom out.The world is full of used cars, and broadly speaking they lose half their value every 3 years through depreciation even if they are in good condition,
New £40,000
3 years £20,000
6 years £10,000
9 years £5,000
12 years £2,500
TheAngryDog said:
Qwert1e said:
If you think ebay is expensive, just look at some of the comedy asking prices in the PH classifieds!
The world is full of used cars, and broadly speaking they lose half their value every 3 years through depreciation even if they are in good condition,
New £40,000
3 years £20,000
6 years £10,000
9 years £5,000
12 years £2,500
Obviously this doesnt apply to all cars, and prices do tend to bottom out.The world is full of used cars, and broadly speaking they lose half their value every 3 years through depreciation even if they are in good condition,
New £40,000
3 years £20,000
6 years £10,000
9 years £5,000
12 years £2,500
There are 3 main price-curves for car lifetimes:
Bad cars follow a "forward-slash" price-curve (i.e. \).
Good cars are L-shaped.
Great cars are "Nike swoosh" or U-shaped.
Thankyou4calling said:
I started driving aged 18, that was thirty years ago.
My first car was a barely MOT'd Ford Escort and I paid £350 for it.
It sometimes started, was covered in rust and was, at 15 years old when I got it very much on its last legs, it took daily maintenance to keep it going.
Fast forward to 2014 and you can still buy a car, with MOT and in better shape for £350!
It's quite remarkable really. What are others experiences?
I was looking at this the other day.My first car was a barely MOT'd Ford Escort and I paid £350 for it.
It sometimes started, was covered in rust and was, at 15 years old when I got it very much on its last legs, it took daily maintenance to keep it going.
Fast forward to 2014 and you can still buy a car, with MOT and in better shape for £350!
It's quite remarkable really. What are others experiences?
An entry level C class was pretty much the same price in 1999 as it is today without adjusting for inflation, which means back then it was 30% more expensive than today!
What has had a big effect is the long term reliability and general build quality. I remember the cars my dad had in the 1980s, panels were rusting through by the time they were 5 years old, and they were refusing to start in damp or cold weather. Clearly nothings perfect, but a 5 year old car now is pretty much brand new. This has the knock-on that there are many more older cars around.
15 years ago used cars in the uk were not particularly cheap compared to the rest of Europe. In fact that was the peak times of "rip off Britain". These days however new cars are much more affordable, and used cars are comedy cheap. The uk is currently a second hand car buyers dream! Nowhere else like it.
Thankyou4calling said:
I started driving aged 18, that was thirty years ago.
My first car was a barely MOT'd Ford Escort and I paid £350 for it.
It sometimes started, was covered in rust and was, at 15 years old when I got it very much on its last legs, it took daily maintenance to keep it going.
Fast forward to 2014 and you can still buy a car, with MOT and in better shape for £350!
It's quite remarkable really. What are others experiences?
Just think if had not scrapped that escort how much it would be worth now !!My first car was a barely MOT'd Ford Escort and I paid £350 for it.
It sometimes started, was covered in rust and was, at 15 years old when I got it very much on its last legs, it took daily maintenance to keep it going.
Fast forward to 2014 and you can still buy a car, with MOT and in better shape for £350!
It's quite remarkable really. What are others experiences?
Even rotten shells are fetching silly money
I scrapped at bout 10 mk1 & 2 escorts all 2 door shells when they became rust and air, oh for a tine machine and knowledge to have dry stored them....
dvs_dave said:
15 years ago used cars in the uk were not particularly cheap compared to the rest of Europe. In fact that was the peak times of "rip off Britain". These days however new cars are much more affordable, and used cars are comedy cheap. The uk is currently a second hand car buyers dream! Nowhere else like it.
Looking over from continental europe to some of the prices on the PH classifieds and the barge threads I have to say that some of the price levels you guys are enjoying are absolutely stunning. Actually a lot of swiss are now ordering their cars thorugh UK dealers (making sure that the left hand drive box is CHECKED).flatso said:
Looking over from continental europe to some of the prices on the PH classifieds and the barge threads I have to say that some of the price levels you guys are enjoying are absolutely stunning. Actually a lot of swiss are now ordering their cars thorugh UK dealers (making sure that the left hand drive box is CHECKED).
That's not really unusual, the Swiss franc became very strong compared to GBP in recent years. 15 years ago you saved good money buying cars from Belgian dealers, in recent years I've seen Belgians and French buying motorcycles in UK.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff