Car buying is no fun anymore
Discussion
I used to love buying and selling cars and bikes privately. Shopping around, a bit of a haggle and coming home with a daft grin on your face knowing that you have saved yourself thousands.
I've even bought well and ran a year or so and sold at no loss. Forums, EBay etc made it even easier to find the bargains and do enough research on the seller to be fully confident in what you were buying. HPI checks and a bit of knowledge made it as safe as the dealer option but more fun and potentially a few thousand cheaper. I never hesitated in buying a £20k car, hopping on a train to go hundreds of miles collect a car or bike unseen that the seller had been able to describe to me in detail with all supporting evidence and a rake of hi res pics of all declared blemishes. I've met good people and brought some great cars and bikes, a few of the best through the early days of PH classifieds. To me buying well and the process of the purchase or sale was a big part of being a car or bike enthusiast and it also seemed the same for the people I bought from or sold to.
I sacrificed my nice cars and bikes for the last 4 years as I've been doing a house renovation so have been out of touch running around in an old diesel. House complete and in the hunt for a nice 2-3yo car but the market has shifted hugely in that time.
Cheap leasing and PCP deals have meant that seemingly few people own their cars and most who PCP don't pay the balloon and hand the vehicle back to the dealer. Seems the dealers now are in full control of the used car market so can set the prices, which seem frustratingly high to me when compared with the savings on a brand new car through a brokered deal.
Set your Ebay, AT or PH search to private buyers only and a tiny few cars are available for sale. Car buying services have furthered the competition for a private used car bargain. The few sellers left then expect you to sort out their outstanding finance, still have private plates on the car they wish to retain, or want much more than the WBAC price which they will almost certainly be knocked down on a huge chunk when they take the car for inspection. Must be a tough market out there for the small car traders now, who are also trying to pull nice cars out of this limited pool and find a profit, or just get the scraps such as the extra high milers or the bit too old stuff which the franchised dealerships won't touch or warranty.
I've even bought well and ran a year or so and sold at no loss. Forums, EBay etc made it even easier to find the bargains and do enough research on the seller to be fully confident in what you were buying. HPI checks and a bit of knowledge made it as safe as the dealer option but more fun and potentially a few thousand cheaper. I never hesitated in buying a £20k car, hopping on a train to go hundreds of miles collect a car or bike unseen that the seller had been able to describe to me in detail with all supporting evidence and a rake of hi res pics of all declared blemishes. I've met good people and brought some great cars and bikes, a few of the best through the early days of PH classifieds. To me buying well and the process of the purchase or sale was a big part of being a car or bike enthusiast and it also seemed the same for the people I bought from or sold to.
I sacrificed my nice cars and bikes for the last 4 years as I've been doing a house renovation so have been out of touch running around in an old diesel. House complete and in the hunt for a nice 2-3yo car but the market has shifted hugely in that time.
Cheap leasing and PCP deals have meant that seemingly few people own their cars and most who PCP don't pay the balloon and hand the vehicle back to the dealer. Seems the dealers now are in full control of the used car market so can set the prices, which seem frustratingly high to me when compared with the savings on a brand new car through a brokered deal.
Set your Ebay, AT or PH search to private buyers only and a tiny few cars are available for sale. Car buying services have furthered the competition for a private used car bargain. The few sellers left then expect you to sort out their outstanding finance, still have private plates on the car they wish to retain, or want much more than the WBAC price which they will almost certainly be knocked down on a huge chunk when they take the car for inspection. Must be a tough market out there for the small car traders now, who are also trying to pull nice cars out of this limited pool and find a profit, or just get the scraps such as the extra high milers or the bit too old stuff which the franchised dealerships won't touch or warranty.
Edited by Tucker1 on Saturday 22 April 12:00
Reassuring that someone can tell me that there are still deals to be had on 2-3 Y/O used cars. Will have to be patient, enjoy the sport of looking and haggling harder as well as being more flexible on what I want.
I've been starting to think that I now had no choice but to go for the best possible deal I can with a broker for a new, yet more expensive car than I really wanted just to extract the best overall value for me. Can't be right for a worry free, brand new car with its full warranty, zero wear and tear or need for servicing/tyres etc to make better overall financial sense that a now superseded used one which will need all of the above much sooner and be worth much less when I want to sell. Surely on some used models a price adjustment is overdue.
I've been starting to think that I now had no choice but to go for the best possible deal I can with a broker for a new, yet more expensive car than I really wanted just to extract the best overall value for me. Can't be right for a worry free, brand new car with its full warranty, zero wear and tear or need for servicing/tyres etc to make better overall financial sense that a now superseded used one which will need all of the above much sooner and be worth much less when I want to sell. Surely on some used models a price adjustment is overdue.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff