I have, still dont see the point. Yes companies like SMEG do well, but this is the whole question - WHY!? I cant fathom it either.
Toyota Aygo.
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I have, still dont see the point. Yes companies like SMEG do well, but this is the whole question - WHY!? I cant fathom it either.
Still doesnt explain it, i have what i'd consider to be a fair bit of money, but i dont waste it on expensive rubbish like new white goods and bottom barrel cars. As a result i can buy much much better used stuff.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
[TW]Fox;11962172 said:But, yes, you are right for normal people - but I doesnt mean it cant confuse the heck out of me. My girlfriends parents priority when buying a car is 'high mpg' and 'in the £35 road tax bracket'.
On an £11,000 supermini. I can't rationalise it however many times it gets explained to meThey will be paying cash for said Supermini as well, so it's not exactly a monthly budget thing.
The thing is, you're assuming the criteria are linked to the decision to get a new car, in most cases they aren't. The decision to want a new car comes first, then people start thinking about what features they'd like with their new car, whether that's high performance, low running costs or a certain look.
Essentially the decision making process is more "now I've decided to spend £x on a car, what do I want for my money", rather than "I need to save money and spending £x on a car allows me to save £y on the running costs." Some people may try to justify their buying decisions this way, but that's post decision rationalisation kicking in, rather than their actual decision making process, because "I want a new car" doesn't tend to convince many people that they are making the right choice, whereas "the new car will save me money, and I get a new car" is far more convincing, even when it's not how they really arrived at the decision.
I tend to think 'I want a new car. I have £x available for the car. What could I get if perhaps I spent £x - £y on the car, leaving an additional amount spare for running costs'
I like thinking like this, becuase it means I can drive a good car instead of a Ford Fiesta, and it costs me the same overall.
I like thinking like this, becuase it means I can drive a good car instead of a Ford Fiesta, and it costs me the same overall.
[TW]Fox;11962868 said:
Indeed, but as we've discussed previously, ringfencing areas of your budget starts out easy when you only have a few potential expenses, but rapidly becomes more difficult when you have more potential outgoings, at least for the vast majority of the public and the way they manage their money. Hence lower demonstratable running costs without the need for a ringfenced reserve are far more popular than the alternative, especially with the addition of fixing potential running costs via warranty and servicing packages that are generally not available on used cars, even if it doesn't always make sense to the rest of us.
And that's without considering the fact that the majority of cars sold in the UK are on some sort of finance package.
Yes in theory you are correct Fox but however not everyone thinks like that unfortunately.
I know people who would rather spend a large amount of money on a car to give lower running costs as it makes them feel as though they are saving money when in reality they are not. They don't seem to realise you can spend less on the car and afford the higher running costs.
I know people who would rather spend a large amount of money on a car to give lower running costs as it makes them feel as though they are saving money when in reality they are not. They don't seem to realise you can spend less on the car and afford the higher running costs.
It's alright drove the beast to Edinburgh and back at chrimbo.
Don't agree with you there. Consumer goods (and I include cars in that definition as well) have become much than simply 'function over form'. Same reason why people buy a good looking car over a square box with wheels on each corner, why some people have polished laminate wooden flooring over carpets, why other people have aluminium PC cases over plastic beige ones, Bang & Olufson stereos, silver kitchen goods over white plastic etc. It's sexy baby! Personally, I wouldn't pay through the nose for any of that, but it is nice to have something stylishly designed.
I agree on the whole but to me a fridge is a fridge. i have more enthusiasm for cars and pc's
[TW]Fox;11962104 said:
edited because the point has been made several times already....
So this post is slightly less pointless I used to think I would never consider a new car and for me I probably won't. We are looking at a new car for Jane on the other hand and one of the models she likes is the Fiat Grande Punto. That is what she wants. Up the budget a bit and she still wants one, up it a bit more... thats still what she wants. The fact she has the same budget as I had doesn't change the fact that she only wants a small car with a frugal engine plus the "luxury's that she would like" which totals air con, front electric windows and RCL... she's easily pleased!
Now, I'll have to look into it a bit more but from the brokers it seems that a new one is about the same as a year old example at a dealers so we will probably at least consider buying new.
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