2nd hand car prices still inflated?
- Thread starter slinxy
- Start date
Soldato
Got a 10 year old Hyundai i40 estate here with 100k+ miles. It's been faultless but starting to rattle a fair bit now and give off the "I could go wrong soon" vibes.
Looking at going EV, but however you look at it something like a 2 year old EV6 at about £30k and it will end up costing 20k in depreciation over 4 to 5 years. That's assuming no "wonder battery tech" arrives and makes all the current gen EV cars worth a lot less.
For well under 20k you can get a 3 year old Euro6 petrol Skoda Octavia with a nice spec. Will cost a lot less in depreciation and seems like a much more sensible buy.
I reckon our next car will still be ICE, with EV after that in about 5 years.
Looking at going EV, but however you look at it something like a 2 year old EV6 at about £30k and it will end up costing 20k in depreciation over 4 to 5 years. That's assuming no "wonder battery tech" arrives and makes all the current gen EV cars worth a lot less.
For well under 20k you can get a 3 year old Euro6 petrol Skoda Octavia with a nice spec. Will cost a lot less in depreciation and seems like a much more sensible buy.
I reckon our next car will still be ICE, with EV after that in about 5 years.
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Ha. Mine got keyed. But as. I'll be keeping it until it dies it's no issue.
I looked on autotrader and there are. Similar cars for a little more actually. Yeah, Prices have gone up, but not by much tbh.
Don’t forget we went though a period where new car production was down or in the case of half of 2020 basically non existent. That’s created a natural shortage in the used market that will exist for at least another decade.
People also seem to be afraid of used EVs and they make up a not insignificant amount of car sales now. Thats propping up used ICE car prices also.
People also seem to be afraid of used EVs and they make up a not insignificant amount of car sales now. Thats propping up used ICE car prices also.
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Soldato
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- 16 Aug 2009
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Yeah electric cars are ludicrously cheap pity I don't have anywhere to plug one in! The bottom has simply fallen out of the market for those. Thanks Rishi.
That's how I picked up my Tesla; the depreciation has been savage on some EVs. I got a bargain!
A lot of cars have come down, but the prices are still high, I reckon next year it'll level out to what it should be. This year we're seeing loads of cars being listed for the same price for several months, the dealers have overpaid when the prices were heavily inflated. Great example would be Cazoo, they use to offer the most money for 2nd hand cars, they went into administration, on the verge of going bankrupt.
What did you pay for it? I wouldn't mind a 2nd hand Tesla.
Soldato
You can get into a high milage Model 3 for about 15k these days, very tempting personally.
Car prices have heavily outstripped inflation since the financial crisis.
As an example:
New Fiesta list price in 2008 started at £8695
This should be £14k according to the BoE inflation calculator.
However the latest Fiesta list price started at £19,060...!
...and as pointed out earlier, the cheapest car Ford now do starts at £25,800 (the Puma)
Median salary in 2008 was about £25k in 2008 and it is now £35k. So wages have gone up 1.4x, yet cars have gone up 2.2x best case, or 3x worst case (Puma example)!!!
Cars feel stupidly expensive now, because they absolutely are.
TBF cars nowadays have a lot more tech as standard (some of which is mandated by law) so although the price has gone up by more than inflation you could argue the extras you now get add extra cost over and above inflation.
No, that's a bogus argument.
even a base spec car (ford/vx type cars) these days will typically come with
LED Headlights
Cruise Control
Lane keep assist
aircon
infotainment with apple/android compatibility
alloys
electric mirrors/windows
tyre pressure monitoring
turbo charged engine
The vast majority of those wouldn't have been standard on a 2008 model.
That is still a bogus argument though. If you think about your argument clearly, you would see how that would make things totally unsustainable as time goes on, and no one would ever be able to afford a car. If things just got more and more expensive far beyond inflation due to them being updated/more technologically advanced everyone would be eventually priced out of everything.
If Ford still made brand new cars that were priced in line with inflation and had the same level of kit as a 2008 Fiesta then you may have more of an argument. However they don't.
The reality is that the cheapest new car Ford now make is over £25k. 3x the cost of the cheapest car they made in 2008. Yet wages have only increased 1.4x....
Edit^ that isnt even true. The cheapest car Ford made in 2008 was the KA which was about £6k starting.
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How is it a bogus argument?
Standards have been raised when it comes to safety and emissions, those things have a cost.
Not all of that cost is the driving force behind the cost increases of new cars but they are significantly more complex than they were even just 15 years ago.
Standards have been raised when it comes to safety and emissions, those things have a cost.
Not all of that cost is the driving force behind the cost increases of new cars but they are significantly more complex than they were even just 15 years ago.
But i don't see how that is really relevant. Everything gets more technologically advanced as time goes on. As i said, if you accept that manufacturers will keep making things more and more expensive beyond inflation because they add a few more gizmos every year, that means that eventually hardly anyone will be able to afford a car.
It still means cars are much more expensive to buy than they used to be.
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Could always buy a Dacia Sandero, won't be as high spec as a Fiesta/Corsa but ticks the in line with inflation box.
Of course it’s relevant, it’s not just about technology gizmos or features like air conditioning, it’s also the physical construction of the car.
There are reasons why you are more likely to walk away from a serious collision in a modern A segment super mini than you would a 30 year old Volvo barge.
15 years ago I’m pretty sure my car only had a drivers air bag. My current car had 4 or 5 airbags just for the driver.
You also ignored the point about modern drivetrains and how much more complex they are to hit emissions requirements.
Cars are simply so much better than they were 10, 20, or 30 years ago. They are also significantly more complex products for multiple reasons which include safety, emissions standards and consumer tastes.
Not really. Just moving the goal posts.
A Dacia Sandero when it was first released in 2013 was £6k starting. It is now £14k starting
That is 2.3x whilst wages have only gone up just over 1.3x since 2013.
Inflation calculator says that £6k from 2013 should be £8,155.92!!