Average waiting times?

Ukadder · 20 Mar 2006 at 12:43

I know you said every car looses value etc and your right! (nearly) every car will depriciate over time. BUT dureing the first year of ownership the most is always lost. If I was in your situation I would definatly concider getting a 04/03 reg car, yes it will still loose value but less.

Just to try and change your mind more:

Think of the NICE car £15,000 could buy you! and selling the BMW or the audi back after 3 years of ownership youll loose based upon those trend lines arround £6000 of their value if brough at the 2-3 year stages.

Compaire that to the Astra from new where you stand to loose £9000.

Depriciation Info From: WhatCar

Sam · 20 Mar 2006 at 12:45

Replicant said:
Fair play wish i could have afforded a brand new astra at 17.

If you have any type of full time job you can , just buy it on finance

Phate · 20 Mar 2006 at 13:00

Sam said:
If you have any type of full time job you can , just buy it on finance

EXACTLY WHAT IM DOING

S@njay · 20 Mar 2006 at 13:08

Phate said:
EXACTLY WHAT IM DOING

I'll be the even older old man here!

Save yer money and put a deposit down on a house!!

Your only young once, we all make mistakes, and we all learn from them!

Might as well get that "i need a new car" out your system now! And when your older you too will be trying to tell people not to buy a new car!

Anyway, your going to be in full time employment for a loooooong time now, live rich whislt you still have the chance!

I like the new astra anyway, its got a good looking edge compared to the bmw and audi, its a shame that soo many people have the new astra they "become" too common.

Good luck

melchy · 20 Mar 2006 at 13:08

Ukadder said:
I know you said every car looses value etc and your right! (nearly) every car will depriciate over time. BUT dureing the first year of ownership the most is always lost. If I was in your situation I would definatly concider getting a 04/03 reg car, yes it will still loose value but less.

Just to try and change your mind more:

Think of the NICE car £15,000 could buy you! and selling the BMW or the audi back after 3 years of ownership youll loose based upon those trend lines arround £6000 of their value if brough at the 2-3 year stages.

Compaire that to the Astra from new where you stand to loose £9000.

Depriciation Info From: WhatCar

Unless im looking at the figures wrong, you're losing less on the Astra than either the BMW or the Audi over the 4 years if you were to buy from new :confused:

People are always saying depreciation on Vauxhalls is terrible compaired other makes.

I understand what you mean about gettng a better nearly new car for similar money though

cymatty · 20 Mar 2006 at 13:10

melchy said:
Unless im looking at the figures wrong, you're losing less on the Astra than either the BMW or the Audi over the 4 years

Not as a % loss from initial value.

melchy · 20 Mar 2006 at 13:14

cymatty said:
Not as a % loss from initial value.

You're quite right. Looking at it again, % wise the Astra is worth about a 1/3 of its initial cost and the Audi and BMW about 1/2 after the 4 years, but in real monetary terms you've lost more on the BMW and Audi after the 4 year period. Its probably just beacuse it wasnt a similar priced Astra in the table, a VXR may have been a better choice as it nearer the price.

I've just tried the index with a 2.0 Audi A3, A 1.8 3 Series, and a Astra VXR. All worth around 19K or so. This difference is quite marked with the VXR being only worth around 6.5K after 4 years (a possible future bargain me thinks).

Phate · 20 Mar 2006 at 13:28

S@njay said:
I'll be the even older old man here!

Save yer money and put a deposit down on a house!!

Your only young once, we all make mistakes, and we all learn from them!

Might as well get that "i need a new car" out your system now! And when your older you too will be trying to tell people not to buy a new car!

Anyway, your going to be in full time employment for a loooooong time now, live rich whislt you still have the chance!

I like the new astra anyway, its got a good looking edge compared to the bmw and audi, its a shame that soo many people have the new astra they "become" too common.

Good luck

i like the way this man thinks your hired!!!!!

[TW]Fox · 20 Mar 2006 at 13:42

Phate said:
EXACTLY WHAT IM DOING

So you can't even really afford it, can you? You are borrowing money to buy something that will instantly put you into negative equity the second you drive it away. You will nearly always owe more than the car is actually worth on the finance.

The only time when buying a new car makes sense is when its something with very low depreciation indeed, or you have so much money that really the depreciation is of no issue to you.

The Astra is not a low depreciation car and you are not loaded or you'd not be stringing yourself up with a finance deal in order to buy it.

It's a Vauxhall Astra. Now, to be fair, it's far from the worst car on the road. You certainly won't be driving around cursing it for being rubbish, but there are better cars out there, and there are Astras out there for considerably less money which wont slap you into negative equity straight away.

As for Vauxhall doing something right to sell so many, well they are, and that something is offering huge discount to fleet customers. This means they sell billions as company cars and after 3 years these then flood the used market further crucifying the used market. Ford sell more Focus's to private customers, ie people who actually spend their own money, FWIW.

Recommended course of action, in order of preference:

a) Realise that at the age of 18, a brand new Astra (Which everyone else on the road will simply assume is a hire car) is not the greatest thing to be blowing £15,000, considerably more money than you actually have, on and spend much less on something else

b) Spend that £15,000 on something else - something nearly new. Something, perhaps like an Audi A3 or similar on an 04 plate. Better car than the Astra, worth more than the Astra when you get sacked and realise you can't afford it/get bored with it and want to change it/something else happens.

c) Spend £10k or so on a nearly new Astra. You get your Astra but some other poor sod has lost £5k in a year.

I'm not going to tell you to spend the cash on a house deposit becuase house deposits are boring and I know it's a difficult thing to think about. You want a car, buy a car, but that doesn't mean you cant spend the money on a car in a far more financially savvy way.

[TW]Fox · 20 Mar 2006 at 13:45

cymatty said:
Not as a % loss from initial value.

To be completely fair, depreciation is a percentage of list price is utterly cack and I've no idea why people insist on using it. Money lost in real terms is far more relevant. What do you care about most, the fact that you just lost £10,000 or the fact you retained 30% of your initial investment?

The former, obviously.

tzang · 20 Mar 2006 at 14:16

willd58 said:
but hey, that guy who bought a 1ltr corsa against all suggestions didnt, oh, wait, yea he did.

Referring to me?

Phate said:
ok guys thanks for the info there are some extras i want on it.

leather seats
light and sight pack (automatic wipers and lights)
electrical folable mirrors
also tempted by xenon lights
and maybe bluetooth aswell

like i said thanks for the info

Definitely a factory order unless you opt for the Elite model which has everything you want except Xenons and Bluetooth as standard (I believe these can be dealer fitted, you should check with your dealer).

Oh, if you are choosing those horrendous new paint jobs (e.g. Metro Blue), I believe it takes up to 12 weeks (I could be wrong as that was half a year ago when the new paint options were just released)... Moonland would be the best choice IMO.

However, with what I said above in mind, you should consider getting a 55-reg Elite model instead to save you the initial depreciation (if it concerns you). Even a pre-reg one might be ideal.

On a side note, I don't understand what the problem is with buying a new car. Every new car owner needs to be aware of the depreciation and if they understand and is happy with it, so be it. Some people want a car customised to their liking, some like to be the first owner, some just enjoy having/owning a brand new car, some have had unwanted experience with used cars which makes them avoid anything but new, the list goes on... The Astra is a great car so I don't see why people are slating it either.

if it was a Corsa we are talking about... then I'll offer a different opinion

Firestar_3x · 20 Mar 2006 at 14:20

Just trying to get my head around this, walking into a dealer to spend 15k on a astra, being forced to wait upto 12 weeks then once you get it loose 3-5k in the first year.

Why not hunt around for a dealer pre reg car, fair enough it won't be the latest plate but it will only have 5 - 50 miles on it so your getting a new car without taking the initial money hit.

Ukadder · 20 Mar 2006 at 14:26

melchy said:
Unless im looking at the figures wrong, you're losing less on the Astra than either the BMW or the Audi over the 4 years if you were to buy from new People are always saying depreciation on Vauxhalls is terrible compaired other makes.

I understand what you mean about gettng a better nearly new car for similar money though

Yes you are looking at it wrong (not the graph wrong, but what I was trying to point out) I was not saying "buy a BMW from new" I was trying to point out buying a 2-3 year old BMW you’ll loose less money than an Astra from new.

Getting a BMW after 3 years and you’ll be paying the same as a new Astra, but in 3 years the Astra will devalue to the amount stated on the chart, where as the BMW would devalue to an amount not stated on the chart. So working out how much the BMW would devalue to (using the same devaluation rate as the chart indicated for the 4th year) it works out about £3000 less you’ll loose if you kept both cars for 3 years.

IE keep the Astra for 3 years and loose £3000 more than a BMW if you kept it for 3 years. (because the BMW is much higher value to start with and has lost it’s initial “Devaluation” period”)

Hope that makes sense :-/

S@njay · 20 Mar 2006 at 15:08

Phate said:
i like the way this man thinks your hired!!!!!

lol! i charge £20p/h min!

But what fox is saying is correct, and being so young you will be going to a lot of changes to an adult (sound corny!), and you will notice that priorities do change and your general outlook on real life will change dramatically.

Would you really be wanting to be tied down to a car for such a long time?

How long will you stay at your current job?

Do you like your current job?!!

If things do go all pete tong, have your realistically got a backup?

All these plus many factors can justify your decission.

Remeber, young people (like me!) dont like being tied down to such responsibilites! I like to have money to do random things, like holidays, big spends, will you be able to do such things once you pay off your car each month?

Remeber, the payment of the car is not the only thing your going to pay.

Also, being a new car, you will never have them stories about your first car being an absolute dog! And the fun you had with such an old banger!

Still, as a first car very nice!!

Phate · 20 Mar 2006 at 15:32

S@njay said:
lol! i charge £20p/h min!

But what fox is saying is correct, and being so young you will be going to a lot of changes to an adult (sound corny!), and you will notice that priorities do change and your general outlook on real life will change dramatically.

Would you really be wanting to be tied down to a car for such a long time?

How long will you stay at your current job?

Do you like your current job?!!

If things do go all pete tong, have your realistically got a backup?

All these plus many factors can justify your decission.

Remeber, young people (like me!) dont like being tied down to such responsibilites! I like to have money to do random things, like holidays, big spends, will you be able to do such things once you pay off your car each month?

Remeber, the payment of the car is not the only thing your going to pay.

Also, being a new car, you will never have them stories about your first car being an absolute dog! And the fun you had with such an old banger!

Still, as a first car very nice!!

I understand what you are saying

so lets answer your questions

How long will i stay at my current job - as long as needed

do i like my current job - yes i do but currently doing a cisco course then hopefully going somewhere with that

have i realistically got a backup? - yes

i started full time work at 15 and i no what you mean have the money there to buy random useless crap and spend it on whatever i feel etc. and ive been saving my money for awhile now so i wanna spend it on something nice

also my parents filled my childhood with such a great life ive got hundreds of storys i could tell you all and ive had a lot of laughs in my current car aswell

yeh the car isnt the only thing i pay, i pay for the broadband, and my contact lenses

and ive been messing around with cars since a very young age so old bangers i dont mind but brand new cars arent that often in my family as everyone normally gets a car from the yard.

i apprieciate that you guys are trying to help i really do, but i have been thinking about this for a week now, all the "what if's" etc and i really do want to go ahead and do this. and ive just got a test drive in a SXI tomorrow and if i like it i am going to order one and i really do hope that you all can apprieciate the fact that im getting myself a very nice car and that when the thread with pic's arrive you all go nice buy or nice car etc and not go, "so you've driven it home and its now worth about 9k yeh?"

Scrutinize · 20 Mar 2006 at 15:38

Whatcar have got their depreciation figures wrong (they always do), ignoring what their book value says and go off the glasses guide. A 1year - 6month old 1.8 sri sport-hatch will go for 10-11k on the forecourt. This means they are buying them in at around the 7.5 - 8k mark (+ they are behind book due to the Vauxhall offers on the new ones atm).

So in the first few seconds of driving a new astra off the forecourt you will pretty much write 50% off or £7,000. The way to test this, is to try and sell back to a dealer.

The new astra will depreciate like the old one. Vauxhall seriously inflate their forecourt prices, at auction they go for next to nothing. As there are so many going through auctions and trade, traders will only buy at rock bottom as they can get them at a drop of a hat. The only way to get a good px from a vauxhall is at Vauxhall for another one, as they have such huge margins to play with on the used cars.

If you buy a nearly new Astra the most you will loose is 1.5-3k depending on how well you negotiate.

The depreciation will eventually arrive at about 1/5 to 1/3 of the cars value over 4-5 years (depending on mileage) but the main problem is they drop so much in the first 36 months you will be in negative equity unless you pay a huge deposit. Most cars loose a fair bit in the first few months which accounts for the VAT etc but VXs are the worst.

But the main reason not to buy the new astra is for the same money there are some much better and nicer cars if you consider an exdemo.

S@njay · 20 Mar 2006 at 16:15

Phate said:
I understand what you are saying

so lets answer your questions....

That cool, looks like your really have thought about it!

And i can imagine, having played around with something for a long time (i.e. cars) you just want something nice!

Fair play,and hopefully you wont have to wait for longer than a month!!

You getting a 3 or 5 door? And what colour too? What about navigation, didnt vaxhall give away free navigation systems?

[TW]Fox · 20 Mar 2006 at 16:27

S@njay said:
That cool, looks like your really have thought about it!?

No it doesn't, he's gone OMFG LOLZ I CAN GET TO 06 PLATE CAR ON *** FINANCES LOLOLOLOL and thats it. It's all he's thinking of.

3 months after you bought it, it'll be exactly the same as that nearly new one you could have had for so much less. You are basically paying £5000ish for 3 months of OMG GOT BRAND NEW CAR.

He's not even buying a decent one, he's getting an SXi. Every hire companies fleet is just made up... SXi's. It'll look like a hire car.

This might sound hypocritical from someone who drives a Mondeo but my Mondeo cost £2650 at 4 years old and not £15000.

Have you even bothered to test drive anything else or is the Astra the only car you are considering becuase it 'looks good'?

In 3 years time when you are skint but have enough NCB to be able to insure a decent car, you'll regret having spent £15k on an Astra becuase, in 3 years time, just imagine what that £15k could get you..

great advice · 20 Mar 2006 at 16:31

Gotta have some folk buying new Corsa's though, if we didnt there wouldnt be bargains for a more sensible buyer

Phate · 20 Mar 2006 at 16:32

S@njay said:
That cool, looks like your really have thought about it!

And i can imagine, having played around with something for a long time (i.e. cars) you just want something nice!

Fair play,and hopefully you wont have to wait for longer than a month!!

You getting a 3 or 5 door? And what colour too? What about navigation, didnt vaxhall give away free navigation systems?

its gonna be a 5door, (spent 2 days deciding lol) going for the 5door because i am the only one of my mates who can drive so its nice they just all pile in without fuss. Colour i wouldnt mind a dark blue, i would go for black but it shows everysingle speck of dirt and every single nick lol, as far as navigation if the worst comes to it my mum has a tom tom go i can always errr....borrow when needed hehe, ill ask about the satnavs they were giving away, or see how much it is to get one built into the car

yeh hopefully i wont have to wait longer than a month probably depends on the colour