Is now a bad time to buy a used (nearly new) car?

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BenUK

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This is my first post here, so hello all!

I am considering buying a new (used) car, an A3 170 Sport of some sorts.

However, I am obviously aware that the car market, along with the general finances of the world are all shot to hell thanks to the recession.

So I am just wondering if now is a good time to buy a car. I have heard friends of mine say that used car prices have actually gone up since January of this year, ive also heard people say that they might go up even more, others say the prices of used cars with crash after the summer... I dont know what to believe.

Most of the A3's that ive been looking at (170PS, Sport trim, low mileage, 1 or 2 years old) are about £16-18K from Audi dealerships. I did see a 2006 A3 Sport 170 with 20,000 miles for £12,500 at an Audi dealership but it was sold before I could view it.

I guess the question im really asking is essentially should I buy now or wait for X months?

Many thanks,

Ben.
 
Hello, I work in the motor trade so i hope i can be of some help. Its true car prices have gone up for 4 months it a row now so the best time to buy would have been December - car prices are stabilising again now so they shouldn't go up any more which is good news!

If the car market has indeed returned to 'norm' then car prices will drop every month but as will the value of your part exchange so you don't really gain in that respect. The advantage to buying now would be the low finance rates - my advice would be to look around because my car cost 14500 in December and Audi were very expensive compared to the this price. I got my from a car supermarket and they will always be cheaper than Audi! I dont think im wrong in saying Audi's finance rates will be expensive compared to car supermarkets as well!

Its just a case of finding your ideal car outside the Audi dealer network (fingers crossed) as Audi will have the most choice by far, regarding your car choice - the 170 engine is great and its so quick, have you test driven one yet?
 
Hey thanks for the reply.

Yes, I have been courting a local Audi dealership with a possible view to buying one. They lent me a 2008 170 Sport 3 door for Saturday afternoon so I just had a blast around in it, yes its rather quick.

Approximately how much have prices increased since December?

From what I can gather, prices on Audi's im looking at have gone up maybe 2-3K, is that figure about right?
 
BenUK said:
Hey thanks for the reply.

Yes, I have been courting a local Audi dealership with a possible view to buying one. They lent me a 2008 170 Sport 3 door for Saturday afternoon so I just had a blast around in it, yes its rather quick.

Approximately how much have prices increased since December?

From what I can gather, prices on Audi's im looking at have gone up maybe 2-3K, is that figure about right?
Click to expand...

I have a new 2.0TDI-140 Sportback SE on order at the moment. I placed the order on 19 February with the price from the 1 December 2008 price list. The Total RRP was £18,665. The same price today, based on the April 2009 price list, would be £19,295 an increase of £630. All the options I have ordered have stayed at the same price price with the one exception of the iPod interface which has increased from £145 to £175.

Most other A3 models will have increased by a similar amount. I have copies of all of Audi price lists so if you want me to check a particular model, let me know.
 
h5djr said:
I have a new 2.0TDI-140 Sportback SE on order at the moment. I placed the order on 19 February with the price from the 1 December 2008 price list. The Total RRP was £18,665. The same price today, based on the April 2009 price list, would be £19,295 an increase of £630. All the options I have ordered have stayed at the same price price with the one exception of the iPod interface which has increased from £145 to £175.

Most other A3 models will have increased by a similar amount. I have copies of all of Audi price lists so if you want me to check a particular model, let me know.
Click to expand...

He's looking at second hand not new Dave.
 
h5djr said:
I have a new 2.0TDI-140 Sportback SE on order at the moment. I placed the order on 19 February with the price from the 1 December 2008 price list. The Total RRP was £18,665. The same price today, based on the April 2009 price list, would be £19,295 an increase of £630. All the options I have ordered have stayed at the same price price with the one exception of the iPod interface which has increased from £145 to £175.

Most other A3 models will have increased by a similar amount. I have copies of all of Audi price lists so if you want me to check a particular model, let me know.
Click to expand...

Ah thanks, perhaps I did not explain very well, im not after a brand new car as such, just a "nearly new" used one. Though to be honest, the price difference isn't all that much between a brand new one (21K) and a year old one with about 5K miles (16-17K).

Actually, purely from a visual perspective, I actually prefer the 2008 A3 rather than the 2009 model, though im aware that the 2.0TDi engine went through a bit of an overhaul and gets better mpg now rather than the 2003-2008 variant, which is "tempting".

If you have any info on used prices then that would be great! :)

Many thanks,

Ben.
 
staz1000 said:
He's looking at second hand not new Dave.
Click to expand...

I realised that but I thought if he knew the increases in the 'new' price it may well have a bearing on the 'nearly new' price.

No information on used car prices I'm afraid as I always buy new - mainly to get the spec I want.

I assume you have looked at the Used Car Locator on the Audi UK website.
 
h5djr said:
I realised that but I thought if he knew the increases in the 'new' price it may well have a bearing on the 'nearly new' price
Click to expand...

Fair enough.

Prices on used have definately increased since Christmas Ben. If you want to know the long term outlook then you need to follow oil prices. The massive drop in car prices was mainly caused by the fuel price spike last summer. Hence prices have now risen even though the recession was only confirmed in January.

The price of oil will be affected in turn by the economic crisis but it means they'll stay reasonable and not do what they did last year.

How that changes car prices no one really knows. Obviously if you bought in December you'd be quids in and that could still be the case if the prices carry on rising.

Basically it's a gamble. I'd say if you NEED to buy then buy, if not wait a bit and let it settle. The only way prices will drop steeply is if millions suddenly lose their jobs or fuel prices shoot up. Neither of them are going to happen.
 
Whether the proposed new initiative by the Government to offer £2,000 against a car over 9 years old if you buy a new car or one up to one year old will effect prices of the nearly new cars I'm not sure.

According to reports, it has increased the sales of new cars in Germany such that last month they were the best for the last 10 years!
 
h5djr said:
Whether the proposed new initiative by the Government to offer £2,000 against a car over 9 years old if you buy a new car or one up to one year old will effect prices of the nearly new cars I'm not sure.

According to reports, it has increased the sales of new cars in Germany such that last month they were the best for the last 10 years!
Click to expand...

Up 21% in February yeah. But they set aside 1.5B euros and it's nearly all gone in a few months! I think Labour be lucky to get that one off the ground.

Prices over 9+ year old cars would go through the roof though!
 
Yes, I heard about the possible £2000 exchange the UK government are considering, I guess that would increase new car sales and slow up the used car sales market, which I guess could reduce prices of used models perhaps...?

Hmm.

I'm definatly going to wait for a month or so as im not financially in a position to buy at present, I also have to sort out finance (probably half of the cars value) and look into possible credit protection scheme's as the company I work for isn't doing so great at the moment, we have had job cuts already, but obviously in the current climate nothing is for certain.

I am also on a potential time scale with my current car, as im convinced the turbo is on its way out and the rear suspension has been knackered for a few months, so I want to get a new vehicle before my current one goes for a burton. I've been offered £1,700 for it, which is ok, I was hoping for £2000.
 
Vauxhall are doing a similar scrapping scheme at the moment but its a con, the 2k saving is off list! But you can get 3k off a corsa at any of the car supermarkets anyway. Pointless exercise!
 
BenUK said:
Yes, I heard about the possible £2000 exchange the UK government are considering, I guess that would increase new car sales and slow up the used car sales market, which I guess could reduce prices of used models perhaps...?

Hmm.

I'm definatly going to wait for a month or so as im not financially in a position to buy at present, I also have to sort out finance (probably half of the cars value) and look into possible credit protection scheme's as the company I work for isn't doing so great at the moment, we have had job cuts already, but obviously in the current climate nothing is for certain.

I am also on a potential time scale with my current car, as im convinced the turbo is on its way out and the rear suspension has been knackered for a few months, so I want to get a new vehicle before my current one goes for a burton. I've been offered £1,700 for it, which is ok, I was hoping for £2000.
Click to expand...

Remember the Government scheme is on new cars and those up to one year old so it may well increase the price on the up to one year old cars.

I understand the UK scheme will be similar to the German scheme where a buyer is given a voucher to use against a new car but will still be able to negotiate a discount as well.
 
I thought the 'voucher' exercise was as much to encourage the purchase of more efficient cars, as much as to stimulate the car market?
If so, there should be 'caviats' to the voucher's use.
No use getting rid of an inefficient 9 year old Jag if you're just going to buy another one!
The voucher should stipulate you must buy a car with <160g/km, for example.
 
The idea is pointless anyway. Are they doing it to get old inefficient cars off the road? If so it's a bad time to do it. If they're doing it to boost the market, which market will benefit? Yeah people Honda, Nissan and Mini factories are out of work right now but not everyone is going to buy one of those. Basically we'd be giving money to foreign car makers, why?!

Not only that but it would drop the prices of used cars even more, initially and later on. Who wins?? The person buying the car has a car that's worth less than it should be as so many have bought cars at the same time, the goverment might get closer to their emmissions targets but so what and the tax payer is out of pocket yet again.

They only winners are the car makers, none of which are actually British!
 
staz1000 said:
They only winners are the car makers, none of which are actually British!
Click to expand...

But many/most of them employ British labour.
Nissan in Sunderland and Honda in...wherever.
And the 'peripheral' suppliers are British too.
So it will help Britain.
 
bowfer said:
But many/most of them employ British labour.
Nissan in Sunderland and Honda in...wherever.
And the 'peripheral' suppliers are British too.
So it will help Britain.
Click to expand...

How much though that's what I'm saying. There's no way that money will help boost the British economy. I think that it's crap we don't have our own car industry but we're pretty lucky we don't in the current climate. The big 3 companies that have struggled in Britain recently are the 3 I named and what percentage of cars on the road are made by them!? The most common cars are Ford aren't they? They're not struggling (in Britain anyway). So much of the tax payers money will go to people that don't need it!

If you buy German with your £2k (and you'd be mad not to) how much of that 2 grand really goes back into the British pot? None of the cars are made here, none of the companies are even part owned by any British group, the only people would be the dealerships!

I can understand the Germans doing it (I would have put a caveat that they could only buy German) but not us.
 
bowfer said:
I thought the 'voucher' exercise was as much to encourage the purchase of more efficient cars, as much as to stimulate the car market?
If so, there should be 'caviats' to the voucher's use.
No use getting rid of an inefficient 9 year old Jag if you're just going to buy another one!
The voucher should stipulate you must buy a car with <160g/km, for example.
Click to expand...

I agree, but I'm sure there will be all sorts of caviats to the scheme. It may be for example that your must have owned the car for some specified time to prevent people going out and buying a cheap (less than £2000) 9 year old car just to get the voucher.

The German scheme works well for Germany but then most Germans buy German cars anyway. The same is true in France and Italy, but in the UK we now longer have 'home' car markers in the same way.
 
staz1000 said:
If you buy German with your £2k (and you'd be mad not to) how much of that 2 grand really goes back into the British pot? None of the cars are made here, none of the companies are even part owned by any British group, the only people would be the dealerships!
Click to expand...

The dealerships aren't owned by the manufacturers though.
They're British businesses (Arnold Clark, etc.etc.)
They employ British salesmen, mechanics etc.etc.
I would say that whatever make you choose, the British economy benefits in some way, shape or form.
 
staz1000 said:
I can understand the Germans doing it (I would have put a caveat that they could only buy German) but not us.
Click to expand...

But that would not be allowed under EU rules. Not really necessary in Germany as they mostly buy German cars anyway.
 
With regard to Germany, Renault, Skoda and Toyota are all high up the sales charts there.
 
bowfer said:
The dealerships aren't owned by the manufacturers though.
They're British businesses (Arnold Clark, etc.etc.)
They employ British salesmen, mechanics etc.etc.
I would say that whatever make you choose, the British economy benefits in some way, shape or form.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know, that's why I said "the only people would be the dealerships" and that's a tiny fraction of the process in making a car.

"I want to buy a car"

"Ok lets just fill in this form then I send it to the factory"

That's about it!

I know they'll make money in the aftersales care etc too but compared to the initial outlay by the government it's peanuts!
 
bowfer said:
The dealerships aren't owned by the manufacturers though.
They're British businesses (Arnold Clark, etc.etc.)
They employ British salesmen, mechanics etc.etc.
I would say that whatever make you choose, the British economy benefits in some way, shape or form.
Click to expand...

By the way - Hi Bowfer, haven't seen you on the forum for a while. How's the Alpina these days?
 
bowfer said:
With regard to Germany, Renault, Skoda and Toyota are all high up the sales charts there.
Click to expand...

Renault is obviously French, but Skoda is owned by the Volkswagen Group and I think Toyota have a manufacturing plant in Germany.
 
h5djr said:
But that would not be allowed under EU rules. Not really necessary in Germany as they mostly buy German cars anyway.
Click to expand...

I know, but I'd sack it off anyway. I'm sure I read somewhere that a country broke one of these rules recently and they were frowned upon but nothing happened.

bowfer said:
With regard to Germany, Renault, Skoda and Toyota are all high up the sales charts there.
Click to expand...

Skoda are owned by VAG don't forget. And after living in Germany for 5 years I can honestly say Renaults and Toyotas are rocking horse sh*t. The only non German cars that are quite common are Opels and Fords.
 
h5djr said:
By the way - Hi Bowfer, haven't seen you on the forum for a while. How's the Alpina these days?
Click to expand...

Don't talk to me about this pile of crap of a car.
I'm livid.
I mean, I had to go to the dealers last week, because some of the chrome was coming off the 'D' badge at the back.
Tch...
:jester::salute:
 
staz1000 said:
Skoda are owned by VAG don't forget. And after living in Germany for 5 years I can honestly say Renaults and Toyotas are rocking horse sh*t. The only non German cars that are quite common are Opels and Fords.
Click to expand...

But Opel and Ford both have large car plants in Germany providing many thousands of jobs.
 
h5djr said:
But Opel and Ford both have large car plants in Germany providing many thousands of jobs.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know. So that's why I can understand it being done in Germany. Most of the money would be put back into German manufacturers and a good chunk of the remainder would at least go into comapnies that provide German jobs.
 
I think buying a nearly new car is something to consider sooner rather than later, with new car sales & new car production down sharply on previous years there will evidently be a shortage of late plate cars around so this may drive prices up further...In terms of how much they've gone by its hard to say - if i traded in my car now i'd get £650 more than when i bought it.

"In April used car values rose by an average of 6%. To put this into context, April would usually be expected to see a reduction of around 2%. Therefore the current performance of the market is closer to an 8% improvement on the ‘norm’ for this time of year. An ongoing relative shortage of available stock is also continuing to influence the situation"
 
My neighbour has just bought a 1 year old A4 1.9TDI S-Line with SatNav (RNS-E), Bluetooth Prep, 6CD, Multi-Funtion Steering Wheel, Metallic etc....... with 89 miles on the clock - pre-registered last year. Advertised at £19k. Got it for £17.2k and they gave him £1k for his 12 year old A4 which is, frankly, rough.

He had to haggle. They came back with the usual blah blah..... but they still dropped it £1.8k!!!!!!!! I think he's got a bargain - he's just retired (at 75...) so good on him - he's well chuffed.

So it would seem that there are deals to be had. I think a lot of stealers are going to be deserate in the next few months.

Paul
 
My advice is buy one if you can afford one. Theres plenty of deals around at the mo.

If your taking a chance on finance and your job is not 100% then i'd give it a miss unless your old car is costing you a fortune to maintain.
 
It seems the government plan for £2k vouchers is more likely than I thought, it was on the news earlier. It said it was an idea but I bet it's already in motion. That would cause prices to drop again.

Wait Ben.
 
staz1000 said:
It seems the government plan for £2k vouchers is more likely than I thought, it was on the news earlier. It said it was an idea but I bet it's already in motion. That would cause prices to drop again.

Wait Ben.
Click to expand...

Oh for sure, im not going to buy one for at least a month or more so I will keep an eye on things.

Many thanks for all the advice, I just hope my current car lasts!

Ben.
 
h5djr said:
You are kidding I assume!
Click to expand...

Abso-flipping-lutely.
It's restored my faith in premium cars, that they can be reliable.
11000 miles and no measurable oil use.
I'd have been through approx £ 92.00 of oil in the A3 in the same time.
 
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