what happened to the value why has it fell throu the floor, i thought with the new tax band, coming in on newer big engine'd cars, the older big engine cars on the old tax band would be more sought after....
Fuel/Living costs basically. People arent buying cars new any more, dealers aren't wanting big engined cars on their forecourts as they cant shift them, so people are hanging onto them or selling them off cheaper. This effects what the newer cars are worth, and that has a knock on effect down the line. I've seen new (ie 58 plate) vauxhall vectra sri's on sale for 8 grand. 3 grand will get you a petrol B6, or a late B5 TDi, just take a look on autotrader. The best money B5's atm are facelift 1.8T's because they are pretty economical and still have the power. V6's have a marked reduction in fuel economy with little or no increase in power over the turbo.
The tax hikes will likely affect the late model 2001 cars more tbh, as someone who was maybe going to buy a 2002 or 2003 car might go back to a 2001 to beat the tax. To most normal non-enthusiasts, a 1997 car is "old" which is why they'll go out and buy something under 5 years old and end up with a crappy little hatch. So they might go back to a 2001 car to beat the tax, but its unlikely they'd go back to a 97 car.
When we baught our car, we paid £1200 for it, back in Janurary, its a 96 1.8T and has lots of miles, but we sold our old 2001 fiesta for £1300 just after buying it. Some people did ask "why did you change your 2001 car for an old '96 car" but it IS a much better car. Having been a passenger in a 55plate fiesta, i know i'd rather have a '96 B5 over that any day, was just nasty. But thats not how the majority of the population think, they just see its an "old P reg" and that must mean its crap.
A friend asked my brother recently how his S4 looked so shiney and good condition for an "old R reg car" They really couldnt understand how/why he paid 5 grand for a 1998 car with 80k on the clock, when they're much newer 1.4 clio with 40k cost less. I know which i'd rather be driving though!
ideally i want a saloon, thats fast, fwd or 4wd ideally 4wd
A4 Quattro
Your brakes probably arent worth all that much imo. If they were 312mm upgrades or something then they might be, but as they're stock size i'd say maybe £50? (i just installed some 312mm brakes to ours and it cost about £130 all in, £50 for the carriers, 70 for a pair of disks and 15 for a set of mintex pads)
Exhaust will be worth a bit, maybe 150-200quid or something?
