Should I take Advantage of the Current Used Car Price Boom?
Discussion
Hello PH'ers (again).
A couple of months ago I sought your advice on buying something to replace my current Audi A5 which gets to the end of its PCP in December. Although your advice was sound, I was unable to act on it at the time and now, a few months on, used car stock has dwindled and prices rocketed, in particular in the "50-year old's mid-life crisis dream car" segment that I'm looking at.
So I reckon I'm going to have to wait a while for new cars to become available again (when the the chips are there) and / or more used cars hit the market.
On the plus side, I am currently looking at most car dealers offering me to buy my A5 at a price that leaves me with about £3.5k - £4k equity (plus a huge chunk of deposit ready for the right car).
My current thinking is that now is the time to sell. I can't see the offers for the A5 getting much higher, especially as we have a new reg coming in between now and the PCP ending. With the equity, run a £3-5k car (*) for a while until the market gets back to normal during which time I'll have more deposit saved, not paying out a monthly (about £1100 in total) and still have a car that would get me the same P/ex as the A5 equity would in December.
Is this a good strategy?
The only catch in all of this is getting something that is going to serve me well for 6 months or so. As I would not have a monthly loan repayment, MPG and routine maintenance are not an issue but having something comfortable (I'm fat and have bad back so small hatchback seats won't work) that will not leave me on the side of the road on my weekly 250-mile round trip is. 'Fun to drive' is a nice to have so my immediate thought was Lexus IS-250 or GS-300 but wondered what else I could get for that sort of money.
(*) This assumes I end up with a £2k p/ex value but the other option is buying something at < £10k that's pretty much at the bottom of the depreciation curve but again, not sure what that would be and hence turning to you folks.
As ever, thanks all in advance.
A couple of months ago I sought your advice on buying something to replace my current Audi A5 which gets to the end of its PCP in December. Although your advice was sound, I was unable to act on it at the time and now, a few months on, used car stock has dwindled and prices rocketed, in particular in the "50-year old's mid-life crisis dream car" segment that I'm looking at.
So I reckon I'm going to have to wait a while for new cars to become available again (when the the chips are there) and / or more used cars hit the market.On the plus side, I am currently looking at most car dealers offering me to buy my A5 at a price that leaves me with about £3.5k - £4k equity (plus a huge chunk of deposit ready for the right car).
My current thinking is that now is the time to sell. I can't see the offers for the A5 getting much higher, especially as we have a new reg coming in between now and the PCP ending. With the equity, run a £3-5k car (*) for a while until the market gets back to normal during which time I'll have more deposit saved, not paying out a monthly (about £1100 in total) and still have a car that would get me the same P/ex as the A5 equity would in December.
Is this a good strategy?
The only catch in all of this is getting something that is going to serve me well for 6 months or so. As I would not have a monthly loan repayment, MPG and routine maintenance are not an issue but having something comfortable (I'm fat and have bad back so small hatchback seats won't work) that will not leave me on the side of the road on my weekly 250-mile round trip is. 'Fun to drive' is a nice to have so my immediate thought was Lexus IS-250 or GS-300 but wondered what else I could get for that sort of money.
(*) This assumes I end up with a £2k p/ex value but the other option is buying something at < £10k that's pretty much at the bottom of the depreciation curve but again, not sure what that would be and hence turning to you folks.
As ever, thanks all in advance.
I regret not buying a BMW M240i about this time last year. It was just the spec I wanted; a manual coupe in Estoril blue with HK stereo for roughly £16,500 at a dealer. It was under-priced even then but I thought it was the wrong time to buy. Similar examples are £20,000+ now. Still struggling to let it go...
Edited by MrGTI6 on Monday 12th July 18:52
Whether it is houses or cars, if you need to own one, the market volatility is irrelevant unless you are buying your first or selling your last. In between you PX at high high, med med, or low low. You simply pay or receive the net cost difference.
So if the A5 still works for you, keep enjoying it. Otherwise chop it in for something else.
So if the A5 still works for you, keep enjoying it. Otherwise chop it in for something else.
My take is that whilst you may get more money for the A5 now, that could easily be offset by the depreciation on the replacement car you buy for 6 months or so. Unless you are very lucky, you will lose something.
Given what you said about finding the right replacement, you may regret it.
Given what you said about finding the right replacement, you may regret it.
The half dozen or so vehicles I have been tracking the last 3 months It feels like we are getting to the market peak, that's not to say that prices will come down for some time yet, but for now they don't seem to rising week on week like they have been. Yes there are a few dealers pushing their luck or paid a premium but the majority seem to be levelling off.
Another sign that things are cooling, I have 2 dealers phoning me daily to ask if I am still interested, like houses the Spring / Summer are normally good times to sell. So as we move to Autumn and supply issues improve gradually we may start to see the bubble deflate if not burst.
There is always going to be a limit someone is going to pay for a used vehicle and dealers will soon realise what that is, that will feed back into the auction prices being achieved.
Another sign that things are cooling, I have 2 dealers phoning me daily to ask if I am still interested, like houses the Spring / Summer are normally good times to sell. So as we move to Autumn and supply issues improve gradually we may start to see the bubble deflate if not burst.
There is always going to be a limit someone is going to pay for a used vehicle and dealers will soon realise what that is, that will feed back into the auction prices being achieved.
I did. I had a 2 year old Focus which went to WBAC at the end of June, Worked out as a cheap years driving for me. I did have an old E Class on the drive though which has been pressed into daily service for the foreseeable. No idea what I'll buy next or when but it won't be until the market settles a little.
Having seen a few posts on the price of secondhand cars, I thought I'd see what I was offered for my 2017 Kia Sportage.
Best offer so far is £400 more than I paid for it 4 months ago at a Kia main dealer!
I'm quite tempted, as I've realised I really don't need 2 cars, and generally choose to drive the small car.
If I sell, I'll be spending the money on getting the house extended - if I can get a fair quote from a builder.
Best offer so far is £400 more than I paid for it 4 months ago at a Kia main dealer!
I'm quite tempted, as I've realised I really don't need 2 cars, and generally choose to drive the small car.
If I sell, I'll be spending the money on getting the house extended - if I can get a fair quote from a builder.
clockworks said:
Having seen a few posts on the price of secondhand cars, I thought I'd see what I was offered for my 2017 Kia Sportage.
Best offer so far is £400 more than I paid for it 4 months ago at a Kia main dealer!
I'm quite tempted, as I've realised I really don't need 2 cars, and generally choose to drive the small car.
If I sell, I'll be spending the money on getting the house extended - if I can get a fair quote from a builder.
..Best offer so far is £400 more than I paid for it 4 months ago at a Kia main dealer!
I'm quite tempted, as I've realised I really don't need 2 cars, and generally choose to drive the small car.
If I sell, I'll be spending the money on getting the house extended - if I can get a fair quote from a builder.
More likely to be, if I can get a builder.
MrGTI6 said:
I regret not buying a BMW M240i about this time last year. It was just the spec I wanted; a manual coupe in Estoril blue with HK stereo for roughly £16,500 at a dealer. It was under-priced even then but I thought it was the wrong time to buy. Similar examples are £20,000+ now. Still struggling to let it go...
Not that it will help your case but I did buy a BMW M240i in August last year which is a manual couple in grey from a main dealer and I thought then I was buying at the top of the market too but I went for it anyway as financial decisions have never been my strong point where cars are concerned. It's the first car i've ever owned which has increased in value. Edited by MrGTI6 on Monday 12th July 18:52
It's definitely a crazy market currently but when things will change is anyone's guess. I did consider selling as I was considering a Cayman S at the same time and I would still love the Porsche but I think the BMW is a keeper for a couple more years at least
MrGTI6 said:
I regret not buying a BMW M240i about this time last year. It was just the spec I wanted; a manual coupe in Estoril blue with HK stereo for roughly £16,500 at a dealer. It was under-priced even then but I thought it was the wrong time to buy. Similar examples are £20,000+ now. Still struggling to let it go...
You shouldn't over think on these things, they're not investments you're not going to make a killing or the reverse whatever happens it's a car to use not a bitcoin.Edited by MrGTI6 on Monday 12th July 18:52
If you didn't see the value then I'm not sure why you see that it was a mistake, it's still the same car that you didn't want at 16.5k why do you wish you'd bought it now? Being worth a few quid more doesn't mean it drives any better.
Wills2 said:
You shouldn't over think on these things, they're not investments you're not going to make a killing or the reverse whatever happens it's a car not a bitcoin.
If you didn't see the value then I'm not sure why you see that it was a mistake, it's still the same car that you didn't want at 16.5k why do you wish you'd bought it now? Being worth a few quid more doesn't mean it drives any better.
This man speaks truth.If you didn't see the value then I'm not sure why you see that it was a mistake, it's still the same car that you didn't want at 16.5k why do you wish you'd bought it now? Being worth a few quid more doesn't mean it drives any better.
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