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-   -   The price of new cars. (https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=285338)

john.wigley Aug 16th, 2018 10:41

The price of new cars.
 
A respected trader offers two new cars to forum members. The prices quoted attract negative comment and comparison with other makes like Kia and Dacia.

As someone who habitually spends less than £2K on any motor car purchase, I consider anything over £3K 'expensive'! Just my personal opinion, which I do not expect everyone to share, but I would never consider spending 10 times that amount on a depreciating asset.

Mulling this over as I type, two things come to mind:

If I was looking to spend that sort of money on a new motor car for whatever reason, I would be more interested in obtaining 'value for money' than 'price' per se.

Secondly, is this why the 'lease / purchase' type of deals currently available are so popular? For a fixed amount per month you can have the use of a brand new car. That you'll never 'own' it, and that it will cost you more overall because of interest payments, may be acceptable compromises to those people who, for reasons of their own, 'must' have a new car.

Having said that, if I did have £30K to spare with little or no return due to the combined effects of low interest rates and inflation, the temptation to spend it in this way might be hard to resist!

Regards, John.

pagan8c Aug 16th, 2018 11:17

without someone buying new there would be no used cars for you or other people to buy. As you say it is personal choice but some people (not you) are quite happy to call people who buy new cars stupid or mad for doing this. I personally don't mind not owning the car but just want a reliable car that is safe and will not break down on us leaving us stranded with no way of getting to where we want. I like new cars because I like the gadgets etc . Yes I pay for this privelige but as long as I can afford it then I am happy. As I don't drink and smoke my pleasure is my car (also my wife likes it too or else I wouldn't be buying 1). With a new car warranty for 3 years and either free servicing or road fund licence paid ,it make sense to me to enjoy my motoring with peace of mind. I am nearly 70 so have had my share of old bangers etc so it is nice to have a new car.

FunkyMelon Aug 16th, 2018 11:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by john.wigley (Post 2437930)
Secondly, is this why the 'lease / purchase' type of deals currently available are so popular? For a fixed amount per month you can have the use of a brand new car.

They're popular for 3 reasons.

1: People are materialistic - Like to have the latest and greatest and care what people think about them.

2: Cars are getting more expensive and people began to stop buying new about 10 years ago, hence scrappage schemes/the birth of PCP plans.

3: It's very easy to do PCP now. I could walk into pretty much any garage, wack a deposit down and drive off/spec whatever I want.

Back in the good old days you were considered pretty daft taking out a big bank loan to use on just a car, these days though, finance is just the norm, I read on an RAC (or something similar) article that 75% of all cars on the road are on finance now.

There are people I work with who are younger than me, earn far less than me, yet all drive nicer cars than me and I'm only 28! One guy I work with pays over £450 a month to drive an RS4 and he put down a hefty deposit too.

The only benefit I see to PCP is the dealer taking care of any issues, but any second hand car would have to go pretty horrifically wrong to be close to costing what someone on PCP is paying over the 3-4 years.

XC90Mk1 Aug 16th, 2018 15:08

I got my xc90 which would have cost around 45k new for less than 1/3rd of the cost with leather, electric seats, cruise, sunroof and pretty much everything bar RSE. I bought from a Volvo dealer with a warranty and a years Volvo assistance. I can’t imagine buying a new car and seeing 30k waste away and I could afford to I just think you need to be sill to spend 45k on somenthihn worth so little in 5 it 6 years time...

green van man Aug 16th, 2018 16:09

I nearly baught a new car, volvo v70 se lux, specced it with cloth seats. Sorry sir you cannot down spec a car, only up spec. I was prepared to pay the equivalent of up spacing from cloth to leather to go the other way, but apparently volvo do not allow that. By the time I had specced it the price was the thick end of 34 grand, cash purchase, no finance or part ex.

If for that money I could not have the seats I wanted I don't want your car.

I baught an older model xc70 with cloth faced seats for cash and saved 21 grand.

We decided to upgrade the caravan, again cash sale, no part ex the old van is being passed on within the family. Buying new and prepared to take the hit as it's what we want and will last us till we pack in towing and beyond if we site it. Am aiming for at least 10 years towing then we shall see.
Of course I may drop dead tomorrow in which case the plan is an expensive failier.

I did look at a new XC90, there is no way I consider it worth 60 grand.

So as I am not a keep up with the Jones,s man the fact that I have a 9 year old car towing a 2017 caravan, ( the 2017 model was better specced than the 2018 and a good bit cheaper despite being brand new) matters not to me, it's what we decided to buy and I don't care what others think.

I will however say it's surprising how much it costs to equip a caravan from scratch, as the old one was going to daughter she wanted it as was of course and all the useful things you baught as you went along suddenly need replacing.

Being old fashioned pcp was never a consideration for me, however it suits my non technical daughter down to the ground, 3 years warranty and service deal means only insurance and fuel to worry about rather than the unexpected expense her 6 year old vw was giving her.

Paul.

TonyB65 Aug 16th, 2018 16:22

It's strongly suggested, by many economic experts, that the next "sub-prime" type crash will be in the market of leased cars, it's another house of cards waiting to fall, but I guess only time will tell. For me, I've never paid any more than 5.5K for a car, but it's paid for, it's mine, if anything goes wrong with it, that's my look out, that's a responsibility I readily accept because I have no outstanding debt on it. I buy well maintained, decent marque cars and look after them, there's no way I'd ever even consider a brand new car, it's a waste of money for me, you lose money the minute you drive them away, but each to their own.

Harvey1512 Aug 16th, 2018 17:08

I lease through work, my company. Stress free motoring at a fraction of the price I would pay otherwise. It is not ego for brand, no BMW, Audi etc on my drive. My history over the last 10 years has been a mixture of Volvo or Skoda.

If the tax situation on company cars continues to deteriorate then I would buy second hand, a car 1-2 yrs old. I do 20k miles a year and I need a reliable car that is also respectable when I arrive at a customers site. I would not buy new, pricing is too high and the instant drop too big.

yoda960 Aug 16th, 2018 17:16

I'd consider myself a young person still. We drive older cars, always decent specced big engined, mid range/luxury cars (Volvo V70 P2 + Lexus LS), they don't cost much to buy, have loads of toys, reasonable to maintain too. I don't think I could afford to spend a huge chunk of my wage every month on a car (especially when I didn't own it at the end of the term!!). I'm in the camp that thinks people are daft who buy new, unless they can properly afford it, and I think that wouldn't be a huge percentage of drivers.

A lot of young people complain that today it's harder to get on the property ladder etc. Well yes it probably is if you are chucking so much cash down the drain every month just to drive a new car.

Our society is so wasteful too. Instead of fixing older cars which still have plenty of life in them, they get binned. Bad for the environment, bad for our pockets too!

I guess a lot of people want to show off these days, but I for one don't find it impressive seeing someone in a new car because as previously mentioned, they probably don't even own it!

As for toys in cars, if you buy a decent 2nd hand marque/model it will be fully loaded. Again, for reliability, buy a decent marque/model/example and it will be fine.

If you want new for the sake of having something new, then fair enough I think that is a fair argument if you can afford it. My argument against that is that I personally would be really precious about a car if I bought it new, and it would really upset me if I got a small scratch on an interior part, or a shopping trolley ding etc (things that would inevitably happen with any car ownership!). With my second hand cars, I buy nice examples, but if something happens then i'm really annoyed, but I get over it a bit easier!

XC90Mk1 Aug 16th, 2018 18:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harvey1512 (Post 2438078)
I lease through work, my company. Stress free motoring at a fraction of the price I would pay otherwise. It is not ego for brand, no BMW, Audi etc on my drive. My history over the last 10 years has been a mixture of Volvo or Skoda.

If the tax situation on company cars continues to deteriorate then I would buy second hand, a car 1-2 yrs old. I do 20k miles a year and I need a reliable car that is also respectable when I arrive at a customers site. I would not buy new, pricing is too high and the instant drop too big.

Do you not find the tax v.high for all but the smallest diesel vehicles

XC90Mk1 Aug 16th, 2018 18:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harvey1512 (Post 2438078)
I lease through work, my company. Stress free motoring at a fraction of the price I would pay otherwise. It is not ego for brand, no BMW, Audi etc on my drive. My history over the last 10 years has been a mixture of Volvo or Skoda.

If the tax situation on company cars continues to deteriorate then I would buy second hand, a car 1-2 yrs old. I do 20k miles a year and I need a reliable car that is also respectable when I arrive at a customers site. I would not buy new, pricing is too high and the instant drop too big.

Hadn’t read it was your own company, you could do 20k in a second hand car and get £7,000 tax free or you could lease and loose the lot.


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