New cars 'cheaper than used ones'

loofer

"New cars are currently cheaper than used ones for the first time in the UK, according to a comprehensive guide to UK car prices. " read Parkers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7990464.stm
Anybody actually seen any examples of this?

Paul_Varjak

A few months ago I was at a Toyota dealer in Hull. The dealer was selling new cars cheaper than he was selling used cars of the exact same model.

Around the same time I was looking at a new Fiat Panda for £4995 - second hand models over three years old were still £4,000!

It does not make sense to me that second hand is more expensive than new - it was only a few months ago that second hand car dealers were saying that there sales were well down. Surely, if sales are down, you reduce the price in order to sell them?

Philippa36

I bought a new Aygo Blue a few weeks ago and when I went to pick it up from the dealership there was a yr old Aygo on the forecourt at the same price I was paying for my brand new car

I guess there are some people who don't question the price or haggle!

loofer

I would also have thought that many people in the market for a nearly new car have already ruled out the option of buying a new car knowing that they would have to take the depreciation hit and why pay the extra premium in these tough times yada yada yada. With these preconceptions, they may not have bothered even shopping for deals on new cars.

Less people in search of a new car and demand for nearly new cars go up. Now that it has made the news, the balance may be tipped in favour of new cars (costing more than nearly new) again.

I still find this a little hard to believe tho, so please somebody... send me a link/example. I'll eat my own fist if this is the case within the same garage (i.e selling new stock cheaper than 2nd hand comparative).

vikingaero

This is true in some respects. I'm looking at a new Mazda 5 - list £23k, dealer has a 6 month demonstrator example at £18,995, he's offered me a new one for £20.5k (a £2.5k discount) and despite all this I can get a new one on Broadspeed.com for £16k!

gilbert_and_sullivan

This isn't new (no pun) we bought a new Hilux pick up 18 months ago, the particular model had only been out about 8 months as a proper UK model.

We didn't intend to buy new, but were offered a better price than we could find used...quite bizarre.
(mind you 2 weeks later Clarkson screened that arctic trip with one and that was the end of the discounts...)

jackanory

I am considereing buying a new car over the easter hols, preference for a C1 just for driving around town, reading the thread should I be going for brand new and what 'extras' do I ask for. Yes you can tell I have neverf done htis before

Hintza

jackanory wrote: »

I am considereing buying a new car over the easter hols, preference for a C1 just for driving around town, reading the thread should I be going for brand new and what 'extras' do I ask for. Yes you can tell I have neverf done htis before

Research your market. You need to know what price a new car can be bought for, a pre-reg and say a year old version.

If you go in blind you will not get the best deal. Why a C1? By that I mean what other similar cars are available and what deals are being offered on them?

So research, research and research again.

Lemonade_Pockets

This has been the case for ages. When i was selling new cars i would talk to people looking at a used clio for example, then when it came to haggling my close would be .......and how about if i could do you the same deal on a brand new car.

I sold a lot of cars that way, most where equal to or cheaper than the nearly new cars!

Clio campus's used to be a prime candidate for this. The used car department would have 1 year old clio's up at £5999 but i could do a new one for £5499 if required.

Thats not taking into account finance either. If someone was looking at financing a used clio over 5 yrs. I could do a new one on a 42month PCP for cheaper than a 3year old clio financed on hp over 60months.

Those are some specific examples that i can remember. The finance aspect wouldn't work out quite the same on bigger cars. But i still reckon for 90% of volume MFR's i could source a new one cheaper than garages are selling 1yr old cars.

DealDrivers_company_representative

Figures were confirmed this week...there are 10-15% less used cars available in the market place than the same time last year...simple case of demand not matching supply, and used car prices have been steadily rising for 3-4 months as a result.

Also, don't forget - used car values reflect the fact they were bought at a price inc 17.5% vat, and used car price guides for residual value 1-3 years further on reflect the original price then a calculation a percentage depreciation. We have a temporary lowest ever 15% vat rate in the UK right now so new cars are being invoiced with that lower rate..so are 'cheaper' like-for-like as a result.

If you order a new car which is invoiced to you after 31st Dec this year. your vat on it will be whatever the govt announce for the 1st Jan vat rate...could be anywhere from approx 17.5% to 20%. So, if anyone is 'thinking' of replacing with a new car this year you need to ensure it is ordered in time for it to be registered before 31st Dec...Ordering in December won't help as you'll have to choose from stock and we all know manfacturers are reducing build to match lower demand this year.

jackanory

the reason for going for the citreon is that it seems a nippy little car and I just admit I don't like the boxy cars which probably is foolish but I want to like the look of it too.