Buy used Zafira now or wait till budget next week with ?? Scrappage Scheme...

Korkyb

Hi All

Looking to move from my 9+ year old 2 litre Mondeo to a newer Zafira mummymobile.

My budget is around £6,000 and currently looking at a 3 year old 34k miles jobbie for about £5,500.

Question is will the possible Scrappage scheme coming in at next weeks budget help me at all?

- Is a scrappage scheme likely to include my car (1st registered in Jan 2000)?
- will the scheme be of any use with my £6000 budget?
- will the scheme have an effect on used prices?

Question, questions,decisions decisions..................

cos69

Your not going to know the details of the scheme until the budget, but why not wait and see, you might just scrape in. The scheme might cover 1 year old used cars and will also likely cover "pre reg" or dealer registered cars so there is every chance of finding something to suit you for £2000 plus £6000

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

I think some people misunderstand what this scheme would be for.

Its too support the industry. By given a discount of 2k for old cars it means the dealers will have to offer less in the way of discounts themselves.

I doubt the end consumer will end up paying much if anything less than they would have before. The only difference will be that the government and not the dealer/manufacturer will pick up the discount on the otr price.

Obviously wait and see but I doubt its going to have much effect unless you can up your budget a bit towards brand new (possibly almost new) at a push.

cos69

So what your saying is, you expect the selling price of all cars to go up because a minority of buyers ie a few of those with old bangers and cash to spare might be tempted to buy something new or a pre reg!

How do you think that will impact the vast majority of buyers who do not have 10 year old cars to dispose off; will they be prepared to pay an additional £2000 for their purchases?

If you have a car that fits the scrappage scheme criteria but your local dealer takes you for an idiot, the online car brokers who will get involved with the scheme will offer sensible alternatives. Dealers following your advice will soon be looking for new careers

WestonDave

I've just had almost exactly the same quandry and in the end bought the Zafira! We had to do something as in the next couple of months we'd have to service, MOT, tax and replace the exhaust on the old car (9 year old Astra) which would have probably added up to near enough £750.

It's possible there may be a scrappage scheme after the budget but while I would imagine the new to one year old part of it would happen, the allowance may not be the full £2k bearing in mind limited govt funds! It may well domino down used car prices, but by the same token at the moment dealers are looking at the stock on their forecourts and trying to shift something to pay the salaries/rent etc. There seems to be room to bargain on used cars where at present they are pretty hard on new prices - introduce a scheme which brings in buyers and the incentive to just shift anything for cashflow disappears.

I personally don't think the scheme will impact much anyway - people driving 9 year old cars aren't suddenly going to find £2k off a £15k+ brand new car a clincher! Most people driving cars that old are doing so because they either can't afford something newer (i.e. a 3 year old) or because they reckon new cars are a rip off or because they don't get anything from posing in a newer car. Unless a lot of new cars get bought instead of 3 year olds there won't be much impact on the overall market IMHO.

Korkyb

Cheers Guys

I've actually just serviced and MOT'd the Mondeo last month.

It passed the MOT with just a bulb needing to be replaced.

I've had the Mondeo from new and am a bit sad that its seen as an "old banger" cos its been faithful all these years & is a lovely drive (its the 2l Zetec)

If/when sold second hand it will be a cracking buy for someone given that its only worth £500 - £600 (although with a full 11 months MOT I'd chance my arm for a wee bit more).

I just need a more versatile car & the 5 + 2 seats of the Zafira is appealing.

How do you find the Zafira WestonDave?

Korkyb

The car I'm off to look at is a:

06 VAUXHALL ZAFIRA 1.6i Active.

with
35,000 miles,Petrol, Manual, 7 Seats, 3x3 point rear seat belts, ABS, Air conditioning, Alloy wheels, Audio remote control, CD Player, Body coloured bumpers, Tinted rear windows.

Also has a private No plate valued at £450 (although I really am not bothered about what it says on the number plate so wont be paying a premium for that....).

Seller is asking for £5500ono & car appears in good nick.

Anyone an idea what should my target price be to get this for?

[Deleted User]

a great alternative to the zafira is the nissan almera tino - undervalued and very reliable, check out reviews on whatcar or parkers etc...

WestonDave

Only picked it up yesterday but had asked around a lot of friends who had them (admittedly some of them the older one). Everyone I've spoken to was very happy with it, and I find it very pleasant to drive (we've got the 1.6 Life which is like yours but no alloys, no remote stereo control and no tinted windows). The kids get a higher ride in the back and it feels very spacious - you can get shopping and a buggy in the boot rather than one or the other (with the +2 seats down!). We looked at the Verso but there aren't many around and they are still pretty new so we'd have paid more for it. We have another smaller runaround so the plan is to minimise the mileage on the Zafira whilst still keeping it running enough to keep it happy.

As for prices - after trade in we paid £6k for ours with 20k on the clock from a dealer (Nissan strangely - see post above - they buy them in off the end of Motobility contracts because they sell well!). Serviced, 6 months tax and two brand new front tyres. 06 plate. 12 months warranty and RAC cover which I wouldn't choose to pay extra but is worth mentioning in comparison to a private sale.

(Same dealer now has a 55 plate but still new style for the same forecourt price but has only done 5k miles - if you're anywhere near North Wiltshire I'll point you in the right direction if interested!)

Korkyb

I'm in similar position - also have a small clio for work runs.

Sorry to be nosey but how much would you say the trade in got you?

If I knock off £500 for the sale of the Mondeo I would be looking at £5000 or less if I can bargain well so probably not a bad deal.

Chap who is selling has had it from new & is emigrating so genuine reason for sale.

I'm in sunny Scotland & dealers in my area seem be selling similar cars for about £750 - £1000 more than this private sale.

I would probably get the AA or RAC in for an inspection as I'm mechanically numb :-)

GaryS

For what its worth, I purchased an 05 (A model) 2.0 DTI Zafira Breeze about a year ago and have been very pleased with it.
Diesel returns average of 45mpg so pretty good.
7 seat option is superb, no need to remove any seats when you fill it up with shopping/junk, etc.