Scrappage (but mainly depreciation!)

Volcano

So this: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090515/tuk-scrappage-benefit-lost-in-88-days-6323e80.html is saying that any benefit from the £2000 scrappage (if there is any) would be wiped out in 88 days due to depreciation.

The thing that surprises me from this report is the figures on depreciation for new cars: Around 50% of its value is lost in the first year! On a £16,000 Ford Focus it's over £8,000 !!!

Is there anyone here who does, or has, thrown away such a huge figure just to be the first owner? How can this be justified over, say a year old car for half the price?

(I've only ever owned old bangers so I really have no experience with depreciation.)

roddydogs

Show me a year old car i can buy for 50% of its new price , thanks

Volcano

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/FORD+FOCUS/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146-236,N-86-141-240-4294966815-4294967050/search.action?&sort=p_VehiclePrice&postcode=cv22+6ll&radius=1500&showMoreOptions=&page=2&googleQuery=FORD%20FOCUS%20deals

Seems to be a few there, but I really don't know much about newish car prices.

http://www.ford.co.uk/Cars/Focus/Pricelistandfinance

AdrianHi

It depends grealy on the make and model of car, Fords do have a depreciation problem that works in your favour if you buy young, because after the initial hit the value does hold up quite well.
My current car I bought brand new, looses 55% of value in 3 years (not 1 year) I'm fussy, took a long time (18 months) to find something I liked enough to replace my old car that needed regular attention and didn't want to wait months more for the new model it was to be available second hand.
No regrets but would aim to go back to buying nearly new again in future. The £2000 scrappage might make sense on cheaper under £10K cars especially if spent on something like a Mazda 2 or Skoda Fabia which hold their value better than others in their class.
I think you are absolutely right to do the sums on a particular new car to work out if it's worth it for the £2000 scrappage though.

Charlton_Taz

Surely these 'huge' depreciation figures are just exaggerated massively anyway. Surely in reality, if you bought a new ford focus you would never pay the list price so the depreciation you would suffer would therefore be alot less??? Or am I missing something?

roswell

Vauxhall insignia demonstrator 2.0 cdti SRI for 13 k .... most of the vectra range under a year old is now half original list prices and some of the last "Vectra`s" were sold new at about half the original list price`s.