Downsizing a 1 year old car

Charliezoo

Hi all,

I bought a new car in March on finance (first time I've ever done this).

I haven't got on that well with the car, the fuel economy hasn't been as good as promised and we've also moved house and it takes up so much room on the driveway that I've been parking it on the road.

I'd really like to think about trading it in for a smaller car in March but would this be totally crazy? I've got one of those 3 yr finance deals with a balloon payment at the end, I could wait til the end of that which was my original intention but I'd rather change it sooner if possible.

Any advice?

BenL

It's generally the worse possible thing you can do with a new car.

Run of the mill stuff loses nearly 50% of its value in the 1st year e.g. New model Astra 2010

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/vauxhall/astra/hatchback-2009/buying-selling/

£13,000 new, 1 year projection of value £7490.

Real life

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2010-VAUXHALL-ASTRA-Petrol-VAUXHALL-ASTRA-1-4i-16V-Excl-/260856877675?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3cbc48126b £7974 and would be negotiated to £7490 no doubt. (Main dealer too, 11 months old)


What model have you got?

Charliezoo

Thought that might be the case:o

Its a Diesel Nissan Juke Acenta Premium 11 plate. It really hasn't lived up to its MPG figures at all and there's lots of other disgruntled owners out there.

When would be the earliest sensible time to consider trading it in?

Gloomendoom

You'd really need to keep it two or three years but it depends on how the car depreciates. Some are better than others. The Joke is fairly new so it's a bit of a guessing game really. Usually the longer the better. Eventually you can get to a point where the value starts to rise again.

BTW the published mpg figures for cars are laboratory generated and rarely attainable in real life. They are really only useful for comparison, model to model. It best to check on owners forums and the like before you buy to see what the real world consumption is like.

BenL

On ebay there are about 50 of them in the country for sale at the moment

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Cars-/9801/i.html?Fuel%2520Type=Diesel&rt=nc&Model%2520Year=2011&_nkw=nissan%20juke&_catref=1&_dmpt=Automobiles_UK&_fln=1&_sc=1&_sop=2&_ssov=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m1539

All at dealers with the extra price premium they ask.

The lowest being £13,700 with 5000 miles but this stretches all the way to £16,000

A private buyer could maybe get tempted at £13,000

verityboo

Give the finance company a ring and ask for a settlement figure. You can then compare it with the value of the car, either as a trade in or private sale (you would have to declare the outstanding finance of course). If there is any equity in the car you can use that as a deposit towards a smaller car.

If you put down a reasonable deposit and the finace was at a good rate (often is with new cars) it might be possible

missile

I would suggest you decide what car you would like. No point out of the frying pan into the fire. Maybe rent one for a day / week to avoid making another expensive mistake.

Go to whatever garage stocks the car you want and try to necotiate a trade in. They will contact finance company and negotiate a settlement on your behalf.

Lessbutbetter

Sister in law bought a brand new audi A1 8 months ago for nearly 16k, after not taking advice from us all that it wouldn't be big enough for what she needs. Needless to say it wasn't big enough and now is selling it. To add insult to injury, it was bought in cash!

Oouch!!

pitkin2020

I suppose it depends on how much your willing to lose if you have to. You need to know how much is needed to pay off the finance first and decide if the difference is worth changing the car. Will you still be prepared to change if you still have an additional 2-5k left to pay after selling the car?

You could also go back to the dealership you bought the car from and see if they will give you a good deal on taking that [STRIKE]joke[/STRIKE] juke back and if they'll give you a good deal on something else, a micra maybe? Not sure if they could transfer the finance over or not but worth having a chat and see what they can do.

As for MPG as others have said the manufacturers figures have to be taken with a pinch of salt as they are rarely "real world" figures and are usually unachievable.

pitkin2020

Lessbutbetter wrote: »

Sister in law bought a brand new audi A1 8 months ago for nearly 16k, after not taking advice from us all that it wouldn't be big enough for what she needs. Needless to say it wasn't big enough and now is selling it. To add insult to injury, it was bought in cash!

Oouch!!

I just don't understand the logic behind some peoples thinking TBH, 16k is a lot of money to spend on whats basically a piece of metal with an engine so surely people should be doing the research before splashing the cash. I suppose the old saying "a fool is easily parted with their money" couldn't be any truer lol

proactive

pitkin2020 wrote: »

I just don't understand the logic behind some peoples thinking TBH, 16k is a lot of money to spend on whats basically a piece of metal with an engine so surely people should be doing the research before splashing the cash. I suppose the old saying "a fool is easily parted with their money" couldn't be any truer lol

I think the old saying is "a fool and his money are easily parted".