NI used car scene

Mistral001

Simple question is how do asking prices on the local websites/newspapers compare with actual prices.

I have been looking for a car in the £1000 to £1500 range and about 10 years old and I have found that the prices are very much inflated compared with say Parker's Guide. I expect actual prices to be say 10 to 20% less than asking price, but Parkers Guide gives prices which are often up to 50% less than asking price. This is comparing private sale with private sale and dealer price with dealer price. eg price asked is £1500 and Parkers Guide gives £750.

What is the real price? Is Parkers Guide just relevant to the GB market and second hand cars here in NI is more expensive than those in the rest of the UK?

mofopants

parkers is really what it is worth, and usually they give an inflated view of what the car is worth. A dealer wouldn't give the price quoted in the parkers guide!

All you can do is find a car at a price you are happy to pay, and be aware that the asking price usually includes some leeway for haggling.

ballyblack

The trade in NI uses Glass's Trade Guide (up to 7 year old)

In your range of year/price bracket this is referred in the trade as the 'banger' market and the prices vary greatly. There is no real guide!

Values depend on condition, reliability/desirability and how many of that model are around for sale. As Mofopants says 'all you can do is find a car at a price you are happy to pay'

Good Luck



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Mistral001

Ballyback and mofopants

Thanks for the help. It is beginning to make more sense to me now.

I have done a little more research and it seems that you have to check when the car was listed on the site to get a better idea of the actual price expected. Those listed a few weeks or months ago seem to be marked high. You can get some realistically priced cars priced recently. I suppose it is a bit like the house market: those people who are serious about selling their house give a price near the going rate right from the start.

Buying from a dealer will result in quite a big premium, but then you have some sort of comeback with a dealer as far as I can see even if most it would seem will not give an explicit guarantee (6 months or 12 months etc.). Most dealers will not even show cars under £2000 on the forecourt. I presume they will not offer a guarantees on them either.

ballyblack

A Dealer has to offer a warranty on any car he sells to the public
(The older trade-ins are sent to auction or sold into the car 'trade')

For this reason most reputable dealers avoid selling to the public in the 'banger' market as the hassle of keeping a customer on the road is uneconomic for them

Try Gumtree or the auctions

(In both cases use a knowledgeable friend/ mechanic before you buy)

Mistral001

ballyblack wrote: »

A Dealer has to offer a warranty on any car he sells to the public
(The older trade-ins are sent to auction or sold into the car 'trade')

For this reason most reputable dealers avoid selling to the public in the 'banger' market as the hassle of keeping a customer on the road is uneconomic for them

Try Gumtree or the auctions

(In both cases use a knowledgeable friend/ mechanic before you buy)

I bought my first car at an auction 30 years ago. I got a bargain but spent about a week in the garage fixing it up. Ended up a good car and put it through several MOT's myself changing brake pipes etc myself. But those were the days when it was common for people to do that sort of thing.

I have looked at some of the auction sites. A very high proportion of the "bangers" seem to have no MOT which I suppose is not surprising as many people trade in their car because they do not want to renew their MOT. Not many in the banger category advertised on the website, but someone told me that often they get a lot of late entries that are not advertised on the aution site.

Anyway, still looking and learning. Thanks for help.

x12yhp

NI is a bit of an odd place because of a small population and difficult trade across the pond.

I would also say that some of the guides are a bit questionable. My can gets a guide price less than £1k but it is worth half as much again if I were to break it. Something is wrong with that picture!!

Mistral001

x12yhp wrote: »

NI is a bit of an odd place because of a small population and difficult trade across the pond.

I would also say that some of the guides are a bit questionable. My can gets a guide price less than £1k but it is worth half as much again if I were to break it. Something is wrong with that picture!!

This is what I found for the below-£2000 market. Could be because of the small market here for that category of used car. Cars are such an important part the average NI person that most people are willing to spend a high proportion of their income on one.

ballyblack

Cars are such an important part the average NI person that most people are willing to spend a high proportion of their income on one.

Lack of a good public transport network right across the province is a factor here!