Is it a bad idea to buy a new non electric car right now?

[Deleted User]

blackstar said:

Sandtree said:

Its 8 years before the proposed ban on purely petrol/diesel cars come in but petrol hybrids etc will still be fine. 13 years before a ban on any new car having exhaust emissions. The average car is 13 years old when its scrapped and so in 26 years from today almost half the cars bought the day before the ban is introduced will still be topping up with petrol.

How long were you intending to keep the car?

Certainly there is more risk of city centre clean air taxes but personally central London etc isnt somewhere I'd ever want to drive anyway. Increasing VED to punish petrol owners... this will inevitably increase overtime but think it will be rather slow. Those that cannot afford a new car will hardly be pushed to spending money they dont have by a £100 increase in VED etc

Thanks all, had planned on keep it until it was not worth repairing but maybe in 3 - 5 years or so might trade it in for an electric but depends in if it would be worth anything and how much electric cars are etc. 

If you all were going to buy a new car now would you buy a petrol?

If I was buying one NOW through necessity, I would probably go PHEV if on 0% finance or second hand / ex demo sort of thing to keep me running until I could afford an EV. If not, then petrol - my mileage is odd, in that it's typically less than 8000 a year but when I do drive, it's either supermarket or longish motorway driving for sport so petrol would probably work out better.

Username03725

Chris_English said:

How do supermarkets have a monopoly on fuel sales? Where I live we’ve petrol stations such as BP, Esso or Texaco where you are also able to buy petrol.

I meant to type near-monopoly, given the number of filling stations that have closed since supermarkets started selling fuel. The point remains though; take away the widespread choice of supermarket fuel and the remaining places would find it easier to raise their prices.

Herzlos

Thrugelmir said:

Petriix said:

It's worth running the numbers. We bought a new MG5 at the end of 2020 for around £23k. It's worked out cost neutral vs buying a £12k second hand diesel Golf estate. That tips in favour of the MG when you consider long term residual values.

11k miles has cost just £120 in electricity vs ~ £1500 in diesel. That's paid every penny of the additional mortgage payments on the money we borrowed to buy it.

The obvious concern is as the vehicles age. How much is it going to cost to replace the electronic gadgetry in EV's. All very well having bells and whistles. Replacement cost is unlikely to be cheap. Whereas ICE cars in the basic form are extremely durable these days. 

Electronics are pretty reliable unless subjected to extreme temperatures or water. Electric cars have a lot less moving parts, so less wear and tear, less issues with lubricants, coolants, dust ingress, etc.

There's a lot more in an ICE car to break and cause it to not be an economical repair. Of course both have bodies/frames to rot, glass to replace and so on.

Like for like, an electric car should outlast a petrol equivalent.

Marvel1

blackstar said:

Sandtree said:

Its 8 years before the proposed ban on purely petrol/diesel cars come in but petrol hybrids etc will still be fine. 13 years before a ban on any new car having exhaust emissions. The average car is 13 years old when its scrapped and so in 26 years from today almost half the cars bought the day before the ban is introduced will still be topping up with petrol.

How long were you intending to keep the car?

Certainly there is more risk of city centre clean air taxes but personally central London etc isnt somewhere I'd ever want to drive anyway. Increasing VED to punish petrol owners... this will inevitably increase overtime but think it will be rather slow. Those that cannot afford a new car will hardly be pushed to spending money they dont have by a £100 increase in VED etc

Thanks all, had planned on keep it until it was not worth repairing but maybe in 3 - 5 years or so might trade it in for an electric but depends in if it would be worth anything and how much electric cars are etc. 

If you all were going to buy a new car now would you buy a petrol?

Quick check on a vehicle I would for (petrol) - £13500

I tried and cannot find an electric version.

However the pot luck and waiting around for a charging point is what pushing me to a petrol.

photome

Herzlos said:

Haven't you already bought that specific Sandero you made a few posts about?

a few posts ?

Chris_English

I’m waiting to take delivery of a new car at the moment, the GR Yaris, and there’s nothing even vaguely similar available in electric. I wish there was, as this car’s just for a bit of fun, and an electric drivetrain would do just fine, but this sector’s got nothing.

sevenhills

blackstar said:

What are people's thoughts? Buying a brand new Dacia sandero right now in light of the above?

With RPI inflation now at 7.5% and maybe a similar rate next year; so new cars of all types will be 10%+ more expensive in two years time. So secondhand vehicles will increase in price too.

Buy and hope for the best.

Arklight

Personally, I would only get a new fossil fuel vehicle on PCP now, so I could hand it back with a guaranteed final value in a few years, when EVs are also going to be much cheaper.

The era of pouring dinosaur juice into your automobile to make it go is in its absolute last gasp. Consumers, investors and manufacturers will be ditching ICE cars like a sand covered poop in a child's sandpit and bailing in to electric. Of course, ICE cars could be around for decades yet; it's just that fear grips markets harder than pragmatism, and few people are going to want to drop £30k+ on a new car that is stuck using a fuel that's going of fashion faster than skinny jeans. 

Do we seriously believe car manufacturers are putting effort into new ICE lines?  Any manufacturer not betting the farm on EV research and development is not going to be around for long. I can't see many people going long on petrol stations either. The market for used petrol cars and places to fill them in the future is about as rosy as the one for Betamax video tapes. 

That said, a Sandero is pretty cheap.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57253947

Chris_English

Arklight said:Do we seriously believe car manufacturers are putting effort into new ICE lines? 

Yes, they are.

I've got two new cars arriving this year, a GR Yaris and Lotus Emira; both are traditional cars with manual gearboxes and internal combustion engines, and both are very good.

Johnmcl7

No I wouldn't say it's a bad idea if a petrol or diesel car suits your needs better at the moment.  My next car will be petrol because there's no electric car that comes remotely close to my requirements and my car use isn't one that benefits much from electric cars. 

I agree with the post above and think the government is going to have to do something at some point to make up for the massive finance black hole the lack of VED and fuel duty is going to cause.  I also expect there to be restrictions on electric cars in city centres as well since electric cars are going to cause congestion the same as petrol and diesel cars.