Used car advice

iwb100

jcrennie said:

iwb100 said:

jcrennie said:

Thanks everyone so far - I'd be buying cash, with the majority coming from a bank loan for 10k. The rest would be cash and PX mu current vehichle.

The SEAT garage is a smaller franchise near me, they only have 2 locations within their franchise and the FR model is with an Evans Halshaw franchise. My speaking to the sales rep, it seems like they are becoming more and more like Cazoo and then trying to price match against cars in the local area.

Cars are both practically from the same year and have a lot of the same functions. FR has the 'mode control' - but is more the exterior I prefer. My part-ex value came in a bit lower than I was hoping too and definitely got the 'need this sale closed before end of April' pitch from the SEAT garage which irritated me a little.

All dealers sell based on the market price. They don’t just make it up. It’s why prices are high right now.

Have you looked on auto trader to see what prices look like for same model and compare mileages etc? You don’t say what mileages the cars are but don’t seem too many FR sports for less than you were quoted. It’s not a good time for second hand car buying.

I'll do some researcg - I think it is just the FR model, rather than FR Sport. I know it's not the best time to buy a used car, but my current car is done for me, PCP is only good on brand new deals imo and nobody really knows what will happen with the 2nd hand car market. Can't see prices reverting to the 'norm' ever again if I'm honest unless the Government push the 2030 ban on new electric.

SE Tech has done 22,000
FR has done 32,000

Looks about right. Get whichever you prefer.

A new SE tech is £21725.

I don’t know how your financing is works out or the situation and urgency but you aren’t saving a whole lot here going second hand. 

Car_54

iwb100 said:

jcrennie said:

iwb100 said:

jcrennie said:

Thanks everyone so far - I'd be buying cash, with the majority coming from a bank loan for 10k. The rest would be cash and PX mu current vehichle.

The SEAT garage is a smaller franchise near me, they only have 2 locations within their franchise and the FR model is with an Evans Halshaw franchise. My speaking to the sales rep, it seems like they are becoming more and more like Cazoo and then trying to price match against cars in the local area.

Cars are both practically from the same year and have a lot of the same functions. FR has the 'mode control' - but is more the exterior I prefer. My part-ex value came in a bit lower than I was hoping too and definitely got the 'need this sale closed before end of April' pitch from the SEAT garage which irritated me a little.

All dealers sell based on the market price. They don’t just make it up. It’s why prices are high right now.

Have you looked on auto trader to see what prices look like for same model and compare mileages etc? You don’t say what mileages the cars are but don’t seem too many FR sports for less than you were quoted. It’s not a good time for second hand car buying.

I'll do some researcg - I think it is just the FR model, rather than FR Sport. I know it's not the best time to buy a used car, but my current car is done for me, PCP is only good on brand new deals imo and nobody really knows what will happen with the 2nd hand car market. Can't see prices reverting to the 'norm' ever again if I'm honest unless the Government push the 2030 ban on new electric.

SE Tech has done 22,000
FR has done 32,000

Looks about right. Get whichever you prefer.

A new SE tech is £21725.

I don’t know how your financing is works out or the situation and urgency but you aren’t saving a whole lot here going second hand. 

He's saving about £6 grand, which may be a lot to him!

Also, buying new may mean a loooong wait.

jcrennie

iwb100 said:

jcrennie said:

iwb100 said:

jcrennie said:

Thanks everyone so far - I'd be buying cash, with the majority coming from a bank loan for 10k. The rest would be cash and PX mu current vehichle.

The SEAT garage is a smaller franchise near me, they only have 2 locations within their franchise and the FR model is with an Evans Halshaw franchise. My speaking to the sales rep, it seems like they are becoming more and more like Cazoo and then trying to price match against cars in the local area.

Cars are both practically from the same year and have a lot of the same functions. FR has the 'mode control' - but is more the exterior I prefer. My part-ex value came in a bit lower than I was hoping too and definitely got the 'need this sale closed before end of April' pitch from the SEAT garage which irritated me a little.

All dealers sell based on the market price. They don’t just make it up. It’s why prices are high right now.

Have you looked on auto trader to see what prices look like for same model and compare mileages etc? You don’t say what mileages the cars are but don’t seem too many FR sports for less than you were quoted. It’s not a good time for second hand car buying.

I'll do some researcg - I think it is just the FR model, rather than FR Sport. I know it's not the best time to buy a used car, but my current car is done for me, PCP is only good on brand new deals imo and nobody really knows what will happen with the 2nd hand car market. Can't see prices reverting to the 'norm' ever again if I'm honest unless the Government push the 2030 ban on new electric.

SE Tech has done 22,000
FR has done 32,000

Looks about right. Get whichever you prefer.

A new SE tech is £21725.

I don’t know how your financing is works out or the situation and urgency but you aren’t saving a whole lot here going second hand. 

My current car just has too many things wrong with it - it's 14 years old, I've had it for 8 years and just ready for a change now. Overpay potential on the used car market, but at least I have an asset that I own rather than giving the money to a finance company. Problem with a brand new one is they will take 6-8 months to arrive. 

Think I am leaning towards the FR after the research. Although another option would be to sell my car via Cazoo for the higher valuation. Problem I have is they offered £2,100 as a 'rough' estimate for my car 4 weeks ago and are now offering 40% less. Cazoo offering 10% less, which I'd be fine with, just more hassle for me but an extra £500.

iwb100

Car_54 said:

iwb100 said:

jcrennie said:

iwb100 said:

jcrennie said:

Thanks everyone so far - I'd be buying cash, with the majority coming from a bank loan for 10k. The rest would be cash and PX mu current vehichle.

The SEAT garage is a smaller franchise near me, they only have 2 locations within their franchise and the FR model is with an Evans Halshaw franchise. My speaking to the sales rep, it seems like they are becoming more and more like Cazoo and then trying to price match against cars in the local area.

Cars are both practically from the same year and have a lot of the same functions. FR has the 'mode control' - but is more the exterior I prefer. My part-ex value came in a bit lower than I was hoping too and definitely got the 'need this sale closed before end of April' pitch from the SEAT garage which irritated me a little.

All dealers sell based on the market price. They don’t just make it up. It’s why prices are high right now.

Have you looked on auto trader to see what prices look like for same model and compare mileages etc? You don’t say what mileages the cars are but don’t seem too many FR sports for less than you were quoted. It’s not a good time for second hand car buying.

I'll do some researcg - I think it is just the FR model, rather than FR Sport. I know it's not the best time to buy a used car, but my current car is done for me, PCP is only good on brand new deals imo and nobody really knows what will happen with the 2nd hand car market. Can't see prices reverting to the 'norm' ever again if I'm honest unless the Government push the 2030 ban on new electric.

SE Tech has done 22,000
FR has done 32,000

Looks about right. Get whichever you prefer.

A new SE tech is £21725.

I don’t know how your financing is works out or the situation and urgency but you aren’t saving a whole lot here going second hand. 

He's saving about £6 grand, which may be a lot to him!

Also, buying new may mean a loooong wait.

Sure it depends how the car is being financed. If it was me I’d take a new car on pcp if there was a reasonable deal available. I see there is a manufacturer contribution of £750 on the SE tech and £1250 on the FR.

Which reduces the gap. As does the residual value.

Wait is a pain but there might be stock or cancelled orders for an Arona - an easier car to find something as there are no optional extras just fixed trim levels. 

Flight3287462

Just now is the time to buy new (if you can get one in a reasonable scale) the price of secondhand cars relative to the new price is extortionate.

We (the missus) have a Kamiq with the 1.0TSi and it is a punchy wee engine I'm very impressed with it and it is worth £2-3k more than when I bought it just over a year ago as a pre reg.

iwb100

Flight3287462 said:

Just now is the time to buy new (if you can get one in a reasonable scale) the price of secondhand cars relative to the new price is extortionate.

We (the missus) have a Kamiq with the 1.0TSi and it is a punchy wee engine I'm very impressed with it and it is worth £2-3k more than when I bought it just over a year ago as a pre reg.

Agree with this. Buy new if you can as second hand value is terrible and when the market eventually plummets those second hand buys will seem even more expensive. 

You are looking at a car that is a few years old with 22K on the clock only being 28% off new list price. Insane.

Also worth keeping in mind that Arona has new face lifted version for this year which means that the cabin has been redesigned especially the dash. It’s improved in quality and design considerably. That would give me pause in buying an older one for so much money.

k3lvc

I've skimmed through and can't see the age of the cars you're looking at - if younger than 3yrs then the non-dealer option should be covered under manufacturers warranty 

jcrennie

k3lvc said:

I've skimmed through and can't see the age of the cars you're looking at - if younger than 3yrs then the non-dealer option should be covered under manufacturers warranty 

They're 18/19 plates so won't be covered.

I do get the sentiment about a new car but an extra £6k pushes me too much than I'd like and the lead times are horrendous. My personal opinion is the used car market won't ever go back to how it was pre-covid so while I agree I am overpaying what I would have 2 years ago, just don't see things going back to how they were, just my opinion.

iwb100

jcrennie said:

k3lvc said:

I've skimmed through and can't see the age of the cars you're looking at - if younger than 3yrs then the non-dealer option should be covered under manufacturers warranty 

They're 18/19 plates so won't be covered.

I do get the sentiment about a new car but an extra £6k pushes me too much than I'd like and the lead times are horrendous. My personal opinion is the used car market won't ever go back to how it was pre-covid so while I agree I am overpaying what I would have 2 years ago, just don't see things going back to how they were, just my opinion.

How long do you plan on keeping the car and what sort of mileage do you do?

For me the problem with the Arona deals is they seem expensive for the car given the mileage but the very worst market to be shopping in is the nearly new few years old used car one right now.

Looking on auto trader you could get something like a 2017 Audi A3 with similar ish miles on it for the same price or a Skoda Octavia even 2019, approved used. I’m not suggesting that those are better cars for you it depends what the plan is. The Arona is a lovely little run about. It’s just it tends to depreciate a little more than other small crossovers and since you are buying at peak for this market it means you could in effect be spending an awful lot for a car given it’s only 28% cheaper than new.

I’m sure many on here would disagree with me but if I was only buying the Arona I’d probably take the 4.3% PCP deal on offer for the contribution from seat and then either treat it like a lease or take the bank loan to pay it off. OR more likely I’d buy something else like the suggestions above if going into the second hand market. I’m sure there will be arguments against either of those possibilities but I really don’t think the Arona makes sense second hand in the current climate. But perhaps I’m missing something.