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Popped into local Audi dealer today, sat in new A3.
Very impressed!
Nice leather seats, beautifully finished.....mmmm, I might be interested; 2 litre diesel, should be economical.
But then I checked the price. Over £36,000. Couldn't quite believe it.
I know it's packed with extras, but even so, £36,000+ for a 2 litre diesel hatchback.
Ran out quick, feeling very old and out of touch!
Wait until you star adding options.
Last time I bought a new car it cost £8030 and I thought that was a bit steep at the time. Was 20+ odd years ago mind....
Two of those or a flat? puts car prices in perspective.
£36k which one is that as they start £18,900?
Due to order a new one in a few months time as they have a long lead time.
A flat for £72k, where are they that cheap?
£250k for a bedsit round these parts....
A3s start at £18-20,000 that one must have had a massive spec. Maybe you should have looked at the sensible models before running off.
What's more scary is that I got quoted £500 a month for a ford focus! I'm not paying five hundred pounds a month for a bloody ford!
you could get a very very nice flat in converted mill in Bradford for £72k
this would be the same world where SC only make 8,000quid bikes and nothing else.
If your serious look at the price of the one you want, or look at 1 year old ones for a healthy discount.
£250k for a bedsit round these parts....
Where are you living, Mayfair?
😯
Who the hell buys cars new? Madness. 🙂
flat in in Bradford for £72k
*Pops to Audi and orders two A3s*
Where are you living, Mayfair?
Cambridge is expensive.
£250K won't buy you a parking space in Mayfair.
Nothing wrong with buying new cars. Mrs Weeksy bought a new Fiesta, £11,000.... fitted the bill, it's cost £0 since apart from fuel.
I bought a Mondeo which was (then) 2 years old.. i've been lucky and it's cost £0 apart from fuel (and tax)...
We both are happy and both did OK.
The problem I have with new cars is the depreciation, just scary to think how much it costs.
A few people I know buy new cars every 3 years so they avoid the cost of MOT's and service/repair bills. To me that is madness, spending thousands to avoid potential bills of 100's.
For £36k it must have had every conceivable optional extra fitted. The S3 is 'only' £30k without extras.
In fact - are you sure it wasnt an S3 with all the extras fitted that you sat in, that would make more sense?
Where are you living, Mayfair?Cambridge is expensive.
The "London Borough of Cambridge" if you don't mind!
Price of second hand cars though must be at an all time low. My first car a very long time ago was a rather scabby Hillman Imp in many different shades of blue. It was 500 quid which in those days was a lot. That's apparently about 3k in today's money for which I would now expect something far better.
Mind you, I learned a lot about car maintenance.
The "London Borough of Cambridge" if you don't mind!
We prefer "Royal London Borough" actually.
Have you met my neighbours?
[img] 
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cars these days come with far too many creature comforts.
all I want is a comfy seat, a punchy economical reliable engine, seating for 5 and some load capacity.
I'm sure someone could knock that out for £5k new.
brakes - Membercars these days come with far too many creature comforts.
all I want is a comfy seat, a punchy economical reliable engine, seating for 5 and some load capacity.
I'm sure someone could knock that out for £5k.
Nearly, you can get a Dacia Sandero for £5995.
Buying new cars is a mugs game and yes they are expensive. £27k for a Golf GTI for example seems a bit mad
I can sort of see the point of a lease, you want something new and shiny for a fixed monthly amount. You give it back at the end of the lease and get something else new and shiny.
Find something 3 years old that has relatively low mileage and save yourself a fortune
Most feelers will give you a full years warranty as well on something that age
The car market is the pits at the moment.
They are all getting more toys, electrical, economy and safety gubbins and when something goes wrong its a big bill. Because of that people are scared and want something with a warranty and pay a premium for it.
Second hand prices outside of main dealers are rock bottom and it will only get worse.
Give the classic cars are back to free VED on a 40 year old rolling basis, I think classics will start rising in value again.
A bedsit in Cambridge [url= http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43398277.html?premiumA=true ]well not what I call a bedsit.[/url]
I think it's safe to say such buyers may only own such flats / make such comparisons if they are the landlords or developers.
Give the classic cars are back to free VED
VED is irrelevant for most people surely in comparison to the costs of depreciation, fuel, insurance. A couple of tanks of fuel or less for my cars. I don't really see that car tax has any significant bearing on peoples' behaviour when choosing cars.
mtbmatt - Member
people are scared and want something with a warranty and pay a premium for it.
Thats my point. People are scared of a £1000 bill that they [i]may[/i] get to repair something big if it goes wrong but will happily pay £10k over 3 years in depreciation.
The other one that makes me chuckle is a colleague who got a new £23 odd grand car because road tax is only £30 a year and his old one was £180. Seems the irony was lost on him when I pointed it out...
maths says it shouldnt clubber - but the fact is people do base their purchases on tax cost.... there was a boy on here last week whos main criteria was it had to be 30 quid to tax as 200 quid is expensive on his current car.....
he was willing to spend 6 grand to save 170 quid a year....
I must admit - i fancied a subaru forrester and was somewhat put off by paying 475 a year in tax to tax a 2.5XT - even though to buy them was cheaper than the 2.0 which was 230 a year....
I completely agree. Take the (albeit probably poor example) of the £36K A3. It would probably be worth £15K in three years time come trade in. That's about £580 a month depreciation. That why people lease new cars, it's usually cheaper and a fixed cost.VED is irrelevant for most people surely in comparison to the costs of depreciation
he was willing to spend 6 grand to save 170 quid a year....
My MD bought a brand new 11k Fiat Panda to run around in because he wanted to save fuel - this is go alongside his big Merc, Porsche 911 and 3 series BMW!
go and look on an audi dealer's forecourt. their SH prices are eye watering too.
I agree that new car prices are crazy - I've just got a new company car - Basic 'Bluemotion' 2.0D Passat Estate - the invoice was for just short of £26k.
When I was looking I had a go at speccing-up a top of the range Passat, and got to over £40k pretty easily!
If it was my money i'd have been looking at a 3 year old Skoda Superb...
there was a boy on here last week whos main criteria was it had to be 30 quid to tax as 200 quid is expensive on his current car.....
That mentality is not unique by any means, we see this all the time with our customers (Telecoms operators), they have certain fixations about CAPEX and OPEX and will make all sorts of seemingly irrational decisions that cost them more in the longer term just to meet a arbitrary rule.
A bedsit in Cambridge well not what I call a bedsit.
That's not in Cambridge, Fen Ditton is a village just outside and one of the few affordable places left. A CB1 postcode would mean inside. Probably £180k ish for a 1 bedroom flat about a shop.
Last car I bought new was back in 1988 I think, 205 GTI, got nicked, since then it's been s/h every time.
In fact have had current car 14 ? years, don't change cars (or houses) that often!!
Only bought three properties since 1984, too much hassle 🙂
its not all bad if you want a people carrier!
http://www.pentagon-vauxhall.co.uk/offers/new-car/new-vauxhall-zafira-exclusiv-mpv-offer
To clarify, it wasn't an S3, it was a 2.0 TDi SLine with plenty of extras.
Looking through a motoring magazine in WHSmiths the other day, they seemed to think that the [b]average[/b] price of a new car purchase in the UK is £21k. My last five cars [i]together[/i] haven't cost £5k, let alone that much.
Then I don't know much about cars or the purchase mentality. Have known quite a few people buy a new car because the road tax is slightly cheaper or the first MoT is due. Find it hard to think they do it only to save a few pounds - has to be showboating surely?
As for a £36k hatchback; must be either a company car, PCP or motability scheme surely? You'd be mad to lash that amount of cash to a depreciation monster.
How many of these blinged up cars do dealers sell in reality? Or are they some kind of loss leader? Our local Ford dealer has a little showroom with a hand-full of new cars; Fiestas at £17k, or £23k Focus's. Yet his forecourt is chock full of "bargain" year old, low mileage £11k same model cars.....
richmtb - Member
Buying new cars is a mugs game and yes they are expensive. £27k for a Golf GTI for example seems a bit mad
Yep why would you want the GTi special look at me steal me edition?
I guess because it's sporty and you can throw it into corners and pretend that your a racing driver and rev it and impress the ladezze.
You can get some fairly good cars if your forget the must have a big engine lots of BHP and STUFF!!!
The (future) move to lighter cars will be interesting.
When you have a 900kg car its very hard to sell it as reassuringly expensive when the doors etc are very light/sound tinn'y.
There wont be a mass move to carbon/lighter materials for hatches etc so prices will start to come down on average I feel.
Why are they so expensive?
Loaded with electronics and gadgets because that's what the customer wants/what you can market. Do you REALLY need ABS? Whens the last time you used it?
The vast majority of drivers- if they stamp on the brake hard enough to activate the ABS they wont turn the wheel and avoid. They'll FREEZE.
Take off the new car tax, the VAT etc etc etc, strip out the stupid new headlights. Take a car back to basics and you will be in the £6k new for cars wont you?
also without the marketing, prices CAN come down futher,
There wont be a mass move to carbon/lighter materials for hatches etc so prices will start to come down on average I feel.
Have you seen one of these? Reclaimed materials interior, £30k please:
[url= https://www.bmw.co.uk/en_GB/new-vehicles/bmw-i/i3/2013/start.html ]The simple BMW.[/url]
mikewsmith - Member
pretend that your a racing driver and rev it and impress the ladezze.
the amusing thing about it is that when youre driving a flash motor you are far more likely to get checked out by men than women- well in the case of my mate in his boxster as he revs the engine like the city boy he is
if you want laydeez stealing sly glances nothing better than driving a 2.5 ton truck working for the council looking after the local parks- that was a fun summer
You can get some fairly good cars if your forget the must have a big engine lots of BHP and STUFF!!!
Your right what was I thinking s/h Rover 400s are much cheaper too. Now where did I put my pipe and slippers
FWIW I just thought the Golf GTI was a good example of an everyman car - not to big, not too small, not too, fast not too slow, solid mid range manufacturer - that the average person could reasonably own if they wanted one. I didn't realise it was nearly £30k for a new one
I've got a "Look at me/steal me" type R with lots of BHP, I love it and yes it is a lot of fun to drive. It cost me £3k I've done 30k miles in it over 3 years and it'd probably still sell for £2k if I needed to sell it too. I'd never buy new, not forecourt new but I have been looking at newer cars recently, I do wonder who people fund Range Rovers and the like!
Thats my point. People are scared of a £1000 bill that they may get to repair something big if it goes wrong but will happily pay £10k over 3 years in depreciation.
But you get something for your £10k - a shiny new car. You get nothing for your repair bill, you just get put back to where you were in the first place.
When you have a 900kg car its very hard to sell it as reassuringly expensive when the doors etc are very light/sound tinn'y.
It's more about safety and getting a 5 star ncap rating imo.
Do you REALLY need ABS? Whens the last time you used it?
Bad example. ABS saves tons of lives, it's a no brainer. Electric windows, heated seats and a 7 speaker stereo would be better examples.
But there's no point in asking the manufacturers to make £5k simple cars when you can get a 4 year old nice one for £5k.
To clarify, it wasn't an S3, it was a 2.0 TDi SLine with plenty of extras.
Jesus £36k for a car that is small, harsh ride, doesnt go around corners, and is a diesel!
Whilst the very notion of "value" is entirely subjective, i find it amazing what people spend on their cars. I'm not talking about Ferraris or Lambos or whatever, no, those you expect to be expensive and niche, but the cost of otherwise more normal cars, like say the new F type Jag. Buying that car will not change your life. it's a nice convertable/coupe but that's it, and yet it seems to cost £70k? Who IS buying these things??
molgrips - Member
But there's no point in asking the manufacturers to make £5k simple cars when you can get a 4 year old nice one for £5k.
I'd rather have the new, simple one. 🙂
You're in the minority. Why not set up a company importing the new simple cars from India or China, see how many you sell 🙂
it's a nice convertable/coupe but that's it, and yet it seems to cost £70k? Who IS buying these things??
I for one am very very grateful to people who take out finance on new cars.
An example:
Mercedes CLS350 Grand Edition
£51,000 new in 2010
£17,000 approved used from Mercedes with 40k on the clock
Ownership for first 40,000 miles = £36,000 (£51k - approx £15k trade in)
Ownership for next 40,000 miles = £11,000 (£17k - approx £6k sale)
Bonkers!
An extended warranty is around £50 per month after the first 12 months, so an extra £1,800 on the used buy if you want a total of 4 years peace of mind.
The problem I have with new cars is the depreciation, just scary to think how much it costs.A few people I know buy new cars every 3 years so they avoid the cost of MOT's and service/repair bills. To me that is madness, spending thousands to avoid potential bills of 100's.
I'm sure some people are stupid enough to believe that they are saving money by buying a new car every 3 years, but I don't believe the majority are that thick. More will do it to avoid the hassle of dealing with repairs etc, that will happen with greater frequency as a car ages (plus, don't forget the manufacturers warranty). Obviously, not the most economic way of doing it, but if you are busy enough, and have the money, the lack of hassle is very valuable. Oh, and before some clever dick wants to justify their thriftiness at buying old, cheap cars, I am aware they can be reliable if you pick the right one/maintain it yourself/are not fussy about driving something crap.
Mercedes CLS350 Grand Edition£51,000 new in 2010
£17,000 approved used from Mercedes with 40k on the clockOwnership for first 40,000 miles = £36,000 (£51k - approx £15k trade in)
Ownership for next 40,000 miles = £11,000 (£17k - approx £6k sale)Bonkers!
£279.92 + VAT per month for a CLS250 CDI AMG on a personal lease.
That's who's "buying" new ones and why you get so many 10k per year, mint condition examples on the 2nd hand forecourts.
I used to work in the motor trade and couldn't understand why people would buy new - but as a 17 year old, I thought that what all people done if they had money - whilst I drove a £100 banger
Now, 20 years on, i'm doing pretty well financially, but wouldn't dream of buying a new car - jesus - i wouldn't even spend £3K on a car
I'm currently driving a '97 Audi A4 estate. It cost £700 just over 2 years ago, i've done 30,000 miles in it and its been 100% reliable. I've maybe spent £500 of repairs/tyres
It seats 5 people, has 150 bhp, full leather, ABS, air con, a stereo, will swallow lots of bikes and goes plenty quick enough
So, its cost me about £50 per month since i've had it.
To get the equivalent A4 on finance would cost me about £4K deposit and £300 per month for 3 years and THEN i'd have to think about the depreciation
Utterly bonkers - so let some other mug take the sting and then i can spend all my money on shiny new bikes and bits 🙂
Loaded with electronics and gadgets because that's what the customer wants/what you can market. Do you REALLY need ABS? Whens the last time you used it?
Driving normally? Twice, ever. And I'd have given everything I own to have had it, both times.
£279.92 + VAT per month for a CLS250 CDI AMG on a personal lease.
I knew a lad who was paying £400 a month to lease a car.
He couldn't afford 2xContinental tyres.
I remember seeing some stats on it, aren't the majority of new cars 'sold' actually company cars or finance/PH/lease?
Only something like 30% of sales are proper 'cash' sales.
70% of new Mercs are on lease deals.
Do you REALLY need ABS?
Regardless, ABS are required on all new passenger cars sold in the EU since 2007.
if you want cheap AND new, buy a Dacia. Their most expensive model costs less than many models of Ford Focus; their cheapest is slightly less than £6k
ok the cheapest won't have any toys but so what?
£279.92 + VAT per month for a CLS250 CDI AMG on a personal lease.
Where are you getting that figure?
Most personal leases I can see are upwards of £400-500 inc VAT?
FWIW I just thought the Golf GTI was a good example of an everyman car - not to big, not too small, not too, fast not too slow, solid mid range manufacturer - that the average person could reasonably own if they wanted one. I didn't realise it was nearly £30k for a new one
Since when has a Golf GTI been any of these? It's the sports version of a semi premium brand. It's been 25k+ for years, before options.
Audi prides itself on being premium. The Seat Ibiza or Skoda Octavia are the 'everyman' version. The Golf is the upmarket one, the A3 the poshest one. Why would any one expect it to be cheap?
For the record I don't think new cars are that bad a deal these days. In 1989 the Ford Fiesta 1.6S was just short of 10k. In 1999 I bought a Fiesta Zetec for £9200 that out performed the old 1.6S in virtually every way. I bet the base spec Fiesta available now (11k ish?) has improved a great deal over my old Zetec. Not bad IMO.
I've just got back in to new cars after a while in second hand and don't consider myself 'thick'. I pay X per month and will give it back before it needs any new parts, including tyres. I will then get another new one.
If I bought a couple of year old one for say 10k I'd have to get a loan which would cost Y per month for 5 years say. In that time I'd have to cover everything that wears out (Tyres at £100+ each, cambelt, clutch etc) and hope that nothing else went wrong. I'd also have to MOT it each year. With the miles I do the now 7 year old car would be well worn by the time it was paid off and worth next to nothing so I'd be looking to change and would have to get another loan to pay for it.
To me the new option is much better and doesn't actually cost much more.
But you get something for your £10k - a shiny new car. You get nothing for your repair bill, you just get put back to where you were in the first place.But how long does the shiny new stage last for? A week, a month, then you are just paying for a normal car.
Now, 20 years on, i'm doing pretty well financially, but wouldn't dream of buying a new car - jesus - i wouldn't even spend £3K on a car
The majority of people doing pretty well financially wouldn't dream of spending £3k+ on a push bike and would rather put that towards a shiny 2.0tdi with big wheels and a built in sat-nav.
People making sacrifices in order to buy something they enjoy shocker!
I've just got back in to new cars after a while in second hand and don't consider myself 'thick'. I pay X per month and will give it back before it needs any new parts, including tyres. I will then get another new one.
A lot of it depends on the standard of car you want.
For some people, the main priority is having the "status" of a brand new car and no risk of surprise bills (which is why you so see so many bottom end BMWs/Mercs etc out and about).
Some people would prefer to have a better car and aren't so fussed about it not being brand new.
A lot of it comes down to affordability too. I couldn't/wouldn't be able to justify spending £36k on depreciation for a CLS350, but I could justify £11k. So it comes down to simple maths for me.
That same £11k could rent me a brand new basic C200.
Hmmmm, a 2010 CLS350 Grand Edition v 2014 C200. It's a no brainer for me, but I'm sure for others the quality of the car/engine comes second to having a 2014 plate car.
If people stopped buying new cars it would kill off the 2nd hand market, you can't have one without the other!
Which is why I said:
I for one am very very grateful to people who take out finance on new cars.
🙂
Them fulfilling their goal for 3 years makes it possible for me to fulfil mine!
But how long does the shiny new stage last for? A week, a month, then you are just paying for a normal car.
Excatly. That's what I said to my dad. He wanted a diesel but thought he couldn't afford one for £10k - for some reason he was insisting on 1 year old.
There's a bit of difference in niceness terms (but not much) between a 1yo and 3yo car, 5 years later there's no difference between a 6 and 8 year old car. But you've still paid double.
Anyway - buying a new car to get a 3 year warranty is stupid. The extra cost of the car far outweighs any repairs it'll need. If you really want hassle free buy a 3 year old Kia.
In my mind the 'cost' of a car is: the cost of maintenance, plus depreciation plus the interest on any money I have borrowed to finance it. (I'm assuming in this example that mpg, insurance, etc. are similar). A higher purchase price doesn't always mean higher 'cost'.
I'm definately getting old.
Loads of folk saying that used car values are through the floor and here's me thinking that used car values have suddenly gone through the roof.
Bought my current Mondeo estate at 3 y/o and 40k in 2008. Paid a ticket price of nearly £7k but that included an artificially high trade in so maybe real cost of about £6k.
Run it for another 120k over 6 years, now thinking about a change. Worth nowt now, so that's a £1k per year cost of depreciation.
If I look at an equivalent motor now, they all seem to be at the £10k mark. On the same 6 year cycle, depreciating to nowt, that's £1.6k per year in depreciation. Second hand motor cost is therefore up >60% by my logic 🙁
i.e. a 60% price hike
To me the new option is much better and doesn't actually cost much more.
There is that. Running old bangers at 20mpg ended up costing me more than I could get an equivalent new Aygo on PCP just on the difference in monthly petrol costs alone. Didn't make sense, so the banger went. However, the 2003 Fiesta I got to replace my 20 year old Volvo with still does over 40mpg where the more modern petrol cars struggle to get near 50mpg by all accounts. The ten year old Fiesta was better value for me.
As a family we used to buy new, and it was nice for a week or so. Month down the line it's just another car being used to take stuff to the dump. Everybody I've ever known in the motor trade looks at new cars as a waste of money. That is unless they are trying to sell you one....
Tend not to agree with the big bill scenario. If you're running a £700 car and it needs repair work, it goes in the big skip in the sky.
But how long does the shiny new stage last for? A week, a month, then you are just paying for a normal car.
As soon as you park in a Supermarket carpark on a Saturday afternoon.
I would like a golf please, except I would ideally like to pay a further £2k more for it.
Youll be wanting an Audi a3 then sir! May I suggest a white one?
We can't ALL buy second hand can we?!
The forecourt price for new cars is like the RRP for bike stuff.
I'd rather wait a few years, and buy the same frame/bike/kit second hand.
Some people will ONLY buy new, then sell it on after 12/18 months. They accept the depreciation in value as "annual cost" of their hobby, cycling.
I added up the RRP on [i]all[/i] the bikes in our garage (which get used, equally), it was about £15k+
BMX alone was close to £1k, and that gets ragged around the race track every week!
There are big discounts available against the list price of a lot (but not all) of new cars. You might have to go further than your local dealer, and/or be good at negotiating, but there are often big discounts to be had.
Its rare that you should pay the list/sticker/rrp price.
I just bought a new car, for 18% under the list price. it involved travelling a 500 mile round trip to get that deal , but I dont mind that for a significant cost saving.
You might have to go further than your local dealer, and/or be good at negotiating, but there are often big discounts to be had.
You didn't need to travel so far...Drivethedeal seem to be pretty good!
You didn't need to travel so far...Drivethedeal seem to be pretty good!
the best drivethedeal (& others) could do for the car I wanted was 13% discount off the price of the car without options, and no discount off the options themselevs, so it was still worth the (relatively minor) hassle to save 18% of the total price of the car with options. It worked out as roughly double the discount that drive the deal offered.
But drivethedeal and co are good for those that dont like to negotiate, and or want zero hassle.
I have always been a second hand car person, that is until the m135i was brought out. I decided I couldn't wait around for a second hand 3 year old one plundered my savings and took out an 11k loan to get one.
I did negotiate around 6k off the list price though, but at 30k, it was still more than twice what we'd ever spent on a car.