Used car values

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Timmytree
Posts: 969
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 11:50 am

Used car values

Thu Jul 27, 2017 8:32 pm

My car is currently in my sons workshop, while it's there I've got his "cheapy runaround" to get to work. A 2005 Fabia 1.2 hatch. 83,000 miles with service history, long MOT. Tidy body, good tyres. It's a nice little car, gutless maybe but comfortable enough and surprisingly spacious.
He bought it as a trade in where he works, cost price of £150! Why would anyone let a car go at that price? That's almost scrap value!
this car has years of life left in it but somebody has decided on a new car at any cost with all the depreciation involved, wasted money as far as I'm concerned. I'm tempted to buy it and sorn it, parked in the barn it won't cost anything but will provide cheap transport in the future.
£20,000 for a new car to last 10 years or £500 for 3 or 4 cheapies to last just as long. If anything goes wrong you get your money back on scrap value!

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zippy
Posts: 355
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 7:23 pm

Re: Used car values

Fri Jul 28, 2017 9:55 am

I remember many years back if one bought a quality/expensive car like a Mercedes or BMW etc they would have it of docky years to the point it came part of the family.
Now!, the gap between a Merc and BMW compared to Honda and other allegedly so called lesser makes is getting smaller because most cars now have all the electric stuff as standard and the running gear on a Honda is excellent as with other lesser makes.

I have owned many BMW's and still now Drive a BMW and it is unreliable and parts needy car. Plagued with ridiculous design flaws and the dreaded run-flat tires now long gone from the car replaced with normal tires because the ride quality on run-flats is dreadful. Many BMW owners have removed run-flats tires because they are horrendous.

This is not the only issues with so called high-quality cars some BMW's have no dipstick to check the oil at the engine it is done by going through the computer menus inside the car. nightmare, if you have an issue with a sensor. Other issues are destroyed engines on many BMW 320d cars because of swirl-flap failure and engine timing chain problems again resulting in destroyed engines. If you look under the bonnet/hood of a merc and BMW today you are met by loads of plastic (Plastic is the cheapest material known to man) this is meant to be a quality car. I recently went to a classic car show and looked under the bonnet/hood of an old classic it was stunning there was Chrome polished alloy and lovely braided hoses... this quality has indeed sadly long gone.

My friend's Honda accord has given outstanding service with next to no problems, compared to many of my BMW and Merc ownerships and the same goes for my girlfriends little Peugeot. A more expensive car like BMW does's not mean more quality... I would never purchase or own a modern Mercedes it's electronic nightmare.

I was a mechanic and tech for many years in a VW/Audi dealership and the stories I could tell you are shocking on these so called quality and rather expensive cars.
Air Arms tx200hc, mtc taipan, 4-16X50
Air Arms tx200hc, falcon menace, 4-14x44 FFP
Air Arms Pro-sport, mtc mamber
Air Arms TDR, falcon menace 10x44
HW 100t falcon menace 4-14X44 FFP
HW 100t richer optics
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Alecto

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Timmytree
Posts: 969
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 11:50 am

Re: Used car values

Fri Jul 28, 2017 5:56 pm

How true Zippy! I know lots of people with "posh" cars, whenever they get a problem it costs a fortune. To spend thousands buying a car and then having to fork out more to keep the bloody thing going is completely against my tight fisted Somerset ethics. I did consider scrapping the golf when the clutch went but number 1 son (mechanic) assured me it was worth doing and I should get another 50,000 miles out of it at least. The little Fabia though is something else. A good little car for the price of a night out, not posh but far better than walking on a wet night. I'm not sure I want to give it back! :mrgreen:

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zippy
Posts: 355
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 7:23 pm

Re: Used car values

Fri Jul 28, 2017 7:28 pm

Timmytree wrote:How true Zippy! I know lots of people with "posh" cars, whenever they get a problem it costs a fortune. To spend thousands buying a car and then having to fork out more to keep the bloody thing going is completely against my tight fisted Somerset ethics. I did consider scrapping the golf when the clutch went but number 1 son (mechanic) assured me it was worth doing and I should get another 50,000 miles out of it at least. The little Fabia though is something else. A good little car for the price of a night out, not posh but far better than walking on a wet night. I'm not sure I want to give it back! :mrgreen:


please see (all) links below Timmy, and be very amused regarding BMW and Merc... lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGE6roEThig

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vqAbKtLfws

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQpQIi7gI_U&t=48s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPJ64sTa7KI
Air Arms tx200hc, mtc taipan, 4-16X50
Air Arms tx200hc, falcon menace, 4-14x44 FFP
Air Arms Pro-sport, mtc mamber
Air Arms TDR, falcon menace 10x44
HW 100t falcon menace 4-14X44 FFP
HW 100t richer optics
HW 97KT
HW 45 Geordie custom grips
Alecto

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Big Dog
Posts: 182
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2015 11:50 pm

Re: Used car values

Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:16 pm

Not sure if I completely agree I'll be honest. Don't get me wrong, Some of the best cars I've owned have been £500 runarounds that have been easy to get parts for and cheap to have repaired. The problem is nowadays is that spares for most cars, including your older runarounds, have risen considerably and the cost of getting a mechanic/vehicle technician to work on it when it goes wrong has reached stupid prices. I've been running an amazing little 04 plate Clio, cheap to run, comfortable enough, it's all I need and it looks in great condition - but it failed it's MOT and the cost of parts and labour to sort it out was going to cost almost 500% of what it was worth. I have a severe back problem due to 2 completely ruptured discs and as a result am in almost constant pain, the pain in my right leg is agonising as nerves are being pinched by the rupture of my S1 L5 vertebrae, so need a car to remain mobile as walking at any pace is becoming increasingly difficult at times. I have a choice: buy a cheap runaround and have to give it and my mobility up when I can't afford the huge cost of repair which at some point it is going to require, or pay the leasing fee on a car that's covered by a warranty and know that my mobility is assured. It's a no brainer to me - the car with the warranty wins every time. Bottom line, if you have access to cheap parts and cheap labour when the car goes wrong, the cheap runaround is a good option, but if you have to pay the ridiculous prices that most garages now charge for spares and repairs it's just not economically viable.

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