Trading in a New Car

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 02:37
Trading in a New Car - macski

Bought a year old car last year, that had covered 9,000 miles. The previous owner was a lady who traded it in after only owning it for just over eleven months.

Why would anyone keep a car for just 11 months, must have lost a fortune?

Curious if anyone here traded in a nearly new car and why?

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 07:03
Trading in a New Car - Ian D
Wanted something bigger, wanted something smaller, bought a dog so needed a suitable car, found the seats no too comfortable, changed jobs and needed better commuter car for long trips, had a bereavement so requirements changed, the list could be endless! One of my neighbours changes his car every year for the fun of it, accepting it costs money!
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Fri 20 Oct 2017 08:12
Trading in a New Car - SLO76
My Dad had a new motor almost every year in the 80's and 90's. We had a long list of Volvo's, Saab's, two Honda's, an Audi, and several Mercs, all weren't even run in when he bought another. Totally daft.
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Fri 20 Oct 2017 08:35
Trading in a New Car - RT

Some people realise they bought the wrong car for their needs and take the hit early to buy what they need, some have very changed circumstances either practically or financially and occasionally dealers can come up with a no-brainer deal to swap.

Brother-in-law oders a new car when the current one gets to 4,000 miles so has 2 new cars/year - but he's on the JLR management scheme who use the nearly-new cars to keep LR dealers stocks up.

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 09:40
Trading in a New Car - daveyjp
My car was 9 months old, 8,000 miles when I bought it. Bought new by previous owner as all his details were in the handbook. No idea why he traded.
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Fri 20 Oct 2017 10:26
Trading in a New Car - RobJP

In 2005, my sister ordered a brand-new MINI Cooper. Specced up how she wanted it, in red with the white stripes, white wheels, really nice interior, reasonable but not ridiculous internal spec.

She'd been in a few belonging to friends, looked at things like bootspace, etc, and had test-driven one for an hour one morning on varying roads so thought she knew what ownership would be like.

What she hadn't noticed was that, when new, there seemed to be a definite 'odour' from the plastics - possibly some of the chemicals used in the manufacturing of the plastics, hwo knows. But she found, after taking delivery, that if the drove the car for much more than 2 hours a day, she got terrible headaches.

She sold it 2 months later, with 3,000 miles on the clock.

Fortunately, they were very much in demand at the time. I seem to recall she paid about £15k for it, and she sold it privately for just over £13k.

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 10:40
Trading in a New Car - argybargy

Sorry to bring this up again, but it is relevant to the question posed by the OP.

I bought my car in July and soon realised I'd bought a car with a fatal flaw. A car with a fatal flaw which is covered by warranty until next June, and which I've managed to have sorted out by my Ford dealer at no cost to me except a bit of petrol in the courtesy car.

Before June, maybe just after, and having probably done about 10k by then I'll be looking to sell it on, because I don't want to take the hit for any further problems which would no longer be covered by warranty.

That's another possible reason for selling a new ( or "new to you") car early.

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 10:47
Trading in a New Car - Cris_on_the_gas

Don't the big car rental companies do it all the time.

They buy loads of new motors at substantial discount, daily rent it until it needs the first service then flog it for about what they paid for it.

Then gets sold off by the trade and the nice salesman in a glass palace says it had one careful owner, sweet old lady from round the corner decided it was to big for her.

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 10:56
Trading in a New Car - oldroverboy.

When someone sells a car they don't like, some of us sometimes get a bargain.

I got a 6 month old 827 vitesse maual a long time ago at 50% of retail.

lady customer didn't like the vibration of th ABS brakes.

And it really would do 135mph too!

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 11:08
Trading in a New Car - SLO76
When buying a used car I'd normally recommend avoiding anything that's been owned for less than two years as this almost always indicates either a dislike of the car or a fault that has pushed them to sell on early.

Exclusions to this rule come in form of a family in need of more space, often caught out through questioning though when they reveal their new car is no bigger than the old one and health reasons where the seller needs an auto or is giving up driving altogether.

Plus on cars still under manufacturers warranty you can largely remove the fear of an underlying fault. They might just fancy a change or didn't like the thing.
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Fri 20 Oct 2017 12:50
Trading in a New Car - argybargy
When buying a used car I'd normally recommend avoiding anything that's been owned for less than two years as this almost always indicates either a dislike of the car or a fault that has pushed them to sell on early. .

I'd understand that recommendation, which is why I've enquired at my local Ford dealer about part-ex.

They appear to have few qualms about taking a used Ford with a known fault which is close to or outside warranty, especially one where the fault has been "fixed" by their own service department.

I mean--how could they refuse?

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 12:20
Trading in a New Car - Stumblebum

No or an inadequate test drive when purchasing.

Some dealers only give you ten minutes. It usually takes me a lot longer to get my seating position right in a stange car.

Some dealers just give me the keys and say take as long as you need which usually results in the sale.

But before doing the test drive I always look through all the paperwork first (MOT history, service history etc) and walk away if I don't like what I see.

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 13:14
Trading in a New Car - groaver

My wife bought a 4 month old Jazz in the top spec with loads of extras fitted such as carpets mats, painted body protectors, mudflaps just after the car was first launched.

It cost her approximately £4000 less than the new retail price.

The previous owner had bought it whilst waiting for her new Mini to be delivered!

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 13:25
Trading in a New Car - Snakey

Not brand new cars, but I've traded in a car twice in the past after only a few months ownership, the reason was simple - both cars gave me chronic backache.

I had to take the loss or simply be in pain a lot, now I'm much better at finding cars that don't give me back problems.

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 14:55
Trading in a New Car - John Boy

Not brand new cars, but I've traded in a car twice in the past after only a few months ownership, the reason was simple - both cars gave me chronic backache.

I had to take the loss or simply be in pain a lot, now I'm much better at finding cars that don't give me back problems.

I know people vary where back problems are concerned, nevertheless it would interesting to hear your observations with regard to cars, Snakey.

Edited by John Boy on 20/10/2017 at 14:56

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 16:18
Trading in a New Car - madf

My wife bought a 4 month old Jazz in the top spec with loads of extras fitted such as carpets mats, painted body protectors, mudflaps just after the car was first launched.

It cost her approximately £4000 less than the new retail price.

The previous owner had bought it whilst waiting for her new Mini to be delivered!

I bought my Jazz - base model but loads of extras - when it was 6 months old , had done 500 miles - had a five year fully paid up service plan for £4k less than list in 2012. Still have it.

Owner had fallen ill with incurable cancer and dealer was selling on her behalf- she was going on holiday in the sun so she could die with a tan...

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 17:01
Trading in a New Car - argybargy

I had my last car for seven years; the Meriva before that for just two, because the Easytronic gearbox was a danger to life and limb, and the one before for two also because it was a stop gap till I retired and got my pension money. That last one was a Renault Scenic, which despite horror stories I heard from other Scenic owners turned out to be a very good car.

The Primera prior to that was with us for nine years, because it was quite simply the most reliable car on the face of the planet. That is, it seemed so to me until a local garage got their hands on it, changed the timing chains and gave it its first oil leak, which they never managed to cure. After that my confidence in the car was gone and I sold it for a few hundred quid.

That could, as has already been said above, easily happen with a car purchased fairly recently: the evaporation of confidence in the vehicle due to a fault never being properly fixed.

Or as with our Focus, when the whining sound from the passenger seat every time the car went over a bump, or whenever I changed gear, became too much to bear and I was forced to sell what was still a very good car.

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Fri 20 Oct 2017 19:20
Trading in a New Car - Engineer Andy

Bought a year old car last year, that had covered 9,000 miles. The previous owner was a lady who traded it in after only owning it for just over eleven months.

Why would anyone keep a car for just 11 months, must have lost a fortune?

Curious if anyone here traded in a nearly new car and why?

Not personally, but from speaking to people who have, other than owning a lemon or a change in personal circumstances (new baby [surprise] on the way [more space required], getting married/divorced etc), I found that quite a few said it was because they didn't like the comfort of the car, whether it be poor seat comfort (particularly on longer journeys), including driving position (e.g. dealing with offset steering wheel and/or pedals), OR the car had too firm a ride.

The car I see (passing dealerships) traded in a lot are 1-2yo Minis, and not just at Mini dealerships. Having never driven or been in one, I don't know why, but I could speculate at the tiny boot and, for the more sporty versions, the ride being too firm. No excuse really, given we all can go for a decent length test drive over a wide variety of roads. And always do your homework!

Edited by Engineer Andy on 20/10/2017 at 19:21

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Sat 21 Oct 2017 14:01
Trading in a New Car - smallcar
I think it’s people not doing their homework and not doing a test drive. Or the salesman being careful to distract potential owners from a cars evident flaws eg Over firm ride or rubber band tyres by banging on about the unnecessary tech, colour options etc.

I think also people can lose confidence in a car eg find it hard to r verse or fiddly to do things eg operate dashboard etc and then they might see too many of the same sort on the road and think they want to stand out.

Plus some people just make very odd decisions eg moving house or job or partner very frequently that makes no sense to observers! Nowt so queer as folk as they say.
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Sat 21 Oct 2017 16:09
Trading in a New Car - Avant

As well as ex-demonstrators and former hire cars, a nearly-new car may have come off a manufacturer's / importer's management fleet. With the likes of Audi, BMW etc you won't save very much off a new one, but one of these could be a good buy if you want, say, a Ford or Vauxhall which lose their value faster.

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Sun 22 Oct 2017 02:00
Trading in a New Car - macski

Yes I am aware may come off fleets, my last car an Alfa Romeo was an ex Avis car when I bought it, had eleven years of trouble free ownership.

I never had a car that was perfect, I never owned a car I really hated unless you count my Mercedes Sprinter and the reason I hated it it kept breaking down. My brother used to change cars every few months, but he bought them second hand and would only lose a few hundred pounds at the most on each one, sometimes he even made a profit.

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