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Nothing beats popping into town with the assistance of a Bavarian 3 litre straight six. Not even doing the same thing in a Mondeo with a Jaguar badge thats 12 months newer.
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If you can afford to wait:
the economy is going to slow more
lots of people will trade down from expensive cars
no-one wants 25mpg when petrol is £1.45/litre - it will be sometime soon
So take the next 6 months to decide and start to seriously think of buying when the first big car distributorships go bust. Cos then the receivers will flood the market.
Ideal timing? March 2009.
Of course thinsg may get really bad. So March 2010 may be better still.
I reckon anything over 5 years old and under 25mpg may halve in price secondhand in the next two years.
I can buy a 3 years old Bentley Continetal with 25k miles for one third of the original purchase price. (If I could and wanted to afford it).
So a five year old car on that basis whould be 20% or lower of purchase price... and immaculate.
It ay very well happen, believe me. I remember 1973. This may be as bad..
(Then a 1 year old XJ12 Jaguar could be bought for 40% of new price - if you were hard nosed ).
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I just thank Mrs P that we binned the BMW when we did - there were several dusty 5 series in the dealer's with highly optimistic price tags, I'd take a bet they'll still be there in 3 months time.
March 2009 is going to be a good time for me to buy - an unexpected outcome of my retirement is an investment made many years ago maturing (we'd misfiled the paperwork on it)
Edited by Webmaster on 08/06/2008 at 01:09
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Just a thought PU. It would seem that the Roomster fulfills most of your needs? For the want side of the equation, have you considered one of those car club memberships where you get to have a shot of a variety of fancy kit a few times a year? Strikes me that if you bought the likes of the Jag you mention that the irrational side of any normal petrolhead would soon start to justify spending a bit more in six months time and again in a year and so on until you were back where you started? With the club system you would get to play with some very serious toys at a fixed cost. Like I say, just a thought.
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.. there were several dusty 5 series in the dealer's with highly optimistic price tags, I'd take a bet they'll still be there in 3 months time.
tinyurl.com/5e9m6s
"According to Glass's Guide, .... used cars are now forecast to fall by 25 per cent during 2008 as a result of the proposed increase in vehicle excise duty and the impact of the global credit crisis.
Models predicted to be worst hit include the Renault Espace, Audi A6, BMW 5 series, Ford Mondeo and Ford Galaxy. ....
Under personal contract purchase plans, offered by most car dealers, motorists are offered a minimum guaranteed future value (MGFV) for their vehicles. ....
.... motorists coming to the end of purchase plans face the prospect of having to pay more for their vehicle than it is worth. Alternatively, they can hand it back but will have no deposit for a new model. "
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Not a bad idea, PU.
Why not limit the spend to a sum you won't mind losing completely (view it as a hobby). Say you spend £2000 on a toy, the market collapsed completely, and you end up trading it in for £250 when you were done with it. I'm just picking figures at random here, and being very pessimistic. But if you've spent the price of a golf club / gym membership / the weekend away you'd have had otherwise and you've enjoyed the car, you wouldn't be smarting.
I'd suggest with rising fuel prices and falling demand for thirsty cars, the same principle applies whether you're spending £500, £5,000 or £50,000. If you want to see anything back come trade-in time, think carefully about what the next buyer will expect!
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What if oil prices fall again? (If 60% of the price is pure speculation, then they will.) Then gas guzzlers will rise in price. Personally, I hope prices will stay high. I can afford to drive; the roads are quieter.
If I wanted "fun", I'd go for a bargain "classic". I keep banging on about late nineties A6s, V6, 2.8 quattro avant for no more than the cost of a tax disc. Or a slightly older Audi 80 coupe. Or an imprezza - if you're spending your time on Welsh roads, 4-wheel drive will make a difference. MB 123 or 124 coupe?
Whatever, I wouldn't go for a re-badged Mondeo, PU - isn't that what the Jag is. 5k is way too much to spend on another depreciating ghastly euro box. You might as well have kept the BMW and not bothered with the hairshirt Roomy that you don't like very much. MGB? MG Midget?
Edited by Mapmaker on 11/06/2008 at 11:38
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Whatever I wouldn't go for a re-badged Mondeo PU - isn't that what the Jag is?
Apparently, not everyone thinks so:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=60...7
("That 'rebodied Focus / Mondeo / Vectra / Golf' jibe is just lazy - and, let's be honest, rather boring now that it must be approaching its tenth birthday.")
And if referring to a Jag as a re-bodied Mondeo is inaccurate, then referring to it as a re-badged Mondeo is even less so.
A Peugeot Partner could be called a re-badged Berlingo, but that is somewhat different.
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Yep agreed. Anyone who jumps on the 'X Type is a only a Mondeo in tarty clothes' bandwagon is sadly misinformed. The two cars share the same engine block and really that is where the similarity ends. Jaguar engineered the suspension, later model brakes, and of course interior and trim. The diesel variant on the TDCi It's a sad day that there are so few truly independent car manufacturers out there today, but Ford/Jag/Volvo are in the same boat as VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat/Bentley and Mercedes/Chrysler etc.
The X type is a nice car, certainly sharper and feels more upmarket than the Mondeo, which is in itself a good car. £5k seems OK, go lower if you can and enjoy yourself.
If you bag a 2.1litre version you have no AWD transfer box worries as associated with 2.5s and 3.0 variants.
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Pugugly
As I see it, this will not be your main 'runner', but just something nice to go out in.
Know what I would do? Find a really nice '96 or '97 X300 3.2 6 cylinder. Hold out for an Executive spec. You will have a car that you can insure as a 'classic', your VED will be, IIRC, £180 (not quite sure), and you'll have one of the most reliable Jaguars ever made. And it shouldn't cost anymore than £3000 (and possibly a good deal less).
I would have one, were it not for the fact that my particular vocation does not sit well with driving that sort of car (or should I say, the perceptions that some folks would have of clergy driving luxury cars.... mind, you, I could spend 4 or 5 times that on a base model Mondeo, and no one would bat an eyelid - funny old world!)
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Find a really nice '96 or '97 X300 3.2 6 cylinder. insure as a 'classic' your VED will be IIRC £180 (not quite sure)
VED currently £185 for >1549cc registered before March 2001. Will increase to £200 in 2009; from 2010 onwards it will go up in line with inflation.
Thats if they dont change their minds and decide to double it in 2011?
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[passionate rant]I'm sorry but it looks like a Mondectra - or indeed like any other car on the road today. It is a Eurobox. Jaguars used to be "different". They used to have style and class. Do the words William Lyons not mean something that makes the heart skip a beat? Does X-type?
The X-type looks like any other car on the street - I guess it's the existence of the estate that's the real killer. (Don't get me wrong, I like estates, but you don't buy a Jaguar because it's useful, do you?)
I just cannot believe that PU (normally a man of discretion and taste) finds that his wallet tingles upon seeing an elderly mundane motor. (And remember... he asked us to persuade him not to buy it.)
A 6 year old car, with all that can go horrrrribly expensively wrong. Basically 5k down the drain - worthless if something goes wrong. A warranty that's worthless (they never cover the things that go wrong). It's cheap now, it'll be much cheaper in 12 months time. And it's not as though he needs it.
Spend the money on a fleet of XJ6s, or half a MK ii. Or an MB coupé, or a Caterham or, or, or, anything but an ugly commuter car. It's supposed to be a "fun" car, PU, for crying out loud. Instead you're buying a well-worn naff executive car.
[/passionate rant]
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I'm also surprised that an X-type floats your boat Pug, I'd side with the last few comments, albeit with more tact, and go for an XJ. A V8 though 98 onwards, the X308.
I took a 3 litre S-type out for a spin a few weeks ago which should have been a blast with 240 horses under the bonnet but it felt sluggish and heavy. Still nice though. I couldn't get excited about the X-type, if I were to spend five grand tomorrow on a weekend car it would be an XJ8 any day of the week for me.
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[passionate rant]I'm sorry but it looks like a Mondectra - or indeed like any other car on the road today. It is a Eurobox. Jaguars used to be "different". They used to have style and class.
It does look quite different from other cars, particularly the front with the twin lights. They usually have wood and leather as well, which for me only the Brits do properly. Bung a few toys in and it's a pretty good car.
The X-type looks like any other car on the street - I guess it's the existence of the estate that's the real killer. (Don't get me wrong I like estates but you don't buy a Jaguar because it's useful do you?)
Why on earth not. Persuaded my wife to have one. She insisted on a diesel and we really needed an estate.... We both quite like it.I just cannot believe that PU (normally a man of discretion and taste) finds that his wallet tingles upon seeing an elderly mundane motor. (And remember... he asked us to persuade him not to buy it.)
Each to their own, surely.A 6 year old car with all that can go horrrrribly expensively wrong.
There are some really good independents out there...and there's this really good site where you can check up on the common faults all cars have. It's called Honestjohn. Check the X Type, there's not that much to worry about in the big scheme of things.
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