car buying goalposts moved?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Wed 18 Feb 2009 17:49
car buying goalposts moved? - barney100
Remember many years ago, late sixties a mate of my Dad's changed his car ...spitfires..every two years. He merely renewed the finance and the payments remained the same. The economy changed and the payments went up and up so the system was abandoned. I've been tending to buy used car and change every 3 years or so and the hits been tolerable. Had a rush of blood in the summer and shelled out for 3.2 CLK convertible which I now reckon a dealer wouldn't px at any price. I guess my best plan is keep the beast going or I lose a packet exchanging.

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Wed 18 Feb 2009 17:59
car buying goalposts moved? - Mr X
Join the club. Two dealers wet themselves laughing when I enquired about chopping in a Merc ML against their products ( Volvo and BMW ).
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Wed 18 Feb 2009 18:20
car buying goalposts moved? - Mapmaker
On the other hand...

At the bottom of the market, sub-£1,000 cars no longer offer the value they did. They are in short supply. £3-£5k, in contrast, offers much better value.

Why on earth pay £1,500 for an 8-year old car when £3,750 will buy you a 3-year old car?

Answer, the latter will be more expensive to run - servicing, insurance etc . But not really by much.
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Wed 18 Feb 2009 18:27
car buying goalposts moved? - madf
Sorry I disagree.
Sub £1000 will buy you a Lexus LS400 with Full Toyota Service history and under 150k miles. Good for the same again.
In terms of car for your money nad what a car - it's unbeatable.

Old gent near us has one... The 20 mpg around town is tolerable as he drives 4,000 miles a year.
And £185 tax.. and £300 insurance or less with full NCD.


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Wed 18 Feb 2009 18:40
car buying goalposts moved? - FotheringtonThomas
I've just looked up a Lexus LS400, and at that price (Autotrader) they're all over 15 years old, great big unattractive porky looking things with a drink problem, and all autos to boot. That's probably why they're cheap. Isn't there anything better?
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Wed 18 Feb 2009 18:45
car buying goalposts moved? - Mr X
... and no doubt ripe for a govt RFL battering under the green argument any day now.
Not much point spending a grand on it if you also need to find £600 road tax every year
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Thu 19 Feb 2009 10:18
car buying goalposts moved? - Mapmaker
Sorry, madf, I disagree. Why run an old motor when for very little more you can run a new one.

The only reason for running an old barge is because it is much cheaper motoring than a new barge. When the difference is small, then why run a 15 year old car rather than a 3 year old car?
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