Depreciation vs Maintenance.

[Ron240]

The first one is brand new, the second is used....

It's also a different car with a different specification, and in 2 days time will be 3 registrations out of date.
If I was a lottery winner and this is the type of car I wanted I would buy the brand new one.

 

[MBDevotee]

Ok Ron, I fear I’m never gonna convince you......

You can’t educate everyone lol

 

[Ron240]

I worked for a certain car dealer about 30 years ago I will not name.

On July 31st (The day before the new plate) we had all the showroom filled with handovers, the workshop full of the afternoon handovers and to fit them all in, the late afternoon handovers up on the ramps.

One of our technicians accidentally leant on a switch and managed to drop a small saloon onto a large limousine denting and scratching it’s roof.........

Major panic, screaming, frantic calls to dent repairers......

Later that afternoon the customer drove away in his new car that cost as much as a house at the time with a slightly less than perfect roof and the paint was almost dry!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He never knew.....

This just highlights how devious and underhand some car dealers can be.
Back in 2008 my dad bought a brand new Honda Civic from his local Arnold Shark. I was there when he agreed the deal and the the car was in stock and perfect.
I went with him to pick it up and the car had been deliberately parked in such a way that walking behind it was impossible, although rather naively neither of us thought anything of it.
My dad drove straight home and parked his new car in his garage and thought no more of it. The next morning he opened the garage door and immediately noticed a deep gouge in the middle of the rear bumper so he called the dealer. Initially they were not very accomodating and suggested the damage occured after my dad left the showroom...but my dad persisted and they agreed to fit a new bumper.
It is quite clear they knew full well about the damage but carried out this ruse in an attempt to cover it up.
Fast forward to the first service and almost unbelievably they damaged the rear bumper again! To say my dad was furious would be an understatement.
Yes there are certainly some unscrupulous car dealers out there.

 

[Ron240]

Ok Ron, I fear I’m never gonna convince you......

You can’t educate everyone lol

No need to get personal by casting aspersions on my education.
We are simply having an adult debate here.

You are getting frustrated because I do not share your point of view...but I do understand it.

 

[MBDevotee]

Was tongue in cheek

 

[MBDevotee]

Yep you might be right - many are - but what do you do with a brand new £40,000 car with a tiny scratch? Throw it away?

I promise you it’s not “some” car dealers - every dealer Ive ever worked for, if a car arrives with a small mark, chip or something, it will be repaired.

Do you tell the customer - we do, but I know many who don’t, and not just “bad” dealers, big prestige dealers too. The guy who does our smart repairs also does all the main sites in our area, from Rolls Royce to Skoda - doesn’t matter the badge, we all have the same issues.

 

[MBDevotee]

It's also a different car with a different specification, and in 2 days time will be 3 registrations out of date.

But there are 3 registrations a year now, so just put a private plate on if that bothers you! The new one won’t have the latest reg on it after 6 months, so what’s the difference?

 

[Ron240]

But there are 3 registrations a year now, so just put a private plate on if that bothers you! The new one won’t have the latest reg on it after 6 months, so what’s the difference?

There is only 2 registrations in a year, but I see what you are getting at.
It doesn't bother me...I have been using the same plate on my cars since December 1998.
I was just highlighting a difference between the new and used cars that you mentioned.

 

[MBDevotee]

But that sounds my point - how can it be worth £20,000 to have a piece of plastic with a different set of numbers on it? Even less so if you are going to then put a private plate on it! I had a customer not long ago bought a new car in the same spec, same colour, same everything and it had 9,000 miles on it, and it cost them £12000 to change...... wtf. Even they said the new one was identical to the old one, no new features, no change whatsoever.......

At least get a different colour! Just bonkers

 

[A.J.]

But that sounds my point - how can it be worth £20,000 to have a piece of plastic with a different set of numbers on it? Even less so if you are going to then put a private plate on it! I had a customer not long ago bought a new car in the same spec, same colour, same everything and it had 9,000 miles on it, and it cost them £12000 to change...... wtf. Even they said the new one was identical to the old one, no new features, no change whatsoever.......

At least get a different colour! Just bonkers

My Father used to do that, same model, same colour every time he changed his car. His reason was that he didn't want people to know he had a new car

 

[Ron240]

I had a customer not long ago bought a new car in the same spec, same colour, same everything and it had 9,000 miles on it, and it cost them £12000 to change...... wtf. Even they said the new one was identical to the old one, no new features, no change whatsoever.......

At least get a different colour! Just bonkers

I agree, that was indeed bonkers from my point of view.

 

[MBDevotee]

There is only 2 registrations in a year, but I see what you are getting at.
It doesn't bother me...I have been using the same plate on my cars since December 1998.
I was just highlighting a difference between the new and used cars that you mentioned.

There are actually 3.

So this year there will be......

2021 - 70 plate
21 - 21 plate
21 - 71 plate

Then there will be 22 - 71 plate but that’s arguably “next year”

So that’s even more reason not to buy new - at least when there was one change a year your car was “the new plate” for a whole year, now it’s 6 months or less ( buy a car in Jan and it’s 2 months!) now I think few people even understand the plates, 90% of ordinary people couldn’t tell you the dates between which a 68 plate car was registered.

Indeed I can buy a 70 plate car now secondhand with 5000 miles on it and my neighbour won’t know it’s not brand new, if that matters to you.

My argument still stands - if you need finance, new cars can make sense on a pcp or contract hire / lease basis - but if you are paying outright, used every time.

 

[Ron240]

There are actually 3.

So this year there will be......

2021 - 70 plate
21 - 21 plate
21 - 71 plate

My apologies, I should have said there is only 2 changes of registration in a year.

You are saying things like "if that bothers you" and "if that matters to you" but it seems to be you that this conversation is bothering.
I have already said that I understand the point you are making and I am simply giving my personal opinion in response, but you do not seem to be so understanding of me and my preference to buy new.

 

[MBDevotee]

Perhaps I am wording it badly.

I get why someone would want a pre-reg, or "Nearly New" rather than a 3 year old car. If over the years you have always run cars up to 3 years old and then changed them, I get it, that person wouldn't consider a 3 yr old car.......

What I still can't get, is why someone would rather buy a new one than say a pre-reg and (in that particular case) pay £4-5k more for literally EXACTLY the same car - same delivery miles, same plate, same everything....

Saying that, I get why someone would buy a new Porsche (in general little or no saving buying a nearly new, and no pre-reg available) or a Tesla (Used cars often not much of a saving, and no discount on a new one as a rule) - but cars like Merc where there are pre-reg, Nearly new etc with a huge saving against new cost.....

I'm not saying you are "wrong" - I am thinking you're crazy though!! (meant in jest not being nasty I promise)...

 

[rorywquin]

I agree we are all different, and in reality we all “waste” some of our money in different ways spending it on something that gives us pleasure.

However violent depreciation (as opposed to a slow dropping in values) is to me a total waste. You say you are not in the “fabulously wealthy” band, but you are very well off indeed if you bought a SL400 new - I imagine that car was north of £80,000 new when exactly the same car 12 months old would be in perfect condition, have no more than running in miles and probably be 25% less cost - so if you can afford to throw away £20,000 you are (in my book anyhow) seriously wealthy, and in my experience seriously wealthy people are not stupid, but that kind of loss is just crazy to me, even if I DID have the money.

I am not saying you are “wrong” I’m saying I just don’t see why someone, even someone wealthy, would choose to pay £20,000 more for exactly the same thing!
Tell me, did you haggle, or just pay full screen price?

I thought we'd reached the point of agreeing to disagree in my last post. However......

My bottom line is that I'll buy a new car for the best price (to answer your haggling question) I can get it at because that is what I want and I am not foolish enough to immediately pay the asking price.

As you asked, yes, the 'list price' on my SL was over 80k (I ticked a lot of boxes). I used Carwow for initial negotians and then held my local dealer to the best price I'd received on Carwow. I got my car for about the same price of 1 year old, lower specification SLs standing out in the dealers yard. Sounds hard to believe but I still have the paper work to prove what I am saying. I was lucky, in that at the time, they were (for reasons unknown) heavily discounting SLs.

Yes people fritter their money on other stuff eg gambling, booze, smoking, fashion wear, haicuts, tattoos, holidays & cruises (that they cannot afford and do it on credit) etc. The list is endless. I fritter my hard earned away on new cars , but have not purchased anything (except property) on credit since my 20s.

No matter how much you want it to be so, buying a USED car is not the same as walking to the showroom to collect a BRAND NEW, undriven car, manufactured, for you, to exactly your specification.

The pleasure of collecting your own (not company) brand new car, never gets old. I've had several of both and know the difference.

So let's agree to disagree.

 

[MBDevotee]

Ok

And I have bought my own "Brand New" car.... once.... and whilst it was different to picking up a new company car, it was no different to buying any "New To Me" other car, and even less satisfying than the really good Used cars I've bought.

But ok, we can agree to disagree....

 

[Ron240]

cars like Merc where there are pre-reg, Nearly new etc with a huge saving against new cost.....

Not for my model of Mercedes there wasn't.
Whenever I buy a new car I always know precisely what I want before visiting a dealer. When I placed my order the model had only been on sale for less than 6 months and none were in stock in any form with my choice of engine at any Scottish dealer. I managed to haggle a 10% discount on the retail price which I was happy with.
My previous car had no pre reg available but by luck the dealer I visited first had a brand new stock car exactly what I was looking for, and I got a 12% discount along with a complimentary first service.
My car before that was a brand new in demand model so was full retail price regardless of where in the UK it was purchased, and I took delivery the morning it went on sale.

I am certainly not crazy I just know exactly what I want.
You made an interesting point earlier about signing up for PCP to obtain the manufacturers contribution if available then immediately settle the balance in full, so I will certainly explore this in future if the opportunity arises.

 

[MBDevotee]

Yep - although I've noticed Merc don't do it at the moment (although that can change monthly).

Examples are people like Skoda, Ford, Vauxhall, Kia, VW, Audi, Seat, et al...... Some are seriously high as well - as I think i've said, I've seen £7000 being offered as deposit contributions on a PCP. Just have to be careful its not in lieu of a different support which may apply to you better. So for example, Ford, Kia and Skoda offer them on their PCP's - but nothing at all on a cash deal - whereas MG at the moment are offering 0% (which is nice, but not if you don't need it) and if you don't take the 0% there is a further £2000 dealer support - so there you want to take the cash option....

It's about checking the manufacturers website and looking at what's being offered by the manufacturer's on what it is you want to buy.

 

[Blobcat]

My new bike delivered and registered in Feb 21 has an 04 registration plate...

 

[rorywquin]

....
... signing up for PCP to obtain the manufacturers contribution if available then immediately settle the balance in full, .......................

My son buys a new car every 3 years. Does exactly that.