Depreciaton

[ioweddie]

BMW 10 Years- 2k per year

I bought a new sept 2002 BMW 318ise auto for £22k Cash (was listed at £23400) ran it for exactly 10 years and p/x it in for the C220 sport end Sept 2012 and got £2k (probably could have got more private). So was £2k per year. In the good old days I'd buy a car £500 run it a year or 2 and get more back, but since getting to a certain age I can't be asked to spend time laying on the floor fitting 2nd hand breakers yard bits, now its class all the way but the pocket is empty.

 

[television]

I bought a new sept 2002 BMW 318ise auto for £22k Cash (was listed at £23400) ran it for exactly 10 years and p/x it in for the C220 sport end Sept 2012 and got £2k (probably could have got more private). So was £2k per year. In the good old days I'd buy a car £500 run it a year or 2 and get more back, but since getting to a certain age I can't be asked to spend time laying on the floor fitting 2nd hand breakers yard bits, now its class all the way but the pocket is empty.

Thats interesting, for I am sure that laying upside down under a car in the early hours of the morning was much easier 50 years ago than today

 

[MBDevotee]

I bought my W208CLK for £5000 - fitted an LPG conversion for £2000 and kept her for 3 years.

I spent a few hundred on maintainance, and saved roughly the cost of the LPG conversion in fuel (give or take)....

So when I sold it for £4500 I'd lost £500 in depreciation for 3 years use... Some would say what was the point of the LPG conversion given I only broke even on it, but I think the car sold for a much higher price (if not necessarily more quickly) than it would have done without - and I was originally going to do a lot more miles than I actually did....


It makes me laugh when people change their 3 year old car for a new one because the new one will be 2 or 3 mpg more economical and will save them £20 a year in road tax - they seem to ignore the £5000 per year they will lose in the first year and £2000 - 3000 per year each year after!

Crazy

My cars cost me almost nothing, yet I get the same happy feeling driving a Merc gives you as the man who spends tens of thousands each year buying new ones......

 

[television]

I bought my W208CLK for £5000 - fitted an LPG conversion for £2000 and kept her for 3 years.

I spent a few hundred on maintainance, and saved roughly the cost of the LPG conversion in fuel (give or take)....

So when I sold it for £4500 I'd lost £500 in depreciation for 3 years use... Some would say what was the point of the LPG conversion given I only broke even on it, but I think the car sold for a much higher price (if not necessarily more quickly) than it would have done without - and I was originally going to do a lot more miles than I actually did....


It makes me laugh when people change their 3 year old car for a new one because the new one will be 2 or 3 mpg more economical and will save them £20 a year in road tax - they seem to ignore the £5000 per year they will lose in the first year and £2000 - 3000 per year each year after!

Crazy

My cars cost me almost nothing, yet I get the same happy feeling driving a Merc gives you as the man who spends tens of thousands each year buying new ones......

At least it means there are some good secondhand ones for us to buy,
The guy that bought my CL new lost £75k in 5 years, that £15000 per year

 

[robparker]

I occasionally look at people in their much newer Mercs and think 'sod it, i'll buy one' as I always drive around in my doggy c-class or similar, but then I just cant bring myself to loose so much money and HAVE to repair it if it goes badly wrong as I have too much cash in it, when after a week it will just become 'my car' and I wont appriciate it anyway, I do still look on ebay and think sometimes though!

 

[brianbrian]

Our old cars go up each year, lizzies 129sl diesel 1992.And my 124d 250diesel 1990 no rust on either, and we just pay out for normal wear and tear. But when we was working spent £1000s on cars through depreciation. Hope this helps

 

[d215yq]

I would only ever pay under £2k for a car and once i've bought it i accept the cash has gone and the car is mine and i only expect £300 scrap back. Now i go into a garage and i don't even ask for the invoice (particularly as that means the price is often lower). I know what's done and that's good enough for me.

W124 coupe was bought at £2k and 50k miles/3 years later it went for £750...thought it was cheap for the seller as it had a new MOT and worked well and was a great car but needed quick winter sale just before christmas as i was leaving the country and had just bought the estate.

W124 estate was bought 2 yrs ago and 35k miles ago for £1500. since then the history hasnt been kept up ( no invoices and i dont follow service schedule anyway), the badges have been nicked and parking on a spanish backstreet for 18 months means the bumpers aren't even straight anymore so probably £750 if i bring it back to the UK and MOT it...But its worth more to me than that and will be sold as scrap in case of major breakdown/mot failure or kept indefinitely or sold cheaply if i leave europe altogether.

I'm all for counting depreciation as a cost of motoring (too often overlooked as very significant for newer cars)... but would never buy a new/old car purely on speculation of no depreciation/appreciation...that approach leads to booms and busts in car market, housing market, etc...and a car can always go seriously/multiply wrong or get superficially damaged and whilst i try to avoid these things it is much less of a big deal if you aren;t expecting some sort of return on it!

what people don't seem to realise is the less you have tied up in things the more the enjoyment/worry ratio improves...even if you think a new shiny merc is a better ownership proposition for you (for me it's a worse one, but im "old school") having to park/not scratch/not smoke in it/ask friends not to smoke in it/ask friends not to knock skis/tents into it on holiday and to keep meticulous service records or even use dealers like i would for a £10k/20k car would make the ownership experience worse and at the end of the day life is made good/bad by a series of experiences/worries, we'll all eventually be dead and so will our cars. The only stress of owning an old merc is having to get the odd repair which is less than the worries above...it's why when i get older and perhaps feel a little less adventurous and want a warranty that i'll buy a 1yr old pre scratched kia/hyundai/dacia and run it to the end of the warranty without bother...is that because i think the kia/hyundai/dacia is better than a £40k merc with less warranty, NO, it's worse and the ownership experience will be slightly less enjoyable...BUT due to the low outlay it will be massively less worrying/stressful in terms of the above, and the stress would be compounded further by the extra weekly hours/years working before retirement dealing with idot bosses/colleagues at work that would be needed to earn the extra money to pay for the depreciation/outlay in the first place!

 

[d215yq]

A lot of retail companies are in the doldrums, the relentless media gloom and Governments inability to get to grips with the economy will leave many car owners nursing huge losses.
Monthly payments have masked these losses to the financially illiterate but eventually the penny or more likely as in this case the pound will drop.
At some point people will realise the Bankers have stuffed us for far far more than anything Blair and Brown did.
Depreciation is rocketing in almost everything we buy.

This doesn't make total sense, depreciation is rocketing in everything we buy because marketing and culture means we see everything with a shelf life and consume consume and replace replace replace. New is sought after and old is discarded.

Banks have helped the process by providing/making up credit in crazy "debt insutruments" as have blair/brown (and any government would have done the same) by ignoring it while the party still lasted.

Well there has been a correction needed for a long time and this is coming, and will result in retailers being in the doldrums a lot more than now...the eventual outcome when the credit crisis hits will be wprse than this and then depreciation will lower on everything as people will see a car isn't worthless after 10 years just because it needs £400 for an MOT pass when no-one will lend them anything for a new one!

Until that day depreciation is great for those who are financially literate. Just bought a 2nd hand 2 year old Ikea desk, dining room table and chairs in perfect condition for €50 the lot, 3km worth of petrol, an hour searching online/arrangin a meeting and an hour worth of loading/unloading for my new flat i'm furnishing. RRP is €700 and the same models are still sold at ikea today! How can something like this which, if cared for has an indefinite shelf life, be worth 8% after 2 years...the joke is in the UK on ebay it would be £20 or even on freecycle as people really are that lazy they'll give it away if someone collects!

 

[DIYMAN]

My first E class cost me £6k, spent about £1k on diy repairs over a period of 12 years then sold it for £1.900 with 212k on the clock and still going strong.
Those were the days when a Merc was a Merc.

 

[st4]

I adopt a different approach.

I select what I like/need and can afford.

I buy it, enjoy it and sell it on when I fancy something else (usually between two and five years).

I don't ever consider depreciation pre or post purchase - I want the car/have enjoyed the car.

I have other more important things to get concerned over.

Quite right.

New cars cost a lot in depreciation old cars cost a lot in repairs and can give unpredicted expense due to failures.

What's cheaper. Who cares. Drive what you can afford to buy and maintain and enjoy it.

 

[grahamcol]

Had my 1996 W202 C200 for almost 7 years now. Paid slightly over £3k (it had 111k on the clock). It now has 142k, has never let me down, it is totally rust free, uses no oil between changes and makes no strange noises or rattles. I've spent maybe £800/£900 ish in that time on batteries, tyres etc. The car still drives well and makes me feel special. Bet I could get £1500 for it now as well as it's in excellent condition. But I'm not selling ! Fantastic value in my book

 

[S80]

The W124 was bought for £600 3½ years ago, and is now worth about £400.

So roughly £60 a year in depreciation :Oops:

 

[st4]

And what in repairs, fuel bills that a newer warrantied car would hopefully be cheaper in this regard.

I'm sorry as I'm not trying tarnish older cars but in my experience and some friends experience they've been £500 at a time expensive money pits.

 

[robparker]

C240 bought 3 1/2 years ago for £900 with 180k on it, maybe worth £600 now with 231k, spent £400-500 total on it in that time.. 25mpg on LPG, so 50mpg equivelent- cheap motoring.
But for those who like to spend their money on newer cars and can afford to.. who's to argue! We can all spend our money as we wish!

 

[S80]

And what in repairs, fuel bills that a newer warrantied car would hopefully be cheaper in this regard.

I'm sorry as I'm not trying tarnish older cars but in my experience and some friends experience they've been £500 at a time expensive money pits.

Repairs? Rear & centre exhaust sections (£110), a secondhand evap purge valve (£10) and, er, that's it. DIY is thankfully still possible on the car!

Fuel economy isn't wonderful @ about 28-30mpg, but then again I don't do too many miles.

 

[MBDevotee]

And what in repairs, fuel bills that a newer warrantied car would hopefully be cheaper in this regard.

I'm sorry as I'm not trying tarnish older cars but in my experience and some friends experience they've been £500 at a time expensive money pits.

But some people spend £300, £400 or even more every MONTH on a finance agreement - so spending £500 a YEAR on maintenance is stuff all....

AND even with a brand new one - your annual service at the stealer is going to be £200+... Tyres still wear out on new cars and they still need fuel even if it's a tiny bit less......

 

[d215yq]

And what in repairs, fuel bills that a newer warrantied car would hopefully be cheaper in this regard.

I'm sorry as I'm not trying tarnish older cars but in my experience and some friends experience they've been £500 at a time expensive money pits.

over five years and 70k miles of 2 w124s total depreciation is £2k, repairs, servicing, MOT consumables have cost £3.5k all in if my car failed tomorrow. insurance and tax have cost another £3k and fuel £11k...total £19.5k (28ppm)

So get a new warrantied merc and in 70k miles/5 years that's going to need a dealer and take atleast £1k in servicing, £2k in tyres (can't buy 4 for £300 and make 'em last 50k miles like you can on a w124). so that's £3k already, only £500 less assuming nothing goes wrong out of warranty period, as one thing will go call that at best quits. Insurance would be more though tax less so call that quits (though as tax is cheaper and only £220 i'd guess it actually favours the older car).

Assuming it's 50% more fuel efficient you'll save £3.5k on fuel...but instead of £2k depreciation you'll get £15k...The assumptions i've made with insurance, tax, repairs, and real world fuel economy are hugely bias towards the new car and it's still £10k worse off. Add in a few expensive repairs we hear about on here, some finance charges, and then opt for 19" wheels with £300 a corner tyres that last 10,000 miles and it's easy to see the money pit! it's true my cars could have been more problematic/costly but even if everything had gone wrong i struggle to see how there is £5k of bills lurking, let alone £10k +

 

[Developer]

over five years and 70k miles of 2 w124s total depreciation is £2k, repairs, servicing, MOT consumables have cost £3.5k all in if my car failed tomorrow. insurance and tax have cost another £3k and fuel £11k...total £19.5k (28ppm)

So get a new warrantied merc and in 70k miles/5 years that's going to need a dealer and take atleast £1k in servicing, £2k in tyres (can't buy 4 for £300 and make 'em last 50k miles like you can on a w124). so that's £3k already, only £500 less assuming nothing goes wrong out of warranty period, as one thing will go call that at best quits. Insurance would be more though tax less so call that quits (though as tax is cheaper and only £220 i'd guess it actually favours the older car).

Assuming it's 50% more fuel efficient you'll save £3.5k on fuel...but instead of £2k depreciation you'll get £15k...The assumptions i've made with insurance, tax, repairs, and real world fuel economy are hugely bias towards the new car and it's still £10k worse off. Add in a few expensive repairs we hear about on here, some finance charges, and then opt for 19" wheels with £300 a corner tyres that last 10,000 miles and it's easy to see the money pit! it's true my cars could have been more problematic/costly but even if everything had gone wrong i struggle to see how there is £5k of bills lurking, let alone £10k +

Blimey - I'll stick with #17 I think .

 

[d215yq]

Blimey - I'll stick with #17 I think .

Each to their own but I too have other things to get concerned about like where to go on my 3 months holidays a year, and what to do in the hours outside my enjoyable, non stressed (though relatively low paid) 25hr a week job!

I'm set up relatively well for life after only 5 years in the rat race at a young age and that's only because I've made at least a quick attempt to look into the true cost of things and decide what i really want. As a car is the second biggest expense then it seems reasonable to understand the true cost of it. I couldn't have the lifestyle I have now if in the past or now i ignored things like depreciation and just bought a new frugal diesel merc every few years.

I respect you wanting to worry about other things and good for you, but i don't see why it's surprising that other people might spend an hour or so every 12 months analysing their second biggest (or in some cases first biggest) cost!

 

[Ricardo_e220]

Each to their own but I too have other things to get concerned about like where to go on my 3 months holidays a year, and what to do in the hours outside my enjoyable, non stressed (though relatively low paid) 25hr a week job!

I'm set up relatively well for life after only 5 years in the rat race at a young age and that's only because I've made at least a quick attempt to look into the true cost of things and decide what i really want. As a car is the second biggest expense then it seems reasonable to understand the true cost of it. I couldn't have the lifestyle I have now if in the past or now i ignored things like depreciation and just bought a new frugal diesel merc every few years.

I respect you wanting to worry about other things and good for you, but i don't see why it's surprising that other people might spend an hour or so every 12 months analysing their second biggest (or in some cases first biggest) cost!

I am not having a go saying this but from my own experience as a kid, my dad not through choice spent a huge part of his and our free time keeping older cars on the road. Sure they weren't mercs and in the late 70s and early 80s cars rusted quicker and lasted a shorter time. The cars never broke down (as he knows what he's doing) but for me it was the fact that it seemed to stop us doing other stuff, like a clutch that popped on his car so the extended week hoIiday he my sis and I were going to take ended up being the weekend when my mums car was then free.

He (maybe with wrong priorities for nowadays) spent his 1st wedding anniversary fixing my mums triumph spitfire

I have tended in the past to run a car from 1 year old until something expensive goes wrong, the difference being that my cars (renaults) bought for not a lot were often not worth spending £1k on them.

I am currently stuck on a 5 year car allowance limit so I'm pretty stuck on reducing my expense, but my 2.5 year e class, means I am running a nicer car, saving money as opposed to a similar priced insignia for example.

The other big thing is annual mileage ( mine has always been above 20k) and how bored you get with something for example