Why now really is the time to buy

Keith Adams

Rover 75 - you can get one for a Monkey now
Rover 75 - you can get one for a Monkey now

Thanks to my mate, Andrew Elphick, I spent a delightful evening browsing the Autotrader website looking at cars for sale.

There’s nothing odd about that particularly but, given that 2008 has been all about belt-tightening and buying fewer cars for me, I’ve been avoiding the temptation.

Or so I thought…

I have been good in real terms but, as someone said to me not too long ago, ‘you’ve not bought any cars, but you still keep managing to cram new ones into your garage.’ He had a point but my expenditure on new metal has been minimal; I reckon less than £1000 for the entire year – which for me counts a major result.

Things are getting harder for everyone but, if you’re in a job and looking safe, then why not have some fun?

The reason for looking at Autotrader was simple – cars are so cheap now and, if you’re feeling secure in your employment and home, it must be so tempting to go out and have a punt on something newish and interesting. Rover 75s start at £500 now (it’s been covered before here), but how about something like a Renault Avantime (which kicks off at £3000), or maybe a Mercedes-Benz SLK (which you could pick up from £4000)?

Of course, the economy’s screwed up right now and things are getting harder for everyone but, if you’re in a job and looking safe, then why not have some fun? Second hand car values must be pretty much as low as they’re going to get (let’s hope that doesn’t come back and bite me in the bum), so maybe buying a Porsche Boxster for £6000 and smoking it for a year might end up being depreciation-free.

Assuming the price of crude oil doesn’t shoot up to $200 per barrel…

Keith Adams

2 Comments

  1. I agree wholeheartedly – used cars seem to be worth buttons now and there are some real bargains out there. I have been looking for cars for a friend who has just left a company car scheme and needs something and the one year old stuff (ex rental I guess)at supermarkets is silly – Vectras for under £6k, Passat Diesels for under £9k, SAAB 9-3s with more toys than Hamleys for under £10k and even a 57 plate 320d for under £12k. Its a buyer’s market alright.

  2. There’s an interesting article along these lines on the BBC website today – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7764777.stm
    It seems you would have to be either very well off or a bit mad to buy new at the moment, the way used car prices have gone. Although, having said that, I expect there will have to be some pretty amazing deals on new cars introduced soon, as manufacturers get increasingly desperate to offload their mounting stocks of unsold cars.

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