Change now or wait till '09

DaveBH

Hi all,

A mate is in 2 minds about whether to change his car now or wait till '09. He was thinking about getting a '07 Avensis (or Mazda 3) and getting rid of his high mileage '01 Primera but is also considering waiting till early next year and getting a '08. My advice was that now is the time to strike a deal (slow 2nd-hand sales from Oct-Dec right?) and if he gets a good enough discount now he should take it!
The other point I made was that his current car will be worth even less next year. Are there any decent scrappage schemes for a car like this?

Any opinions on whether he should deal now or wait?

Finally, Avensis or Mazda 3? Obviously the Avensis is bigger but is the Mazda 3 a comfortable motor too for the occassional long journey?

Thanks in advance

Stephen

A high mileage '01 Primera is worth bugger all. If I was him I'd be buying now as so many people (dealers and private individuals alike) are desperate to shift their cars.
Since he'll essentially be a cash buyer he should be in a good position to make a deal.

DaveBH

Thanks for that.

How can he get rid of the Primera - take whatever he's offered on a trade - 2 grand or less I would think!

Gumbo

if he is buying a 2007 car now, would he not be better off waiting and buying a 2008 car next year?

that way, he gets an extra year to save a few quid and better bargaining tool with the dealer, but most importantly he will get a car that can be taxed on the CO2 rates, so if he was buying an 07 diesel avensis now he would pay 590 road tax, but if he waits and gets the 08 one its 300 or something iirc

my opinion of course, but as said above you run the risk of the market picking back up and dealers not being so generous.

BrianD3

When does the NCT on the Primera expire? Probably early 09?

If the Primera passes its NCT it will be worth much the same (i.e. not a whole lot) next year as it's worth this year. It may even be more sellable next year with 2 years NCT on it than this year with a few months NCT on it.

As regards the new car, the motor trade will pick up in January next year but may well be in a bad way again pretty soon afterwards. March/April might be a good time to buy.

Scrappage schemes are a nonsense. If you get 2k "scrappage" for you car it means that the dealer just put up the price of the car you're buying by 2k and gave you a discount.

If the worst comes to the worst and you actually want to scrap the Primera yourself, scrap metal prices have gone up a lot in recent years

bazz26

Try and get rid of the Primera privately, I'd doubt a garage will give you €2k for it. They are overflowing with second hand stock at the moment, for them to try and shift on a high mileage 01 Primera will be major hassel and they will reflect this in the trade-in price. You will save more money on the discount from a straight cash deal, this is what dealers want at the moment.

There are lots of low mileage 1.6 Avensis that were registered by dealers just before the VRT increase back in July, these along with the ex-hire cars now back on forecourts could mean that a dealer with lots of 08 used Avensis should welcome a cash customer with open arms.

It should also be worth mentioning however that there is a new model Avensis being launched early next year, this will have a big impact on resale values of 08/07 current models.

Mazda 3 is also being replaced by a new model sometime next year too.

DaveBH

Thanks for all that.

I'll pass it on!

copacetic

wait.

there are a lot of ok deals out there now, but there will only be much better deals down the line. Things are going to get much worse for dealers in next 6 months.